FRASER GOVERNMENT IN THE DARK

"New York Sun, A.A.P. - Harder times are ahead for Australians, according to the international edition of Newsweek magazine. The magazine quotes the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, as saying: 'nobody has really been hurt by policies we've adopted at this stage. The difficulty will come when we assess the measures that need to be taken in the next budget'. Mr. Fraser, elected in December said, 'When you've had a three-year binge, you can't get out of it in one month, six months, or one year. We always said a programme of recovery would take three years"'. - The Herald, Melbourne, March 1st.

Prime Minister Fraser's "tough" anti-inflation strategy is similar to that being used by the British Socialist Government under Mr. Harold Wilson. Different political labels merely tend to mask the fact that all politicians throughout the non-Communist world are slavishly following the advice of "experts" who have been brainwashed into believing that Keynesian-type financial theories are sacred law. Many of them fully understand that they are engaged in helping to demolish the free society and its institutions as a necessary preliminary to establishing the centrally planned State.

Australians should note that the Wilson Government's "tough" strategy has cut inflation from 34.8 per cent in the first six months of 1975 to 14.1 per cent. But the price has been soaring unemployment and increasing economic dislocation. Aided by a Conservative Opposition with nothing constructive to offer, Mr. Wilson grimly turns the financial screw still further, claiming, like Mr. Fraser, that eventually the British will be refreshed by the harsh treatment and that "healthy economic growth" will then take place.

Mr. Fraser's reference to a "three-year binge" is similar to the type of advice given to Australians during the Great Depression of the thirties. Sir Otto Niemeyer of the Bank of England, advised by Professor Guggenheimer Gregory of the notorious Fabian Socialist London School of Economics, told Australians that they lived beyond their means and had to pull their belts in. Sane Australians asked the logical question of why should they suffer hardships when free-enterprise had produced an abundance.

Prime Minister Fraser should make some effort to turn on that light mentioned before the last Federal Elections, because he is groping in the dark when he keeps on talking about "economic problems". There is nothing wrong with the Australian economy as a production system. If there are genuine shortages, then surely the simple solution is to use existing plant and manpower to overcome them.

Mr. Fraser's friend and Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, Mr. Tony Street, bluntly said in a statement on February 22nd, (vide" The Sun", Melbourne February 23rd.) that the Government knew that its anti-inflation strategy would force up unemployment.
Mr. Street said that the Government was prepared to accept higher unemployment. "We are prepared to wear increased unemployment in some areas affected by Government spending to bring about an overall gain for the economy".

If the Government believes that they can force a shift from the public sector of the economy to the private sector by their strategy, they are fooling themselves. Now that businessmen are starting to grasp that their problems did not end by merely voting the Whitlam Government out, they are not only extremely cautious about any expansion but in many cases are putting staff off. There must be more bankruptcies.

Like Mr. Harold Wilson, Mr. Fraser may force some temporary reduction in the inflation rate, although this does not seem possible in the immediate future. But in the process he is not only going to generate increasing bitterness, but is going to damage the very economy he says he wants to assist. He is reported to have told his fellow Government Members that by Christmas his Government will be one of the most unpopular in history, and that they must prepare for this.

If Mr. Fraser is complacent because of his large parliamentary majority and the current demoralisation of the Labor Opposition, and believes that he can continue to impose his bitter "medicine" upon the Australian people, history will record the Fraser Government as having taken Australia down the road to revolution at a faster rate than any previous Government.

The Marxists of all types are at present keenly preparing for increasing political and industrial activity outside the parliamentary system. And yet the Fraser Government could go down in history as the one, which showed the whole world the way out of the growing catastrophe. The first step to increase effective purchasing power is to slash Sales Tax, starting with basic items in the economy. Lower prices would result in increased demand. The second step is to make available sufficient new credit to apply consumer discounts to food and clothing, and for the State Governments to reduce charges for transport and power.

Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen is the one Australian political leader to point the way for a genuine anti-inflation policy. His is the constructive way towards an Australia in which there is the necessary incentive for Australians to co-operate on a voluntary basis to show the rest of the world how a free society can operate for the benefit of its individual members.

The most constructive action Australians can take at this time is to write to Members of the Fraser-Anthony Government asking them where are the actual shortages, or shortages which could not quickly be overcome, with adequate purchasing power in the hands of consumers. They should be asked does not commonsense, apart from the urgent necessity of avoiding revolutionary conditions in Australia, indicate that what is physically possible should be made financially possible.
Yes, turn on the lights and have a look at truth, which has been kept in the dark for far too long.

RHODESIAN REALITIES

By Eric D. Butler
During the regular annual visits I have made to Rhodesia since 1964, 1 have been struck by the wide gap between the realities I knew and the hostile reports appearing in the world media. According to the media, Rhodesia has been on the verge of economic and political collapse on numerous occasions over the past ten years. "Bloodbaths" have been promised regularly. All of this has left the Rhodesians relatively unmoved, which has angered some critics to write of how the Rhodesians have been living in a "fool's paradise". One thing is certain: the Rhodesian: economy, in spite of sanctions, has expanded and provided, overall a good standard of living for both Rhodesian Africans and Europeans.

The loss of the two major outlet ports in Mozambique would certainly increase the trading problems of the Rhodesians. Of itself, it would not bring the Rhodesians to their knees. The Rhodesians have demonstrated that they possess plenty of typical British resourcefulness. Their biggest problem is going to be increasing Communist-backed terrorist activities. These are now being intensified, as predicted by Prime Minister Ian Smith.

There is no evidence to suggest that the Rhodesians are not capable of continuing to meet successfully this type of attack. Some press reports of Soviet tanks being used against Rhodesia will be treated with amusement by those who know the terrain on Rhodesia's borders. Tanks would be almost completely useless. The reports concerning the military build up against Rhodesia have undoubtedly been exaggerated as part of the psychological campaign designed to break the Rhodesian will to resist. The visit by British Government envoy Lord Greenhill is also part of this campaign.

It has been suggested that Mr. Smith should come to terms with the "moderate" African leaders while there is "still time to avoid a bloodbath". Mr. Smith has been applauded in the Rhodesian Parliament for bluntly stating that he had no intention of resigning his leadership. Rhodesian Chiefs continue to strongly support the stand by the Rhodesian Government, well aware that any handing of power to any of the "Nationalists", themselves bitterly divided, would result in Rhodesia moving down the same disastrous road taken in other "liberated" African States.
The hard truth about Rhodesia is that the International Communist conspiracy has marked it down for destruction.

Changing the Rhodesian Government will have not altered that truth. The British Government claims that Rhodesia is still legally part bf the British Commonwealth and is therefore subject to British law. But what would a British Government do if Russian-backed Cuban troops started to enter the war against Rhodesia? They would probably blame the wicked Europeans for "provoking" the situation.

The Rhodesians have once again been moved to the centre of the world stage. If they continue to stand firm as they have for ten years they could save themselves and rally to their support a growing number of the people of the Free World who sense that a line must be drawn somewhere, and a do-or-die-effort made.
The Fraser Government must declare where it stands.

MILK CONSUMPTION DROPPING IN NEW ZEALAND

Jeremy Lee reports on N.Z.
"The first steps in the Muldoon Government's reduction in the price discount scheme have resulted in an immediate drop in consumption. The "New Zealand Herald" (16/2/1976) reported as follows: 'Auckland milkmen have suffered considerable reductions in milk sales since the 4c-a-bottle increase took effect at the beginning of the month. Overall, milk consumption had dropped by more than 4 percent since the price increase, the New Zealand Milk Board district manager, Mr. V. Williamson, said yesterday. Milk vendors, however, report drops in sales of an average of 10 per cent - or $28 a week for the average milkman - in the few days the new prices have been in effect.
Mrs. A. Bromell, the secretary of the Auckland Branch of the Milk Roundsmen Union, said retail sales had dropped by between 10 and 15 per cent since the increase.'"

The reasoning behind the new policy is a cliché also increasingly heard in Australia - "the user pays". This is presented as an alternative to the welfare state situation, and is claimed to be a basic tenet of a free enterprise society. But the "user pays" cliché does nothing to fill the gap between prices and available purchasing power, and so increases, rather than diminishes the tyranny of inflation.

New Zealanders have enjoyed cheap dairy products for many years, resulting in a per capita consumption far ahead of any other nation in the Western world. Annual per capita consumption of milk is over 37 gallons, butter 35lb and cheese 9 lbs. If Mr. Muldoon believes that New Zealand's inflation can be stemmed by forcing consumers to pay higher costs for foodstuffs, and higher charges for services like the Post Office, he needs a lesson in elementary economics.

The new Government is also going through contortions in an effort to reduce its administrational costs. Latest restrictions have been extended to Local Government, which has been told that there will be massive reductions in loan finance this year. New Zealanders are in consequence beginning to realise that they will soon have large rate increases to contend with. Behind the rate increases is an increasing stress on the amalgamation of local authorities, with Regionalism offered as the panacea. The government cuts, the consequent squeeze and the elimination of price discounts are all prompted by the large deficit - the legacy of the outgoing Labour Government.

It is strange and illuminating to see the close parallel between the situation in Australia and New Zealand.

BRIEF COMMENTS

As we consider the current Australian political scene, we find it slightly amusing that some of the politicians and journalists, who have charged the League of Rights with being "obsessed" by the concept of conspiracy in history, are themselves promoting a number of conspiratorial stories. The Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, is seen as a villain who conspired with the CIA against Gough Whitlam. Now we are told that Gough Whitlam was "set-up" by the remarkable Mr. Henry Fischer, Mr. Fischer also probably working for the CIA. The tragedy about the non-stop drama concerning the Labor Party is that it ensures that there is not the slightest possibility of any effective criticism of the Fraser Government from the Opposition benches.

Tax indexation will not reverse inflation, although it will help to ensure that Governments wanting increased tax have to submit openly to the legislative process. Brazil is often quoted as a nation, which has adopted tax indexation with success. After the 1964 take over of the military-backed government, strikes and collective bargaining for higher wages were made illegal. But in spite of the frigid controls and tax indexation, inflation reached 30 per cent in Brazil in 1974 and still continues at a high rate.

An article entitled "LABOR'S JEWISH LOBBY" in "The National Times" of March 1 - 6 would have been unthinkable ten years ago. But as was predicted soon after the establishment of the Zionist State of Israel in 1948, eventually this creation would be seen as a disservice to the Jewish people everywhere.

THE 'TOO-MUCH-MONEY' NONSENSE

One of the most ridiculous and meaningless statements of our confused times is that "there is too much money". Too much money for what? What is sufficient money? These and similar questions can only be answered realistically by first accepting the truth about money: that it is a man-made symbol, with no inherent value of its own, and can only be discussed in relationship to prices.

One of our Sydney actionists has been corresponding with Liberal Member Philip Ruddock, Member for Parramatta. Mr. Ruddock disagrees with the statement by his elector that he has not met anyone who has too much money. He writes: "Whilst that would be true on a subjective basis, objectively, and the statistics show this, there is far more money in private hands than there has ever been at any time in Australia.
Until recently Savings Banks and Building Societies have had far more finance available to them than people were prepared to take in loans. The Savings Bond issue which recently closed will have absorbed some part of this excess".

Consulting economist H.W. Herbert rightly states, "The standard of debate on economic policy in Australia is incredibly low." Mr. Herbert deals effectively with the "excess money" nonsense in an article in "The Sunday Mail", Brisbane, of February 1st. He points out that between September and December of last year major trading banks' deposits increased by a mere 1.3 per cent. But over the same quarter prices increased by 5.6 per cent. Mr. Herbert comments, "As every businessman knows (but presumably not every politician!) it takes more money to finance stock and turnover when prices rise". There was actually a shrinkage in the volume of money. And now Mr. Lynch is engaged in reducing the volume even further.
As for those "excess" Savings Bank funds, Mr. Herbert further comments: "Interest on $700 million of Savings Bonds will cost the Treasury, and hence the taxpayer, $515 million during their seven year life. What an enormous waste of money, and by a Government which is straining every nerve to cut Government spending, so it says".

The major problem confronting producers generally is that there is insufficient PURCHASING POWER, irrespective of the volume of money, to buy at a profitable price what has been produced, or could be produced. Attempts to reduce the volume of money can only lead to disaster. Members like Mr. Ruddock might be asked if they will consider resigning and facing their electors at a by-election if, say, at the end of 1976, their policy of taking "excess money" off the people has failed to solve the problems they claim they are curing.