Telstra
Rather than being progressively sold off Telstra should be restored to full public ownership.
Finance can be obtained from the Reserve Bank. Ideally, compensation for higher income earners should not exceed 25 percent of stock value.
If necessary the federal constitution should be changed to facilitate this expropriation or renationalisation with less than full compensation should be effected via the states.
Alternatively, a market-price buy-back can be funded by increased taxes on higher income recipients.
Assuming comparable efficiency virtually all non-wealthy Australians would be better-off financially if profits from major businesses were distributed in an egalitarian fashion instead of mostly to the affluent.
Anyone inclined to the view that public ownership means inefficiency should consult the contemporary market socialist writings of John Roemer (A Future for Socialism), David Schweickart (Against Capitalism), Leland Stauber (A New Program for Democratic Socialism) and James Yunker (Socialism Revised and Modernised) before making a judgement.
Rydalmere NSW
Democrats and Greens
As a member of the Greens, I have long nursed the hope that the Greens and the Democrats could form an alliance, or amalgamate. In the last weeks I came to realise that this could never happen.
When Cheryl Kernot defected to the ALP many of us felt that this was an awful betrayal. But the rest of the parliamentary wing of the Democrats appeared ready to join forces with the Liberal party, helping them to realise many of their worst ideologies.
There are good, principled, people in the Democrats who, I expect, will now decide it is time to join the Greens. The ambitious Democrats will join the ALP.
It would seem that when John Howard's GST legislation looked doomed, he had some fatal attraction for Meg Lees and her colleagues. It is too late now to turn back and show concern for the environment or social justice. That constituency will desert the Democrats for ever.
Anyone for a gagged debate?
Jokes aside, I feel very sad at what is happening to the Democrats who once stood for something worthwhile. If they now implode upon themselves there will be many smiling faces among Meg Lees' new-found friends.
Camp Hill Qld
East Timor and Indonesian elections
Given the apparent result of the Indonesian elections it is difficult to understand why the resistance movement in East Timor is standing on the sidelines while the paramilitary pro-integration groups terrorise the population.
If Megawati Sukarnoputri becomes president it is unlikely that the incoming government will allow independence for East Timor whatever the outcome of the referendum. Incongruous as it may seem the return of a Golkar dominated government may be the only peaceful path.
A return to armed struggle seems inevitable but the lack of success of that struggle since the invasion indicates the need for a new direction.
Alawa NT
Tax dodgers
An essential reform to the taxation system must surely be to close tax loopholes which encourage minimisation and dodging by the rich of enormous amounts, apparently in the billions of dollars.
The Sun-Herald's article on May 30 illustrates schemes used to do just that. On page 53 it illustrates at least eleven areas used very effectively to help the rich get richer.
I added up the amounts shown in the article and it came to many billions of dollars, including, for example, $740 million not going into revenue because of the trade off of parts of salaries for company cars.
Never forget that wage and salary earners have their tax deducted from their pay before they get it. So they are not the dodgers.
Balmain NSW
The G Spot Tax
June 25, 1999 will go down as THE "red letter day" in Australia — in its true meaning — not in the way Australians use the phrase.
This Federal government played Meg Lees like a finely tuned Stradivarius. They found her G spot. With orgasmic acclaim, Ms. Lees went limp and exclaimed "... it's soooo gooooood!" Henceforth, Australia's taxation system will be known by all and sundry as the G Spot Tax!
And, after all this narcissistic political incest, what do Australians and Australia gain?
The ordinary worker will still pay far more than his/her fair share of tax. Industry and commerce will still pay little or no tax. Foreign companies (sorry, the government of Australia) will still pay NO tax.
It was interesting to note that all Democrat politicians in the Senate, except two, abstained (chickens!) from voting. The two who did vote, voted against the G Spot Tax!
So Australia, where are our leaders? Where is our future? Do we really need politicians? Aren't our leaders really the farmers, the Australian industrialists, the miners, the housewives ? the children of this country? We certainly don't need "politicians" to destroy this country of ours. We can do it on our own and take the responsibility for it!
Wandal Qld
[Abridged.]
Kosova killing fields
Physicians for Human Rights has just released its findings from interviews with 11,400 refugees selected randomly from the camps in Albania and Macedonia.
The report asserts that 91 percent were forced to leave their homes "simply on the grounds that they were Kosova Albanians", i.e., not just because of some association with the KLA as the apologists assert. Those were not actually forced, fled due to fear of Serbian forces or destruction of property. Only 0.4 percent fled due to KLA pressure, and not a single refugee reported they fled from NATO bombing. And this finding from an organisation that condemned the killing of Serb civilians by NATO bombs.
Other startling findings include that one in three refugees actually witnessed Serbian forces engaged in killing or saw dead bodies, and nearly half of all respondents witnessed Serbian destruction of places of worship (Mosques, Catholic churches).
Perhaps this report, along with the daily uncovering of the Kosova's version of the Killing Fields, might nudge some of these "leftists" into understanding that you need to oppose imperialism — in this case NATO's own barbaric war — for what it is, not because you think you can find some mitigating feature about the other side. Especially when the other side is open about its racist anti-Albanian and anti-Moslem views.
Sydney
Racism
The former Liberal minister for Aboriginal affairs, Peter Howson, has further demonstrated the extent of the Liberal party's racism. In the most recent edition of the conservative magazine Quadrant, Howson argued that the stolen generation of Aboriginal children weren't stolen at all: they were "rescued". (This may sound peculiar to the countless Aboriginal children kidnapped, beaten and raped.)
Particularly pernicious was Howson's idea that public pressure on the government to apologise for the stolen generation actually increased One Nation's support. Quite the opposite is the case.
Public support for a prime ministerial apology is a basic opposition to state sponsored oppression of indigenous Australians. The fact that John Howard has failed to apologise for the Australian government's racist atrocities should come as no surprise.
Despite the Third World conditions average indigenous Australians face, the Howard government has cut Aboriginal housing, health care, education, and land rights. The government is continuing a legacy of racial oppression.
Should the rise of One Nation be blamed on those who oppose racist oppression or on the politicians who perpetuate it? To ask that question is to answer it.
Sydney
Kosova and NATO
The editorial in GL 365 points out that NATO is now the direct obstacle to self-determination for Kosova. This has been illustrated by incidents in which NATO troops have forcibly disarmed and even arrested Kosova Liberation Army troops.
However, I disagree with the editorial's analysis of NATO's motives. It says: "The imperialist powers of NATO have no significant economic interests at stake in their war against Serbia, but they do have political goals".
In fact, NATO has both economic and political goals. Kosova has the greatest concentration of mineral wealth in the Balkans, and imperialist capital wants access to this wealth. The main political goals are to create stable capitalist regimes in the Balkan region and prevent the emergence of a socialist alternative.
The editorial says: "Success for NATO means the preservation of state borders in the southern Balkans which were established and legitimated by a conference of the imperialist powers in 1913".
NATO may well decide that the best solution is to allow the creation of a nominally independent Kosova, but attempt to ensure that it is ruled by a reliable capitalist government. NATO troops might remain in an "independent" Kosova for many years.
Real self-determination for Kosova requires the removal of NATO troops.
Melbourne
[Abridged.]
Electoral systems
Congratulations to Allen Myers. His recent article "Labor, Liberal aim to trim democracy" provided an overview of Australian electoral systems, the implications of the proposed NSW electoral "reforms" and a proposal for a system of representation in parliaments which would be more reflective of how people actually voted. The article was jam-packed with detail, but was concise enough to be very readable and informative.
I was working on a very similar article which I intended to distribute amongst Victorian Greens Party Members. I've abandoned it now; I'm just going to refer them to Myers' article.
Campaign Coordinator, Victorian State Election 1999/2000, The Australian Greens
Melbourne
Tax time perks?
Ordinary workers must be contemplating their annual tax form with some bemusement. What extra refund juice can be squeezed after most people have worked longer hours, with more intensity, or perhaps, for those less fortunate, in an array of casual positions?
What is the reality? It will be a 10 minute exercise for most of us. The tax legislation has been amended so much that most workers have little that can be claimed legitimately. Its pretty difficult to substantiate the use of a private vehicle or work related clothing or study.
This can leave an especially sour taste when the latest round of rorts have been exposed from the elected parliamentary leaders. Ferguson, McClelland and Kernot of Labor and the likes of Abbot and Entsch of the Liberals and Colston are still writhing in the background. Howard claims that his guidelines on declaring conflicts of interest should not be taken too literally.
Workers, on the other hand, should not treat the taxation guidelines too lightly, as serious fines can be imposed for the slightest breaches. Thanks.
A further example of the contradictions of a social and economic system that is designed to enhance the privileges of those who most actively support and uphold the capitalist profit making status quo at the expense of the majority who work and struggle to survive.
Adelaide