Curtin impugned
Your denunciation of militarism ("Lest we forget what?", Editorial, GLW #446) was weakened by the attack on Labor's World War II PM, John Curtin. It was "Pig Iron Bob" Menzies, not Curtin, who sent Australian troops to the Middle East. Curtin in fact brought the 9th Division home despite the protestations of Winston Churchill, who wanted to send the Australians to Burma.
To say that Curtin then sent forces "to defend Australia's own colonial possessions, particularly Papua New Guinea" is a travesty of the facts. With Japanese imperial forces at our doorstep, Curtin's concern was to save Australia from invasion. Curtin is remembered as a World War I anti-conscriptionist, a socialist and a patriot.
Phil Robins
Toorak Gardens SA
Natural Law Party
Stephen Doric (Write on, GLW #446) defends the Natural Law Party and the fake Buddhist faith-healer multinational corporation called Maharishi TM, claiming that they, "Fulfil the goals of the labour movement". But where is the evidence Doric?
If Doric thinks the rest of us are gullible enough to believe that the Natural Law Party is progressive in any way, simply on account of the fact that he is a member of a union, well — thanks for insulting our intelligence!
The Natural Law Party is an arch-reactionary organisation. Admittedly, I haven't seen more recent literature but in the 1993 federal election it promised "perfect government" (always a danger sign) through a range of policies, including a flat tax rate of 25%, a $1.65 billion cut in health spending and the maintenance of existing "defence" spending. The NLP also proposed to educate away "the problem of abortion".
Maharishi TM is a religious cult that focuses on recruiting corporate executive types by atoning their guilt. They are loopy and claim they can levitate, but they still worship Milton Friedman just like the normal corporate elite.
Rohan Gaiswinkler
New Town Tas
{Abridged]
Greens and globalisation
As one of the organisers of the M1 anti-corporate blockade of the Sydney stock exchange, I was impressed by the range of groups that lent their support to the action.
The visible presence of the Australian Greens at the protest was welcome, as was the participation of their NSW Senate candidate, Kerry Nettle, on the speaking platform.
It would have been even more welcome, however, had Nettle's speech been more than a blatant electioneering plug for the Greens themselves.
Nettle's comments that the Greens were "the only political party opposed to corporate globalisation", showed astonishing ignorance (and arrogance).
I, along with many of M1's central organisers, am a member of the Socialist Alliance, a new electoral party formed primarily by anti-corporate activists. The Socialist Alliance has the specific aim of building and strengthening the anti-corporate movement.
I can only presume that Nettle ignored the Socialist Alliance as, unlike the Greens, we see parliamentary struggle as a way of building grass roots movements, not as an end in itself.
Nettle's further claim that the Greens were the international "voice" of the movement I find disturbing given that the German and French Green parties, as part of coalition governments, are promoting the kind of profits-first policies the anti-corporate movement opposes.
The anti-corporate movement provides us with an exciting opportunity to organise and mobilise thousands of people in opposition to corporate greed. It will not be helped by deceptive vote grabbing antics.
Sam Wainwright
Campsie NSW
@letterhead =
Margarita Windischs' article in GLW #447 commented, "The M1 protest then marched past Parliament House, where a small group of Liberal students quickly retreated behind police lines."
That isn't entirely accurate. The march stopped at the front of Parliament House. There was a group of (small "l") liberal students there, with a banner that read, "Globalise not vandalise". The protesters then began chanting slogans such as "Liberal students, fuck off" and "This is what democracy looks like" as they stole the banner and burnt it. Although many of us did retreat behind the police line, many of us were taken behind the line for our own safety.
Yes, we disagree with what you had to say and how you went about saying it, but none of us would deny you the right to peaceful protest. I see no way any member of that protest could justify what was perpetrated against us that day. You could have ignored us. You could have spoken against us. You could have moved along without incident. You chose not to. You always have a choice.
Michael Cooper
Melbourne
Tax (non-)payers
An interesting article graced the pages of the Age a few weeks ago. Australian Tax Office statistics revealed shock, horror, that Australian corporations pay very little tax, if any at all.
Trusts (bank accounts called trusts handed over to entities or family members with little taxation liability) are just one way the rich avoid paying their way. In 1998-99, with 590,000 companies on ATO's books, just over 250,000 paid any tax at all, with more than half of the rest telling the tax office they were operating at a loss. That is: only 42% of companies in Australia paid any tax.
Breaking it up, 72% of all mining companies paid no tax, using research and development tax breaks through "exploration"; 57% of all companies in retailing operated tax-free, as did 65% of companies involved in farming and 56% of those in construction and manufacturing.
The figures aren't surprising. Capitalist governments design their taxation systems for the rich. A worker paying a third of an average wage to the government in tax while millionaires don't pay a cent? No problem! This ain't a level playing field!
So when you pay your 10% tax on a cooked chook and get your measly tax return back, spare a thought for all those poor rich bastards laughing all the way to their bank.
Rachel Evans
Heidelberg Vic
Nike picket
Regarding James Crafti's article in GLW #447 ("Mounted police attack Nike picket"), what struck me was the disconcerting fact that we are living in a militarist, imperial state. The use of police horses reminds me of the anachronism of the cavalry, which is just one weapon of the bourgeois state rule. It seems that what is old is new again.
It is telling that Frederick Engels and Karl Marx used the term for the state terror as protection of the state by a body of armed men.
Further, what the fines showed was the unmitigated gall of the by-laws officers to disregard the very same liberal principles of freedom of speech and association, in reaction to an increasingly active, combative and radicalising proletariat.
What is inspiring to me is the solidarity shown immediately by the Nike picketers to aid the stalls of the ISO and Socialist Alternative under threat of confiscation. This is just one example of the fire in the belly of the working class at present. The revolution is in good hands.
Craig R. Hall