It is now obvious that there is no difference between the major parties on the question of international security. Whatever one thinks of the policies on refugees and the war in Afghanistan, and this newspaper has expressed grave reservations, both major parties are at one. So the issues that should decide the election are domestic ones. It is on domestic issues that voters should make up their minds.
Yesterday, Labor Leader Kim Beazley officially launched his campaign. Mr Beazley gave significant attention to health, education and jobs. He paid welcome attention to higher education and research. The 200 per cent research tax concession will get industry involved more. The national institute for mathematics and the extra money for CSIRO, although not huge amounts, are a recognition of the importance of pure research and the fact that in a country the size of Australia, government has to do the lion’s share of funding pure research. With significant extra funding, Australia will fall out of the international research-sharing loop as a nation not having a significant enough contribution to make sharing worthwhile.
There has been a growing and diverse group of people warning about the danger of Australia slipping into world irrelevancy.
Labor’s plan to reverse the direction of the Coalition’s school spending is also welcome. State aid to poorer private schools is reasonable, but the unnecessarily high levels of money to schools that can look after themselves is not.
While Labor’s promises on education are an important symbolic statement, the real test will come in translating the money to results – a better educated society, better opportunity for young people and some economic spin-offs. Another important element will be whether Labor can resist the temptation to spend beyond its means. It has promised to stay in surplus. On this score, though, the Coalition is in not much better shape. In the past year, the Coalition has demonstrated a capacity to squander money.
On the GST, Mr Beazley repeated his earlier “”roll-back” announcement of removing the GST on a few health- and education-related items and gas and electricity bills. These do not amount to much. Labor has misplayed the GST card. It should have followed the Paul Keating 1993 plan and said that if the Coalition brought in a GST Labor would let it through the Senate. Labor should have let it through, food and all, blaming the Coalition for any fall-out, instead of promising a partial rescue which can never amount to much.
Mr Beazley was silent on the critical issue of media policy (except for some extra funding for the ABC). The Coalition – like Labor Governments before it – has fallen into the trap of making mogul specific policies instead of a policy for the benefit of all Australians. It has made an utter hash of digital television. It has squandered great opportunities to increase the amount of material available to Australians. Labor should have promised something to correct this.
While Labor’s support for Medicare and after-hours doctors’ visits are welcome, Labor should have promised to do something about the wasteful health-insurance rebate which has taken valuable health resources away from health and into the pockets of those with insurance to spend on whatever they like. Age-based premiums on its own is enough to get more people back to insurance without giving a bonus to people who already have it.
In all, though, Mr Beazley has put a domestic agenda which shows some vision for Australia’s future. The extra money he is promising is directed at general national ends, rather than pandering to sectional interests, as much of the Coalition’s domestic spending agenda has been in the past year and promises to be next term.