Crispin Hull

Slowly the political forces are moving towards the full privatisation of Telstra. A year ago, only the Liberal party would countenance its privatisation. Now its Coalition partner, the Nationals, have opened the door towards privatisation in this term provided a review found that services in rural and regional Australia were up to scratch. Moreover, Green senator Bob Brown has suggested that he would think about allowing the privatisation in return for major expenditure and policy commitments on environmental concerns. A third of the ranks of the Democrats have said the issue ought to be looked at in the context of the national interest and One Nation Senator Len Harris has said he would agree to a privatisation in some circumstances provided it were delayed for 18 months. Even the Opposition Labor Party has stated it would permit a full privatisation of part of Telstra – the service provider element – provided the infrastructure were left in public hands.

These stances by the non-Liberal elements in the Federal Parliament might seem quite encouraging for the Liberals. The trouble is that it is no use getting all the opponents half way to agreeing to a privatisation. Rather the Liberals need to get most of the opponents all the way to agreeing to a privatisation.
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The story was quite horrific. I knew of the man, by name and sight. He was a solicitor and had something to do with the school. I learned later that he had had a stroke and collapsed, just after turning on the hot water tap as he was about to get into the shower. The burns were horrific and he died a short-time later. Such a story remains powerfully in the memory.

So even with this horror event in my mind, let me relate a classic story of Nanny State’s left hand not knowing what its right hand is doing on water temperature.

I have never come across a similar scalding event. A few children get scalded each year, but no-one dies of it. Nevertheless, a hot-water standard is slowly being imposed upon all of us. I learned of this when doing the socially and environmentally responsible thing by installing a solar hot-water system – and, incidentally taking advantage of the ACT and Federal Government’s socially and environmentally responsible $1500 subsidy — all in the cause of reducing greenhouse gases by using the sun instead of fossil fuels to heat the water.
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This is very much a Labor Budget – the post-war Labor tradition. It means you have to take the bad with the good.

Tax the rich. Tax the middle and the upper middle. Tax business. In this budget stamp duty, land tax, payroll tax, car registration, tip fees and parking fees went up. It hurts job growth and wealth creation but raises money for the worthwhile if spent wisely.

Spend on public education. Spend on public hospitals. This budget has substantial increases. Fine if spent at the pointy end. But this Budget as an unspent $7.2 million slush fund for anything that might come up in the year.
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The ACT Government was offered $10 million in the lead-up to this year’s Budget in the form of an upfront fee for Casino Canberra to get poker machines.

The money would have obviated the need for any tax increases. The Government refused the proposal.

The office of Treasurer Ted Quinlan confirmed the approach by the casino, but refused to outline any details.
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Floriade entry fee

Stamp duty up by up to 22 per cent

Land tax rises
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The biggest hurdle Chief Minister Jon Stanhope has with his proposal to increase the Legislative Assembly to 23 Members with three six-member and one five-member electorates is the law that entrenches the Hare-Clark system in the ACT.

That Act – which was approved by 65 percent of the electorate at a referendum in 1995 — states that at a general election, “”an odd number of members of the Legislative Assembly shall be elected from each electorate”. It said there must be a minimum of five in each electorate. To overturn that, Labor would need a two thirds vote of the Assembly or a simple majority in a referendum.

Neither is very likely. The Liberal Party on its own would be able to defeat the 23-Member proposition. The Greens are also against it. If it went to the vote, voters would rightly see it as a fiddle. How the Labor Party can put up such a doomed proposition beggars belief.
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George Orwell’s political misnomers are still with us.

The Australian (ital) Labor (end ital) Party talks about share issues. The (ital) National (end ital) Party clings to a few seats in just the rural part of the nation. And the (ital) Liberal (end ital) Party proposes draconian laws in the name of fighting terrorism.

Today’s Liberal Party has reverted to the days before John Stuart Mill when liberty was confined to individuals doing what they like in economic markets, rather than political and social liberty for its own sake.
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Labor and the Democrats are out of constitutional order.

Their plan to knock back the proposed pharmaceutical benefits, superannuation and disability changes breach the intent of the Constitution, just as the Coalition’s abuse of its Senate numbers in 1975 breached the Constitution’s intent.

Perhaps this is the more important fall-out of the Budget than the superb media management of it or that it possibly indicates John Howard wants to stay around for a while.
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The proposal by Transport Minister John Anderson to take a longer term view of the transport needs of the nation is a welcome one. Often political figures are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Too frequently, Ministers are criticised for not taking the long view. But as soon as they do they are accused of mean motives. In the case of the transport proposal and the intergeneration report produced by Treasurer Peter Costello at Budget time, the cry went up that it was just an excuse to cut federal funding. It is important for governments to look beyond the next couple of elections. Australia is facing a doubling of freight in the next 15 to 20 years. Labor has already proposed greater integration of road and rail. Mr Anderson wants that, too. But he also wants to get more private investment into road and rail transport and for the states to contribute more, using their increased GST revenues.

The call for the states to put in more GST revenue while the Federal Government marks time on funding is an early indication of the long-term difficulties with the GST model. At present GST revenue goes unconditionally to the states and it is rising. It means less federal control of total government spending other means are found to force the states to do the Federal Government’s bidding.
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