Crispin Hull

There are now hopeful signs in Papua New Guinea that order can be gained from chaos now the prime ministership and government of Bill Skate is at an end.

Skate attempted to cling to power to the end. He had already adjourned Parliament for six months in order to avoid a motion of no-confidence. He then tried to woo or perhaps bribe enough backers to stay in power either as Prime Minister or as a back-bencher with a titular Prime Minister in John Pundari. One of Skate’s advisers was caught with a bag of cash at Madang Airport. Madang was where MPs opposed to Skate were housed just before the confidence vote.
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The ACT Minister for Planning, Brendan Smyth, is right to say that the planning appeal process should not be used by rival businesses to prevent development. He was commenting after using his call-in powers to put an end to appeals against a cinema complex and licensed premises in Tuggeranong. The appeals had been lodged by rival businesses.

Despite Mr Smyth’s sensible sentiments, however, there are dangers with the call-in powers. If the Government had a better track record on planning retail space and a better track record on protecting residential amenity, the community might have more trust in a system which contains such sweeping power for a Minister to approve or block development at the stroke of a pen. Sometimes such power is needed to cut away appeals with no planning merit whatever, as was apparently the case here.
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The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has refused to put Kakadu National park on the in-danger list, and rightly so. However, it will revisit the issue in six months time. Only one of the 21 member nations, Cuba, voted for an in-danger listing.

There has been a confusion of two issues: uranium mining and the world heritage value of the park. People opposed to uranium mining and the whole nuclear cycle have latched on to the park issue as part of their campaign to prevent mining at Jabiluka, which is inside the park boundary. But the cultural and natural heritage values of the park are not threatened by the mine. The park is in better condition now than at any time since its declaration, 18 years ago. And it is likely to improve Jabiluka mine or not. The park has been well looked after under both Coalition and Labor administrations, and is better looked after than any of half a dozen overseas world-heritage-declared sites. The campaign has not been about heritage, but about uranium mining. It was a misdirected campaign and deserved to fail. That is the case irrespective of whether one is opposed to nuclear power.
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ACT Government MLAs have got themselves into a bind over the abortion question. They should have left well enough alone a year ago. There was no need to change the law. Moreover, any change to the law would only result in women wanting abortion gong across the border to Queanbeyan. No territory is an island.

But no, Independent Paul Osborne, who is a strong Catholic and has strong anti-abortion views, put up a private members’ Bill to restrict abortion and the Government felt he had to be appeased somehow because the Government needed his vote to stay in office. And it still does. So here we are a few weeks after the no-confidence motion over Bruce Stadium facing another community and Assembly debate on abortion.

A year ago, Mr Osborne sought to heavily restrict abortion in the ACT. Oddly enough he caused some ire in the Catholic Church because his law might have allowed abortion in some circumstances, such as grave medical risk or, in cases before 12 weeks of pregnancy, in circumstances of grave psychological risk, whereas Church teaching is generally to have the woman to carry a child to birth. Giving any significant ground whatever was an anathema to the Church. Mr Osborne also incurred the wrath of women’s groups who saw any tightening of present practice through legal definition of when an abortion might take place as an infringement of women’s rights.
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The 10th United Nations report on Human Development issued yesterday reveals some interesting trends and makes some misguided suggestions as to how the world might be made better.

The report shows that globalisation is creating more inequality. The average income in the five richest countries is 74 times the level in the poorest five, the widest inequality gap recorded. The 20 per cent of population that lives in the developed world enjoy 86 per cent of the consumption; the bottom 20 per cent has just 1 per cent of it. Thirty years ago, the gap between the richest fifth and the poorest was only 30 to 1.

So the report calls for a rewriting of the rules of globalisation. It wants a new global bank in addition to the IMF and a world investment trust that could redistribute incomes globally. It said the challenge for the new millennium was to find rules and institutions to make global markets and competition work for the people and not just for profits. It also calls for a “”bit” tax on internet use to generate finance for the spread of new technology. It condemned the fact that only the rich in the rich countries were benefiting from the internet.
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The 10th United Nations report on Human Development issued yesterday reveals some interesting trends and makes some misguided suggestions as to how the world might be made better.

The report shows that globalisation is creating more inequality. The average income in the five richest countries is 74 times the level in the poorest five, the widest inequality gap recorded. The 20 per cent of population that lives in the developed world enjoy 86 per cent of the consumption; the bottom 20 per cent has just 1 per cent of it. Thirty years ago, the gap between the richest fifth and the poorest was only 30 to 1.

So the report calls for a rewriting of the rules of globalisation. It wants a new global bank in addition to the IMF and a world investment trust that could redistribute incomes globally. It said the challenge for the new millennium was to find rules and institutions to make global markets and competition work for the people and not just for profits. It also calls for a “”bit” tax on internet use to generate finance for the spread of new technology. It condemned the fact that only the rich in the rich countries were benefiting from the internet.
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Two very different views are emerging about The Canberra Hospital. The public has very little chance of deciding where the truth lies and therefore whether the politicians they vote for are doing a good job.

On one hand, we have a line of research from past Grants Commission reports, a more recent Productivity Commission inquiry and several other consultants’ reports. These suggest that The Canberra Hospital is costing up to 50 per cent over the national average and that the extra cost can be put down to inefficiencies of one sort or another and higher incomes than necessary for doctors, administrators, nurses and others. Along with this research are suggestions that The Canberra Hospital does not do a brilliant job medically compared to hospitals that can specialise more in Sydney. These hospitals have the ability to attract the very best in their fields because of the degree of specialisation and the volume of work in the specialisation.

On the other hand, a very detailed study by the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation paints a different picture. It shows a hospital that works in a different way from virtually every other hospital in the country. The Canberra Hospital takes the most serious cases from a very large area in NSW. Moreover, as it is the only major hospital for miles around it does not specialise, unlike hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne. It tends, therefore, to treat a patient from start to finish as one event. In short, Canberra hospital episodes (separations, in the jargon) tend to be longer, more complex and more comprehensive than the average in other states. Further, hospitals in larger cities had lower cost structures.
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This is a whacky idea, but it illustrates that we need to do something about a disturbing trend.

More of the whacky idea anon. First to the disturbing trend. Labor and capital are getting out of balance again, but in a different way than in the past.

At various times in history capital has had the upper hand. At other times labour has done comparatively well. Typically, as the bust cycle goes through labour is in over-supply and people have to lower their wage and employment expectation. As the boom cycle goes through, labour is in short supply and wages and employment shoot up and unemployment goes down.

Two reports this week illustrate the new problem. We have a boom, but labour is not is short supply. Wages are not booming. Unemployment is staying static. This is new territory.
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The Self-Government Act governs no-confidence motions. Kate Carnell is both Treasurer and Chief Minister.

A no-confidence motion passed by the Assembly against a mere Minister (such as Treasurer) of itself has no legal force. The Self-Government Act says only that a Minister may be dismissed at any time by the Chief Minister.

The only force a no-confidence motion against a Minister has is an implied threat by the Assembly to vote no confidence in the Chief Minister unless she dismissed the Minister. So when no-confidence was voted in Sports Minister Wayne Berry in 1994 (check), he had to resign or be dismissed otherwise then Chief Minister Rosemary Follett might have faced a no-confidence motion.
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The ACT Legislative Assembly will vote today on a no-confidence motion in the Chief Minister and Treasurer Kate Carnell. At immediate issue is the spending of money on the redevelopment of Bruce Stadium without the approval of the Assembly. The broader question is whether there ought to be a change of government.

If Mrs Carnell had only been Treasurer the Assembly could have voted no-confidence in her as Treasurer and the Chief Minister heading the government could have stayed in power. But Mrs Carnell holds both positions. Under the Self-Government Act, a federal law which in effect is the ACT’s Constitution, a successful motion of self-confidence in the Chief Minister results in every minister’s position being vacated. It is then for the Assembly to vote for a new Chief Minister and new ministry. A Chief Minister cannot call an early election.
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