Crispin Hull

In May 1977, an advisory referendum was held to determine Australia’s National Song. That referendum offered four choices; God Save the Queen, Advance Australia Fair, the Song of Australia and Waltzing Matilda. At the time there was no argument about the range of choice. What a pity a similar thing could not take place with this year’s republic and preamble referendums. The choice could be constitutional monarchy, elected president or indirectly president on the republic and on the preamble there could be a choice between Prime Minister’s Howard’s preamble and the model put up this week by Labor, the Democrats and the Greens (the LDG preamble), or no change.

Unfortunately, the Constitution does not permit a choice of results when putting a question for a change to the Constitution. It demands a simple Yes or No to a single proposition.

So we have an argument over what sort of preamble and what sort of republic with the result that we might get no change at all, even though opinion polls suggest that change on both counts is desired by a majority of people.
Continue reading “1999_04_april_leader30apr capital flows”

Treasurer Peter Costello made a timely warning about international flows of private capital at International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington this week. Mr Costello warned about money flowing “”across optic fibres in milliseconds in volumes that dwarf official flows, where the private sector is pumping much more capital into the economy that the government sector”. He argued for mechanisms that can seal with such a flow.

However, he did not give any details about what controls he would like to see. The major concern has been the speed with which capital can be withdrawn from economies that show evidence of falling performance. The concern is that the flight of capital makes the situation worse for the target economy. That was illustrated sharply in the past year in several Asian economies, particularly Indonesia. Indeed, a comparison can be made between the Asian economic crisis and that of the developed world in 1929 which was precipitated by the same mania for fear and greed which caused the Wall Street crash. Since 1929, developed nations have been able to institute some regulation and other mechanisms to prevent or at least ameliorate downward spirals of confidence.

It requires the exercise of sovereignty by governments. In the case of preventing another crisis like that which hit Asia a year ago, it might have to be a global exercise.
Continue reading “1999_04_april_leader29apr media ownership”

The chairman of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd, Professor Fred Hilmer, this week called the media ownership rules obsolete. Well, if he is not right now, he soon will be.

Converging technologies will make a mockery of the rules which prevent one person controlling a newspaper as well as a radio or television station in one market. There are also rules that prevent foreign control of television stations and a requirement for government approval of foreign investment generally which takes in investment in media. The reason for the rules is to ensure diversity of opinion and content and to ensure Australian culture does not get swamped. Another reason is to promote competition, but there is no reason why the promotions of competition in the media cannot be achieved in the same way as any other industry – via the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and independent statutory body that can act of its own volition irrespective of the view of the government of the day.

Professor Hilmer said a convergence of technologies was changing the face of the media industry and any reform needed to reflect the broader picture. “”IT is converging, telecommunications is converging, media is converging and in a proper model of competition policy it can’t look narrowly at one part of the market — media — but you’ve got to look at other markets and deregulation in all of the areas that may be affected, not just one piece.”
Continue reading “1999_04_april_leader28apr bruce”

ACT taxpayers are entitled to a little more clarity on the question of funding the upgrade of Bruce Stadium. Questions arise on several fronts: legal, financial and political.

The Government argues as follows: It wanted to see an upgrade of the stadium so it could host Olympic soccer and other rugby and league games. This, it thought, would be beneficial to the territory, attracting visitors, money and jobs. It would cost, it estimated, $27 million. It thought that the public should put $12.3 million to the cost. It sought and obtained appropriation from the Legislative Assembly for that amount. The rest of the $27 million should come from the private sector. Rather than obtain the $15 million from the private sector upfront, the Government thought it would build first and get the private-sector commitment later.

Financially, that made some sense. There was no point raising money from the private sector and paying interest on it while construction went ahead. However, there was probably nothing to stop the Government organising private finance on a pay-as-you-build basis.
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Australians spent record amounts on gambling last year. They wagered $94.5 billion, or $6,835 per adult. They lost $11.3 billion, or an average of $818 an adult. This was up from $736 per adult the previous year.

Total government gambling revenue was more than $3.8 billion, a rise of more than $400 million.

It is a sad state of affairs. The real risk is that state and territory Governments will become hooked on the gambling revenue. Rather than imposing taxes as a means of discouraging gambling, the taxes have raised so much money that the states and territory governments cannot seem to do without it. So they encourage gambling and allow more forms of it.

The tragedy is that the burden falls on people with low income, those who can least afford it. Moreover, problem gamblers cause other social families which cost society.
Continue reading “1999_04_april_leader26apr gambling”

The ACT Government is moving to make clubs contribute more to charity and sport. About time, too. The clubs, which for so long with hand on heart have said they exist for the community good, should have nothing to be concerned about. They are going to be required by law to contribute 5 per cent of their poker machine profits for charity and sport. One would have thought that all clubs were doing that much at least. After all, they are getting tax-free status for their poker machine revenues and for a lot of their trading activities and they have a monopoly on poker machines in the ACT. One would have thought this legislation would have been unnecessary.

Alas, no. The legislation is necessary because over the years poker machines have had a pernicious influence on many clubs in the ACT. The clubs have grown fat on cash that flows from the machines. Many clubs lost a lot of their community spirit. Many lost their raison d’etre, opening their doors to all and sundry, charging only nominal memberships fees and for all intents and purposes being little more than businesses with an unfair tax advantage over hotels. Some have a “”membership” base so huge that they could not possibly have any community of interest (other than perhaps they are human).

Nearly $1 billion a year is poured through poker machines in the ACT every year. So you would think that sport and charity would be doing well. Not a bit of it. For quite some time people suspected this. Last year it was proved. The Commissioner for ACT Revenue issued a report following a requirement a year earlier that clubs give details of their sporting and charitable gifts.

That report made it quite plain that the clubs were giving a false impression to the community. The impression they sought to give was one of abundant charity. The fact was parsimony. Out of the $950 million that went through poker machines only $2.2 million ( 0.23 per cent) went to sport and charity, plus some more in kind. Winners were paid about 85 per cent of what went through the machines and tax and overheads took some more, leaving $86.8 million in profit. Only 11 per cent of that ($9.2 million) left club doors to the world outside and was submitted in the returns to the commissioner under the new provisions of the Gaming Machine Act as “”contributions donated to a charitable organisation; for a charitable purpose; or for an organisation declared . . . as [being for] the benefit of the community”.
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Virtually every Anzac Day is marked with some minor or major controversy that threatens to impinge upon the dignity of the day. There have been controversies in past years over whether a rugby game between Australia and New Zealand could use the name Anzac Test, over whether the march belonged to the Returned and Services League or the people as women sought to join the march to protest against rape in war, over whether Anzac biscuits were an unwelcome commercialisation, whether youngsters can wear their parents’ medals in the march, and this year over whether a public holiday should be declared on the Monday if Anzac Day falls on a Sunday and the boycott of Serbian veterans in light of events in Kosovo. On each occasion various ex-service organisations put their view, quite rightly, in a way directed at ensuring the day remains sacred. However, each year the Anzac spirit transcends whatever ephemeral controversy is afoot. The meaning of Anzac Day is too profound and too enduring to be affected.

Indeed, it seems that in the past decade, at the very time we are seeing the last original Anzacs pass away, numbers at Anzac services are increasing, especially among the young. Interest is increasing in Australia’s wartime history, particularly the events of 1915 that did so much to shape the nation.
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The Australian Democrats GST plan has some superficial appeal. The Democrats say that fresh, healthy food would be GST-free while restaurant, takeaway and junk food would be taxed.

Basic groceries such as fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, bread and cooking ingredients would be exempt, but restaurant and takeaway food as well as soft-drink, icecreams, confectionery, bakery products except bread, and prepared meals served hot or warm would be taxed. This is the Irish option. The two other options were the British option where all but restaurants and takeaway food is exempt and the Dutch option where all food including restaurant and takeaway is exempt.

The Irish model exempts the least amount of food, but would reduce the need for compensation because it made up 83 per cent of low-income earners grocery bill.
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The sentencing of euthanasia proponent Jack Kevorkian last week to 10 to 25 years in jail for the “mercy-killing” of a terminally ill patient last September, can inform the euthanasia debate in Australia. For nine years, Dr Kevorkian has defied the legal system of his home state of Michigan by aiding in the deaths of about 130 disabled and terminally ill people. Dr Kevorkian is clearly on the extreme edge of the debate. Last November, he broadcast on national television a videotape of what he called his mercy-killing of Thomas Youk, a 52-year-old Detroit man who had Lou Gehrig’s disease, a fatal muscle disorder. Dr Kevorkian dared prosecutors to charge him. And they did. That resulted in his trial and conviction and last week’s sentencing.

The trouble with Dr Kevorkian’s position is that he strayed from advocating a change in the law to actually breaking that law. Opinion polls vary in Australia, but there is a substantial body of opinion, perhaps a majority, that would also like to see a change in the law so that terminally ill people can avoid pain and bring forward their death so they can die in dignity after saying goodbye to friends and relatives before their condition has deteriorated beyond the possibility of communication. In Australia, the Northern Territory changed the law for that to happen within a framework of a lot of safeguards. That law was later overridden by the federal parliament.
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It would be a tragedy if the Good Friday agreement of a little more than a year ago failed to achieve lasting peace in Northern Ireland. There is a danger now that the agreement will not be implemented because of a dispute over the decommissioning of IRA weapons. Talks in Belfast this week have come to an impasse.

The central trouble is that the Good Friday agreement specified a date by which all weapons should be decommissed – May 2000 — but did not specify a starting date for decommissioning. Under the agreement Sinn Fein is entitled to take two seats on the Executive of the new multi-party government in Northern Ireland. It wants to take those seats without beginning the decommissioning. The Ulster Unionists, led by First Minister David Trimbole, want to see at least a start of decommissioning before Sinn Fein takes its seats. That puts the British Government in a bind. Before the new Northern Ireland Administration can begin functioning Britain must formally hand over power. It would be disastrous if Britain handed over power to an Executive which did not include Sinn Fein. That would result, presumably, in an almost immediate resumption of violence by the IRA which would spiral with inevitable revenge attacks. But it will be equally disastrous if the failure of the IRA to begin decommissioning is seen to postpone the hand over of power indefinitely.
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