Crispin Hull

Presumably Police Minister Gary Humphries feels good now that he has issued his package of measures to give the ACT Australia’s harshest drink-driving laws. It is so easy to increase penalties. However, there is little evidence that increased penalties on the statute book do much to curb criminal conduct. Moreover, there is little evidence to show that the number of people killed or injured on the road, per kilometre has changed much in the past few years, and little evidence that drink has caused more injury and death on the road in that time. All we have is some anecdotal evidence by police about some isolated cases of very high readings, repeat offences and high accident rates on one night. There is no pattern here that warrants a change in current law.

Mr Humphries should get some accurate statistics on long-term ACT trends before jumping to conclusions.
Continue reading “1995_12_december_leader18dec”

There may be a great deal of value in the treaty with Indonesia for both the people of Indonesia and the people of Australia. More is the pity that it had not been made decade’s ago. It might have obviated tensions over Irian Jaya and East Timor because it requires the parties to consult over “”adverse challenges”. That possibility indicates that it might prevent future incidents like these. It is much better for both nations to engage in dialogue, to acknowledge that neither is a threat to the other and to commit each other to consultation if circumstances in the region change.

For too long many Australians have seen Indonesia as the hypothetical invader whenever security and defence are discussed at a popular level. That should not be a primary concern, or a concern at all, about Indonesia. It should not be the focus of Australians’ perception of Indonesia. Rather it should be one of neighbourliness, trade and cultural exchange. To the extent that the new treaty does that it is welcome.
Continue reading “1995_12_december_leader16dec”

Drinking every day and consuming about four bottles of wine or 21 cans of beer a week is good for your health and will help you live longer, according to an 18-month British Government-backed review of medical evidence. Similar research in Australia and elsewhere indicates that light alcohol drinking is associated with less against heart disease, certain types of stroke, and gallstones. The new British report, however, asserts that existing safe drinking limits are way too low.

The trouble with this report is that, even if true, it is likely to be misinterpreted … especially in the lead-up to Christmas. The report stresses that the safe weekly levels are only safe if drunk in small doses throughout the week and that drinking the allowance in one or two binges is definitely unsafe. But it is likely to give false comfort to moderate and high drinkers. In any event, people are notorious for under-reporting the amount they drink.
Continue reading “1995_12_december_leader14dec”

The Federal Government’s housing policy, Community and Nation, made public this week, is an adept reallocation of resources and responsibilities that will favour federal Labor and, on balance, not make a great deal of difference in housing outcomes.

Under the plan no-one will spend more than 25 per cent of their income on rent; people on the public housing list will be able to use their rent subsidy in the private market; people will be able to get it in a lump sum to put a deposit on a house; and there will be $80 million more in Better Cities money. In all 500,000 people will get government money. The Federal Government will finance the subsidies with lower capital grants for housing to the states. The states are to take over the control, management and provision of housing stock.

Notice how the Federal Government gets the politically pleasant task of handing out the money. That comes in the form of subsidies and in Better Cities money (75 per cent of which goes to Labor electorates, according to the Opposition). The subsidies, of course, include the lump sum to help form a deposit. (That nice federal Labor Government giving out deposits on houses like a rich uncle.) Notice how the states have to cop the politically more difficult task of dealing with housing stock. If there are not enough houses or if the standard of them falls, tenants will blame the state governments.
Continue reading “1995_12_december_leader13nov”

The Minister for Communications, Michael Lee, made an off-hand revelation at the weekend that the Australian Broadcasting Authority would inquire into whether Australia should have a “”fourth channel”. It would be part of the authority’s review of the Broadcasting Act due in 1997.

Mr Lee said some of the options would be a family channel, an open-learning channel, community TV or a channel just like the other three. “”The first and most important question is, is it in the public interest to have a fourth commercial channel in the major markets,” he said.

It is a critical question, as the aggregation experience showed. When extra channels were foisted on various regional areas of Australia, the advertising revenue was divided among three stations, instead of one. News and other local programs, such as they were, suffered grievously.
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The Government’s Innovate Australia statement was like the curate’s egg _ good in parts. This means, of course, that as eggs go it is a bad one. Various industry representatives have praised the statement for the sprinkling of goodies that come their way, but the approach of the statement is fundamentally flawed. It is so because it assumes that government can successfully play a significant role in the application of technology in industry.

It would have been better if the Government had concentrated on that part of research and development that industry will rarely if ever do _ expensive pure research and concentrated on creating a better environment for business to apply the technology in a better way. On those counts the few grants to pure science are welcome, but in a general environment of cut-backs to hard science and the theoretical edge of engineering at Australia’s education institutions, it is window dressing while the shelves inside are poorly stocked.
Continue reading “1995_12_december_leader09dec”

After a decade or more of acrimonious and increasingly divisive debate, conservation groups and the forest industry now have something in common … a lack of credibility among the bulk of Australian people. That has been very helpful for the Government. Having received opprobrium from sides, the Government says it must have struck the right balance.

That is yet to be shown, but it is at least clear that the Government’s forestry strategy this year is an improvement on the fiasco last year which was almost an open slather for wood-chipping. Now there is greater emphasis on plantations and value-adding through encouragement of paper production in Australia to replace imports.

Australia’s forest industries have not been very cleverly managed in the past. The trend has been away from saw logs to woodchip. The woodchip industry has not been a high-value added industry and has had to compete with other nations who have been even sillier than Australia in under-pricing or misusing a major natural resource. In some of those countries there has been an absence of management and extensive corruption, unlike in Australia, making the competition more difficult (at least in the short-term until their resource is squandered). In short, we have sold some of our forest too cheaply and sold some of our forest that should not have been sold at all. We have sought short-term gain and ignored long-term interests … like a profligate youth blowing the family fortune.
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The NSW Roads and Traffic Authority has strongly advocated reducing the speed limit on local roads from 60km/h to 50km/h. Some trials will begin in North Sydney and Mosman later this month. The reaction of most people would surely be … lucky people of North Sydney and Mosman.

The question should be asked, when will the ACT follow suit. Australia has among the highest speed limits for local roads. It was increased in 1964 from 30 miles per hour (48km/h) to 35 miles per hour (56km/h) as a recognition of the improvement in both roads and cars. Cars could stop more quickly. With metrification in 1974 it was round up to 60km/h.

The changes have been shown to be misguided. It may be that roads and the performance of cars have been improved and that has resulted in a fall in the accident rate, but a greater fall would have been achieved if the speed limit had remained lower. Denmark lowered the limit 10 years ago and the death rate fell 24 per cent. About 70 per cent of accident happen on local roads.
Continue reading “1995_12_december_leader07dec”

The first experience in New Zealand of a citizens’ initiated referendum was not a happy one. It shows, however, that the direction of citizens’ referedums in the ACT has avoided much of the folly evident in the New Zealand model. The weekend vote in New Zealand was 87.3 per cent Yes to 12.7 per cent No in favour of retaining a high number of fire-fighters.

Several things went wrong. The turnout was a very low 27.7 per cent. The cost of the equivalent of $9 million was too high for the nature of the issue involved. The implementation of the result is open to interpretation, unenforceable and largely motherhood. Of course, people want more and better fire-fighters … and teachers, and police and doctors and every other service provider in the public sector. Sensible New Zealanders saw the farce and did not bother to vote, or voted No.
Continue reading “1995_12_december_leader06dec”

The ALP will bemoan the fact it did not implement the Access to Justice report much earlier. The report recommended dozens of ways to reduce legal costs. Now the ALP and Carmen Lawrence cannot shift her $243,000 legal bill to the taxpayer, they will see first hand how lawyers have priced justice out of reach.

The total legal bill for her appearance at the Royal Commission and the earlier challenges to it came to more than $800,000, but the Senate refused to endorse payment by the taxpayer of the amount attributable to the challenges.

The amounts show that the cost of legal representation in Australia has reached absurd proportions. And in this case it did not seem to be very good advice. The huge sums were charged for failed challenges and representation at the Royal Commission which resulted in adverse findings.
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