Crispin Hull

The two major parties are in a policy gridlock. And they have each allowed the other to put them in that position. The gridlock arises out of silly scare tactics each party plays with the slightest policy utterance from any member of the other party. Any utterance is pounced upon, spun into a fearsome exaggeration and pushed before voters in the hope of electoral advantage.

To date both parties have backed each other into corners on aged pensions, tax, Medicare and industrial relations, to name a few. It seems as if neither party is able to offer anything in the way of policies that will rein in public spending that would be for the general public good, for fear of upsetting a pressure group that might result in loss of votes.
Continue reading “1995_11_november_leader28nov”

The secretary of the ACTU, Bill Kelty, is quite right to assert that the battle at Comalco’s Weipa bauxite mine is a fundamental one. But the battle is not one between unionism in general and capital, but one between a particular form of unionism, as practised and preached by the ACTU.

That form of unionism is one of the closed shop and one of equal pay for equal categories of work across whole industries. It is not the form of unionism where those people who want to join a union can do so and where a union negotiates pay and conditions with individual employers.

At Comalco 600 individuals have forsaken the union and taken up individual contracts which have given workers substantial pay increases that the union could not get them. About 50 workers stayed with the union and are on much lower pay.
Continue reading “1995_11_november_leader15nov”

The decision of the Commonwealth to suspend Nigeria for two years with a threat of expulsion unless it returns to democratic rule and good governance within two years sends a clear message to the world that breaches of human rights are matters of international concern. The assertion by Nigerian leaders that the execution of nine political dissenters, including noted writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, was an internal matter is a shallow one.

The Commonwealth’s lead should result in other countries expressing their outrage and also to put economic and other pressure on the Nigerian military to hand over to civilian rule. It should also put paid to arguments that the Commonwealth’s earlier concern for human rights in South Africa was monochromatic … that if whites engaged in racism and breaches of human rights, the Commonwealth would bristle with moral indignation, but similar acts by black rulers would be ignored.
Continue reading “1995_11_november_leader14nov”

The proposal by Independent MLA Paul Osborne for majority jury verdicts should not be taken on lightly. Mr Osborne says he is not seeking more convictions, but only wants to overcome situations where one or two “”obstreperous” individuals can result in no verdict being reached and millions of dollars spent on trials being wasted.

Mr Osborne offered alternatives of an 11:1 verdict or a 10:2 verdict. Whatever logic there is in countering the obstreperous juror, it can surely only run to one, not two. Mr Osborne cited the Bjelke-Petersen case in which a staunch political ally of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen somehow found himself on the jury and refused to convict, no matter what the evidence. It indicates that there may be a case for an 11:1 verdict to counteract a lone juror who will not convict no matter what the evidence. However, this justification is based n the presumption that there is one juror behaving beyond the ordinary bounds of reason. That may happen in some isolated cases. But the chance that there are two rogue jurors on the same jury is so remote as to be discounted. It is more likely that if two jurors are holding out against the other 10, at least one of them is doing so for good reason. In these cases, the defendant should have the benefit of the doubt. There is no logic or sense in permitting 10:2 verdicts.
Continue reading “1995_11_november_leader13nov”

The constitutional time-bomb continues to tick. Section 53 of the Constitution provides: “”The Senate may not amend proposed laws imposing taxation, or proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys for the ordinary annual services of the Government. . . . Except as provided by this section, the Senate shall have equal power with the House of Representatives.”

The Founding Fathers may have intended that the words “”shall not amend” also meant “”shall not reject”. That interpretation carries some logic. After all, if a law prevents you from damaging something, there is a fair presumption that it also prevents you from destroying it. However, that logic is not accepted as the legal view and it is now accepted that the Constitution does permit the Senate to block the Government’s money supply, starving it of the wherewithal to govern and putting pressure on a head of state … whether President or Governor-General … to intervene.
Continue reading “1995_11_november_leader11nov”

The ALP’s threat to block Supply in the ACT has been quite wrongly associated with the Federal Coalition’s blocking of Supply 20 years ago that led to the dismissal of the Whitlam Government.

The ACT ALP has been accused of political hypocrisy for on one hand maintaining its rage against the actions of the Coalition and the Governor-General and yet on the week of the 20th anniversary of that event threatening to block Supply itself. It is a misconceived accusation. The events are entirely different. The essential difference is that the ACT has only one House of Parliament, so the ACT ALP’s threat takes on a different character. It is constitutionally quite proper, under present arrangements, for an Opposition in the representative chamber to block any legislation, including a Budget.
Continue reading “1995_11_november_leader09nov”

The ACT Attorney-General has proposed changes to censorship that are likely to meet the concerns of some people in the ACT about the availability of videos that depict excessive violence in family video stores. He has proposed a new V rating for excessively violent videos that now rate R. The V classification would be available only a stores in the light industrial areas, in the same way that present X-rated videos are restricted.

He has also proposed changes to the present X-rated video be restricted to non-violent erotica, that is, explicit sexual content involving consenting adults. No explicit sexual conduct involving children or depicting non-consenting conduct would be permitted. It would be called an E rating.

Unless he proposes that V videos be sold in separate shops from E videos there is a danger that excessive violence will be equated with non-violent consenting erotica. This would be a mistake.
Continue reading “1995_11_november_leader06nov”

The ACT Government has embarked upon a bold and risky experiment in schools management. It has put forward proposals to devolve to individual schools far greater power over the running of schools. Done well, the experiment could lead to better education for the same amount of money. Done badly, it could result in waste, inefficiencies and worse education.

The Department of Education has wisely staged its proposals. It is further encouraged by the fact that over the past 20 years, curriculum development has been devolved to schools with great success. However, it is one thing to devolve an inherently educational matter to schools where staff are skilled in education. It is quite another to devolve things like cleaning contracts, building maintenance and school hiring. These require non-education skills. They require a range of management skills which may not be in all schools. That is why they must be introduced slowly.
Continue reading “1995_11_november_leader04nov”

It is in the nature of the bureaucratic beast to want at least perpetual existence and usually perpetual growth. It is very rare for an organ of government, a business or a social organisation to say, our job is done we are now going out of existence. It is equally rare for such a body to say our job is mostly done, we need fewer people and less money now. That holds whether it is Wool International or ASIO.

What will Wool International do once its sole stated task of selling the stockpile is done? It will find some excuse for staying in existence and growing in size.
Continue reading “1995_11_november_leader03nov”

Twice in the past week, the Queen has come closer to the people … once unintended and once intended. She went live on Canadian radio after an announcer tricked her into believing he was the Canadian Prime Minister ringing privately. Her human side was on display. Her French was heard to be more than up to scratch, and she was seen to be humanly cautious even insecure rather than imperious when it came to deciding how to act in the face of the Quebec referendum.

On the other ocsasion she showed commendable economy in travelling on a comercial aircraft to New Zealand, rather than on a Royal Air Force or charter aircraft. However, she was whisked through the VIP lounge and took the whole first-class cabin which was shut off from the other classes with a security door.
Continue reading “1995_11_november_leader02nov”