2020 Myopia in Australian Politics

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This weekend’s Great Australian 2020 Summit, in which 1000 of the nation’s appointed elite brainstorm the future on behalf of the mentally-retarded rest of us, is whispered to be inspired by a highly successful 1969 Javanese Colonial manoeuvre.

In this, 1000 West Papuans were set up to decide they would become the property of the Javanese Raj; otherwise known as the Government of Indonesia.

Both this and the contemporary Australian model are based on the presumption that appointed (or even elected) representatives are complying with democratic principles when they do our thinking for us. In point of fact, the very reason we elect representatives is for these people to convey the informed consensus of their respective electorates to our Parliament. This, and only this, is government of the people, by the people, for the people.

The process of election or appointment does not suddenly endow these inevitable egotists with super-minds and, accordingly, this new Oz Elite 1000 has entirely short-circuited Australian democracy and created a dangerous precedent.

This is what we can expect in the future; absolute marginalising of constituents.

Not surprisingly, the Summit probably broke world records in creative gobbledegook and au contraire euphemisms. A few examples:

• Removing restrictive regulations… more deregulation.
• Easing the flow between public sector and public service… privatisation of the public service. Actually, this is a euphemism within a euphemism; for corruption of the public service.
• Recognising Golden Gurus in the work force… terminating the old age pension; which, incidentally, has been paid into at a special fund tax rate of 7.5% by every worker since 1946. Thus, it is the worker’s own money and cannot be withdrawn legally.
• Establishment of a special Asian language programme in schools… the globalisation of Australian language and culture.
• Pacification of social responsibility and interaction… cheap labour from the Pacific region to further reduce Australian wages and conditions.

There was much mention of national productivity, wealth and prosperity, but no mention at all of Australia’s three biggest problems:

• Unemployment, which as every Job Network agency will confirm, is about 21%;
• The collapse of family farming, which has caused the creation of ghost towns in once prosperous regions, and driven a million Australians into cities, strangling urban resources, water, housing and infrastructure;
• The destruction of one third of Australia’s manufacturing sector, with the concomitant loss of two million jobs.

The single acknowledged solution to these three overriding problems is to abandon the foolish and ideologically-driven removal of tariffs. Tariff restoration, extended also to IT and service industries, will create three million full time jobs and enable all Australians to share good nutrition, and secure homes and lifestyle, without costing a cent in additional tax.

Kevin Rudd tells lies when he says there is no silver bullet. There is. Tariff restoration alone will resolve most of our crises, including urban sprawl, arable and wildlife alienation, coastal ecosystems disturbance, urban water limitations, retiree rate penury, home affordability, exorbitant rents, and so on.

Good news is that Aussies reject the Elite 1000 Egotists and are moving to create their own voice, with a multi-entity organisation, the Tariff Restoration Bloc. This can be accessed by contacting oziz4oz@gmail.com