Foreign Correspondent: Slowing Socialism Down

Sydney, N.S.W. That libertarian ideas are desperately needed here in Australia is evident when one considers our current political situation. The Labor Party was recently voted into power for the first time in 23 years—probably more out of desperation than love on the part of the majority of voters. This means we now have a socialist/labour union/bureaucrat coalition, in place of the previous state capitalist/business/bureaucrat coalition. The previous Liberal-Country Party governments were fond of paying lip-service to free enterprise, whilst slowly leading us into the same welfare state that the present Labor government has in store for us. The only difference was one of velocity.

To make matters worse, the Australian voter is not even able to (legally) register his discontent by not voting. In this "free", democratic country of ours, we have that ultimate contradiction: compulsory voting for all people over the age of 18. One must register on reaching the magic age and then vote when so instructed, like a good, obedient free person should.

The labour union leaders are mostly communists or socialists—certainly the most active ones are. The Builders Labourers' Union, led by an official of the Australian Communist Party, has succeeded in halting development projects worth millions of dollars, in the name of "environmental protection" or "preserving our national heritage." The National Trust will soon own Sydney if the present rate of "preservation of buildings of historical interest" (to whom??) continues. Today, any developer wishing to erect a building must first obtain approval from this union. He must then obtain approval from about ten government departments (such as the Height of Buildings Committee, the State Planning Authority and the National Trust). This priority of the union over the government is in fact observed. In retaliation, the major building contractors have banned weekend work, and rightly so. However, the N.S.W. president of the Builders Labourers' Federation, Mr. Bob Pringle, has said: "This strike by employers is a disgrace to their industry. Their action is completely unwarranted." This comes after nearly three years of industrial violence and intimidation on the part of these unions, done mainly to achieve political ends. Of course the unions do have a solution: Mr. Pat Clancy, president of the Socialist Party of Australia (formed after a break from the Communist Party of Australia) and acting-Federal Secretary of the Builders Workers' Industrial Union immediately said: "I think we will be demanding six days pay for five days work."

We recently suffered an 8 week petrol strike because a foreman, on a wet day, handed out wet weather gear to his men rather than wait for the storeman to arrive on the job—about two hours late! The lines of demarcation that the unions have drawn up are strictly adhered to. If a fitter does rigger's work he will cause a general strike, as will an engineer if he picks up any tool. The employers have largely forfeited their right to hire and fire. Firing a man for sloppy work or for sleeping on the job will, in many cases, result in a general strike. Postal strikes just before Christmas are another favourite. (It is a personal ambition of mine to organize a "mail-in" campaign just before a mail strike: to mail in packages of old dead fish, prawns, rotten eggs (broken) or anything else suitably stinking, and let them sit there in the mail exchanges for the duration of the strike!) Union membership is compulsory, and all voting is done by a show of hands. For good reason the union leaders have resisted the introduction of the secret ballot.

As a result of such actions, the unions are not generally popular, but most people suffer them because of the mistaken notion that they are the only protection poor consumers have against the vicious, exploiting capitalists. In order to rid ourselves of that myth (and others), there is an enormous amount of work to be done over here, writing the Australian equivalents to such books as THE REGULATED CONSUMER, THE FEDERAL BULLDOZER, THE NEW RACISM and THE TRIUMPH OF CONSERVATISM, to name a few. I have no knowledge of any books giving facts of the Australian situation in such areas. These books would, I think, be widely read, and could have a dramatic effect on the thinking of many Australians. For instance, one really sore point with the public is the high cost of land and houses. A book dealing with the effect of zoning, regulations, government planning, monopolies in "essential services", etc., could capitalize on this discontent.

It is important to realize that the total population here is approximately 13 million people, and it is spread over quite a large area. There is no real choice in many important areas, in both the theoretical and practical fields. In politics, the choice is between socialist party A and socialist party B. We have no equivalent of the W.F. Buckley, Jr.-type conservatives (bad though they might be in many important respects), or of groups such as Foundation for Economic Education, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, or even Society for Individual Liberty. These ideas are dead as far as Australia is concerned. Radio and television stations are strictly controlled, with government stations operating in both fields (the Australian Broadcasting Commission). Railways, the Post Office, telephone services, some shipping lines, two of our three airlines, and all the roads are government owned and run. (The third airline is government subsidized and controlled.) The marketing of such items as wool, meat, fruit, eggs, wheat, and sugar is government controlled by subsidies and the operation of Boards: the Egg Board, the Wool Board, etc.

The future promises to be worse. The unions are currently campaigning for a basic wage rise of about $14 per week, and, at the same time, the introduction of a 35 hour working week (remember that the average wage here would be around $5,000 per year). These demands will be met in part at least. Meanwhile the new government has embarked on a large number of expensive programs, resulting in a record budget deficit of over $1 billion. Politicians and top public servants have been granted salary increases of approximately $5,000 per year, fees have been abolished at universities, 30 new government departments are to be set up, and all forms of social services have been increased. To cap it all we have been promised that direct taxation will not be increased—this year!

If you think that adds up to a first class formula for inflation you might be right. Former Treasurer and now Leader of the Opposition, Billy Snedden, estimates that inflation will reach 10% in the next year. All things being equal, that would be a conservative estimate. However, the government has the matter well in hand: we now have a Prices Justification Tribunal, which has the power to investigate both future and past price increases.

Australia is approaching the ratio of one in three people as public servants. Soon there will not be any "public"! In addition, the medical profession is fighting for its survival. Of course the government has promised not to socialize the medical profession. It is merely going to introduce a National Health Scheme, and that is a completely different thing! The people are taxed an extra 1.35% of their taxable income, and the doctors will bill the government. It follows that the doctors' fees will thus be controlled by the government, and it is also not hard to imagine which doctors will take advantage of such a scheme: the worst of them. One splinter group of the medical profession, the General Practitioner's Society, is defending itself on libertarian grounds.

The only known group in Australia that readers of REASON would recognize as libertarian is the Alliance for Individual Rights. Apart from that, there are numerous Rand admirers hiding in the woodwork (and our experience has been that the majority of these are rather loathe to leave it), one West Australian wheat farmer, Len Casley, fighting a lonely battle to preserve his Hutt River Province (see REASON, July 1971, p. 23), and another West Australian with libertarian tendencies—mining millionaire, Lang Hancock.

Although it may not seem so, there are some reasons for us to be optimistic. The Young Liberal Party—or at least some branches of it—have just discovered Ayn Rand, and she seems to have caused a minor sensation there. The doctors, as I have mentioned, are using libertarian ideas. The Alliance for Individual Rights has recently expanded onto two university campuses in Sydney, and is active in other areas as well. There are distinct secessionist tendencies in West Australia that may, one day, find a direction. And lastly, there is the personal development and satisfaction that comes from a study of libertarian ideas. Personally, I think it is a waste of time being pessimistic—one might as well jump in front of a bus. I choose to fight.