POLITICAL TURMOIL TO CONTINUE

As we go to press, the much-publicised Canberra loans debate has not taken place. Unless there are defectors from Labor's parliamentary ranks, Prime Minister Whitlam cannot be defeated. He has the numbers m the House of Representatives. So no early election is possible. The Opposition's first opportunity to force an election will be during the Budget debate in October-November, when the Government could be denied supply. That is what happened last year when the Opposition used its majority in the Senate to force Mr. Whitlam to face the electors on May 18th. But with the defeat of Mr. Snedden many Senators said that they would never again deny supply to force the Whitlam Government to face the electors. They can, of course decide that a major national crisis has developed, and that an election should be forced. But if the crafty Whitlam should decide to have a double dissolution, he would almost certainly lose control of the House of Representatives while the Senate could be evenly divided with Senator Steele Hall and another supporter holding the balance of power. This possibility will be tested by the size of the vote for Steele Hall's supporters at the South Australian State Elections.

The only alternative to increasing political, economic and social turmoil is for the Opposition to present the Australian electors with a constructive anti-inflation programme, linked with a strong defence and anti-Communist foreign policy. Mr. Fraser and his colleagues may score some temporary points on the loans affair, but they must do much better than this if they are to secure a stable future for the Australian Federation.

WEST AUSTRALIAN BREAK THROUGH ON 'PETERSEN PLAN'

"The ravages of inflation on buying power is now prompting some West Australian farmers to study with interest a three-point proposal for combating inflation advanced by the Queensland Premier, Mr. J Bjelke-Petersen, almost a year ago. - Joe Miranda in Farmers Weekly, official journal of the West Australian Farmers Union June 5th.

Mr. Miranda's article on the "Petersen Plan" provided an excellent summary of the central principles of the plan. The reaction was a flood of letters supporting the article and the "Petersen Plan". Typical of the supporting letters was the following: "If as Mr. J. Bjelke-Petersen proposes, taxation was frozen at the present level, sales tax was to be completely abolished and consumer price discounts were introduced, requiring only about half the finance now being generated to finance inflation, there would be no need for workers to make constant and often quite legitimate wage demands. This policy would be attacking the very roots of our present economic and social problems, at present certain to destroy life as we in Australia know it."

Desperate beef producers are turning in increasing numbers to urge the application of "Petersen Plan" principles to save an industry on the verge of disastrous collapse. Increasing numbers of meetings are urging the use of consumer price discounts to lower consumer prices while providing beef producers with a profitable price. The Western Star, Roma, Queensland of June 27th features a report of a meeting of 350 graziers carrying a resolution supporting consumer discounts for the beef industry. Australian Meat Board representatives were at the meeting. Export representative, Mr. Duncan McCallum of Borthwicks, said as one involved in meat works operations, he would support the consumer discount policy. "If we can supply meat at giveaway prices to the Russians and Japanese", he said, "Why the hell can't we subsidise the local consumers?" His remarks were greeted with cheers and applause.

It has been estimated that $500 million applied to consumer price discounts for beef would save the beef industry while helping to lower the cost of living and thus easing the pressure for higher wages. $500 million is only "peanuts" compared with the vast sums of money being squandered by the Whitlam Government on its many Socialistic schemes. If consumers and producers can unite behind the "Petersen Plan", they can force some firm commitments from Opposition Members and candidates before the next Federal Elections. We congratulate all those actionists who, in spite of the boycott of the mass media, have made the "Petersen Plan" a major issue in the fight to save Australia from complete totalitarianism.

INFLATION ON THE PAMPAS

A general strike gripped Argentina today after last-minute talks failed to solve a crisis which forced the Cabinet to resign. - The Sun, (Melbourne) July 8th.

Australians who have grown up in the post Second World War era won't remember total transport freezes, and power cuts for long periods at a time. There have been the day-long "lightning' strikes: however, we fear that the prolonged strike, and even the general strike will come to Australia. Although the political situation in Australia at present is most fluid, we predict that whoever is in charge of Australia's political machinery, inflation will continue to escalate.

When we first read of the general strike in Argentina, and the fall of President Peron's Cabinet, we began to look for information on Argentina's inflation rate: yes, its ONE HUNDRED PER CENT: One could surely anticipate the upward curve of industrial unrest on a graph with the increase in the inflation rate. No wonder that Lenin described Inflation as the Communists' secret weapon. It is.

The Argentinean general strike has been triggered by the refusal of the General Confederation of Labour to accept (anti-inflationary) wage and salary cuts in already-agreed-upon increases. Some of these increases of up to l50% have been brought back to a maximum of 50% by the Government of Argentina. The revolt against the Cabinet by the ruling Party followed.

Argentina' economic "experts" follow the same conventions as Australian "experts", and British "experts", and all other economic "experts" in the non-Communist world. Their standard answer to Inflation is deflation. Even now, in Australia, the Reserve Bank is calling in S.R.D. (statutory reserve deposits) of the Trading Banks to restrict bank lending, and is also calling in special loans, which were made to the Trading Banks by the Reserve Bank, as an economic stimulus, last year. This is to mop up "excess liquidity" in the Australian economy, which is, under the rules, inflationary. So say our "experts".

Some one thousand five hundred small businesses have gone out of existence in the past year (1974-75) and many "giants" have toppled (Mainline, Cambridge Credit). It is anticipated that another fifteen hundred small businesses will go to the wall in the forthcoming financial year; most probably more than this number. The reason? Ever-escalating costs, liquidity problems of a severe nature.

It would not be much use talking to all these people about "excess liquidity"; they wouldn't believe you! Who then does have "excess liquidity"? It's rubbish, of course. The point that we do wish to stress is that Mr. Malcolm Fraser and his colleagues may coast into office on the blunders and follies of the Whitlam Socialists, but that inflation is not going to go away, and those costs are still going to jump, and those small businesses are still going to smash into the wall, and those hundreds of thousands of unionists are going to behave the same way as the hundreds of thousands of their fellow unionists did in Argentina when they will be asked, or told, to dampen down their wage demands in a period of hyper-inflation. They will strike; and strike hard.

Lenin will smile down on Australia as his "secret weapon" wreaks havoc in our society; the "experts" will continue to mouth their absurdities; the operators of orthodox finance in the Temples of Mammon throughout the West will stand back confidently.

MAOIST MEDICARE?

"Medical students, tired of being restricted to hospitals, are forming teams to go into the suburbs and solve the problems of the unhealthy, the unwealthy, and the emotionally disturbed." - The Australian, July 8th.

It could be that we are cynical; nevertheless, all this has the ring of Chairman Mao's thoughts - young professionals surging out into the (low-income) suburbs to merge with the masses, develop a "mass line", "solve" the problems of the masses. We note that the Australasian Medical Students' Association received a grant from the 'Australian' Government to foster a pilot health-care project along the lines of Chairman Mao's thought.

Are we being unjust? Well, we would like to know more about the Australasian Medical Students' Association. We are rather amused that teams of young men and women, with practically no experience of life, but with a few years of technical training, are going out into the lower-class communities to "solve" community problems. It will be good experience for them; they will never know what is probably the real purpose behind this ostensible altruism in which their youthful idealism will urge them to participate.

There will, of course, always be a minute percentage of people in any society who are incapable of caring properly for themselves. However, the vast majority can do this, and prefer to do this, if they have an adequate income. This is becoming ever more difficult in an age of escalating inflation. More and ever more people are being forced on to social services because they don't have the money to finance their own needs. Inflation thus forces more and more Socialism; Lenin's secret weapon again.

BRIEF COMMENTS

MR. ERIC D. BUTLER COMPLETES NATION-WIDE TOUR

In two months of non-stop campaigning immediately following his 1975 international tour, League of Rights National Director Mr. Eric Butler addressed over 50 public meetings in West Australia, South Australia, Victoria, N.S.W. and Queensland, conducted a number of Social Dynamic Schools and appeared in four T.V. news programmes. Meetings generally were exceptionally well attended, with heavy literature sales.
Mr. Butler will speak at the Wimmera Regional Dinner of the League on August 1st, and at the Wimmera Annual Dinner on Friday, August 15th. As a big audience is expected for the Sydney Dinner, those intending to attend should book as early as possible through Mr. Roy Gustard, Box 2957, Sydney.

Australians may believe that they have inalienable rights concerning free speech, opinions and movement. But Tasmanian opponent of Medibank, Dr. P. Gill, has discovered that the complete totalitarian State is much closer in Australia than most people realise. On June 18th the Tasmanian Branch of the Transport Union placed Dr. Gill under a black ban for opposing Medibank in its present form. The ban means that Dr. Gill cannot travel out of Tasmania by sea or air, service stations risk industrial action by supplying him with petrol and pharmaceutical companies also risk action if they supply him with drugs. As far as we know the black ban on Dr. Gill is still in force. Could we hear from those vociferous lovers of freedom at Canberra? Would Attorney-General Enderby give his opinion on whether a black ban of this type is constitutional?

Remember how the domino theory was derided a short time back? In the brief two months since the fall of Saigon to the Communists, America's two remaining allies in South-East Asia, the Philippines and Thailand, have entered into diplomatic relations with Peking and told the Americans to go home. But while Chairman Mao is accepting the kow-tow of the Philippines and Thailand in Peking, he is supporting the Communist insurgents in both countries and also in Malaysia. When Dr. Henry Kissinger and his backers betrayed the South Vietnamese to Communism, they betrayed the whole of South-East Asia. Australia must lose no time in implementing a major military defence programme, or ultimately also become a domino.