Immigration cuts
It is most unfortunate that any reduction to immigration levels is now regarded by some GLW supporters as racist.
Cuts to immigration are not necessarily racist, but are certainly socially inequitable. Australia's policies are mostly developed by and at least partly supported by a population of people who have a tenuous right to live here, (re. issues of native title), so we hardly have a right to dictate whether anybody else can come here.
The Greens' and Democrats' support for cuts to immigration on environmental grounds is well founded. It is widely believed among scientists that Australia has a limited carrying capacity. We are all well aware of Australia's aridity, yet South Australia's main source of water, the Murray River, is already severely degraded through pollution and impoundment due to increasing consumption demands.
Unless we all volunteer to live in high-rise flats, population increase means urban expansion which usually takes over the highly productive lands around towns and cities, pushing agriculture out on to less suitable country, causing land degradation.
And of course, more people: more consumption: more waste. Waste reduction is not nearly as profitable as waste production, and the two technologies are far from balanced.
I hope that GLW readers can understand that not everyone who supports cuts to immigration levels is a racist. Immigration concerns the environment on which society relies and some of us are trying to look after it!
Willaston SA
[Abridged.]
One Nation 1
I had to rub my eyes and re-read Kim Beazley's response to confrontation with Hanson and company on the streets of Ipswich, as reported in the Daily Telegraph of 6/8/98:
"The images that it conjured up for me were all old 1930s Germany ... I don't think it's sensible to bother to engage in that sort of slanging match with that rent-a-crowd of Trots."
I wonder how he thinks fascism and racism should be confronted? Presumably he agrees with Pauline Hanson, quoted on the same page: "They are having their protest. It is a shame they don't realise the democratic way to do it is at the ballot box."
It seems that Beazley and Hanson agree: if you want to protest, you do it silently and privately every three years. Consume, be silent, die.
Definitely, Mr Beazley, many of us will use the ballot boxes while we still have them, and the streets as well.
And another thing Mr Beazley: What is this "rent-a-crowd" business? How exactly do you rent a crowd?
It was best to avoid accusations of crowd renting, as this is exactly what your and Keating's favourite dictator, Suharto, did. Suharto could tell you all you need to know about paying for pro-integration rallies in occupied East Timor, or anti-opposition demonstrations at home. Are you suggesting that people are being paid to oppose Hanson? If not, then "please explain".
Resistance is doing brilliantly — one of the few groups with the gumption to exercise our democratic rights to defend decency.
Paddington NSW
[Abridged.]
One Nation 2
People continue to say that the rise of Hanson is because the country is in a mess and voters blame the major parties.
I passionately believe that racism must be tackled head-on far more fiercely by the governments of Australia, and that Australians need to stop their approach of "it's OK, people who vote for her are not racists".
The government needs to immediately resurrect the racial vilification laws that Howard couldn't abolish quickly enough, and then tighten them.
A large-scale advertising campaign against racism needs to be undertaken by the government. While watching a football game I noticed giant government billboards exhorting people to "Quit" smoking. This sort of thing, along with TV ads explaining the dangers of voting for racists, needs to be started.
And massive rallies through the main cities need to be organised, and supported by the government and major parties.
Living standards are falling in Australia because the economy can no longer sell its produce for what it did 30 years ago. Australians yearn for a return to those days. But they are failing to face reality: when attempts are made to increase the competitiveness of the economy, they quickly scream for protectionism, a route which only stalls the inevitable downward spiral.
Then along comes someone who holds up to them a scapegoat to be crucified so that "we'll all be saved".
When the National Front appeared in the UK 10 to 15 years ago under the same circumstances with the same policies, there was a concerted attack on them from the left, which formed an Anti-Nazi League. This counter-attack was able to wipe the National Front off the political map within a few short years. This approach needs to followed in Australia.
Hong Kong
[Abridged.]
One Nation 3
I was unpleasantly surprised to see in the prestigious international newspaper, the Guardian Weekly that it allotted space for three letters on One Nation. Two were pro-Hanson.
The first was from John Bent of Yeppoon, Qld. He is upset at what he describes as "a vicious campaign of vilification and exaggeration" suffered by Hanson, whose "simple 'why not' questions have endeared her to the battlers"!
The second is from J. Ridge of Stanthorpe, Qld. He voted for One Nation and is "a lifelong committed socialist". He believes that One Nation voters are "typically workers" who "are well aware that it is their labour that produces the nation's wealth".
Now comes some sanity. The third letter is from Jimmie Storey, President of the Romani Association of Australia, Copmanhurst, NSW. He describes the One Nation policies as "bigoted, racist, fascist and extremely dangerous to a continuance of tolerance and democracy in this country".
With its worldwide distribution, it is always difficult to get a letter in the Guardian Weekly and it is a somewhat alarming error of judgement by the publishers in providing an excessive amount of publicity for a group which is now supported by the National Front and is likely to be short lived.
Adelaide
[Abridged.]
School life
You hear the school bell ring, its sharp noise pierces your ears and sends you into a state of post-bell shock. You respond to this noise by packing up whatever you are doing and moving to a different spot and proceed to unpack for the upcoming lesson.
This is a form of manipulation that we as students are used to. Don't you think we could use a more humane way of alerting people? We are humans, not Pavlov's dogs!
Couldn't we perhaps rely on students to make our own way to classes without bells? We must learn punctuality of our own accord — no one will ring bells for us later in life.
Targeting groups such as Resistance [for organising the high school walkouts against racism], saying they are manipulating youth is ridiculous. Schools themselves are the main manipulators amongst youth.
A lot of schools have strict hair colour, hair style and body piercing rules, which they say keep the school's image clean. What colour your hair is and which pieces of metal you wish to place in what areas is just an expression of yourself. It should be a freedom you are entitled to and it should certainly not be punishable.
You may think my views are a tad extreme, but next time a bell rings, check how fast you react to it.
Adelaide
[Abridged.]
Northcote by-election
In the Northcote by-election, the International Socialist Organisation did not run its own candidate but called for a vote for the ALP. However, their main emphasis was to "put One Nation last".
The Democratic Socialists put forward a socialist candidate. We also called for One Nation to be put last, but this was not our main theme. We condemned the pro-capitalist policies of the Liberal and Labor parties, as well as the racism of One Nation. We put forward the need to campaign around issues such as shorter working hours, the reversal of privatisation, etc.
The ISO's approach of "put One Nation last" and "vote ALP" is electoralism of the most liberal kind. It fails to put forward a socialist alternative to Labor and Liberal, whose economic "rationalist" policies have helped create the space for One Nation to grow.
The ISO leaflet does contain some rhetoric about the need to "fight back against the system that creates an opening for racism", but no detail about how to do this, except for a reference to the need for "strong unions".
Strong unions are necessary but by themselves will not seriously challenge the capitalist system. Unions (even strong ones) normally fight to maintain or improve workers' wages and conditions within the capitalist system, not to overthrow it. They will not seriously challenge the capitalist system unless led by a socialist party.
Urging a vote for the capitalist Labor Party does nothing to raise consciousness on this issue.
Coburg Vic
[Abridged.]
NT statehood
I welcome the proposed granting of statehood to the Northern Territory in 2001, which will be subject only to the passing of a Territory-wide referendum. The Commonwealth should retain the power to override any proposed legislation on Aboriginal land rights and the NT Aboriginal land councils should also be consulted on the granting of Statehood.
The number of senators that the ACT is entitled to should also be increased at the same time.
The ACT and the NT have both had two senators since 1974 and will have been self-governing for almost 13 years and 20 years respectively in 2001. The ACT will still have a population almost double that of the NT in 2001. Surely, it will be time to increase the ACT's entitlement to senate representation to three senators at the same time as the NT becomes a state and gains its third senator.
Farrer ACT
[Abridged.]
Altered politics?
Martin Woollacot in Guardian Weekly (26/7/98) writes about new legislation and profoundly altered Australian politics. But what is the reality? This so-called One Nation Party is still lurking in the background enjoying the sympathy of the media.
An editorial in the Australian of 18-19 July, "Prison deaths pose questions on care", noted that deaths in custody are again on a high level and apparently increasing. This is a warning that the 200 years old terrorism against the Aborigines is going to continue. Government officials openly admit that they are embarrassed by it.
This is Australia's 200 years-old soap opera ... talking, talking and doing nothing!
The Middle East has had a soap opera since the days of Nixon-Kissinger — talking about peace whilst foreign lands are still occupied and soldiers still shoot and kill anyone who dares protest.
US battleships could "force" peace and justice in the Middle East, the same way they forced things in other parts of the globe. But this would mean ending a very lucrative long-running soap opera.
Let's all have another look at "profoundly altered" Australian politics.
Sydney
[Abridged.]