By Stephen Kelly
The income of Australia's wealthiest people has trebled in the last 10 years while the number of social security recipients has doubled. The creation of an underclass has been exacerbated by speculation caused by financial deregulation. That's the outlook of Australia's Catholic bishops in their statement, "Common Wealth for the Common Good" released on September 16.
The bishops' inquiry into the distribution of wealth found that the wealth of Australia's richest 200 people soared between 1984 and 1992 from $7 billion to $25 billion. The wealthiest 1% of adult individuals hold around 25% of private wealth, the top 5% hold around 50%. The 30% at the bottom of the pyramid actually owe more than they own.
Denouncing the false doctrine of economic rationalism, the bishops say Australians do not want their country run like a business. The role of taxation is to redress imbalances in wealth distribution. A wealth tax should be introduced; indirect taxes have no place. Social security is based on justice, not benevolence, and any move to reduce it should be resisted. Privatisation is warned against. Anti-monopoly laws should curb the power of multinationals. Economic policies which emphasise growth alone must be viewed critically.
The bishops reject two basic assumptions of economic rationalism, which they say influenced the major political parties in the 1980s: that individuals should be given the utmost freedom to pursue their own material well-being, and that freedom of the market is sacrosanct.
The bishops do their part to destroy the myth of the "trickle down theory", saying "simply producing more goods does not lead to a fairer distribution of wealth".
Instead of society becoming more equitable, the opposite has occurred: "Financial deregulation made individuals wealthier rather than contributing to the common wealth of the nation".
Less than one third of the profits flowed back in new productive investment, the statement says. While physical wealth approximately doubled from 1982 to 1992, the foreign sector showed a fivefold increase. The bishops cite the words of Terry Flew: "The experience of the last decade is that, while wage restraint has resulted in high levels of profitability, those increased profits have not led to a proportionate expansion ...
of productivity capacity in industry".
The way this statement was put together is also significant. The inquiry into the distribution of wealth began four years ago, when the bishops invited people to educate them on the reality facing ordinary Australians. Following a more democratic model pioneered by the American bishops, the inquiry received more than 1000 submissions and produced a draft in 1991. This is a turnaround from 1987, when the bishops dismissed their progressive Commission for Justice and Peace at the behest of right-wingers.
The bishops recommended that the federal government conduct its own wealth inquiry. This should be completed around 1995, "to bring about a more equitable distribution within a definite time frame". The last comprehensive study into wealth in Australia was in 1915.
In absence of such a study, the inquiry looks to the Henderson poverty line, finding 2 million Australians living in poverty. This is seen as conservative. Lack of access to work is a fundamental cause of poverty. However, there is a "causal link between the conduct of people, institutions and governments and the poverty of individuals or whole groups".
As a result of the way society is organised, particular groups find themselves excluded from decision making as well as from wealth. Unemployment among Aborigines is four times higher than that of other Australians. At least 50% of sole parent families headed by women live in poverty. The feminisation of poverty is emphasised.
"Structures of sin" have become a permanent feature of Catholic social teaching. Taking the lead from liberation theology, John Paul II in his 1987 Social Concerns encyclical sees poverty as a result of distorted human values. In theological language, poverty is the result of a refusal to accept each other as co-heirs in God's gift of creation. Complex structures which entrap people in poverty "are rooted in personal sins and thus always linked to the concrete acts of individuals who introduce these structures".
Unjust structures are a feature of the world scene. Broadening its horizons, the bishops' statement says that rich nations are waging a form of warfare against poor nations by demanding high levels of debt repayment. Reflecting that Australia's overseas assistance is only half of the 0.7% of GNP recommended by the United Nations, the bishops urge this to be increased to 1% of GNP by the end of the decade. With GATT and the World Bank in their sights, the bishops say rich countries must take responsibility for debt and end restrictive trade. The pope
said during a visit to Brazil in 1991, "A country's foreign debt can never be paid at the expense of the hunger and poverty of the people".
"Catholic Social Teaching has no sympathy with the notion that some unemployment is good for society." Governments at all levels are urged to pursue policies that will lead to job creation. A minimum guaranteed wage financed through taxation should be considered for unpaid work. The bishops say "any assault on the principle of trade unionism itself must be resisted". Enterprise bargaining should proceed only with a role played by the unions.
Reflecting on the church's own wealth, the bishops say much of it is not centralised but held by schools, parishes and similar bodies. While a separate document is needed to address this issue, they remind church workers that those in need should come first and that all funds should be invested ethically.
"Common Wealth for the Common Good" stands out as the church's attempt to make Christian principles relevant to modern life. It fits into the church's role of offering an ethical critique of society.
Precisely because of the economic preoccupation the statement finds in society, a moral perspective is timely. The church calls attention to the fact that ownership of property involves social obligations. From a faith angle, in the words of Paul VI, "You are not making a gift of what is yours to poor people, but you are giving back what is theirs. You have been appropriating things meant for the common use of everyone."
Perhaps the statement's most significant contribution is to insist that Australians do not wish people who govern them to be value free. Decisions are based on values, and when values promoted by structures are contrary to justice, they can be called "structures of sin". If McDonald's pays a youth trainee wage under the poverty line, it is guilty of "sin".
In advocating a wealth tax, defending trade unions, calling for a "just and proper settlement with Aboriginal people" and so on, the bishops have offered real leadership, though it is frustrating that their recommendations are general. For instance, taxes should be progressive, but the GST is not mentioned by name.
The impact of the statement will depend on whether the church throws itself behind it. With one in five Australians calling themselves Catholic, including the occupant of the Lodge, the statement has the potential to leave some with troubled
consciences.
[Stephen Kelly is a member of Young Christian Workers.]