GST legislation leads the sellout The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, June 30th, 1999. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian Subscription rates on request. ****************************** By Peter Mac With the help of the Australian Democrats and independent Senators Harradine and Colston, the Howard Government this week managed to gain approval for a "trifecta" of malicious legislation by the Australian Senate, just prior to the July replacement of half the Senators as a result of the 1998 Federal elections. The States will now be responsible for matters affecting the environment, despite overwhelming historical evidence that the Federal Government needs to retain ultimate control over legislation on major environmental issues. A further chunk of Telstra will now be sold to the private sector. Country subscribers are becoming increasingly alarmed that a privatised Telecommunications organisation will rack up fees for services to regional subscribers and eliminate services to the most remote areas altogether. The costs of the 10 per cent Goods and Services Tax will be borne by ordinary consumers and taxpayers. The extreme difficulty of sorting out the new tax arrangements, particularly the differentiation between taxed and non-taxed items, will be reflected in considerable extra cost, which will be passed on to the consumer. The situation is further complicated by the need to update computer systems, including those concerned with accounting, by the end of the year in order to avoid falling foul of the dreaded Y2K computer bug. Convenience stores and restaurants, and providers of other non- essential services, will be especially hard hit, as consumers seek to reduce basic household costs following the introduction of the tax. Unemployment will rise. The Australian Democrats are likely to suffer massive electoral damage at the next Federal elections. PAYE taxpayers, who make up the bulk of the electorate, will have experienced the GST for anything up to 18 months, and will have had ample opportunity to discover the inadequacy of the meagre compensation such as offered by way of tax cuts. They will also have discovered the impact of the GST on services, not just the things they buy at the supermarket. Bus fares, hair cuts, telephone calls, postage, insurance premiums, and a host of other services will cost more. The GST is unfair, a tax on the essentials in life, and here to stay. Any "compensation" will be eroded over time. Those hit will most certainly wreak revenge on those responsible -- the Coalition and Democrats. The Australian Greens have proved to be consistent and tenacious opponents of the legislation and deserve support. The ALP also took a good position on the legislation but parliamentary leader Kim Beazley has indicated that Labor would not reverse the GST legislation once it was in place. The tragedy is that the GST, Telstra and environmental legislation could have been defeated if the struggle had not been largely to the parliamentary arena. If the rallies and other actions had been larger, if the working class had asserted its power and put its energy into fighting the legislation, then the Bills could have been defeated. It is time now to put the pressure on the ALP in every forum possible so that by the next elections it is committed to reversing the sellout trifecta, and to get on with building the left and progressive alternative. The Guardian 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. 2010 Australia. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Website: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
