LL:ART: Editorial: The oil game of musical chairs

[Communist Party of Australia]

The following Editorial was published in "The Guardian", newspaper
of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday,
August 30th, 2000. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills.
Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795.
CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
"The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au>
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Editorial: The oil game of musical chairs

The Federal and State Governments, the oil companies and the
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) must all
share responsibility for the surge in petrol prices since the
imposition of the GST. In a short space of time the retail price
of petrol has risen 30 to 40 per cent to shoot past the one
dollar mark at many petrol stations, particularly in rural and
regional areas.

The Federal Government points the finger at the OPEC oil
producing countries and the rise in crude oil to around US$30 a
barrel. US$30 a barrel is not some new phenomenon, petrol prices
have historically fluctuated, depending on supply and demand and
other circumstances such as wars. Over the last 25 years the
price has ranged from a low of US$10 to a high of US$50 (in 1996
prices) a barrel. But we never paid anything like $1 a litre --
the price of petrol remained at about half what it is today.

The GST package (with the abolition of state taxes) has added
around one cent to the price of a litre of petrol. The rise in
excise was even less. That doesn't explain rises in the region of
30 cents a litre.

So why did the price of petrol skyrocket?

In the first place the responsibility lies with the already
fabulously wealthy oil companies who have long conspired to force
up the price of petrol to further increase their profits. They
have taken advantage of the introduction of the GST and a general
community expectation that prices would rise, and jacked up the
price of petrol. By increasing prices they will be making
billions more in profits.

Another factor is the slide in the exchange rate of the
Australian dollar relative to other currencies. This means
imports cost more, including oil.

Then there is the failure of the Australian Consumer and
Competition Commission (ACCC) to prevent the whopping rise in
petrol prices -- so far it has been unable to detect any oil
company profiteering.

The steep increase in the price of petrol is going to feed
through into the price of many products as the cost of production
and transport rises. At the same time the policies of State and
Federal Governments will continue to give "freedom" to the oil
companies to charge whatever they like.

So what is the government going to do? Nothing. Prime Minister
John Howard says, "It's a difficult issue... I want the price [of
petrol] to go down. It's gone up because of factors over which I
have no control." And Howard doesn't want control. He wants to go
on leaving it to the "markets".

It is in the hands of the people not only to protest now, but to
decide that a different sort of government is required -- one
that will take control, one that will give priority to the needs
and interests of the working people and the environment.

1. Price control legislation should be instituted and enforced.
This is in the hands of the State Governments.

2. The decision to "float" the dollar, which put the Australian
dollar at the mercy of the currency markets, should be scrapped
and currency controls re-introduced.

3. Australia's oil and natural gas resources should be

nationalised as should the oil refineries.

4. Trade policies should be introduced which incorporate the
principle of "mutual benefit" in our import and export relations
with other countries.

5. Measures should be taken to reduce our reliance on fossil
fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by such means as
expanding and improving public transport, using rail freight
where possible, and developing alternative fuel options.

6. The economy calls for the introduction of nation-wide planning
so that all aspects of production, distribution and exchange can
be regulated in the interests of the people.

This raises the question of the working people winning political
power and establishing a workers' government with a determination
to implement these far-reaching policy changes.

Short of such bold steps we will continue to be at the mercy of
the big oil companies and those governments which serve them.

--

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