Inside This Issue...E-mail: [email protected] Webs ite: Cover photograph by David Hughes [(03) 9486...

SPECIAL REPORT

19 The Capacity to Manage IndexBased on careful analysis of a number of EBAs the IPArsquosCapacity to Manage Index provides a path-breakingwindow into the internal functioning of businesses in thefood and construction sectors IPA Work Reform Unit

23 Reformmdashthe Uncertain Road AheadIt is said that we are suffering from reform fatigue Littlewonder when one considers the impediments facing anyserious attempt at reform Chris Corrigan

26 UnderminedmdashValues and Foreign Aid NGOsUsing NGOs to deliver foreign aid is finemdashas long as thatis what they do But if NGOs use the opportunity topromote their own narrow values the funding shouldcease Don DrsquoCruz

29 The lsquoRrsquo FilesThe latest blueprints for radical changes to agriculturalland-use are little more than Arcadian dreams that woulddo more harm than good Alan Moran

32 Free_EnterprisecomWelcome to the wonderful world of Blogs Whatrsquos a BlogWell itrsquos a sort of living personal diary hellip and a lot moreStephen Dawson

34 Strange TimesThe weird the wacky and the wonderful from around theworld Compiled by IPA staff and columnists

35 Letter from LondonLabour has many problems Unfortunately for Britishdemocracy an effective Tory opposition is not one ofthem John Nurick

36 Further AfieldShare ownership and political values Internet democracyThree Mile Island modern sperm counts taxing andcheating

38 Whatrsquos A JobReforming the car industry will do more for all of societythan wake up a few sleepy manufacturers Ken Phillips

39 Oxfamrsquos Rigged Rules and Double Standards MakingTrade Fair reviewed by David Robertson

2 EditorialThe Greens may be electorally popular at the momentbut as articles in this edition show that is all the morereason to examine their policies with care MikeNahan

3 The Underside of NetwarTwo RAND analysts argue that if the war against terror isto succeed then the West needs to take networkstructures seriously and use their organizational strengthsto beat their enemies John Arquilla and DavidRonfeldt

6 Not In Our Backyard On Our DoorstepPapua New Guinearsquos serious internal problems (aided andabetted by our lsquochequebookrsquo aid programme) pose agreater security threat to us than fanatical Muslims PeterUrban

7 Tea Break or Mad Hatterrsquos Tea PartyIn a globalized world there is no excuse for a lsquotea-breakrsquofrom reformmdashour security broadly defined depends on itbeing maintained and extended John Hyde

9 The Death of Rural Freehold RightsRecent State and federal native vegetation legislation willnot only diminish traditional property rights it will fail tosecure its environmental goals as well Jim Hoggett

12 Time to Fix Your rsquoRoo ImbalanceThe explosion of rsquoroo numbers on farmersrsquo land is aserious menace Yet because they are the Statesrsquo responsi-bility there is little that farmers can do about itIan Mott

15 The Rigging of the ACCCThe possible appointment of a consumer activist to theACCC is not only bad for consumers it betrays a loss offaith in the lsquoCrsquo that stands for Competition Gary Johns

17 Postgraduate Degrees in AgitpropThe grosser forms of anti-WTO sentiment are notsimply schoolgirl fadsmdashsome of our lesser universitiesare now teaching courses in activism AndrewMcIntyre

18 Education AgendaOn nearly all measures boys are doing worse at schoolthan girls There are some fairly obvious and remediablereasons for the crisis Kevin Donnelly

ARTICLES amp REGULAR FEATURES

Inside This IssueVolume 54 bull Number 4 bull December 2002

Editor Mike Nahan Publisher amp Executive Director Mike Nahan Production Chris Ulyatt Consulting Services Pty LtdDesigned by Colin Norris Kingdom Artroom Printed by Print Hotline 47 Milligan Street Perth WA 6000

Published by The Institute of Public Affairs Ltd (Incorporated in the ACT) ACN 008 627 727Level 2 410 Collins Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 Phone (03) 9600 4744 Fax (03) 9602 4989 E-mail ipaipaorgau Website wwwipaorgau

Cover photograph by David Hughes [(03) 9486 4628] Inside cartoons by Peter Foster [(03) 9813 3160]

Unsolicited manuscripts welcomed However potential contributors are advised to discuss proposals for articles with the Editor

Views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IPA

Reproduction The IPA welcomes reproduction of written material from the Reviewbut for copyright reasons the Editorrsquos permission must first be sought

E V I E WR

BOOK REVIEW

2 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Caveat emptor should be the rule inpolitics as it is in other spheres of lifeYet people seem to treat politics as ifit had no risks or consequences

Witness the recent Victorian Stateelection where across the State 92per cent of voters cast their primaryvote for the Greens Richmond whichis filling with aspirational youngprofessional types moving into trendyapartments recorded a vote of 27 percent for the Green candidate

Of course the concerns peoplehave about environmental degradationare both understandable and justifiedMany of our most difficult problemsemanate from our misuse of thenatural environment and as webecome wealthier we value theenvironment and its attributes highlyThe problem lies not with concernsabout the environment but with thedownright silly policies that theGreens put forward to deal with it

For example according to theirWebsite (wwwgreenorgau) theleading economic policy of the Greensin the last election was lsquotheabandonment of economic growth (asconventionally measured)rsquo Given thatthe apartment boom on which thelifestyle of the young things inRichmond depend is the single largestcontributor to our recent high level ofeconomic growth it is extremelystrange that they would vote in drovesfor a party that is serious about stiflingtheir lifestyle

Of course most people who votedfor the Greens did not read the policydocuments Moreover they votedGreen with the knowledge that theGreens would not win governmentThey probably assumed too thatsuccessful Greens would as BobBrown recently admitted be morelsquorealisticrsquo than promised

The confidence in the impotenceof the Greens is however misplacedThe Greens mean what they say Their

From the EditorMIKE NAHAN

policies are being implemented if notby them then by erstwhile moresensible governments seeking thegreen vote And the damage they aredoing is large and highly visible

Young people are fleeingTasmaniamdashthe home base of theGreensmdashfor a reason After 15 yearsof Green NIMBYism the competitivebase of the State is in tatters Notsatisfied the Greens are now workingto stop Basslinkmdashthe $200 millioninvestment that will connect Tassie tothe national electricity grid WhyBecause they do not want lsquodirtyelectronsrsquo polluting their lsquocleanelectronsrsquo Their solution is to exportthe electricity with batteriesmdashI kidyou not (see page 34) They are alsocampaigning to shut down Gunnsmdashthetimber and plantation firmmdashwhich isthe Statersquos largest private employer

The forest fires currently encirclingSydney are also in part the handiworkof the Greens The Greens haveinduced successive governments tolimit controlled burning curtail loggingand prevent the management ofprivate forests (see Jim Hoggett pages9ndash11) This has turned woodlands intowoodpiles ready to be ignited byarsonists lightning strikes and otherunavoidable causes

The kangaroo plague that iscurrently destroying vast tracts of farmland is also the product of our green

crusaders As outlined by Ian Mott(pages 12ndash14) thanks to the Greensthe States make ownership claims tokangaroo populations but exerciselittle responsibility over them This hasled to unchecked growth massstarvation and the destruction of theenvironment and the livelihood offarmers

The problem does not emanatefrom our formal political institutionsmdashparliamentary democracy a bicamerallegislature federalism Indeed theseare potentially vital counterweights tothe green thoughtlessness that issweeping society

It is within the informal politicalprocesses of civil society that theproblem is most severe People seemtoo readily to accept the simplestpronouncements of activists claimingto represent consumers the poor orthe environment They do not questiontheir bona fides values or actions Theyseem willing to allow these self-appointed guardians of virtue a greaterrole in collective action than theymerit

Faced with competition andpressure from unelected activists ourelected political agents and their publicservants are increasingly embracingthem and their approach Witness therecent proposal to appoint LouiseSylvan of the Australia ConsumersAssociation to the ACCC (see GaryJohns pages 15ndash16) and theGovernmentrsquos funding of anti-development NGOs to spread theirnarrow activist views and valuesabroad on our behalf (see DonDrsquoCruz pages 26ndash29)

The solution lies with holdingpolitical activism in so-called civilsociety to the same standards oftransparency scrutiny and robustdebate that takes place within ourformal institutions

API

3DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

THE fight for the futuremakes daily headlinesAs in the bombing inBali its battles are not

between the armies of leadingstates nor are its weapons the largeexpensive tanks planes and fleetsof regular armed forces Rather thecombatants come from darkviolent terrorist networks likeOsama bin Ladenrsquos al-Qaeda drugcartels like those in Colombia andMexico and militant anarchistslike the Black Bloc that ran amokduring the Battle of Seattle Thereis also a bright side to this fightone that often benefits stateinterests for it features networkedcivil-society activists struggling fordemocracy economic freedom andhuman rights around the worldBoth these dark- and bright-sideprotagonists are heralds of a newmode of conflict favoured bynetworked nonstate actors netwar

From the activistsrsquo Battle ofSeattle to the terroristsrsquo attack onBali these networks are provingvery hard to deal with indeedsome are winning What all havein common is that they operate insmall dispersed units that candeploy nimblymdashanywhere any-time All feature network forms oforganization doctrine strategyand technology attuned to theinformation age They know howto swarm and disperse penetrateand disrupt connect and dis-connect as well as elude and evadeThe tactics they use range frombattles of ideas to acts ofsabotagemdashand lsquocybotagersquo as sometactics involve the Internet

So far across this new landscapeof conflict the edge has gone to thenetworks Hierarchy-orientedstates must learn to transform

The Underside of NetwarJOHN ARQUILLA AND DAVID RONFELDT

they built based on unusually tightsocial religious and kinship tiesUS Secretary of State Colin Powellput it aptly To win against terrorthis network must be lsquoripped apartrsquo

The league of hierarchicalnation-states that has formed tofight this terrorism will have tobuild its own set of nimble net-works In the military realm thismeans relying more on networks ofagile special forcesmdashof all alliednationsmdashthan on the missilestanks bombers and aircraft carriersthat until now have been the sinequa non of national power Just asthe terroristsrsquo power derives morefrom their organizational form thanfrom technology so too must themilitary power to defeat thembecome more reliant upon organ-ization and doctrine than uponadvanced technical systems

The intelligence world faces anequally urgent need for insti-tutional redesignmdashaway fromnotions of lsquocentralrsquo intelligencetoward the construction of trans-national intelligence networks ableto share what they have on a real-time basis Swift movement ofimportant information has playeda major role in the success ofnetworked businesses over the pastdecade Now it is time for net-working to redefine the approachto intelligencemdashthe quality andtimeliness of which will determinewhether bin Ladenrsquos or any otherterror network can indeed belsquoripped apartrsquo

Improved international net-working among military and intel-ligence organizations can help winthis war against terror But this willnot suffice in the long run Abalanced strategy for counteringterrorist networks should also

themselves along networked linesor they will face the increasinglydaunting prospect of strugglingagainst an uncontrollable risingtide of civil and uncivil societynetworks enabled and impelledforward by the information revo-lution

In September 2001 the lsquoage ofnetworksrsquo which seemed to bedawning with such democraticpromise yielded an astoundinglsquoattack on Americarsquo signalling the

onset of an archetypal netwarTransnational terrorists organizedin widely dispersed networkednodes showed how it is possible toswarm together swiftly on cuethen pulse to the attack simul-taneously They relied on theInternet sometimes communi-cating via encrypted messages Butwhat really distinguished themmdashin particular Osama bin Ladenrsquos al-Qaeda (lsquothe Basersquo)mdashis the highlynetworked organizational form that

Transnational

terrorists organized

in widely dispersed

networked nodes

showed how it is

possible to swarm

together swiftly on

cue then pulse to the

attack simultaneously

4 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

involve a much improved capacityto work with networks of civil-society NGOs around the worldmany of which are engaged insocial netwars Nurturing thisemergent global civil society offersthe best chance for state andnonstate actors to create over timean lsquointegral security systemrsquo thatcould free all of us ultimately fromterror For in a truly networkedworld joined as much by commonvalues as by common wires therewill simply be little space left forsuch a scourge

Above all Americarsquos strategy(not to mention Australiarsquos) shouldavoid getting mired in notions of alsquoclash of civilizationsrsquo The waragainst terror is not a war ofWestern values against IslamRather it is what Jeremy Rifkin hascalled a lsquotime warrsquo in this casebetween an emerging global civiliz-ation of the 21st century and axenophobic religious fanaticism ofthe 14th century (or earlier)Osama bin Laden and his cohortsare so tribal medieval absolutistand messianic that they resemblesome of the more frighteningfigures out of Norman Cohnrsquos ThePursuit of the Millenium The moreclearly these terrorists are revealedas such the sooner they will berejected by the vast majority of theMuslim world for which theypurport to be fighting

Yet as much as Osama binLaden seems a medieval ratherthan a modern character thenetwork that he has mastermindedis quite sophisticated and thecontinuing fight against it willremain tough and protracted Atthis point it is advisable to analysehow this struggle against terrorismis playing out across five dimen-sions the organizational narrativedoctrinal technological andsocial

First at the organizational levelthis is a major confrontationbetween hierarchicalstate andnetworkednonstate actors For theUnited States and its friends and

allies one challenge will be to learnto network better with each otherSome of this is already going onin terms of intelligence sharing butmuch more must be done to builda globally operational counter-terror network A particular chal-lenge for the cumbersome Ameri-can bureaucracy will be to encour-age deep all-channel networkingamong the military law enforce-ment and intelligence elements

In fighting al-Qaeda theorganizational challenge lies partlyin determining whether thisnetwork has a single hub designedaround bin Laden If this were thecase then his death or capturewould signal its defeat Howeverthe more a terrorist network takesthe form of a multi-hub lsquospiderrsquoswebrsquo design with multiple centresand peripheries the more redund-ant and resilient it will bemdashand theharder to defeat In a somewhat

analogous vein note that despitethe dismantling of the powerfulMedellin and Cali cartels in the1990s a plethora of small drugsmuggling organizations many ofthem networked continues toflourish in Colombia The risk isthat small more nimble networks

spring up as successors to a defeatedlarge network

Second at the narrative levela broad-based lsquobattle of the storyrsquois being waged between Westernliberal ideas about the spread of freemarkets free peoples and opensocieties and Muslim convictionsabout the exploitative invasivedemeaning nature of Westernincursions into the Islamic worldRighteous indignation exists onboth sides The United Statesinsists that terrorist attacks are lsquoactsof warrsquo against not only Americabut also against lsquothe civilizedworldrsquo and American publicopinion was quickly galvanized bythe revival of the Pearl Harbormetaphor Against this the per-petrators exalt their own lsquoholy warrsquoimagery however they havetrouble exploiting it beyond theIslamic world But while theUnited States may have the edgeso far in the lsquobattle of the storyrsquo inmuch of the world it will have tothink deeply about how to keepthat edge as US forces are sent intoaction in or near any MiddleEastern or Muslim countries

Third in terms of doctrine theal-Qaeda network has displayed agrasp of the nonlinear nature of thebattlespace and of the value ofattack from multiple directions bydispersed small units If this isindeed a war being orchestrated byal-Qaeda its first campaign was nodoubt the bombing of the KhobarTowers in Saudi Arabia in 1996followed by a sharp shift to Africawith the embassy bombings of1998 In between and since anumber of other skirmishes haveoccurred in far-flung locales withsome smaller attacks succeedingand others apparently beingprevented by good intelligenceThus bin Laden and his cohortsappear to have developed a swarm-like doctrine that features acampaign of episodic pulsingattacks at locations sprawled acrossglobal time and space whereparticular network nodes have

Nurturing thisemergent global civil

society offers thebest chance for

state and nonstateactors to create over

time an lsquointegralsecurity systemrsquo thatcould free all of us

from terror

5DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

advantages for seizing the initia-tive stealthily

Against this doctrine theUnited States has had seeminglylittle new to pose as yet Somestaid defensive efforts to improvelsquoforce protectionrsquo have beenpursued and the offensive part ofUS doctrine still appears to bebased on ageing notions of strategicbombardment Needless to say ifour ideas about netwar and thefuture of conflict are on the markthe former is not likely to be awinning approach a whole newdoctrine based on small-unitswarming concepts should bedeveloped Indeed the strikingsuccess of the relative handful ofcoalition special forces in Afghan-istan during the fall of 2001 shouldbe seen as lsquoa war to change all warsrsquo

It also seems clear that thenotion of counterleadershiptargeting will continue to befeaturedmdashthis was tried againstMoammar Qaddafi in 1986Saddam Hussein in 1991Mohamed Aidid in 1993 andagainst bin Laden himself in 1998and again at Tora Bora in 2001Every one of these attempts hasfailed and now we know that binLaden is still out there But thissorry record hasnrsquot kept the UnitedStates from resorting to the strategyyet again as this seems to form apart of its doctrinal paradigmTaking out top leadership is notnecessarily a bad idea but networkdesigns may be so complex andcapable of reconfiguration that itmakes equal sense to target brokersgatekeepers and other operators atstrategic middle and peripheralpositions

Fourth at the technologicallevel the United States possessesa vast array of very sophisticatedsystems while al-Qaeda has rela-tively fewmdashand has great and in-creasing reluctance to use ad-vanced telecommunications be-cause of the risks of detection andtracking But this category cannotbe analyzed quite so simply The

United States for example hasextensive technical means forgathering intelligence and target-ing informationmdashbut perhaps onlya small portion of these means havemuch utility against dispersed net-

worked terrorists Orbital assetsmdashnow the linchpins of Americanintelligencemdashmay ultimatelyprove of little use against binLaden At the same time al-Qaedahas access to commercial off-the-shelf technologies that haveproven a boon to their operations

Last at the social level thisnetwork features tight religious andkinship bonds among the terroristswho share a tribal clannish viewof lsquousrsquo versus lsquothemrsquo Al-Qaedarsquosedge in this dimension ties into itsnarrative level with Islam beingthe pivot between the story of lsquoholywarrsquo against lsquoinfidelsrsquo and thenetworkrsquos ability to recruit anddeploy hate-filled death-boundstrike forces who evince a single-ness of mind and purpose Againstthis the allied coalition faces aprofound defensive challenge atthe social level How will peopledespite the arousal of outrage atterrorism react to the potentialneed for their societies to become

less open in order to become moresecure

In summary a netwar perspect-ive on the various dimensions ofthe struggle with al-Qaeda renderssome interesting insights into boththe context and conduct of thisfirst major conflict of the newmillennium Bin Laden and al-Qaeda held initial advantages atthe social and doctrinal levels andin the organizational domain aswell The United States and itsallies held only marginal advan-tages at the narrative and tech-nological levels In terms ofstrategy there appears to have beenless room for al-Qaeda to improveHowever its underpinnings mightbe further enhancedmdashand vulner-ability removedmdashif it moves everfurther away from being a hubnetwork revolving around binLaden

For the United States and itsallies there is much room forimprovementmdashmost of all at theorganizational and doctrinal levelsSimply put the allied coalitionmust start to build its own networks(and hybrids of hierarchies andnetworks) and learn to swarm theenemy in order to keep terroristson the run or pinned down untilthey can be killed or captured TheUnited States and its allies mustalso seize the initiativemdashincludingby applying pressure on any statesthat harbour or sponsor terroristsTo be sure the edge at the narrativelevel in the world at large must bemaintained

The crucial work now for coali-tion strategists is to develop aninnovative concept of operationsand build the right kinds of net-works to carry off a swarmingcampaign against networked ter-rorists For at its heart netwar ismore about organization and doc-trine than it is about technology

John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt are RANDanalysts Their latest book is Networks and

Netwars (RAND 2001)

Simply put the alliedcoalition must start

to build its ownnetworks (and hybrids

of hierarchies andnetworks) and learnto swarm the enemy

in order to keepterrorists on the run

or pinned down

API

6 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

F there is one lesson fornational security policythat we should learn fromSeptember 11 and the Bali

bombings it is a quite fundamentalone that threats to national securityoften come as a surprise but that af-ter the event are also ratherunsurprising This lesson is particu-larly important at the moment Withour attention firmly focused on ter-rorism the risk for our national se-curity planning is that we will down-grade or overlook other risks

Papua New Guinea is a good ex-ample of this danger As noted inBeyond Bali (a recently released re-port by the Australian StrategicPolicy Institute) PNG is an obviouslaunching pad or conduit for terror-ist or transnational crime activitydirected against Australia given thegrowing political and institutionalinstability in that country While thisis the obvious security threat fromPNG the real security threat fromPNG is likely to come from internaldevelopments in PNG and a contin-ued failure of Australian aid policyrather than from external agentssuch as Muslim terrorists ortransnational criminals using PNGas a base

To most Australians to identifyPNG as a major threat to our na-tional security in its own right wouldseem nonsensical how could a smalldeveloping country pose an indepen-dent threat to a country such as Aus-tralia This perception is reinforcedby the fact that for many AustraliansPNG is viewed through the prism ofthe Kokoda Track fuzzy-wuzzy an-gels mountainous jungle and an en-vironment relatively unspoilt by

I

Not In Our BackyardOn Our Doorstep

PETER URBAN

modern society Within this percep-tion PNG is also seen as a part ofthe geographic isolation that adds torather than detracts from our secu-rity

The reality is dangerously differ-ent from this out-of-date perceptionAlthough PNG is indeed rich innatural and environmental re-sources it is also beset by endemicofficial corruption and political in-

stability Despite over twelve billiondollars (yes twelve BILLION dollarsin 2001ndash02 terms) in aid from Aus-tralia since it gained independencein 1975 in terms of most develop-ment indicators (life expectancy lit-eracy rates income per capita etc)PNG is going backwards

Worse our aid policy has been asignificant contributor to the emerg-ing failure of PNG as a state For most

of the period after independenceAustralian aid was delivered as di-rect budgetary assistancemdashcheque-book aid without the accountabil-ity regarded as the norm for otherexpenditure programmes The resultPNG politicians used Australian aidflows to fund their growing appetitefor corruption

The decline in PNG is also ac-celerating In 1999ndash2000 GDP con-tracted by 1 per cent This financialyear PNGrsquos GDP is forecast to de-cline by 3 per cent In real per capitaterms incomes in PNG have prob-ably contracted by around 20 percent over the last five years Unem-ployment is high and rising particu-larly among the young lawlessnessis out of control and as a state PNGis dysfunctional outside the capital(and even within Port Moresby)most basic services such as policetransport education and health havecollapsed

This has direct security implica-tions for us As can be seen from adecent map of the area1 Australiashares extensive island and seabedborders with PNG Within theTorres Strait there is also freedomof movement of Torres Strait island-ers of either nationality betweenboth countries These movementshave increased significantly over thelast few years and were estimated atover 50000 movements in 2001 Asthe disintegration of the PNG stateaccelerates we can expect to seethese movements increase further asmore and more Papua New Guineanscome to rely on Australian facilitiesin the Torres Strait for basic servicesIn the case of health services this isalready happening with the

The real securitythreat from PNG islikely to come from

internal developmentsin PNG and a

continued failure ofAustralian aid policy

rather than fromexternal agents suchas Muslim terrorists

7DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

T is not entirely clearwhether anti-globaliza-tion protestors are benton building the backlash

against economic reform con-vincing the legislators that it isbigger than it really is or havingfun Nevertheless since theirapparent success by any of the threemeasures in Seattle in 1999 andcertainly since the 1980sbull fewer people are defending

economic reform with consist-ent arguments

bull the determination of Australiangovernments to reform theirrespective economies hasabated

bull the big-spending and big-taxingHoward Government hasbecome prone to appeasingvested interests and

bull the ALP and the minor partiesin the Senate are blockingreforms that the Hawke Gov-ernment would once havechampionedAgain persuaded more by noisy

minorities and less by economicprinciple our politicians have asNew Zealandrsquos David Lange onceput it taken a lsquotea breakrsquo fromreform Australian economicreform has to date been over-whelmingly successful more isneeded and they justify their breakabout as convincingly as the MadHatter justified his tea party toAlice

The Liberals and Labor haveclearly been scared by the minorparties but their response does notseem to address the principalgrievance of the voters who

I

JOHN HYDE

Tea Break or MadHatterrsquos Tea Party

deserted them When followingthe 1983 election Labor (then inGovernment) and the Coalition(then in Opposition) began takingadvice from conventional sourcesmore seriously than before OneNation the Democrats and theGreens continued to offer thepolicies which economic theoryand budgetary arithmetic disallowA 1998 IPA Backgrounder showedthat the minor parties were forpractical purposes as one onforeign ownership trade pro-tection re-regulating the financialsector opposition to privatizationlabour market regulation andreduced immigrationmdashall areaswhere Labor or the Liberals werecloser to each other than to theminors The minors played lsquocatchrsquowith the populist and protest voteadding it to their core of genuineideological support which in thecase of One Nation was tem-porarily so considerable that some-thing visceral was needed toaccount for it

A little of the something was nodoubt race but if other upper blue-collar and rural electorates are likethe one that I represented onlyvery little Epithets such as lsquoredneckrsquo and lsquoracistrsquo hurt theseelectors and both Labor and theCoalition fostered the attitudesthat caused them to be so abusedBut there was I believe somethingeven more fundamental than thatI am reasonably confident that afeeling that their opinions did notcount with officials who insisted onlsquodorsquosrsquo and lsquodonrsquotsrsquo that trivializedtheir values and disdained their

Queensland Government requestingincreased federal health funding tocompensate for the drain on itshealth services by PNG nationals

From the national security per-spective while large uncontrolledmovements of PNG nationals acrossour borders presents serious risks inits own right the nature of thosemovements is also of concern InPNG for example AIDS infectionis running at nearly one per cent ofthe adult population This comparesto an infection rate of 01 per centin the Australian adult populationAs a result a large influx of PNGpatients into the Torres Strait healthsystem brings with it the increasedrisk of AIDS transmission into theAustralian health system particu-larly given that most health servicesin the Torres Strait region are deliv-ered through relatively unsophisti-cated facilities Although this riskmay be unintended by those seekinghealth care the result would be thesame as intentional exposure by ter-rorists

The bottom line of the foregoingis that we need a fundamental reviewof Australian policy towards PNGUnless we do we will continue towaste tens of millions of dollars inaid each year while at the same timeexposing ourselves to serious securityrisksmdashrisks potentially far more se-rious than say bombings in Bali Wewill also be letting PNG downWhile the memory of the KokodaTrack may not be relevant to wherePNG is today it is relevant to wherewe should want it to be tomorrowNor is it the fault of ordinary PapuaNew Guineans that our aid and theirpoliticians have failed them

NOTE1 A readily accessible one may be

found at [httpwwwdfatgovaugeotorres_straitmaphtml]

Peter Urban is former chief economist with theDepartment of Foreign Affairs and Trade

API

8 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

protests explains moremdashgood oldMarxian alienation It was evidentin the rural parts of my electorateeven before I lost it in 1983 Manyof these disenchanted people wouldhave tolerated some even wel-comed disagreement but not thepolitically correct injunctions thatdenied their opinions a hearing

My unstructured observationsare borne out by a survey con-ducted by Katharine Betts Sheidentified resentment at the lsquocos-mopolitan agendarsquo with a tendencyto vote against the proposedRepublic If the antipathy wasstrong enough to cause people tovote against a proposal that was buta small part of that lsquoagendarsquo it wassurely sufficient to cause them toregister a protest against theperceived perpetrators of it AParliamentary Library ResearchPaper quoting a study showing thatthe Hanson constituency waslsquodisenchanted and feels disen-franchisedrsquo also supported myopinion If feeling alienated werenot enough when Hansonrsquos meet-ings were broken up by violentprotests (some of which weretelevised) tens of thousands ofvoters must have turned to her insympathy protested against suchbehaviour or both In due coursewhen the Hansonites made them-selves look silly some votesreturned to the Coalition andLabor I doubt however that manyof the disenchanted even noticedthe major partiesrsquo tea break or thattheir sucking up to vested interestswon many more votes than it lost

Some Liberals have blamedKennett for their Victorian elect-oral debaclemdashitrsquos easier thanblaming themselvesmdashbut theevidence that economic reformcosts votes is at best equivocalHawke was re-elected twice Ken-nett was also re-elected at theheight of his reforming zeal and therecord in New Zealand the UKand the United States is similarReforming governments tend tolose elections when they get tired

Of course people who have lostor might lose privileges will saythat economic reform is respon-sible for every political reversal toobut they would say that wouldnrsquotthey

Then how is it that people saythat issues such as gun controlTelstra tariffs or the labour marketdrive them The next time yourspouse implies that itrsquos time youstopped sulking will you say lsquoYouand the family donrsquot take me asseriously as I meritrsquo or will you referherhim to some episode that is notthe crux of your discontent With

opinion pollsters too people canarticulate only concrete grievancesand none come more readily to thetongue than those that have beencarefully crafted and advertised byvested interests and zealots Isuggest that alienation is likely tobe a much bigger cause of dis-gruntlement than surveys canshow and that other reasons arecommensurately less important

As long as vested interests haveprivileges to protect opposition toeconomic reform will be organizedOf course some honest idealistsalso oppose it but when kids blockthe streets chanting slogans againstthe trade and investment that havedone so much to reduce the pov-

erty of millions they are eithertotally disingenuous or they havenot given the evidence even acursory glance Self-serving inter-ests misguided idealists and the ir-responsible young are facts of lifewith which Australians must liveand not only because these cannotbe avoided One day we may haveto look back (with whateverhumility we can muster) upon whatwas at the time an apparentlymindless protest and say lsquoIt wasright after allrsquo I much prefer protestthat is prosecuted by argumentrather than by chanting andcausing public nuisance but with-out the right of public dissent ourcountry would not be free and Iam sure would soon become asinefficient as it would be corrupt

What I cannot understand iswhy older people who have risento positions of prominence havebecome too timid to defend theinstitutions that they know fullwell underpin all productiveeconomies Where today are thepolitical leaders of the 1980s andearly 1990s who in word and deedin government and in oppositiondefended them They might todaywith profit to the nation turn upHawkersquos response to the GarnautReport the philosophical parts ofFightback and Howardrsquos first Head-land Speech

Where today are the businessleaders who in 1993 signed off onthe BCA publication Australia2010 At a time when corporationsare prone to make common causewith the forces that turn up at anti-globalization rallies it bears athoughtful re-reading

Leaders who allow themselvestea breaks not only (howevertemporarily) do not lead theyallow the opponents of reform toregroup

People who have lost

privileges will say

that economic

reform is responsible

for every political

reversal too

but they would say

that wouldnrsquot they

API

John Hyde is a Senior Fellow with the Institute ofPublic Affairs His book Dry In Defence of

Economic Freedom was published by the IPA inNovember 2002

9DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ARMER Jim is thinkingof felling one of the20000 trees on his prop-erty for fenceposts He

has used up his 30 tree (015 percent) exemption He looks at oneof the 19970 remaining trees Hehas to consider what slope it is onwhether it is a rare species whetherit has any hollows or is on the wayto having hollows what native ani-mals or birds are feeding off it orare likely to do so what effect ithas on the forest canopy whetherit is near a stream whether it is ofaboriginal significance etc etcThen he will be in a position tomake a lengthy submission to gov-ernment seeking permission to fellWelcome to the world of tree-by-tree approvals

Over many years governmentshave taken actions that have di-luted the rights to freehold titleThey have done so for a variety ofreasons including to provide foressential public services to controlharmful activities and more re-cently to prevent ugly develop-ment This has resulted in ex-tremely interventionist regimesSuch regimes are necessary par-ticularly in crowded urban areasBut they are not costless

Nevertheless the planning re-gimes have generally not destroyedthe economic value of a whole classof property and deprived landhold-ers of the incentive to care for it

State Governments are in theprocess of doing just this They areestablishing native vegetation leg-islation that will quarantine largeareas of Australia effectively elimi-nating freehold tenure in those ar-

F

The Death of RuralFreehold Rights

JIM HOGGETT

eas In opting for coercion ratherthan cooperation for preservationrather than management they willalso ensure that their environmen-tal objectives will not be attained

THE LEGISLATIONAt the national level the legisla-tion is intended to prevent wide-spread additional clearing of pri-vate native forest and woodlandAt the local level this will be done

by depriving landholders of histori-cal legal rights and existing eco-nomic value The rights are thecounterweight for the responsibil-ity of care The new legislation doesnot provide for the expropriator(the government) to take up theresponsibility of care Indeed itseeks to impose additional respon-sibilities on the landholder as it re-moves the property rights

The method of expropriation isthrough the familiar requirement

for official permission that will behard to obtain and seldom grantedPermits will generally be requiredfrom government before nativevegetation can be disturbed Na-tive vegetation is widely if vaguelydefined but can be taken to encom-pass most native forest and wood-land The legislation is duplicatedextended and reinforced in manyrespects by existing and new rulescovering water and native faunaThe legislation will be adminis-tered through regional plans con-taining detailed regulation

Some exemption has beengranted so that landholders can re-move or take a number of trees perannum The exemptions bear norelation to existing rights In oneNSW regional plan it is 30 treesper property On a property with100 hectares of trees (not uncom-mon) there could be up to 40000trees The exemption is thereforenominal and negligible It cannotbe described as maintenance oflandholdersrsquo rights nor does it pro-vide the basis for sensible forestmanagement

The avenues for landholders toapply for permission to undertakenative forest activities will behedged with the usual interminableprocesses of analysis submissionimpact statement comment etcOnly big businesses will have thetime expertise or money to take onthe crushing weight of the Statebureaucracies and the inevitablethird-party intervention that thecentralizing of decisions fosters andfavours Farmers already have a dayjob Expensive and complex sub-missions to government are far

State Governmentshellip are establishingnative vegetation

legislation that willquarantine largeareas of Australia

effectivelyeliminating freeholdtenure in those areas

10 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

more onerous for them than forfull-time bureaucracies or (govern-ment-financed) Green organiza-tions

In this case regulation of rights iseffectively elimination of rights

In effect the policy locks up theprivate forest at no immediate costto the government and eliminatesthe freehold property right This in-volves about 7 million hectares ofprivate property in NSW alonemdash60 per cent of the total forestedarea It is a land grab of Zimba-bwean proportionsmdashand withsimilar likely results

LAZY POLICY IS BADPOLICYThis is very poor policy because itis both discriminatory against a mi-nority group in society and it wonrsquotwork

What seems to have happenedis that governments have simplyapplied the policy that they havebeen using for public parks to pri-vate land This has two main draw-backs

First the policy applying to pub-lic land does not seem to be work-ing The creation of extensive pub-lic parks provides only a transientpolitical gain and the parks arethen permanently under-resourcedfor operations The result is pooraccess for the public neglect andthe creation of extreme fire-risk

At the same time the dimin-ished State forest areas are underpressure to sustain timber produc-tion levels to meet the continuingneeds of construction and manu-facturing We will reap the penal-ties for this later

Both activities sufferSecond the application of the

policy to private land simply over-rides the long-established and in-tricate balance of rights and re-sponsibilities that apply to thou-sands of freehold properties and tothousands of individuals who havecared and will be expected to con-tinue to care for the land There isno evidence that the majority of

these individuals deserve to be pe-nalized in this way or that quaran-tining will produce a better envi-ronmental outcome than thepresent private management

lsquoOne size fits allrsquo is a lazy andinadequate approach to publicpolicy

BAD POLICY WILL FAILThe implications arebull Landholders have their owner-

ship in these areas reduced tosomething like leaseholdmdashin-deed the areas become a signifi-cant liability

bull There will be no incentive forthem to care for the forestmdashtomaintain access tracksmdashto re-move noxious weedsmdashto con-trol feral animalsmdashto do risk-re-duction for bushfires And theycannot be asked turn out to fightfires in dangerous conditionswhich may have been createdor exacerbated by government

bull There is a powerful incentive forlandholders to circumvent whatwill be an unjust law and to con-ceal or destroy any significantenvironmental values in the for-estmdashthe government will alien-ate those whose support is essen-tial to the success of its broaderobjectives

bull Governments have neither thewill nor the capacity to care forthese areas themselvesmdashthehuge regular uncontrollablefires in our national parks indi-cate their incapacity

bull Nor will governments want toaccept public liability for thehazardous conditions that theirpolicies will create in neglectedforests There will be muchfruitful ground for future litiga-tion as the neglected quasi-pub-lic forest estate generates injuryand damages claims

bull Nevertheless governments arealready planning the recruit-ment of a host of jobsworth treestump police to enforce the leg-islation on the thousands oflandholders it has deliberatelyalienated There will be theusual draconian enforcementpowers and there will be theusual cadre of informers

bull The inspectors will neverthe-less be unable to monitor muchless inspect more than a tinyfraction of the tens of billionsof trees supposedly in their man-dateThe legislation will create the op-

posite of sustainable developmentThere will be no development

in most of the forest areas and largenew regions of badly neglected na-tive forest will be created They willbe of negative value to the land-holder and there will be no accessor value for the general public

THE lsquoNON-DEBATErsquoAlthough there has been passingmention of this legislation in thenational media and parliamentsthere is little substantive debateThis is partly because there are cur-rently multiple assaults on rural pri-vate property rights through envi-ronmental and other legislationRestrictions on land and water usefauna protection and Aboriginaland heritage protection are all onthe shopping list of one activistgroup or another So any one issuetends to be buried or confused

There is a powerfulincentive for

landholders tocircumvent what willbe an unjust law andto conceal or destroy

any significantenvironmental

values in the forest

11DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

In addition as farmers grapplewith prolonged drought and vol-unteer bushfire brigades risk theirlives on public and private landthe more mundane and compli-cated business of policy formula-tion is pushed out of the limelightMoreover media commentatorstend to avoid the complexities ofbad regulation There are simplermore interesting targets such asfarm subsidies or more exciting iflong-discredited fantasies such asturning the coastal rivers inland

The usual defenders of the ru-ral sector have been muted or insome cases have been bought offby chimerical promises of compen-sation such as the National Farm-ers Federationrsquos joint bid with theAustralian Conservation Founda-tion to get $65 billion from thepublic purse to solve salinity andbuy out farmers There has been awhisper of compensation for expro-priated rights but political prom-ises in this area are notoriously frag-ile and compensation is alwayshard to get and slow to be deliv-ered Full compensation for loss ofcapital value and for ongoing main-tenance of areas that governmenthas effectively expropriated wouldbe enormous Other potentialchampions of the rural sector suchas the NSW Opposition are des-perately trying to look like a palegreen shadow of government

The Green movement hasstrongly supported the legislationMore sinisterly it has also at-tempted to stifle debate by seekingto exclude landholders even fromtheir minority role in consultationprocesses on the grounds of theirdirect interest This is rather likeexcluding voters at an election orratepayers from local issues on thegrounds that they will be damagedby the actions of government

The fact is that this policy iscostless both to those who promoteit and to most of those who pass itinto law It has substantial benefitsfor those in the bureaucracy whodevise the policy because it pro-

vides employment and power Thecosts to the real stakeholders thelandowners are very high Thecosts to the community generallyare well into the future beyond thenext election

The policy dynamic is pro-foundly biased against the rural sec-tor

A BETTER WAYThere is a better way

If the State and Common-wealth Governments were seriousabout the future of our native veg-etation they would focus on thedetection and regulation of large-scale land clearing The inventionof the aeroplane and more re-cently the satellite permits regu-lar detailed aerial inspection andhence control of those who floutthe law

Instead of alienating thousandsof private forest landholders (whoare not clearing) governmentshould enlist their support It is amyth that the average farmerknows or cares less than the aver-age Green about land on which hehas worked for years Overseas theworth of schemes involving coop-

In NSW the area ofparks and reserves

has quintupled fromone million to fivemillion hectaressince 1970 The

number of parks hasincreased from 100

to a completelyunmanageable 580

eration in native forest manage-ment between public and privatesectors is already well recognizedIn the USA some developingcountries and at the World Bankthe perversity of mandated quaran-tining has been recognized As isso often the case Australia contin-ues to adopt policies that elsewhereare regarded as obsolete

A cooperative regime would al-low for sustainable forestry activi-ties while providing for protectionof significant environmental val-ues We are surely beyond the pointof believing that large regular ran-dom blazes in neglected publicparks are preferable to the alterna-tive of detailed forest management

Perhaps the States might alsolook at the big picture before de-ciding to lock up land in additionto that which they already con-spicuously fail to manage In NSWthe area of parks and reserves hasquintupled from one million to fivemillion hectares since 1970 Thenumber of parks has increased from100 to a completely unmanageable580 The area of State forest is 28million hectaresmdashstill substantialthough no longer a viable resourceat current extraction rates

The variation from region to re-gion is significant and unrecog-nized by the policy In those regionswhere forest cover in public handsis more than 20 per cent the needto lock up more land should be pre-sumed unnecessary

For the Green movement therewill never be enough parks orenough regulations that simply saylsquonorsquo to human activity But otherpeople must live on this continentand their productive activitiesmust support the public domainWe need to look at more intelli-gent and tailored solutions

Perhaps it is time to say enoughis enough

Jim Hoggett is a Senior Fellow at the Institute ofPublic Affairs and owns 100 hectares of native

forest in the Manning region

API

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ARMERS are being ac-cused of shortsightednessfor failing to prepare forthe present drought Yet

few urban observers understandthat the current crisis is caused bya level of hidden environmentaltaxes that the urban majority wouldnever accept themselves Andinstead of doling out begrudgingassistance laced with condes-cension the community at largemay find itself on the wrong end ofa very expensive negligence claim

The current drought provides aonce-in-a-decade opportunity forfarmers to rid themselves of ahidden environmental tax that is oneof the greatest threats to their long-term viability while at the sametime correcting a major ecologicalimbalance

On many properties the excess-ive kangaroo population will beeating as much feed as the sheepor cattle All agree that rsquoroonumbers have multiplied becauseof added watering points improvedpasture and yes clearing But fewnon-farmers understand the fullconsequences of this imbalance

Indeed Archer statesNot every kangaroo species wasadversely affected by thesechanges The modification ofmuch of Australiarsquos semi-aridland into suitable grazing countryallowed the Red Kangaroo to gofrom an uncommon and rarelyseen animal to one of thecountryrsquos most abundant1

Archer claims that lsquoTen speciesare likely to have benefited fromhabitat changes occurring sinceEuropean settlement and it is

F

Time to Fix Your rsquoRoo Imbalance

IAN MOTT

mostly these species which figurein commerce andor pest controlthey are mainly the large Kan-garoosrsquo (page 234)

And it is worth noting thatBurke and Wills in their 1860ndash61journey from Cooperrsquos Creek to theGulf and back (a 2000km trans-ect) shot their own camels andhorses scrounged for snakes ratsand birds but appear to have shot

no kangaroos During their finalweeks the local Murris providedthem with fish (from the naturalwatering points) and Nardoo cakesbut again no rsquoroo meat

Yet at a rather modest stockingrate (for today) of one animal tofour hectares there would be about700 rsquoroos within a three kilometreradius of lsquothe Dig Treersquo And Kingthe lone survivor shot birds to

exchange for other foods from theMurris but again no rsquoroos appearto have been shot

One can only conclude that ifstarving men with rifles camped ata watering point were not shootingrsquoroos for survival then there werevery few rsquoroos about

And today while farmers musthand-feed their stock to keep themalive the same number of rsquoroos willstarve Many farmers will face theheart-rending task of shootingsheep rather than prolong theiragony And the rsquoroos

Well er um theyrsquore the res-ponsibility of the relevant StateEnvironment Minister and you canbet your mortgage that none ofthem will be photographed any-where near a starving rsquoroo beforerain falls

Farmers are only allowed alimited licence to cull rsquoroos Thevarious Ministers have assumedeffective control over rsquoroo numbersbut negligently have done noth-ing to ensure their health and well-being

More importantly as farmershave improved the productivecapacity of their land the relevantMinisters and the communitiesthey represent have allowed theirkangaroo herd to increase tounsustainable levels

So where a paddock may haveoriginally supported fewer than1000 animals prior to Europeansettlement it may now support theequivalent of 6000 made up of3000 sheep (or 300 cattle) and3000 rsquoroos

The farmer has produced anunambiguous lsquoecological profitrsquo in

Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at

large may find itself

on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim

(The Hidden Environmental Tax on Farmers)

13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

boosting rsquoroo numbers by 2000but the community through theMinister has said lsquothank you verymuch theyrsquore all ours and wersquolldecide what happens to themrsquo

Out of a total increase in carry-ing capacity of 5000 animals thefarmer has had no choice but to payan lsquoenvironmental taxrsquo of 40 percent of his (gross) new fodderreserves to accommodate the extra2000 rsquoroos

If he could have culled 200 rsquoroosfive years ago there would be 1000fewer starving rsquoroos today and1000 sheep that wouldnrsquot needhand-feeding If he had reduced hisherd of sheep to build up fodderreserves for the inevitable droughthe would only have made room formore rsquoroos There is not the slight-est doubt that the rsquoroo populationis capable of fully exploiting anygap left by destocking of sheep orcattle

So now every sheep the farmersells hand-feeds or agists ensuresthe survival of another excess rsquoroothat will be ready to deprive himof any future profits in good seas-ons

How ironic then that one ofthe contributors to Archerrsquos bookshould be none other than Dr TimFlannery author of The FutureEaters in which he blames farmersnot ignorant greens and bureau-crats for extinguishing options forfuture generations2

The farming community is alsowidely criticized for tree clearingbut few non-farmers understandthat this too is largely a conse-quence of the rsquoroo imbalance Mostclearing in Australia is clearing ofvegetation thickening excessiveregrowth of young stems on landwhich for 40000 years had beenpastured woodland

This thickening is caused byovergrazing of the forbs and grassesthat normally compete with youngtree seedlings The young seedlingsare also capable of fully exploitingany gap left in the vegetation coverAnd in the absence of firestick

farming it must be either clearedor be allowed to dominate the siteto the further economic detrimentof the farmer

So once again the farmerrsquosecological profit the increase intree numbers is being convertedthrough clearing controls into anexpectation to maintain an eco-logical value at a level far in excessof the pre-settlement level Thecommunityrsquos overstocking of oneecological attribute produces acommensurate overstocking of thesecond attribute

Droughts are not new De-stocking of either animals or treesis not rocket science The relevantMinisters have formally assumedthe exercise of power over both rsquorooand tree numbers But they have

neglected their environmentalduty of care to take all reasonablesteps to prevent an entirely fore-seeable harm

BUT WHAT IS THEFARMERrsquoS DUTY OF CAREThere has been much discussion onwhat the farmerrsquos duty of careshould be Most of this debate hasbeen in the context of nativevegetation management and the

appropriate proportion of theoriginal forest cover that should bemaintained on farms to protectecological systems

In the current Regional Vege-tation Management Planningprocesses in Queensland forexample the options under debaterange from 10 per cent to 40 percent of original vegetation (on aregional basis) being required toprotect the full suite of ecologicalvalues

In Planning and EnvironmentCourt decisions in respect ofhousing developments etc thenorm has been to set aside 10 percent of a development unit for allpublic purposes This has recentlyincreased to 13 per cent but itincludes all public purposes fromplaygrounds to environmentalreserves

The courts have not requiredcontributions in excess of theoriginal ecological value Even inthe case of endangered wetlandcommunities for example therehas never been a requirement toadd more wetland to a develop-ment site than the amount thatoriginally existed on the site

Australiarsquos 100 million kanga-roos are clearly not endangered soa farmerrsquos environmental duty ofcare should not extend any furtherthan maintaining a proportion (10per cent to 30 per cent) of the pre-settlement rsquoroo population levels

This natural footprint orlsquoUndisturbed Ecological Value(UEV)rsquo is the level that is producedwithout extra watering points etcIt is the ecological equivalent ofthe Unimproved Capital Valuethat is the basis for land valuationsand local government rate levies

No-one would seriously suggestthat council rates could be fairlylevied without a proper system ofvaluation and environmentaltaxes such as the kangaroo impostare no different Those who haveimplemented the current rsquoroopolicy have been grossly negligentin not considering the basis on

The farming

community is also

widely criticized for

tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that

this too is largely a

consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

which the impact of the policycould be equitably distributed

The case law is over-whelmingThe rsquoroo burden on farmers is alevel of burden that the rest of thecommunity is unwilling to bear Itis unjust discriminatory and aninappropriate exercise of power

SO WHAT CAN THEFARMER DOClearly there is little point inpresenting your EnvironmentMinister with a bill for the agist-ment of his excessive rsquoroo herd onyour property over the past tenyears The cost of mustering themand delivering them to the nearestBotanic Gardens is prohibitiveAnd you would grow very oldindeed waiting for departmentalofficers to come out and cull theirherd or prevent them suffering

Shooting the suffering beastswithout a licence would be themost humane thing to do but itcould also see you in court Theother option of removing yourstock and tossing a bucket of ureainto the trough will be very effect-ive but may also kill off otherspecies and could also land you incourt if detected

No-one doubts that millions ofrsquoroos sheep and cattle will suffer aslow cruel death in this droughtThe only moral and ecologicallysustainable option is to make theirsuffering as brief as lawfully poss-ible

The solution applies equally todomestic stock and communitystock If shooting is not an optionfor practical legal or economicreasons then rather than watchanimals suffer over six monthsfarmers should concentrate theanimals they want to keep at a fewwatering points where they can behand-fed to minimize energy-lossfrom searching for food

The remaining watering pointsshould be shut down to ensure thatthe suffering of non-essential stocklasts for only a few days rather thana few months The population that

is capable of surviving from theremaining natural watering pointsis the population that would havesurvived if this same drought hadoccurred in 1750

Once this adjustment has beenmade the watering points can bere-opened and essential stock canbe redistributed to graze the re-maining fodder at more sustainablelevels This process is best done in

co-operation with reliable neigh-bours but may need to be repeatedto ensure that animals from otherproperties and State lands do notmigrate to the comparativelysuperior conditions that will bemaintained on your land

This action would appear to belawful at least in QueenslandQueensland Parks and Wildlifehave established the precedent byfilling in dams on farm land thathas been taken into the NationalParks Estate The intention isobviously to return water flows andhence rsquoroo numbers to pre-settlement levels And a mix ofdisplacement and death by thirstwould appear to be the only fore-seeable consequences of theseactions

This action has obviously beentaken with the full concurrence of

The rsquoroo burden on

farmers is a level of

burden that the rest

of the community is

unwilling to bear It is

unjust discriminatory

and an inappropriate

exercise of power

the Director General of the En-vironmental Protection Authoritywho is also bound by the GeneralEnvironmental Duty under Section36 of the Queensland EnvironmentProtection Act which states

lsquo36(1) A person must not carryout any activity that causes oris likely to cause environ-mental harm unless the persontakes all reasonable and prac-tical measures to prevent orminimise the harmrsquoConsequently one can only

conclude that the Director Generalhas determined that the broaderharm caused by the overstockingof the communityrsquos rsquoroo herd is ofgreater significance than thereduction in the ecological value(that is rsquoroo numbers) to pre-settlement level He is aware of thegreater harm and the reduction inrsquoroo numbers is the reasonable andpracticable measure that wouldprevent that harm

It would only be on this basisthat the Director General couldinclude the action in anenvironmental management plan thatwould give him a defence againstunlawful environmental harm underEPA Sec 119

Farmers have indulged the idlewhims of the ill-informed for fartoo long If they fix their rsquorooproblem they gain full control oftheir stocking rate they control thethickening rate and reduce thefrequency and extent of regrowthclearing And let he who is withoutsins of omission cast the first stone

NOTES1 Archer Michael The Kangaroo

Weldons Pty Ltd 19852 Flannery T The Future Eaters

Reed Books 1994

Ian Mott is a farmer journalist and President of theRegrowth Foresters Association

API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

THE Australian Competi-tion and ConsumerCommissionrsquos (ACCC)prime role is to ensure that

competition prevails within the ruleof law Thatrsquos the best way of ensur-ing the consumer gets the best pos-sible value for money It is the retailerwho is the agent that looks after theinterests of the consumer The re-tailer seeks out the best supplysources gets the product or serviceto a place where it can be conve-niently accessed and does so at thebest possible price The retailer doesthis because in a competitive systemif she doesnrsquot the customer will findbetter value elsewhere and the re-tailer will go out of business

The ACCCrsquos formation how-ever reflected another stream ofthought that the market had to bemanaged because it was a producersrsquomechanism and therefore inimicalto the interests of consumers TheCommissionrsquos mandate reflected alack of commitment to the view thatcompetition through the rigorousenforcement of trade practices lawwould be good for consumers It alsosaw prices surveillance as an end initself rather than as a tool for observ-ing the conditions of competitionThis lack of faith reflected the lob-bying by consumerist organizationsthat had become highly politicizedand anti-business It also opened theway for this consumerist lobby tohave increased influence Thedeputy head of the ACCC and itspredecessor (the Trade PracticesCommission) was Allan Asher whocut his teeth in politics by takingover the rather somnolent Austra-lian Consumers Association andproviding political assistance to theALP Some have now elevated thedeputy position into one lsquotradition-allyrsquo reserved for a consumerist war-

The Rigging of the ACCCGARY JOHNS

lord The appointment of LouiseSylvan of the Australian Consum-ers Association which is currentlybeing mooted would cement thisidea It would also confirm theCommissionrsquos lack of faith in com-petition as the key means of safe-guarding the interests of consumersand further inject politics into theadministration of competition law

There are few simple consumer-versus-producer issues that the Com-mission considers Each involvessome measure of trade-off betweenconsumers For example in productliability issues a too strict interpre-

tation of liability may deny someconsumers products they may desireor at least raise the price or avail-ability of the good or service Thequestion is one of assigning as wellas minimizing risk Invariably theimpact will vary between consum-ers not just between consumers andproducers Take another example ifpetrol were to be taxed so as to in-

corporate the cost of air pollutionor indeed if cars were taxed on thedistance travelledmdashwhich is not tosuggest that the level of tax is notalready sufficient to compensate forexternalitiesmdashthe impact on con-sumers would be different than atpresent Those who needed to travelfurther would pay more The impactwould be felt more by those on lowincomes There is a distribution ofcosts between consumers to con-sider How could a consumer repre-sentative hope to represent themany sides to this issue In a demo-cratic society such as ours it is Par-liament that should decide issues ofthe distribution of costs and benefitsbetween consumers if indeed equityissues are to be considered Havingconsidered its laws the Parliamentshould expect the law to be admin-istered without fear or favour with-out further lobbying especially by adeputy-commissioner

The flaw in the structure of theCommission is that it explicitlyprivileges a consumer lobby anddemonstrates that it does not trustits own laws designed to make themarket work for competitionWorse the appointment of an ACArepresentative will privilege a cer-tain kind of consumer In reality theACA represents a very small propor-tion of the consuming public1mdashlessthan 400 people and fewer consum-ers than Woolworths services everyminute of every day of the year

There is however no single con-sumer voice Peoplersquos interests are asvaried on consumer matters as theyare on almost any other issue It iscompetition among producers forthe interest and patronage of con-sumers competition that is mademore accessible through thecustomerrsquos lsquoretailer-agentrsquo that al-lows consumers through their pur-

The flaw in thestructure of the

Commission is that itexplicitly privileges aconsumer lobby anddemonstrates that it

does not trust itsown laws designed to

make the marketwork for competition

16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API

chasing habits to specify what theywant and what producers supply Aslong as their choices are backed byan ability to sue for damagesmdasha rightestablished in the English commonlaw since the beginning of the twen-tieth centurymdashthe system will proveresponsive

The concept of sovereign con-sumer choice is foreign to the ACATheir view is decidedly of the lsquopub-lic interestrsquo type That is they as-sume that it is in the public interestto have government regulate theproduction and distribution of al-most every conceivable product orservice When they report on priceand product comparisons in theirmagazine Choice they inform theconsumer their readers But theyalso misinform a far wider band ofreaders when they alert the mediato issues far beyond their brief

The politicization of the con-sumer voice only enhances the ten-dency among the weakest of politi-cians to populism Populism meanssupporting public policy known tobe wrong For example the ACAand a given Oppositionmdashit wouldnot matter of which politicalcolourmdashalways criticize banks overbranch closures Policy-makersknow that with the switch to elec-tronic bankingmdashATM telephoneand Internetmdashthe need to physi-cally attend a bank is diminishingAs a result of the shift in bank cus-tomer preferences and the desire tolower the cost of banking the costsof physically serving a customer arerising comparatively Not to closebranches is to argue for costs to beshifted from one group of consum-ers (attendees) to another (remoteusers) The ACA backs one groupof consumers against another Theydo this in the name of equity or so-cial justice But this is a matter forpolitical ideology and one presum-ably settled by the government ofthe day and expressed in law Plac-ing the ACA at the heart of theregulator is a second bite at thecherrymdashit undermines the demo-cratic consensus and is a sign of a

government being populist In do-ing so it is disadvantaging some con-sumers at the expense of others If agovernment wants to do this it isaccountable to the electorate but itshould not have its regulator indulg-ing in that same populism That onlyserves to compound the original de-fect

Take an international exampleMs Sylvan as President of Consum-ers International is at the forefrontof the fight for lsquosustainable develop-mentrsquo which is code for preventingsustained economic developmentand keeping the Third World frombecoming like the Firstmdashhealthywealthy and wise In a speech to thepreparatory conference to the UNWorld Summit on Sustainable De-velopment Ms Sylvan said

We all know that unsustainablepatterns of consumption areleading to serious social and en-vironmental impacts We alsoknow that ever increasing and ir-responsible consumption is put-ting a strain on the environmentby causing pollution destroyingthe ecosystem and undermininglifestyles There is no doubt thatthe effect of the developmentmodel that the lsquoNorthrsquo followsand the lsquoSouthrsquo emulates is po-tentially deadly Poverty anddeprivation are increasing at analarming pace and disparity inincome and consumption is afeature in all countriesThis statement is not only inac-

curate it is an appalling piece of neo-colonial arrogance She continueslsquoconsumers [will have to] learn tomanage their consumption patternsin a responsible and equitable man-nerrsquo In short our consumer repre-sentative advocates lower consump-tion for the poor as well as us

This is simply the old anti-devel-opment rhetoric that has plaguedthe development debate for decadesand Ms Sylvan lines up consumerson one side Surely she is at least halfwrong These policies would putconsumers and the environment atgreater risk We know that techno-

logical innovation and economicdevelopment enhance environmen-tal quality

So what is Ms Sylvan on aboutShe is anti-consumer anti-scienceand anti-economic developmentAnd by the way she is clearly ve-hemently opposed to the stance ofthe Coalition government atWSSD In fact it was Australiarsquosambassador to the UN John Dauthwho called the NGOsrsquo bluff and toldthem what damage they were doingto the interests of Third Worldpeople with their anti-globalizationrhetoric Few other governmentsspoke up against the prevailing or-thodoxy not because they agree withit but because they do not want tobe seen to offend the NGO sectorIn failing to defend rationality theycondemn a great many consumers toa poorer life Appointing Ms Sylvanwould be a similarly stupid act

A good test of a politician is theone who makes the fewest conces-sions to ignorance An ACA ap-pointment would constitute failureThe Australian government shouldnot condone the original problem inthe establishment of the ACCC byappointing a consumer advocateparticularly one with the ideologi-cal credentials of Louise Sylvan

NOTE1 ACA claims to have 170000

members but this is seriously mis-leading This figure represents thenumber of people who paid forACA publications during the lastyear They have no right to in-fluence the policies or views ofthe organization and as such arenot members but subscribers TheACA in fact has around 400members and even some of theseare excluded from joining thegoverning board of the organiza-tion

Dr Gary Johns is a Senior Fellow with theInstitute of Public Affairs

17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

HEN reading about theanti-globalization rallies re-ported in the papers fromSydney last month against

the World Trade Organisation one hasto wonder about the warped ideas ofthose cosseted middle-class childrenwho seem so determined to keep thestarving children of the Third Worldimpoverished At the time of thedemos the world trade ministers meet-ing inside the Novotel Hotel in Sydneywere striking a deal to deliver life-sav-ing medicines to poor nations

Where do the ideas come from Asprotester and Australian flag-burnerElizabeth OrsquoShea explained she be-came radicalized by the ideas taughtat her eacutelite Lauriston private schoolThis privileged education is continuedreaders will be pleased to learn at ourUniversities I mean officially TheRMIT University in Melbourne hasseveral departments and courses dedi-cated to the cause It has a Commu-nity Advocacy Unit that teaches howto become a more effective activist aCentre for Global Sustainability anda Globalisation Institute Victoria Uni-versity has announced a new Post-graduate Program on Public Advocacyand Action developed with the sup-port of Greenpeace Oxfam Commu-nity Aid Abroad and Amnesty Inter-national Australia Similar courses canbe found throughout Australia withinfaculties in our universities

The truth is there is a growing mar-ket for universities to train ideologuesand activists And of course theDawkins unis are ready-made to accom-modate Behind them are the unionsand NGOs The NGOs are extremelywealthy with a large turnover of par-ticipants so they need a continuousstream of trained activists Using uni-versities saves them money on trainingand provides a convenient ideologicallsquoscreeningrsquo process

W

API

Postgraduate Degrees in AgitpropANDREW MCINTYRE

Just imagine a BA Hons major inAgitprop Practical sessions presum-ably will vary depending on whatrsquos onat the time The RMIT AdvocacyUnitrsquos Website is advertising a confer-ence on Asylum Seekers and Austra-lian Activism boasting the rise of alsquonew social movementrsquo

The lsquoCentre for Global Sustain-abilityrsquo is a lsquospecialrsquo project of the Vice-chancellor Ruth Dunkin It instructsstudents in the virtues of triple-bot-tom-line accounting presumably sothat when they go out into industrythey can hone the skills needed to en-sure that their employer goes broke hellipethically Like RMIT There arerumours that it is going brokemdashand

that students are demanding Dunkinresign Not the sort of activism she per-haps had in mind But at least the Uniwill be ethically sustainable She hascalled on staff to take part in an Asy-lum-Seeker Support Working Party topropose specific action for the univer-sity to take

This Vice-Chancellor has also cre-ated a Globalisation Institute Well itrsquosactually an Anti-Globalisation Insti-tute but they donrsquot call it that Full ofself-satisfying post-modern codedphrases such as lsquoconfigurations oftransnationalismrsquo lsquodiscourses of criti-cal engagementrsquo and lsquoanalyzing therole of culturally diverse diasporic com-

munitiesrsquomdashyou quickly get the driftThe head of the Institute Profes-

sor Paul James reveals that they shyaway from economic analysis Youknow the sort of analysis that showshow much better off the poor arethrough globalization He focuses onthe lsquolocal disruptionrsquo that he believescorrupts third world cultures He mustbe proud that Mugabe has so success-fully withstood the corrupting influ-ence of free trade and the rule of law

His flavour of the month is TomFrank author of the book One Marketunder God He had him out to lectureat the Institute Frank runs the tiredold orthodox Marxist line that wersquoreall dupes but no-one knows it excepthim hellip But it appeals to ProfessorJames After all those poor peasantswith children to feed donrsquot want to besuckered into getting ahead in lifeForget about Barun Mitra director ofthe Liberty Institute in New Delhiattending the WTO Conference inSydney He organizes street hawkersand African and Indian farmers to pro-test at what he calls the lsquosustainablepovertyrsquo agenda of groups like theGlobalisation Institute

So There you have it Robert(Ouch) Manne indulging in specialpleading recently in The Age as hedoes this time on federal reforms tothe tertiary sector suggested that oneunfortunate outcome of BrendanNelsonrsquos reforms may be a lsquoretreat ofthe traditional disciplines to the sand-stone universitiesrsquo He feels that if thisdoes happen lsquoit will be a great culturallossrsquo Well if these sorts of coursesconducted in red-brick universities arein any way lsquotraditional disciplinesrsquo theNelson reforms might be a good thingand a gain for everyone

Andrew McIntyre is Public Relations Manager atthe Institute of Public Affairs

The truth is there is

a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API

Give the Boys a BreakIs there a crisis in boysrsquo education

Judged by the recently released re-port Boys Getting it right the answeris lsquoyesrsquo Whether it is retention ratesYear 12 results being able to read andwrite or the incidence of behaviouralproblems leading to suspension andlsquodropping outrsquo boys when comparedwith girls are increasingly at risk

To quote from the aforemen-tioned report prepared by the Houseof Representatives Standing Com-mittee on Education and Trainingbull nationally girlsrsquo results in Year 3

and Year 5 Literacy Benchmarktests are up to five percentagepoints higher than boys

bull the Year 12 retention rate for girlsis between 11 and 12 percentagepoints higher than it is for boys

bull girlsrsquo average levels of achieve-ment in a majority of subjects as-sessed at senior secondary levelare higher and the gap in the to-tal has been wideninghellip and

bull over 56 per cent of students inhigher education are womenWhy are boys disadvantaged The

first thing to note as highlighted inthe report is that the way literacy istaught guarantees failure for manyboys Until the advent of lsquowhole lan-guagersquo (where children are taught tolsquolook and guessrsquo) literacy was taughtin a more structured way associatedwith a phonics approach

Whole language is based on themistaken belief that learning to readand write is as lsquonaturalrsquo as learningto speak and that all that teachersneed to do is to lsquoimmersersquo childrenin a rich language environment For-gotten is that writing is lsquounnaturalrsquoand that boys in particular need tobe taught in a more methodical sys-tematic way

A second reason why boys are dis-advantaged results from the lsquofemini-zationrsquo of the curriculum During thersquo80s and rsquo90s the status quo inschools was attacked by feministsleft-wing academics and teacherunions as lsquoethnocentric patriarchaland bourgeoisrsquo

At the national level documentssuch as Gender Equity A Frameworkfor Australian Schools (1997) arguedin favour of positive discriminationfor girls The assumption was that so-ciety was male-dominated and thatwomen were oppressed and disadvan-taged

Research projects funded by theFederal Department of EmploymentEducation and Training (DEET) cov-ered topics such as construction ofgender in preschool to grade 3 class-rooms the role of romance stories inpromoting femininity and how topromote a lsquopolitically correctrsquo viewof family studies

In the English classroom teach-ers were urged to lsquodeconstructrsquo tradi-tional approaches to literature asplays such as Romeo and Juliet unfairlypromoted in the words of one Aus-tralian academic lsquophallus-dominatedheterosexuality and female depen-dencersquo

Even the way in which teacherstaught changed to favour girls and todisadvantage boys Teachers nolonger stood at the front of the classand taught preferring instead to havestudents work in groups on open-ended tasks Competitive assessmentdisappeared learning relied more andmore on strong verbal skills and self-directed learning

As noted in the report while theremay have been some justification forthe changes detailed above an unin-tended consequence is that boys comeout second best primarily because

Education Agenda

Boys tend to respond better tostructured activity clearly definedobjectives and instructions short-term challenging tasks and visuallogical and analytical approachesto learning They tend not torespond as well as girls to verballinguistic approachesWhile not directly related to

schools a third reason why boys areat risk educationally is because oftheir low self-esteem and often nega-tive self-image The sad fact as at-tested by Australiarsquos youth suiciderate is that many boys lack resilienceconfidence and inner strength

Whether it is caused by the ever-increasing incidence of single-parentfamilies where fathers are absent theincreasing assertiveness and indepen-dence of girls or the feminist attackon so-called traditional masculinityboys are taught to look on themselvesas flawed anti-social and misogynist

An example of the way masculin-ity is attacked can be found in theAustralian Education Unionrsquos(AEU) submission to the boysrsquo in-quiry when it states

Dominant concepts of mascu-linity and femininity define malesand females as opposites byhighlighting their differences andassigning them unequal valuestatus and powerThe implication is that the char-

acteristics associated with beinglsquomalersquo are misogynist and ripe forchange Even worse the assumptionis that traditional role models mustbe abandoned as boys become sensi-tive new age guys (snags) and em-brace the world of the gender correct

Dr Kevin Donnelly is Director of Education Strategiesa Melbourne-based consulting group

E-mail kevindnetspacenetau

19DECEMBER 2002

IPA WORK REFORM UNIT SPECIAL REPORT

Many factors deter-mine whether a busi-ness succeeds or failsbut the lsquopeople factorrsquois the most import-ant People are abusiness Everythinga business does fromproduct and service

development production and delivery investmentexpansion and use of technology to marketing sales andaccount control is people-dependent How people aremanaged in a business is critical to its success If managersdo not have a capacity to manage either through poor skillsor externally imposed restrictions the businesses theyattempt to manage are at risk of underperformance But ifan incapacity to manage is unknown it is hard to fix Theunknown constitutes a serious risk in itself

Rarely has the capacity of Australian managers tomanage staff been assessed using objective and publiclyverifiable data Plenty of studies have focused on otheraspects of managementmdashTotal Quality Managementinformation technology strategic planning levels ofresearch and planningmdashbut labour studies have tendedto overlook assessments of managerial decision-makingcapacity In the absence of such assessments the abilityto judge a firmrsquos current and future performance is patchyand constrained For investors analysts managersthemselves shareholders consumers employeesgovernments and other interested parties this gap inknowledge increases risk

The Institute of Public Affairsrsquo Capacity to ManageIndex seeks to flesh out and measure how firmsrsquo formallabour relations agreements impact on performance TheIndex provides a path-breaking window into the internalfunctioning of businesses Through the use of theCapacity to Manage Rating of businesses listed in theIndex stakeholders can obtain an independent andobjective measure which gives an insight into the extent

to which business performance is a function of workforcemanagement

The simple question being addressed is to what extentdo managers in any given business have a capacity tomanage the staff of the business The analysis is basedon the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) intowhich a business has entered

HOW THE CAPACITY TO MANAGE INDEXWORKSEnterprise Bargaining Agreementsmdashindustrial relationsagreements between a business and its employeesmdashwereintroduced into the Australian industrial relations settingas part of the attempt to modernize the system ofregulating labour EBAs were introduced to enableemployees and managers to construct formal workingarrangements suited to the specific needs and demands ofeach business EBAs are underpinned by the industrylsquoawardsrsquo which set minimum labour standards that applyacross all businesses in any industry EBAs are supposedto build on awards to improve the capacity of a businessto compete in its markets and to deliver improved incomesto employees The idea behind EBAs is that of winndashwinThey are to enable businesses to be run better and toenable employees in the business to share in the benefits

EBAs are often examined from the perspective of theincreased remuneration they deliver to employees TheIPA examination is from a different perspective whetheror not they deliver in enabling a business to bettermanage itself and compete in its markets Looked at fromthis angle EBAs are valuable windows into the internalmanagement of businesses indicating whether thoseresponsible for signing off on the agreement haveenhanced or restricted the capacity of the firmrsquos managersto manage the enterprise

The process of establishing the Capacity to ManageIndex has involved careful study of specific clauses inlarge numbers of EBAs A pattern emerged which showedthat EBA clauses could be divided into two broad

IPA WORK REFORM UNIT

SPECIAL REPORT

The Capacity to Manage IndexA business tool to address risk

20 DECEMBER 2002


Capacity to Manage IndexOverall Ratings Food Manufacturing Industry

categories those that relate entirely to employeeremuneration and those that relate to managerialissues Only those clauses not dealing exclusivelywith the employeesrsquo remuneration form part of ouranalysis The management related clauses conformto a broad pattern that has enabled an assessmentlsquogridrsquo to be established Management-related EBAclauses are assessed as having a negative or positiveinfluence on the capacity of managers to manage

For example the following clause has beenassessed as increasing the capacity to manage

Employees may be transferred between sitescommensurate with their skills levels andabilities

and the following clause has been assessed as reducingthe capacity to manage

The total number of hellip employees shall not fallbelow these minimum employment levels otherthan with the written agreement of the union

Clauses have been given a value usually of plusor minus one with a small number of clauses ratedat minus two In our assessments all businessesbegan with a zero score and points were added ordeducted Where the end score is in the positiverange businesses have been assessed as having anenhanced capacity to manage in comparison togeneral industry awards and other regulationBusinesses with a negative end score are assessedas having a reduced capacity to manage The sizeof the end score indicates the degree to whichenhancement or reduction of managerial capacityhas occurred

In this first Capacity to Manage Index 85 EBAshave been assessed 35 from the commercialconstruction sector and 50 from the foodmanufacturing sector Work sites of some of thelargest companies in Australia are listed

This first release of results is the beginning of aprocess that will continue during 2003 and beyondOver time the Index is to be expanded to coverevery major industry and significant numbers ofbusinesses in Australia

As well as offering economy-wide insights intolabour relations the index is likely to prove a usefultool for investors managers shareholders policymakers and other persons interested in themanagement of particular firms and sectors

[Qualification It is important to note that theIndex does not measure actual managementbehaviour but only the capacity to manage]

Company NameParty to agreement

UnionotherYear

applies RatingArnotts ndash Burwood CEPU 01-03 -10Ballantyne AMWU CEPU 00-03 -10Bonlac NUW 01-04 -19Cadbury Schweppes ndash Liverpool CEPU AMWU 01-03 -17Cadbury Schweppes ndash Ringwood AMWU 00-02 -4Cadbury Schweppes ndash Ipswich ALHMWU 01-03 -9Cadbury Schweppes ndash Mainten No union 01-02 -3Campbells ndash Lemnos several 01-03 -15Chiquitta ndash Mernda AWU 01-03 -17Coca-Cola ndash Operations (NSW) ALHMWU CEPU 01-04 -12Coca Cola No 2 (NSW) ALHMWU 01-04 -2CUB ndash SE Qld (Fosters) No Union 01-04 -6Farm Pride NUW 99-01 -9Goodman Fielder ndash Footscray NUW 02-03 -13Health Snack Foods No union 02-05 -1Heinz Echuca AMWU 01-03 -14Jalna Dairy NUW 01-04 -12John Lewis Food TWU 01-02 -1Manassen Foods NUW 99-01 -10Meadow Lea Foods NUW 2000 -11Menora Foods NUW 01-03 -1Murray Goulbourn NUW 01-04 -14National Foods ndash Morwell NUW 01-04 -10National Foods ndash Vic NUW 02-05 -11National Foods ndash Vic Cream NUW 02-04 -21National Foods ndash Vic Engineer CEPU 00-03 -8Nestle ndash Altona NUW 99-02 -7Nestle ndash Echuca AMWU CEPU 01-03 -21Nestle ndash Tongala NUW 01-03 -10Orlando Wines Engineering SA AWU 02-05 -1Pepsi ndash Huntinghood ALHMWU 00-02 -6Pork Company AMIEU 00-03 -6Real McCoy Snack Foods No union 02-05 0Sanitarium ndash Moorooka No union 01-02 +2Sanitarium ndash Tuggerah No union 98-99 0Sara Lea AMWU 01-03 -11Simplot ndash Echuca AMWU CEPU 00-03 -13Simplot ndash Kensington AMWU CEPU 00-03 -11Simplot ndash National many 2000 Not assessableSouthcorp Wines Barossa several 01-04 -13Southcorp Wines Distribution NUW 01-04 -3SPCArdmona Shepparton AMWU 2001 -15Tetley AMWU 01-03 -12Tetley NUW 01-03 -12Tip Top Bakers (Vic) ALHMWU 00-03 -7Uncle Bens-Effems (Wodonga) several 1998 +1Uncle Tobys (Wahgunyah) NUW 99-01 -18Unibic ALHMWU 00-02 -3Unifoods ndash Unilever ndash Mulgrave AMWU NUW 96-98 -9Unifoods ndash Beverages (Vic) NUW 97-99 -1Westons ndash Abbottsford ALHMWU 01-03 -17

Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002


Capacity to Manage IndexOverall Ratings Construction Companies

MAJOR FINDINGSOur early data has indicated the following tentativeconclusions1) EBAs are ostensibly about the improvement

of employee incomes with a commensurate in-crease in the capacity of a firm to respond tomarket demands There is however little evi-dence in the EBAs we studied of enhanced op-erational responsiveness to market demands

2) Approximately half of the EBA clauses relatedto employee incomes and half related to man-agement issues

3) The bulk of the clauses relating to manage-ment issues reduced the capacity of managersto manage Many clauses seemed to neuter thecapacity to manage in critical areas of firmsrsquooperations

4) There are wide variations in the ratingsachieved but unfortunately for Australianfirms those variations are predominantly inthe range of a reduced capacity to manage ratherthan an enhanced capacity to manage

5) Some firms have achieved a marginal increasein their capacity to manage but increases werecomparatively small

6) The food industry fares better overall than doesthe commercial construction industry

7) Agreements in Victoria bring about a signifi-cantly lower capacity to manage than in otherStates

8) Non-union EBAs appear to result in a highercapacity to manage than do union EBAs al-though the sample size of non-union agree-ments is too small at this stage to be defini-tive

9) Some large companies showed a significant di-vergence in the range of scores achieved

COMMENT CAPACITY TO MANAGE ISESSENTIAL FOR EFFICIENCYIn the mid-1980s considerable community debatebegan on reform agendas for the Australianindustrial relations system A central agreedprinciple emerged that workplace relations shouldbe determined to the greatest extent possible atthe enterprise level between employers andemployees

The idea was that an enterprise focus would helperode the lsquothem versus usrsquo mentality that plaguedworkplace relations in Australia give workers anincentive to accept and gain from productivity


UnionotherYear

applies RatingAust Wide Electrical ETU 02-03 -20

Baulderstone Hornibrook (Vic) CFMEU 00-02 -21

Barkley Mowler (NSW) CFMEU 1999 -1

Bells Constructions (Tas) CFMEU 01-03 -2

BMD Construction (NSW) CFMEU 2002 -11

Complete Concrete Services (Vic) CFMEU 99-02 -18

Cabra Electrical (NSW) No union 2001 +2

Concrib Constructions (Vic) No Union 2000 0

Didris Development Vic CFMEU 99-02 -18

Fletcher Constructions (NSW) CFMEU 00-04 -10

GMT Construction amp Carp (NSW) CFMEU 99-02 -15

Grocon (Vic) CEPU 00-03 -20

Grocon (National) CFMEU 01-02 -22

Holly Green Constructions (Vic) CFMEU 99-02 -18

John Holland (Vic) CFMEU 99-02 -22

John Holland (Mining Yandi) AWU 2002 -5

John Holland (Tas) AWU 01-04 -6

L Serafin (ACT) CFMEU 01-04 -13

Lindore Cranes (Vic) CFMEU 99-02 -18

Leigthons NSW CFMEU 01-02 -10

Mahashire (Vic) CFMEU 00-02 -18

Multiplex CFMEU 01-02 -19

Parfin Constructions (Vic) CFMEU 99-02 -18

QR Brisbane Airport Rail (Qld) CEPU 2000 -4

Rightway Electrics (NSW) Non union 01-04 +3

Rivergum Constructions (Vic) CFMEU 99-02 -18

Siemans Federation Square Vic) ETU 2000 -11

SJ Moran Constructions (Vic) CFMEU 99-02 -18

Star Electrical (NSW) ETU 00-02 -12

Thiess (Vic) CFMEU 01-2 -21

Thiess (Qld) CFMEU 02-05 -2

Total Concept Projects NSW Non union 02-04 +2

Walter Construction (NSW) CFMEU 01-03 -12

Walter Construction (Vic) CFMEU 99-02 -17

Westfield (NSW) CFMEU 00-02 -14

Westfield Maintenance (Vic) CFMEU 00-03 -7

Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002


changes provide management with a greater capacity tomanage and compete both by reducing the externalconstraints on what is possible and by breaking down thebarriers with workers

While some groups where initially reluctant tosupport a shift away from a centralized system the logicslowly and steadily took hold and is now supported acrossbusiness unions and political parties

The Hawke Government began the shift to anenterprise focus in 1987 with the introduction ofcentralized minimum wages and the idea of increasesbeing achieved above the minimums throughproductivity gains determined at the enterprise levelThis was advanced further with the introduction ofcertified agreements in the Industrial Relations Act 1988The Keating Government introduced collectiveenterprise agreements as an alternative to centralizedagreements in the Industrial Relations Reform Act 1993The Workplace Relations Act 1996 introduced the currententerprise agreements (EBAs) along with a number ofother changes including the policy of reducing awardscoverage to lsquo20 allowable mattersrsquo limits on tribunalpowers to regulate and intervene limits on third partiesrsquorights to intervene and individual or workplaceagreements Although the shift towards an enterprisefocus was initiated at the federal level the States havesteadily followed

As a result most workplaces of significant size arenow covered by a collective enterprise agreement Thequestions are has the shift to an enterprise-basedregulatory system produced the goods Has it brokendown barriers between workers and employers has itproduced a workforce better focused on greaterproductivity and has it given managers a greater capacityto manage

There is little doubt that the reform processundertaken over the last 20 years has generated majorbenefits including higher productivity higher realwages fewer disputes and days lost as well ascontributing to lower interest rates and greateremployment

But some key questions remain Are employers andemployees getting the most out of the system What isbest practice Does the system have design faults Is thesystem being undermined by strategic behaviourregulation or other factors

There are clear signs that all is not well with both theworkplace relations system and specifically withenterprise-based agreements The food manufacturingindustrymdashAustralia largest manufacturing sectormdashisbeing undermined by poor labour relations1

The Cole Royal Commission into the constructionindustry has exposed a seriously flawed workplaceculture This was re-inforced by the recent admission bythe new CEO of Grocon that his firm has allowed lsquoancientSpanish customsrsquo to be built into its production processesparticularly the productivity-sapping workplacearrangements in Melbourne

Chris Corrigan MD of Patrick Corporation outlinesthe cultural and regulatory impediments confrontingpeople trying to improve productivity under the currentsystem (see pages 23ndash25 in this issue)

While others have examined EBAs most often withan eye to equity and more regulation no-one hasundertaken a systematic assessment to see if EBAs aredelivering greater managerial flexibility that is thecapacity to manage

OBTAINING SUBSCRIPTION TO THE FULLINDEXThis launch of the Capacity to Manage Index is thebeginning of a long-term detailed analysis of theoperations of Australiarsquos labour relations system It willeventually cover all industry sectors in Australia Thedatabase will form the basis for a new wave of businessand management analysis to be undertaken

The IPA is making its analysis available through yearlysubscription Subscribers will have access tobull The full methodology statements and explanationsbull The master lsquogridrsquo sheets used in undertaking EBA

analysisbull Full documentation of each company ratings chart

based on a clause-by-clause assessment includingbrief commentary on clauses Each analysis sheet istwo pages in length

bull Access to all updates and new analyses undertaken

Persons interested in subscription can make applicationthrough the IPA office at

Level 2 410 Collins StMelbourne VIC 3000Phone 03 9600 4744

An expanded version of this IPA Review information canbe found on the IPA Website at wwwipaorgau1 lsquoTake Away Take-Away The Self-induced Destruc-

tion of the Australian Food Manufacturing Indus-tryrsquo IPA Review Vol 53 No 4 December 2001 API

23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ECENTLY it has becomefashionable to say thatpeople are suffering fromreform fatigue that there

has been too much change inflictedon us either by Governments orby globalization or both and thatitrsquos time to take a breather in thepursuit of worldrsquos best practice inAustralia

But the rest of the world is notgoing to stand still while we take abreather Our exchange rate forinstance is the scoreboard thatdetermines how we are doingagainst the competition Weshould be shocked to learn thatonce an Australian dollar wouldbuy US$150 Today it buys aboutone-third of that It used to buymore than 500 Yen Today it buys67 Yenmdasha 750 per cent adversechange So we are not doing so wellthat we can afford to be com-placent

Tiredness is not a reason for usto stop the change process Fear ofthe complexity the obstacles andthe consequences of change how-ever might be the reasons for manyto be reluctant

Let me explainWhat happens when a business

decides that it needs to change theway it does business to enable itto survive in todayrsquos global market-place What obstacles are thrownup which discourage businessesfrom confronting head-on many ofthe structural problems whichinhibit their performance andwhich very often condemn themto economic mediocrity

Just look back to 1998 and thePatrick waterfront reform process

R

Reformmdashthe UncertainRoad Ahead

CHRIS CORRIGAN

This illustrates just what is possiblein a reform process and just howtough these obstacles are

One approach to measuringwaterfront productivity is the lsquonetcrane ratersquo that is the number ofcontainers moved per hour by onecrane whilst it is working TheFederal Government had set abenchmark of 25 moves per houras the target to bring Australia upto world standard According tostudies by the Bureau of TransportEconomics Port Botany in Sydneywas running at a low 15 moves anhour in 1996 It had slipped path-etically to less than 14 moves byearly 1998 It was slightly better upin Brisbane at Fishermenrsquos Islandat 16

At the time the maritime unionargued that 25 moves an hour wasan impossible dream The shipswere too small they called at toomany ports the equipment was nogood etc etc

In 1998 you could hearcountless reasons why it wasimpossible to improve thewaterfront hellip the most laughableexplanation being that it hadalready been reformed by theHawke Government in their socalled lsquoReformsrsquo of the earlynineties In fact that was nothingmore than a $450 million earlyretirement scheme for watersideworkers which we taxpayersfunded

But what was actually achievedThe respected Access Economicsin a report which examined theeffects of waterfront reform on ourexport industries recentlyreviewed the performance ofAustraliarsquos ports in 2002 It spentmost of this year investigating portperformance talking to port usersto exporters of meat wool cottonand dairy produce It was able toclaim that lsquoOn virtually allmeasures in this study Australia is

Source Waterline March 2002 Patrick 2002

Average Sydney net crane rate[containers per net crane hour]

Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

at close to or superior to world bestpracticersquo

It should be added that many ofthose workers who so vehementlyopposed the reform agenda are nowearning as much or more than theywere five years ago Through abonus system linked directly toproductivity our best employeesearn in excess of $100000 per yearMost average around $75000 ayear

So thatrsquos the good news Muchneeded reform was achieved des-pite the most orchestrated and wellorganized union and politicalcampaign of opposition ever mar-shalled in this country But thosewere special circumstances Thewaterfront was a national disgraceand Patrick was left with no otheroption but to tackle the problemhead-on if it was to survive

But what happens to small andmedium-sized businesses withoutdeep pockets Letrsquos assume we havea mythical CEO who decides hehas no choice but to dramaticallychange the way he does businessesif he is to compete in the globalmarketplace This means a reduct-ion in staff and a change to thework practices of those who re-main

His first call should be not to ahuman resources professional butto a lawyer with specialist know-ledge of the industrial system andthe unfair dismissal laws WhyBecause the labour market is aregulated market We have deregu-lated markets in goods and servicesand we have deregulation in thefinancial markets and the currencymarket We have for the most partremoved tariffs and trade impedi-ments We persist however withthe ridiculous notion that themarket for our own human skillsand effort should be determined bysome legal bureaucrat we willprobably never meet

Implicit is the idea that some-how this person with whom wehave had no contact knows andcan negotiate better what we want

than we can ourselves That is thefundamental proposition advancedby those in favour of regulationnamely the Labor Party the Demo-crats and most of the minor partiesIt didnrsquot work in the Soviet Unionand it isnrsquot working here either Inother words our desperate ChiefExecutive Officer is not allowed todo what makes economic sense

If his business is in an industrywhich Greg Combet quaintly callslsquohighly organizedrsquo our CEO willhave to obtain agreement from the

unions If not he can expect direindustrial threats followed byactual industrial action The indus-trial action will be accompanied bya union-run publicity campaignaimed at seriously damaging hisbusiness and orchestrated by cyni-cal PR machines If he resists thestrikes and bad publicity he canexpect calls to his customers urgingthem to stop using his companydue to its lsquopoor industrial relationsrecordrsquo If he is leading a listedcompany he can expect phonecalls from institutional investorsexpressing concern about hiscompanyrsquos lsquoanti-union stancersquo

There will also be a legal cam-paign launched against the busi-

ness in the AIRC or the FederalCourt alleging anti-union beha-viour

If our CEO is doing a mergerhe will fall foul of the transmissionof business laws The transmissionof business provisions act like avirus in that they can transmit badwork practices from one businessto another If not done properly atakeover can result in the un-productive working arrangementsof the business which is in troublebeing transmitted to the moresuccessful business

Our mythical CEO is nowpotentially fighting in court onthree fronts the AIRC defendinga huge unfair dismissal action thefederal court on a charge ofbreaching the freedom of associa-tion provisions of the WorkplaceRelations Act and a transmissionof business case which could resultin his business inheriting the workpractices which helped send hiscompetitor under

His share price will have beentrashed and he spends his day goingfrom lawyersrsquo offices to courtroomsto media interviews

His board is unhappy to say theleast and our CEO has probablylost sight of what he was trying toachieve in the first place Certainlyhis family and friends will bestarting to worry about his healthor sanity

Which is precisely what hisopponents were seeking to achieve

Most who have been through itdonrsquot want to go through it againUnless of course they are IrishThatrsquos my excuse

At the end of it many CEOs dothe numbers and realize that itrsquosmuch easier to do nothing or aslittle as possible to stay averageto stay mediocre to attract as littleattention as possible Staying outof trouble is common businesssense but ultimately it is to thenationrsquos economic loss

Australia is a country that lovesits sport Imagine what wouldhappen if we applied our crazy

In 2002 hellip Access

Economics was

able to claim that

lsquoOn virtually all

measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

labour laws workersrsquo compensationand safety laws to the sporting fieldEverybody would need to be paidthe same amount of money regard-less of how good they were or howhard they tried You couldnrsquot dropanyone from the team just becauseof performance That would beinstantly overturned on appeal

Coaches would need to be verycareful that they were not bullyingor discriminating on any groundswhatsoever Even if you couldafford the workersrsquo compensationcosts you would really only be ableto play touch football and eventhen not above jogging pace tominimize the risk of muscle strains

Irsquove often wondered how differ-ently we might look at stevedoringif it were an Olympic sport Insteadof employees complaining aboutthe hours they would be getting upat the crack of dawn to do someextra training Instead of beingconcerned about the rain theywould see it as a chance to try outin all weather conditions and toadjust their game accordinglyInstead of regarding the instruct-ions from the boss as an over-bearing imposition they would seeit as an important tactical andinspirational exhortation and hangon every word and nuance

Ever-higher performance stand-ards would be viewed as somethingto be aimed for and aspired to nota concession to a class enemy

Occupational health and safetywould not be the front line battle-ground of industrial conflictRather employees would be throw-ing their bodies on the line everyday as if it were a grand final withthe scores tied and ten minutes tofull time The irony is that sport isexempt from all these businessconstraints We take sportseriously but work is seen as apastime

There have been countlessattempts to reduce the complexityand cost of the industrial andemployment laws in Australia andthis Federal Government has done

much to bring about change Butthe sad fact is that the labourmarket reform debate today isabsurdly unbalanced On one sidewe have a well organized andarticulate labour movementbacked more or less by the ALPthe Australian Democrats theGreens and a host of other interestgroups promoting greater regu-lation On the other side you havea Federal Government whichdespite good intentions is unableto pass key legislation in theSenate an occasional employerwho is silly or desperate enough topush the reform agenda and a few

dry economists who are quicklydismissed in the media as extremeright-wing

The latest employer to put hishead above the ramparts is DanielGrollo who has had the temerityto reveal that there are wide-spreadrorts in the building industry Theunion response CFMEU VictorianSecretary Martin Kingham threat-ens with lsquoHersquos got a few lessons tolearn Therersquos a few bumps for theyoung fella but Irsquom sure hersquoll gettherersquo

The Australian Chamber ofCommerce and Industry hasrecently put forward its muchwelcome blue print for industrial

reform But where is the BusinessCouncil of Australia in this debateThe BCA said precious little insupport of waterfront reform in1998 and they are saying nothingtoday on the issue of labour marketreform Their silence is deafeningand one must ask what are theyafraid of

Australia needs labour marketreforms which will ensure averagecompanies with average managersdealing with average problems canstrive everyday for success overmediocrity To use language whichhas some currency today Australiadesperately needs labour marketreforms not for the eacutelites but forthe battlers Because there is onlyone way we are going to have ourliving standards rising at an accept-able rate and that is by doing thingsmore cleverly than the economieswith lower cost bases

That implies being cleverflexible progressive innovativeand imaginative When we look atthe structure of our labour marketstoday are those the words youwould use to describe the state ofplay Does anyone imagine that theIndustrial Relations Commissionand the whole IR Club that sur-rounds it is going to propel us to anew level of national productivity

When we picture ourselves asthe clever nation does anyonepicture the labour market structureand the pseudo legalindustrialcircus that is our system today asthe cutting edge of our geniusMore likely it is the dead weight ofa class war which has becomeincreasingly irrelevant to most ofus except those with a vestedinterest in its continuation

Reform is something which wecould be so good at in this countryto the lasting benefit of us all ifonly we could escape the deadhand of regulation

Chris Corrigan is the Managing Director of PatrickCorporationThis is an edited extract from a speech

given in November to The Southport SchoolFoundation business breakfast

Does anyoneimagine that the

Industrial RelationsCommission and thewhole IR Club that

surrounds it is goingto propel us to a new

level of nationalproductivity

API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

HIS quotation fromPatrick Kilby a policyadviser to Oxfam Com-munity Aid Abroad

(CAA)2 exposes a fundamentalflaw in Australiarsquos foreign aid policyWhile working on governmentcontracts aid NGOs are undertak-ing activities which are inappropri-ate for an official and supposedlyneutral foreign aid agencymdashactivi-ties which are not in the interestsof the Australian Government orthe host Government or the localcommunity

The problem stems from flawedprocesses of screening and enforce-ment associated with contracting-out and a failure to recognize thatthe values and motivations of manyNGOs are incompatible with thoseof the Governmentmdashand indeed ofmost Australians

As Patrick Kilby accuratelynotes lsquovoluntary agencies exist notto represent a particular group insociety hellip but solely (emphasisadded) to represent and promote

T

UnderminedmdashValues andForeign Aid NGOs

DON DrsquoCRUZ

NGOs contracted to deliver aidThis is currently not being done andit is seriously undermining the ef-fectiveness of our foreign policy aswell as our relationships withneighbouring countries

The Australian Governmentrsquosvalues in respect to foreign aid arerelatively clear4

As Foreign Minister Downernoted in a recent speech the coreof Australian aid policy is the pro-motion of trade and investment inour neighbouring countries Globalforeign aid flows to developingcountries world-wide currentlyamount to $90 billion per annumThis is dwarfed by the $200 billionin private foreign investment andthe $36 trillion trade generated inthese same countries5 As such for-eign aid is a junior partner in thedevelopment equation trade andinvestment are far more importantAs the Foreign Minister made clearforeign aid can still make a differ-ence by promoting good gover-nance creating a positive climate

certain values and through thosevalues to represent those who aremarginalized and voicelessrsquo3

NGOs are independent values-based organizations often run by asmall group of activists dedicated tothe pursuit of their institutionrsquos val-ues They are also increasingly po-litical in nature focusing on advo-cacy campaigning direct actionand the mobilization of other com-mitted believers It is also clear fromtheir actions and literature thatmany hold views and values at oddswith those of mainstream Austra-lia developing countries and Aus-tralian governments of either per-suasion It is important to note thatthis is not solely an issue for Aus-tralia It is one that most countriesgrapple with some more success-fully than others

At the very least therefore gov-ernments should not contract outforeign aid activity to NGOs thathold different values and objectivesto their own and they should closelymonitor all the activities of the

Let us imagine an Australian voluntary aid organisation that has won a lucrative contract from theAustralian governmentrsquos overseas aid agency AusAID They are contracted to provide water to thepeople in a remote district of a country nearby A large Australian mining company is also operatingin the district with its own lucrative contract and is supported by the military of that country Forlocal people the predations of the mining company are a more immediate concern than an improvedwater supply so they ask the Australian aid organisation to intercede on their behalf

This request puts the organisation in a bit of a bind On the one hand they have a contract withAusAID that specifies the timing and outcomes of the water project and requires them not to getinvolved in lsquopoliticsrsquo On the other hand the organisationrsquos values of social justice and its commitmentto the community make it very difficult for it to ignore the plight of people being exploited by theoperations of a mining company So what does it do

The hypothetical dilemma is an everyday occurrence for Australiarsquos voluntary aid agenciesTheir work involves balancing their obligations to their donor (often the Australian government)to the people with whom they are working and to their own organisational values

lsquo

rsquoPatrick Kilby Eureka Street (November 2002)1

27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

for private sector growth and devel-oping public infrastructure6

But what of the values of the aidNGOs Of course they vary acrossand within organizations Althougha few organizations are clear abouttheir values most cloak their valueswith vague motherhood statementswhich in effect leaves vast scope foractivists to define them as they may

To ascertain their values onemust therefore look at their actions

ANTI-MININGMany aid NGOs seem to have a par-ticular values-based disdain for mul-tinational miners7 Virtually everymajor mining venture with an Aus-tralian partner in the Asia-Pacificregion has been the subject of anaggressive campaign by NGOs Thelsquoanti-mining crusadersquo has been ledby CAA (which received $53 mil-lion from AusAID)8 and the Min-eral Policy Institute (MPI) whichalthough a member of the Austra-lian Council for Foreign and Over-seas Aid (ACFOA the govern-ment-funded peak body of aidagencies) does not currently receivefunding from AusAID9 CAA hasa self-appointed Mining Ombuds-man10 and is currently running cam-paigns against eight mines11

MPIrsquos approach is more stridentand less formal but its conclusionabout mining is virtually identicalto CAArsquos MPI also acts as a con-duit for a range of other aid NGOsto become involved in anti-miningcampaigns without exposing theirbrand names to damage For ex-ample World Wide Fund for Na-ture (WWF)12 Australian Conser-vation Foundation (ACF) andCAA (all AusAID-funded aidagencies) have provided funding toMPI Representatives from Austra-lian Red Cross ACFOA as well asWWF Amnesty ACF and CAAhave worked with MPI on anti-mining activities such as the min-ing principles document13 whichamong other things called for com-panies to stop mining uranium14 andreconsider the lsquosocial usefulnessrsquo of

minerals such as gold and dia-monds15 MPI chairs ACFOArsquos min-ing advocacy committee whichpurports to speak on behalf of theaid agencies sector as a whole16

MPI is an affiliate of the globalFriends of the Earth network whichcampaigns against mining and oilcompanies globally17 Friends of theEarth Australia is an ACFOAmember Its Indonesian branchWAHLImdashwhich appears to workclosely with CAArsquos anti-miningcampaignsmdashhas received $161726from AusAID over three years18

Although it is not the only fac-tor19 these anti-mining campaignsare contributing to the decline inforeign investment to the abandon-ment of important projects andmay even be a contributing factor

themselves to disruption in localcommunities in mining areasRather than fostering investmentmany Australian foreign aid NGOsare now part of a risk-creation in-dustry that confronts and seeks todeter potential investors in the re-gion Indeed one cannot find asingle example of an Australian for-eign aid NGO which has publiclypraised a mining company for in-vesting millions of dollars in the re-gion

ANTI-GLOBALIZATIONInternational organizations includ-ing the World Bank World TradeOrganisation and Asian Develop-ment Bank play a central role inAustraliarsquos foreign aid programmeAustralia provides over $390 mil-lion to multilateral developmentbanks and organizations and placesa particularly high weight on therole that those organizations play infacilitating economic freedom for-eign investment and trademdashinshort globalization

Despite the high priority givento advancing globalizationAusAID funds a raft of organiza-tions that actively campaignagainst it For example TEAR Aus-tralia APHEDA CAA andACFOA (all AusAID-funded) andMPI Friends of the Earth and AIDWATCH (all ACFOA members)have been either directly or indi-rectly involved in supporting S11anti-WTO and anti-globalizationprotests around AustraliaAIDWatch which is run out of thesame office as MPI leads the localcampaign against the market- andtrade-focused policies of the WorldBank World Trade Organisationand Asian Development Bank(ADB)mdashclaiming that they are of-ten lsquoresponsible for social injusticehuman rights abuses debt and eco-logical unsustainability in low-in-come countriesrsquo In particular itseeks to have World Bank and theADB phase out financing for oilgas and mining projects

CAA has been running a cam-paign against the ADB for lsquopromot-ing development through huge hy-dro-electric dams forestry and in-tensive agriculturersquo20 claiming fur-ther that lsquothe ADB has a chequeredhistory of funding projects thatdamage the environment and un-dermine vulnerable communitiesrsquobasic human rightsrsquo21

ANTI-TRADEAlthough many aid NGOs presenta nuanced public stance on tradebehind the scenes they are active

At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out

foreign aid activity

to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

campaigners against trade and eco-nomic liberalization more gener-ally22 For example CAA WorldVision APHEDA TEAR Austra-lia and ACF (AusAID-funded)and MPI and AidWatch (membersof ACFOA) are part of the mainanti-free trade grouping in Austra-liamdashthe Australian Fair Trade andInvestment Network (AFTINET)mdashalong with unions and a numberof left-wing church groups23

UNDERMINING NATIONALSOVEREIGNTYThe support of national sovereigntyis another value that the Austra-lian Government regards highlyIndeed it is essential both for therule of law and as the basis for thevarious trade and investment agree-ments that lie at the core of Aus-tralian aid policy

With respect to national sover-eignty the values of APHEDAhave been examined in quite somedetail24 and seem to include lsquoinde-pendence in West Papuarsquo25 sup-porting the Palestinian cause26 aswell as getting involved in indus-trial relations disputes in foreigncountries27 In its reply to a previ-ous IPA Review article APHEDAstated lsquoUnion Aid AbroadndashAPHEDA and indeed most tradeunions churches human rights or-ganizations and aid agencies believethat an independent free UN-sponsored referendum by the WestPapuans would be a positive steprsquo28

In other words according toAPHEDA it is not alone in sup-porting the cause of West Papuanindependence among Australianforeign aid NGOs

National sovereignty can be un-dermined in more subtle ways Forexample financial institutionshave recently been the focus ofwestern NGOsrsquo campaigns seekingto stop them investing in govern-ment-supported projects includingdams modern agriculture gas oiland mining and even biotechnol-ogy The Bakun Dam in Malaysiais a project that has fallen victim

to such a campaign with financialbackers recently announcing thatthey were withdrawing supportfrom the project

AusAID is facilitating this cam-paign directly with a $430000 con-tribution lsquotoward the establishmentof a centre to help the ADB andNGOs communicate and work to-gether more effectivelyrsquo29 Al-though the grant is framed in termsof co-operation and dialogue theeffect is to provide Australian for-eign aid NGOs with a greater ca-pacity to intercede in the sovereignmatters of other countriesmdashAustraliarsquos Asian neighbours Fund-

ing these sort of activities clearlyruns counter to the objectives andvalues that underlie Australianpolicy and points to an inability ofAusAID to understand the conse-quences of its funding

TOWARDS A PRECAUTION-ARY PRINCIPLE OF NGOFUNDINGThe problem does not lie with con-tracting out of aid delivery to NGOsper se NGOs are often skilled cost-effective and flexible They also areable to mobilize the community toparticipate in and fund humanitar-ian actions and to go where govern-ment representatives cannot

Rather the problem stems froma failure of screening and enforce-ment AusAID ostensibly screensapplicants for aid contracts forbidscontracted organizations from in-volvement in political activity andmonitors the activities of con-tracted organizations But this pro-cess is clearly not working It is ac-crediting agencies that should notbe the Australian Governmentrsquos defacto representatives abroad

Australian official policymakersmust address this fundamental dis-junction within their own policyon the one hand they promotetrade liberalization encourage for-eign investment and advocate therule of law On the other hand andat the same time they fund andgive credibility to institutions thatassiduously work against these verysame values and objectives Thesolution is to simply stop fundingsuch NGOs and re-direct thatmoney to aid NGOs which eithershare their values explicitly or atleast are neutral and do no harmIt is important to note that thereare aid NGOs which share thegovernmentrsquos values and can per-form the required functions

In summary government shouldadopt its own lsquoprecautionary prin-ciplersquo of sorts in relation to NGOfunding and only contract-out toorganizations which it knows willdo no harm By doing so the Aus-tralian government would removea schizophrenic and self-defeatingaspect of its foreign policy

NOTES1 Patrick Kilby lsquoCaught in the middlersquo Eu-

reka Street (November 2002) page 322 Ibid page 353 Ibid page 334 See Hon Alexander Downer MP lsquoAustra-

lian AidmdashInvesting in Growth Stabilityand Prosperityrsquo Eleventh Statement to Par-liament on Australiarsquos Development Co-operation Program httpwwwausaidgovauaboutelevenhtml

5 Hon Alexander Downer MP lsquoAustralianAid Investing in Growth Stability andProsperityrsquo Speech 24 September 2002

6 Ibid7 For example see Jeff Atkinson lsquoMine thy

The solution is tosimply stop funding

such NGOs andre-direct that moneyto aid NGOs whicheither share their

values explicitly or atleast are neutral and

do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

The lsquoRrsquo Files

Blueprint for a LivingContinent AustraliarsquosLatest Attempt atSelf-Destruction

At regular intervals groups of ac-tivists and scientists declare thatmodern agriculture is destroyingthe natural environment Accord-ing to the refrain not only do cur-rent practices destroy natural at-tractions but they also underminethe landrsquos productive capacity

Although the claims may be putforward by people with scientificand economic knowledge this isoverwhelmed by their lsquocommit-ment to the causersquo Moreover theclaimantsrsquo prescriptions will usuallyenthrone them as environmentaldictators

The latest such warning Blue-print for a Living Continent was is-sued by the so-called WentworthGroup largely comprising activistson the payroll of government orwith the World Wildlife Fund(WWF) The report prescribes gov-ernment spending of $36 billionover the next decade This is bothto provide a contribution in its ownright and to induce an additional$127 billion of private spending ontransforming the agricultural sys-tem Ambitious though $16 billionappears it is modest when com-pared with the ambit claim hatchedby Australian Conservation Foun-dation (ACF) and National Farm-ers Federation (NFF) involving a$65 billion fund1

The Wentworth Group sees usheading towards a precipice Itclaims that

bull lsquotwo thirds of landholders reportthat their property values willdecline by up to 25 over thenext three to five yearsrsquo

bull dryland salinity is rising andlsquocould affectrsquo 22 per cent of cul-tivated land and that thesustainability of our agricultureis under threatEven though these sentences

are ominously pregnant close read-ing reveals them to be sensation-alist factoids devoid of any realmeaning Thusbull Landowners think their property

values could fall by up to 25 percent

bull Dryland salinity could affect 22per cent of cultivated landOn these flimsy foundations

the report proceeds to erect a su-perstructure forged from evocativephrases such as thesebull lsquoSalt destroying our rivers and

land like a cancerrsquobull lsquoMany of our native plants and

animals are heading for extinc-tionrsquo

bull lsquoAbout 50000 km of streamshave been degraded by sanddeposition and sediments aremoving off hill slopes muchfaster than soil is formedrsquo

bull lsquoWe are taking more resourcesout of our continent than itsnatural systems can replenishrsquoAPI

Don DrsquoCruz is Research Fellow at the IPAand Director of IPArsquos NGOWatch

neighbourrsquo Inside Indonesia (January-March 200) httpwwwinsideindonesiaorgedit65jeff_leadhtrm

8 Community Aid Abroad Annual Report2000-2001 httpwwwcaaorgauaboutannual_reportaccountshtml

9 Though it does surprisingly receive moneyfrom the Federal Department of the Envi-ronment

10 Jeremy Hobbs lsquoMining When will thescandals stoprsquo httpwwwonlineopinioncomauJuly00Hobbshtm

11 See Oxfam Community Aid Abroad Min-ing Ombudsman Annual Report 2001-2002

12 WWF gets a considerable amount of moneyfrom the mining industry

13 Australian-Asian Pacific Mining AdvocacyNetwork lsquoPrinciples for the conduct ofcompany operations within the mineralsindustryrsquo (October 1998) Downloaded ath t t p w w w m p i o r g a u r e p o r t s principles_for_conducthtml

14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19

16 httpwwwacfoaasnauabout_acfoaCommittees_2002-3htm

17 httpwwwfoeiorgaboutindexhtml

18 Correspondence with AusAID

19 For example see Malcolm Gray lsquoForeignDirect Investment and Recovery in Indo-nesia Recent Events and their Impactrsquo IPABackgrounder Vol 142 (August 2002)

20 httpwwwcaaorgaucampaignsadbindexhtml

21 Ibid

22 ACFOA Press Release lsquoAid agencies tochallenge WTO on trade related povertyissuesrsquo 14 November 2002 httpwwwacfoaasnaumedia_releases2002_re-leases14_11_02htm

23 See httpwwwaftinetorgauaboutaboutaftinethtml

24 See Don DrsquoCruz lsquoDangerous Liaisonsrsquo IPAReview Vol 54 No 3 (September 2002)

25 APHEDA Annual Report 2001 page 9

26 See APHEDA lsquoReport on Fact FindingMission to the Occupied Palestinian Ter-ritories 15-23 Mayrsquo 2002

27 Don DrsquoCruz op cit page 7

28 See httpwwwaphedaorgauipa_responsehtm

29 See Hon Christine Gallus MP lsquoBuildingPublic and Political Support for the AidProgramrsquo 4 February 2002 httpwwwausa id govau med ia r e l ea se c fmBC=SpeechampId=1465_5794_4142_5073_6263

30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

The jeremiad is redolent ofTheodore Roosevelt who in 1911said

hellipthe time has come to enquireseriously what will happenwhen our forests are gone hellipwhen the soils have beenfurther impoverished andwashed into streams pollutingthe rivers denuding the fieldsand obstructing navigation

Yet not one of Rooseveltrsquos anxietieshas proved well founded America(like Australia) now has more forestthan in 1911 its soils are more fer-tile and its rivers less polluted Allthis has occurred in tandem with anincreasingly productive agriculturalsector

Roosevelt was reliant on patchyagricultural output statistics in ar-riving at his misconceptions TheWentworth Group has no such ex-cuse It did not take the time to ex-amine the data on Australian agri-cultural output This has shownreal growth of 2ndash3 per cent per an-num in every decade since the1950s notwithstanding dark fore-bodings from many WentworthGroupies that have dominated thedebate for more than 20 years

Drought in the current year willforce agricultural production downby ten per cent But this is a natu-ral phenomenon unrelated to anyhuman actions It signals no trendIndeed with genetic modificationof crops still in its infancy an up-ward kink in productivity growthis likely from greater pesticide tol-erance lower water usage and in-creased useable output

Having set up its straw man theWentworth Group offers its solu-tions Predictably none of those in-clude genetic modificationmdashclearly new technology like this isunacceptable to the WWF whileCSIRO apparently has no com-punction in remaining silent if itmeans a funding boost TheWentworth Grouprsquos solutions in-cludebull lsquoradical change to land usersquo with

trees producing pharmaceuti-

cals bush foods nuts oil re-placing large areas of currentcrop and pasture zones

bull Removing much land from pro-duction

bull Setting standards for native veg-etation an indicative 34 percent is given for western NSWwhich lsquovery few farmers wouldmeetrsquo those who do would besubsidized by those who do not

bull Restoring environmental flowsto lsquostressed rivers such as theRiver Murray and its tributar-iesrsquoAll of these involve consider-

able reductions in agricultural out-

put and agricultural productivityIndeed as the pieces in the currentIPA Review by Jim Hoggett and IanMott demonstrate this is likely tobe amplified by the additional lay-ers of bureaucratic approvals in thedecision taking

A central feature of the reportis the control of water Australiarsquosscarcest rural input In this respectthe Wentworth Group ostensiblyaccepts the 1994 CoAG decisionwhich emphasized the need forclear tradeable entitlements to wa-ter separated from the associatedland Building on this the reportmakes the valid point that the ex-

isting means of water trading arelikely to mean greater use of thewater because the buyers use itmore intensely than the sellers Forexample efficient irrigation sys-tems return less water to the riversystem than when water is deliv-ered to fields wastefully The reportmakes some attempt to grapplewith this by suggesting that waterlicences should make it clear notonly how much is extracted buthow much is used and the condi-tion of the used water returned tothe system

But having identified the in-centive effects of property rightsand market forces the report pro-ceeds to pervert their outcomes byoverlaying them with its own pre-ferred incentives and penalties Itmakes the seductive claims that itwants to lsquoclarify water rights to givefarmers greater certainty and cre-ate accountable institutions thatare owned by the rural communi-ties most affected by the problemsrsquoInstead it seeks to tie conditions tothe definition of water propertyand transfer rights Only thosefarmers irrigating in a manner thatdoes not cause lsquowater logging sa-linity and other problemsrsquo would bepermitted to use the water Eventhe others in receiving a propor-tional share of access to their wa-ter would need to accept some de-fined risk that this might bechanged without compensationand be accompanied by a set of ac-counts that control the amount ofwater that might be traded

WWF is taking an increasinglymilitant role on property rights Itplaces them and the outcomes theybring as clearly secondary to thoseit prefers A recent Working Paper2

spelled this out It considers the at-tention to property rights is not suf-ficiently lsquoholisticrsquo and propertyrights should follow from otherchanges to land and water usagethat the WFF considers necessary

This radical agenda underpinsa report full of soothing noises tomask its revolutionary intent

These disarmingstatements shouldfool nobody Bothits lsquono new taxesrsquoand lsquocut red tapersquoprotestations are

Orwellian Newspeakfor its mainagendahellip

31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I

Thus it claims to want to cut bu-reaucratic red tape whilst suggest-ing a massive increase in regula-tion It says that it is not callingfor a new tax while seeking a di-version of public capital (includ-ing from the sale of Telstra) andan lsquoenvironmental levyrsquo incorpo-rating the costs of production offood fibre and water lsquocurrentlyborne by the environmentrsquo

These disarming statementsshould fool nobody Both its lsquononew taxesrsquo and lsquocut red tapersquo pro-testations are Orwellian Newspeakfor its main agenda which is thecreation of vast new taxing andspending controls The proceeds ofthe lsquolevyrsquo on food fibre and waterwould be disbursed to the farmerswho can demonstrate to theCSIROWWF Committee of PublicSafety (the National Commission)that they are being responsibleSuch proposals would mean a revo-lution in land ownership and man-agement Farmers would be able touse their property only as long asthey satisfied the Blueprint writersthat they were farming correctly

The Wentworth Group offers uslittle useful guidance for the futureWith Rousseau-like nostalgia thegroup harks back to an ArcadianAustralia in the 45000 years be-fore European settlement Eventhat environment was a vast im-provement on the pre-human in-fluenced world before the Aborigi-nes created some order out of thenatural wilderness by burninghunted-out areas and conse-quently tempering the hottest for-est fires Nevertheless Aboriginalland-use practices still left Austra-lia barely capable of sustaining100000 souls living in desperatepoverty The pre-modern environ-ment was bitterly hostile to man-kind with starvation and massivefloods punctuating great periods ofdrought

A reversion of the Australia thathas been created this past 200 yearsto some pre-modern paradise can-not provide us with the quality of

life we want Benign neglect of anysignificant part of the continentwould bring a marked deteriorationof the human-preferred environ-ment The very hot forest fires thathave been experienced in areaslocked up in national parks is oneconsequence of attempting to forgomanagement and use of the forestsThis apart there are too many catsdogs wild pigs blackberries andother introduced species for thelsquonaturalrsquo settings to be managedwithout human intervention

Reserving land from productionis costly Unless such land is inten-sively managed (and therefore nec-essarily synthetically natural) in-troduced species will mean itsmetamorphosis into something fardifferent from the aestheticallypleasing ecological renewal thatthe radical environmentalists seek

We do need to make changes toretain a sustainable agriculture Wedo need proper allocation of rightsto water and an accurate definitionof those rights We do need meansof ensuring that one farmerrsquos nega-tive impacts are not borne by an-other The key is market solutionsbased on better defining existingproperty rights allowing their un-hindered trade and where it makessense measuring and charging forpollution and environmental dam-age that is imposed on others

NOTES1 Repairing the Country a National

Scenario for Strategic Investmentprepared by ACFNFF Canberra2000

2 Why the property rights debate isholding back reforms A case for afocus on Structural Adjustment byWarwick Moss httpwwwgeneraluwaeduauuaareswordfilespropwwfdoc

Dr Alan Moran is Director Deregulation Unitat the Institute of Public Affairs

API

MusinghellipA Dose of

Common Senseby Mike Nahan

Every now and then one isstunned by the good sense of theAustralian public

Despite years of propagandaproffered by a sensualist mediaHollywood and ambulance chas-ers the public can still recognizethe importance of people takingresponsibility for their own actions

This was highlighted again re-cently in the public reaction to theMcCabe case Mrs McCabe aworking-class woman sufferingfrom terminal lung cancer andhaving just lost her husband wondamages of $700000 againstmultinational British American To-bacco She won the suit on a tech-nicalitymdashthat BATrsquos lawyers de-stroyed evidencemdashnot on basis ofher claim that BAT knowinglyduped her into using a dangeroussubstance BAT appealed andwon forcing the repayment of themoney

What was the publicrsquos reac-tion Despite the media and theMcCabesrsquo lawyers pushing the lsquoin-nocent victim versus bad multina-tionalrsquo imagery to the hilt the ma-jority (64 per cent) of people sur-veyed by the Herald Sun sup-ported the courtrsquos decision that themoney should be returned

Perhaps they trust the courts tomake the right decision Perhapsthe sight of the McCabesrsquo lawyermdashMr Gordon of Slater and Gordonfamemdashmade them sceptical Orperhaps it was the admission byMrs McCabe that she was awareof the dangers of smoking and hadrefused assistance to quit

32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom

As the name itself suggestsBloggers have developed theirown jargon Blogosphere meansthe community perhaps worldof Blogs Pomo is post modernFisk means to take someoneelsersquos text say that of a well-known journalist who tends toblame all the problems of theworld on the United States ofAmerica then analyse it sen-tence by sentence exposing howthe silly theme of an article hasbeen constructed by a series ofeven sillier statements and as-sumptions A proper fiskingleaves the reader with a clear un-derstanding that the text sofisked was appallingly wrong inevery important respect

ABC WATCHOne of the many significant fail-ings of ABC TVrsquos own Mondaynight lsquoMedia Watchrsquo program isthat it seems to be largely un-aware that the ABC itself is amedia player and at least as wor-thy of criticism as the commer-cial participants Enter the

ABCWatch blog It may takeyou a little while to work outwhorsquos who Gastropod seems tobe the famous Mr Adams Uncleis the blogrsquos author while Auntieis variously the ABC itself and aperson with whom Uncle sharesa bed Oh I get it

This blog is sometimes frus-trating if only because com-ments appears just two or threetimes a week But when they dothey are excellent

Memo to Radio National[in respect of an ABC TVprogram receiving rareapproval] good politicaldiscussion requires thatthe audience can notpredict the talentrsquos everyresponse to every politicalevent

Go to

wwwabcwatchblogspotcom

ALEX ROBSONThe recent release of a petitionarguing incredibly thatAustraliarsquos adhering to the Kyotoprotocol would either result inno economic costs or possiblyan economic boost was worth-while in only one respect Itbrought out a high-powered pe-tition in opposition One of themoving forces behind this peti-tion and the supporting op-edwas ANU economist AlexRobson He was also partly re-sponsible for jockeying SBS intorunning the recent pro-free-mar-ket economics documentary se-ries lsquoCommanding Heightsrsquo Goto

alexrobsonblogspotcom

THE WORLD OF BLOGOne of the luminous early prom-ises of the Web was the removalof constraints from publishingNo longer would those withsomething to say be held back bythe gatekeepers of the traditionalmedia

There was a large element oftruth in this The beans werespilled for example on Presi-dent Clintonrsquos Oval Office dal-liance by one Matt Drudge in hisDrudge Report

Did this kind of thing breakthe media monopoly ForDrudge it did In the year to De-cember 2002 he received overone billion visits

wwwdrudgereportcom

Web publishing is cheap butnot free Although Websites areinexpensive new skills are re-quired Marking up (that is for-matting) documents using ab-struse HTML (HyperTextMarkup Language) commandsand then uploading the docu-ments to a Website is a daunt-ing prospect for many

But over the past couple ofyears a new way of using the Webhas emerged the Blog This is de-rived from Web log Think of aBlog as a personal diary but witha difference Instead of being pub-lished after yoursquove died (maybeif after your demise someone con-siders you worthy of remem-brance) you can broadcast itscontents to all as you write it

Blogs can be created by theadept using traditional HTMLskills (see Whacking Day belowfor example) or using packagedsolutions that require neitherskill nor money

Free_Enterprisecom by Stephen DawsonFile View Go Bookmarks Options Directory Window Help

E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

At this point my own selfish-ness and pettinessmdashmani-fested in silent monologues ofdevastating effect of coursemdashjust horrifies me and I feelShame kick in like a furnaceon a cold December night

or thisAnd that ideamdashthe desire toremake and remold pliantMan in the image of an ideol-ogymdashwas the most ruinousnotion the 20th century pro-duced

in a week in which Lileks consid-ered his writing to barely pass thelevel of lsquocraptitudersquo I aspire to hisstandards Go to

wwwlilekscombleats

A WEALTH OF OTHERSOne of the biggest blogs (in termsof visits) is run by the former edi-tor of The New Republic AndrewSullivan Thoughtful and a greatdestroyer of stereotypes Howmany other gay conservative Re-publican Catholics do you knowGo to

wwwandrewsullivancom

Sullivanrsquos site is regarded as oneof the big two blog sites Theother one by law professor GlennReynolds is at

wwwinstapunditcom

Finding informed commentary onMiddle Eastern issues that is notintemperately pro-Palestiniancan be hard Martin Kramer for30 years a specialist in the fielddoes a fine job on his blog Par-ticularly nice is hisdeconstruction of Edward SaidGo to

wwwmartinkramerorgpages899529

Not all sites are solo affairs Basedin the UK Samizdata is shared byseveral thoughtful libertariansGo to

wwwsamizdatanet

A similar shared community ap-pears at Jason Soonrsquos site

catallaxyfilesblogspotcom

And the journal Reason has juststarted its own blog under the titlelsquoHit and Runrsquo

wwwreasoncomhitandrun

COMING SOONOr almost certainly by the timeyou read this now online Alongthe structural lines of Samizdataa group of hard core Australian lib-ertarians (yes there are suchpeople) will be contributing to ashared blog yours truly amongstthem Go to

wwwlibertarianorgau

FEEDBACKI would welcome advice from read-ers on any other sites of interest toIPA Review readers E-mail me onscdawsonbigpondnetau


WHACKING DAYSurely many of you know the fa-mous Simpsons episode celebrat-ing the Springfield tradition ofbeating snakes to death withclubs The annual Whacking Daycomes to an end when Bart andLisa helped by a crooning BarryWhite convince the townsfolk ofthe nastiness of the tradition

The Whacking Day blog is in-spired by the whacking not bythe cute conclusion For fiskinggalore go to

wwwwhackingdaycom

DO NOT OPEN THIS BLOGhelliphellip if you wish to retain any con-fidence in your own ability towrite Is James Lileks a free-mar-ket guy Well kind of In that re-laxed common sense way thatmiddle Americans tend to be Ishe libertarian Arguably But in

the end it doesnrsquot matter Hisblog contains page after page ofthe most amazing writing that Ihave seen He takes his day fivedays a week and turns it and histhoughts into articles taking thereader from hilarity to pathos andback again Consider this repre-sentative sentence

E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API

S T R A N G E T I M E S

GREENrsquoS EVERREADY EX-PORT POLICYGreen policies are always a rich re-source of cow dung and balderdash butfew surpass the arrogant stupidity of theTasmanian Greens on energy trading

Now despite these furry fellas com-ing of age in anti-dam protests theyare keen to export clean green hydropower to the distant world (Victoria)But they are not so keen on theBasslink project which is to connectthe electricity system of the IslandState with the distant world WhyWell it would lead to lsquodirty electronsrsquo(translation electricity generated fromcoal) polluting Tassiersquos clean electrons

Their solution batteries Theyplan to export the 300Mw of electri-cal power (that would otherwise flowtwenty four hours per day via Basslink)by batteries Now the fact that thiswould take the equivalent of 3 billioncar-size batteries (equivalent to theworldrsquos current stock of car batteries)consume tonnes of fuel in transportand create a mountain of toxic leaddoes not seem to trouble them Nodoubt they will address this apparentabsurdity with some more deft policiessuch as plans to use the recycled bat-teries to build radiation proof housing

PETA IS SO(Y) HAPPYIn its zeal to convert the masses to per-manent vegetarianism People for theEthical Treatment of Animals (PETA)has made demands that prisons in theUS remove all meat and dairy prod-ucts from inmatesrsquo cafeteria menus

Knowing that prisoners are notnatural vegans and playing on the re-habilitation theme Joe Haptas PETArsquoscampaign director promised in hissales pitch to prison directors that ameatless diet will lsquoprovide a deterrentto convicts who are so addicted tomeat theyrsquoll go straight just to avoidhaving to eat healthy ldquojailhouserdquo foodrsquo

In short he promised vegan foodwould be so unpalatable that inmates

would literally be lsquoscared straightrsquo byit

OUR UN AT WORK SAVETHE STARVING FROM FOODThe United Nations World Food Pro-gram recently carried out one of itsmost unusual shipments ever Underpolice guard to prevent looting by stav-ing locals WFP workers in Zambialoaded 18000 tons of maize into wait-ing trucks The trucks which are nor-mally used to ferry grain to refugeecamps carried the precious food outof the drought-stricken southern Afri-can country and away from 29 millionpeople facing starvation

The Zambian government was atfirst happy to take GM food lsquoIf Ameri-cans can eat GM Zambians should beable to eat GMrsquo Vice President EnochKavindele told parliament in June Butwithin two months Zambia bannedthe import of all GMOs The GMmaize sitting in warehouses was illegaland lsquopoisonousrsquo according to PresidentLevy Mwanawasa

Why the sudden about-face EUand Greenpeace strike again

GREENPEACErsquoS LABOURPROBLEMSGreenpeace Canada (GPC) is cur-rently experiencing a strange eventmdashit is the subject of a picket and protest

GPC did a lsquoCorriganrsquo to its streetcanvassers in Toronto In October itlocked out its loyal team of street beg-gars demanding a new collectiveagreement with large increases in pro-ductivitymdashor else This was despite thefact that their collective agreementhad a year to run the canvassers hadexceeded the targets specified in theagreement and many of the canvass-ers had given freely of their time fornumerous GPC protests Indeed onepoor sod is still facing court action forillegal activity undertaken on behalfof GPC for which Greenpeace is re-fusing financial assistance

Compiled by IPA staff columnists and consultants hellip

The union has reacted much as theMUA did It organized pickets calledfor solidarity and threatened retalia-tion

Unlike Mr Corriganrsquos actions how-ever a Greenpeace victory will under-mine rather than add to the greatergood Indeed keeping GPC boggeddown in industrial action may well bethe union movementrsquos greatest contri-bution to the working man in decadesIt will also present a hilarious spectacleprotester protesting against protestorrubber duck colliding with rubberduck absailers wrestling on tall build-ings and placards reading lsquoGreenpeaceExploits the Workersrsquo waving on pub-lic TV How sweet it is

EXPERTSPARENTS GUILTY OFPROMOTING HOMEWORKTwo crack VUT researchers have comeup with some truly remarkable find-ings

First they found that students whospent many hours on homework hadless time for family friends and hob-bies Damn surprising

Second homework may have a di-rect or an indirect influence on stu-dentsrsquo lsquopsychological well beingrsquo Isnrsquotthis terrible

Third that Year 12 girls scored sig-nificantly higher than boys on stressand mood disturbances No kidding

They are now seeking money toinvestigate whether time managementwas a major reason for students spend-ing so much time on homework

What do the experts have to sayabout the research Dr Newbegin(real name) teacher and author ofThe Australian Study Guide says thatthe study confirms his view thatlsquoteachers and parents are guilty ofplacing pressure on students to workhard to gain high scores for univer-sity placesrsquo And we pay for this non-sense

35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Tories FiddlingLabour Unravelling

The radio is on while I write this ItrsquoslsquoDesert Island Discsrsquo an interviewinterspersed with the eight recordsthat the guest would like to have ifstranded on a desert island with agramophone Todayrsquos guest is theleader of the opposition Iain DuncanSmith (IDS for short)

Hersquos been having a rough timePartly this is because of divisions inthe party partly itrsquos his own fault Thetwo came together last month whenParliament was debating legislationto let unmarried couples and same-sex couples adopt children Like mostof us IDS believes that a stable tra-ditional family is the best environ-ment in which to raise childrenTherefore he decided to make astand against adoption by same-sexcouples

Never mind that the law alreadyallows adoption by single peoplewhether gay or not Never mind thatthe proper comparison is not betweenadoption by a married couple andadoption by a same-sex couple butbetween adoption and the lsquocarersquo pro-vided by the social services a com-parison which adoption wins handsdown Never mind that issues suchas adoption and divorce are normallydecided on conscience votes and noton party lines

Never mind even the need forthe party to be more liberal on socialissues if it is to get back in touch withthe average voter IDS sent out alsquothree-line whiprsquomdashan instruction toall Conservative MPs to turn up andvote the party line regardless of theirpersonal opinions or else Except thatthis was a Claytonrsquos whip it said thatMPs who didnrsquot like it could stay awayand it wouldnrsquot be held against them

Letter from LondonJOHN NURICK

API

Things get worse IDS is in a veryweak position when it comes to de-manding that MPs put loyalty beforeconscience As a new MP back in1992 he voted many times against hisown governmentrsquos European legisla-tion On the night of the adoptionvote several Conservative MPsvoted for the new lawmdashincludingtwo of IDSrsquos undeclared rivals for theleadership They said it was a matterof conscience but the next day IDSclaimed it wasnrsquot and accused themof disloyalty The day after he had toapologize

Result confusion and mistrust allround After more than a year of IDSthe Tories are no more credible a gov-ernment-in-waiting than they wereunder his predecessor WilliamHague

This is a shame because we badlyneed an effective opposition GordonBrownrsquos budget last April made mas-sive spending commitments over thenext three years These were to befunded partly by borrowing and partlyby increased tax revenue from growthprojected at 2ndash25 per cent this yearand 3ndash35 per cent next year

This seemed very optimistic at thetime Too right in his pre-budget re-port at the end of November MrBrown admitted that the Treasury

now expects only 16 per cent growththis year and 25ndash3 per cent next yearProjected borrowing has almostdoubled to pound20bn ($56bn) this yearand pound24bn next year In particularcorporate tax revenues are way downbecause of the collapse of profits inthe financial sectormdashand could takea long time to recover

Things get worse The borrowingfigures exclude huge lsquooff-budgetrsquo li-abilities associated with lsquoprivate fi-nance initiativersquo projects and priva-tized services (eg pound10bn for the rail-ways) The revised growth projec-tions are still horribly vulnerable toa downturn in the US and worldeconomies to international terror-ism or to a sudden end to the houseprice boom

Meanwhile the firefighters arestriking for a 40 per cent pay risewhich the government cannot affordto concede Other public sector paydeals have been 4ndash5 per cent a yearmdashwhich already swallows a big chunkof the governmentrsquos extra spending

I said last time that the govern-ment is in lsquocrash through or crashrsquomode desperate to deliver betterpublic services before the next elec-tion but unable to reform them prop-erly That gamble looks even lesslikely to succeed now than it didthree months ago But perhaps itdoesnrsquot matter with IDS in chargeLabour has nothing to fear from theConservatives As for IDS hersquos onlytheremdashlike his two predecessorsmdashbecause the party canrsquot agree on any-one else

John Nurick is a management consultant based inthe South of England From 1985 to 1990 he was

editorial director of the Australian Institute forPublic Policy and later edited newsletters

reporting on the UK Parliament andEuropean Union institutions

36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

is the nature of capitalism Stockswere sold as a free-enterprise en-titlement Stock market investorsexpected to get rich

Now Congress has been calledupon to intervene in a host of waysThe ostensible aim is to improve theintegrity of the market The un-stated aim is to restore higher stockprices which is what investorswant

Source Robert J Samuelson lsquoTheStock Market Not an EntitlementrsquoWashington Post 25September2002 Karlyn Bowman and ToddWeiner lsquoAttitudes Toward Busi-nessrsquo AEI Special Analysis 23August 2002 American EnterpriseInstitute

INTERNET DEMOCRACYWhen the Internet was still invogue many political commenta-tors thought that that it would com-pletely restructure politics Theypredicted that voter participationwould rise the populace would be-come more informed and the influ-ence of money would be diminishedHowever researchers find none ofthese things occurred and arguethat the Internet may hurt democ-racy They say that predictions ofbetter politics in the online worldfailed because people assumed prob-lems resulted from poor communi-cation or lack of information How-ever these problems have deeperrootsbull Information even before the

Internet was cheap to obtainbull Thus making information even

easier to obtain was not going toentice more people to pay atten-tion to politics

bull Moreover by distracting peoplewith more lsquointerestingrsquo informa-tion the Internet might even

make it harder to educate peopleabout politics

bull Since the Internet will not makeAmericans more interested inpolitics it will not diminish theneed or the cost of reaching vot-ers who do not wish to bereached

Observers say the Internet mightweaken democracy in three key waysbull It will speed up politics even fur-

ther forcing leaders to make hastydecisions without sufficient infor-mation

bull Also it will undermine federal-ism by making it impossible forrepresentatives to distinguish be-tween constituents and activists

bull Finally by letting people live inisolation and away from neigh-bours it will weaken local com-munities and their channels ofpowerOn the other hand some experts

believe these threats to be largelybenign They observe that while theInternet did not revolutionize poli-tics it did revolutionize the bureau-cracy and administrative activitiesperformed by government

Source Yuval Levin lsquoPolitics afterthe Internetrsquo Public Interest Num-ber 149 Fall 2002

THREE MILE ISLAND CAN-CER RATES NOT HIGHER

THAN NORMALPhysicist Edward Teller remains thelone identified casualty of the ThreeMile Island nuclear power plant ac-cident The father of the H-Bombhad a heart attack (from which herecovered) following the March1979 accident at the Pennsylvaniapower plantmdashdue to the stress ofcombating all the misinformationput out by nuclear power opponentsand the news media

F U R T H E R A F I E L DSummaries and excerpts from interesting reports

DOES STOCK OWNERSHIPLEAD TO CONSERVATIVE

VALUESAbout half of US households ownshares up from one-third in the late1980s In the late 1990s conserva-tive commentators seized upon theidea that expansion of stock own-ership was transforming nationalpolitics and psychology Politics wassupposedly drifting to the right be-cause more people had a stake incapitalism

However if shareholders becamemini-capitalists public opinionpolls should have shown a rise inpro-business attitudes in the 1990sBut a review of surveys by KarlynBowman of the American Enter-prise Institute found attitudes haveremained remarkably stable Ameri-cans generally like the free-enter-prise system but are sceptical of cor-porate behaviour

When asked in 2000 whethercompanies should lsquomake maximumprofitsrsquo only 36 per cent said lsquoyesrsquoThis was higher than in 1974 (24per cent) but almost the same as in1981 (33 per cent)

Another survey asks whetherlsquowhatrsquos good for business is also goodfor the average personrsquo In 1981 57per cent thought so but near themarketrsquos peak in 1999 that hadslipped to 48 per cent

According to Washington Postcolumnist Robert Samuelsongreater shareholding leads to moregovernment activism and regula-tion It increases the political im-pulse to tinker with business and thestock market because the investorclass behaves like other aggrievedgroups who look to government tosolve problems

Greater shareholding didnrsquotchange the national consciousnessbecause stocks were not promotedas an exercise in risk-taking which

37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

each other and their institutionsplays in influencing economic per-formance In high-trust societiesindividuals need to spend fewer re-sources to protect themselves frombeing exploited in economic trans-actions But the importance of trustalso extends to the relationship be-tween citizens and their governmentin the sense that voluntary compli-ance with tax laws facilitates a largegovernment but may be eroded as thetax burden gets larger

In lsquoTrust in Public Financersquo(NBER Working Paper No 9187)NBER Research Associate JoelSlemrod uses data on trust and trust-worthiness taken from the 1990World Values Survey to investigatethe relationship across countries be-tween the size of government and theextent of tax cheating He finds thatthere is less tax cheating in countriesthat exhibit more trustworthinessamong citizens However holdingconstant the level of such trustwor-thiness tax cheating becomes moreacceptable to citizens as governmentgrows Although a trusting citizenryallows a government to grow the taxburden needed to sustain a biggergovernment erodes taxpayersrsquo will-ingness to comply with the tax laws

Slemrod further finds that thereis more economic prosperity andmore government involvement inmore trusting societies He also un-covers a positive association betweenthe size of the government and pros-perity at least until the level of gov-ernment spending reaches 31 to 38percent of GDP Beyond that theeffect of the governmentrsquos size isnegative

Source (Les Picker) NationalBureau of Economic Research 1050Massachusetts Avenue CambridgeMA 02191 USA 617-868-3900httpwwwnberorg

Now a 20-year follow-up study ofthe lsquoworst nuclear accident inAmerican historyrsquomdashin which no-one died and no-one was injuredmdashfinds that there has been no signifi-cant increase in deaths from canceramong residents near the site

Researchers looked at causes ofdeath from heart disease and cancersincluding those known to be sensi-tive to radiation effects such as bron-chial breast blood and central ner-vous system cancersbull The study of over 23000 people

living within a five-mile radiusof the Three Mile Island nuclearplant found lsquono consistent evi-dence that radioactivity releasedduring the nuclear accident hashad a significant impact on theoverall mortality of these resi-dentsrsquo

bull Researchers believe that their20-year study is important be-cause cancers that take years todevelop would have done so inthis time

bull Previous studies have suggestedthat even low-level doses of ra-diation have produced geneticdamage in the children of peopleexposedmdashbut scientists have cal-culated that people near ThreeMile Island at the time were onaverage exposed to considerablyless than the annual backgroundradiation experienced by a USresidentIn comparison Teller says that

the radiation released at the SovietChernobyl plant was lsquomillions oftimes greaterrsquo

Source Gaia Vince lsquoThree MileIsland Cancer Rates lsquoNormalrsquorsquo NewScientist News Services 1 Novem-ber 1 2002 Forthcoming Environ-mental Health Perspectives March2003 For text httpwwwn e w s c i e n t i s t c o m n e w s newsjspid=ns99992997(6)

MODERN MAN IS NO LESSFERTILE

Sperm counts in the average fertileAustralian male appear as healthy asever undermining claims of a long-term decline in male reproductivecapacity

In Australiarsquos first such collabora-tion with the World Health Organis-ation average sperm concentrationsin fertile men were measured at 107million per millilitre (Mml)mdashwellwithin the norms for healthy spermand equal to the count recorded in alandmark US study in the 1950sUniversity of Melbourne PhD studentTanya Stewart who presented earlyfindings at a Fertility Society of Aus-tralia conference at the Gold Coastsaid they flew in the face of earlierpessimistic predictions about male re-productive health

lsquoIn 1992 it was (estimated) thatsperm concentrations had declinedby about 50 per cent over the past 50years and was on a continual declineand wersquove found that it hasnrsquot at allrsquoshe said The Australian study formedpart of an international research re-sponse to concerns that male fertil-ity was declining worldwide

Theories arose that chemicalsknown as endocrine disrupters weredamaging human reproductive healthby lowering sperm counts

As part of the research more than2000 Victorian couples who were ex-pecting children were surveyed onhow long it took to achieve concep-tion

Source Siobhain Ryan 23 October2002 at httpwwwnewscomau

GOVERNMENT SIZE ANDTAXPAYER CHEATING

lsquoTax cheating becomes more accept-able to citizens as government growsrsquo

Economists have long recognizedthe critical role that citizensrsquo trust in

F U R T H E R A F I E L D

API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS

Driving Reform Vehicles

As part of its third term agenda theHoward Government has turned itsattention to work reform in the carmanufacturing industry Its view is thatpoor industrial relations processes andcultures are holding back the industryfrom achieving world-best competi-tive standards

The first stage of the Governmentrsquosprocess was investigative The Produc-tivity Commission undertook a studyand released a report in mid-2002Surprisingly the Federal Departmentof Employment and Workplace Rela-tions made a submission critical of theindustry for failing to create genuineenterprise-focused employment ar-rangements Normally governmentdepartments are mute on such issues

The Productivity Commission re-port states that workplace relationsalthough better than in the past arethe big area needing reform and thatexternal pressure must be created tochange managerial complacency Thegovernment has flagged that it may usethe proposed $28 billion five-year tax-payer subsidy to the industry as lever-age for reform Apparently the reformenvironment is beginning to look se-rious

Certainly thatrsquos the way the unionmovement view the situation and theycommissioned the Sydney University-based Australian Centre for IndustrialRelations Research and Training(ACIRRT) to produce a critique of theProductivity Commission and DEWRviews Over the last ten yearsACIRRT has become well known foroperating as the intellectual wing ofthe Australian labour movement giv-ing the movementrsquos arguments thestamp of lsquoindependent academicrsquocredibility

A lot is at stake The Australiancar manufacturing industry exports 30per cent of its production through fourmajor multi-national manufacturersand some 200 companies in the com-plex supply chain It is one of the lastdomains of entrenched union mem-bership in manufacturing

The traditional structure of theAustralian car industry is one built ondeep lsquoco-operationrsquo between unionsand management Itrsquos the old Ansettmodel of running a firm The idea isthat unions will deliver a compliantworkforce and management can con-centrate on the technical and market-ing aspects of product and service Theapproach works well in a protectedeconomy but becomes strained whencompetition takes hold

This is what is occurring with carmanufacturingmdashparticularly withcompanies in the supply chain Aus-tralian unions are unable to createworkplace change fast enough or ofthe scale needed to enable businessesto survive World production capac-ity exceeds demand by some 30 percent resulting in knife-edge competi-tion The lsquoBig 4rsquo address their prob-lems by demanding yearly price reduc-tions from suppliers The outbreak ofstrikes and business collapses are con-sequences of the competitive stresses

In this environment the responseof the Federal Government is to can-vas increased competitive pressureThe unions are panickingmdashas re-flected in the attack against the Pro-ductivity Commission by ACIRRT Inan emotive outburst ACIRRT ac-cused the Productivity Commissionand DEWR of being lsquoconceptuallyvague and empirically sloppyrsquo produc-ing results that lsquohellip have little basis infactrsquo and having a reliance on lsquohellipthedull compulsion of the marketrsquoACIRTT claims that lsquohellip it is impor-

Whatrsquos A Job

tant not to expect too much fromlabour related reformsrsquo

What is really in evidence are twostarkly different views of how aneconomy operates ACIRRT sees thecompetitive pressures and stresseswhich operate in contract supplychains as being the root of the prob-lem and wants to eliminate stress bycreating lsquocoordinated flexibilityrsquo builtaround lsquoa new social coalitionrsquo

ACIRRT sees contractual relation-ships through supply chains as inher-ently bad The Productivity Commis-sion sees supply chains as a normal andnecessary dynamic in a marketeconomy Rather than reducing com-petitive behaviour the ProductivityCommission recommended increasingit as a necessary role of government ina progressive economy

These two opposite perspectivesare at the centre of current economicpolicy divergence in Australian soci-ety The ACIRRT anti-supply chainmodel finds its legislative outcomes inthe likes of the Victorian Fair Employ-ment and Corporate ManslaughterBills the NSW Ethical Clothing Actand the Queensland anti-contractorlegislation These pieces of legislationare end-game legislative models ofanti-globalization activism that needACIRRT type academic authenticityto get through parliaments

In this context the FederalGovernmentrsquos desire to shake up firmsin the Australian car manufacturingindustry involves much more than justfinancially tweaking a few sleepy carmanufacturers Instead it cuts to thecore of Australian political and cul-tural divides

Ken Phillips is a workplace reform practitioner whopromotes the principles of lsquomarkets in the firmrsquo

API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Book ReviewA Disappointing

MonsterDavid Robertson reviews

Rigged Rules andDouble StandardsMaking Trade Fair

(Oxfam International 2002)

It is disturbing and disappointingwhen a well-intentioned and re-spected organization such as Oxfampublishes a confused and ill-informedstudy such as this 250-page monsterThe report argues that expandinginternational trade has assisted somedeveloping economies to grow butthat more should be done to allevi-ate poverty by adapting WTO rulesto give new preferences to all devel-oping countries This implies thateconomic development would occurif only trade rules were suitably tai-lored whereas benefits from tradedepend most of all on a countryrsquos owneconomic policies and institutions

When referring to the damagecaused by EU US and Japanese ag-ricultural subsidies and protection oflabour-intensive manufacturing (es-pecially textiles and clothing) im-proved access would undoubtedlyoffer trade opportunities to manydeveloping countries Howeverwhen proposing more lsquospecial anddifferential treatmentrsquo for develop-ing countriesrsquo exports and hence fortheir domestic development theOxfam authors neglect the low tar-iffs already levied on most otherOECD imports Moreover economicresearch raises serious questionsabout the benefit of trade preferencesto developing countries and whetherthe vested interests which are thuscreated impede further multilateralliberalization

The catch-phrase lsquofair tradersquo usedthroughout the report can mean al-most anything and nowhere doesOxfam define what it means lsquoFair-nessrsquo is in the eye of the beholderMoreover the term lsquofair tradersquo hasbeen captured by uncompetitive in-dustries in developed countries tojustify anti-dumping and other con-tingency protection

Not unexpectedly the authors re-discover the spectre of exploitationby multinational enterprises whichthey want to be tamed by requiringOECD governments to lsquoenforcersquo in-ternationally agreed guidelines onlabour standards foreign investment

flows income remittances etc Noneof these are specifically covered inWTO articlesmdashand labour standardswere specifically excluded from theWTO agenda at the Singapore Min-isterial meeting The report also res-urrects the idea of international fi-nancial supports to stabilize commod-ity prices ignoring their bad recordin the 1970s the moral hazard theyintroduce and the absence of WTOarticles covering such schemes

In this context lsquofair tradersquo is re-ally about income transfers to devel-oping countries by indirect and in-

efficient processes because the au-thors reject conventional analysis ofbenefits from trade (chapter 5) Thecase for free trade does not claim thatthe benefits will be distributed inways consistent with perceptions ofsocial equity or poverty alleviationor according to any lsquomoralrsquo interpre-tation Welfare gains do occur fromtrade liberalization however andglobal economic interdependencehas reduced poverty and inequalityOn this topic the Oxfam report isdeliberately evasive and even con-tradictory Bleating about lsquounfairrsquodistribution does not require thatgains from liberal trade should besacrificed only redistributed

The verdict that the WTO is lsquoin-defensiblersquo on moral and sustain-ability grounds (pages 4ndash5) raises se-rious doubts about the internal con-sistency of the report Elsewhere(chapter 9) amendments to WTOrules are proposed that depend onthe institution becoming strongerHow do the writers of this reportbelieve that the world economymdashand poor marginalized developingcountries in particularmdashwould havefared without GATTWTO liberal-ization since 1948 This counter-fac-tual position is not mentioned in thereport As noted above some of thechanges to the WTO proposed byOxfam are unexceptionable to any-one concerned about economic de-velopment This does not howevermean that the changes will be easyto achieve The institutional struc-ture of the WTO with negotiatedliberalization and consensus deci-sions on rule changes is easily ma-nipulated to preserve the status quoAbove all amending WTO rulesdepends on changing political atti-tudes in member governments

Other proposals in the report alsoshow little understanding of theWTO and its processes Non-OECD

The verdict that theWTO is lsquoindefensiblersquo

on moral andsustainability groundsraises serious doubtsabout the internal

consistency ofthe report

40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Oxfam like mostNGOs avoids the

difficult subjects suchas political and

institutional reform indeveloping and

developed economies

countries have a very substantialmajority among the WTO member-ship (over 100 out of 142 members)One country one vote in an orga-nization where decisions are made byconsensus is a substantial blockingforce Oxfam supports extension ofthe lsquodifferential and more favourabletreatmentrsquo granted in GATT Part IVin 1965 and incorporated into theGeneral Agreement by the lsquoenablingclausersquo in the Final Act of the TokyoRound in 1979 Yet most analyses ofthese preferences cast doubt on theirvalue to developing countries someeven argue that this lsquoconcessionrsquo byOECD countries was used as an ex-cuse for establishing and progres-sively tightening the multifibre ar-rangement (MFA) and the spread ofother non-tariff barriers in the 1970s

At several points the report pur-posely misrepresents the effects ofnew agreements achieved in theUruguay Round Oxfam joins thevocal NGOs in opposing liberaliza-tion of servicesrsquo trade in developingcountries Yet to leave service sec-tors outside WTO liberalizationwould exclude 80 per cent of employ-ment in OECD countries from in-ternational competition and around50 per cent in developing countriesRecently earnings from servicesrsquo ex-ports by some developing countrieshave provided new growth sectors(for example call centres and lsquoneweconomyrsquo services in India) This isextending economic developmentnot exploiting developing countries

The TRIPS agreement has beenseriously criticized by developingcountriesrsquo governments and by aca-demics The flaws identified on hu-manitarian grounds show this agree-ment deserves to be reviewed in theDoha Round especially with respectto access to pharmaceutical drugs Atthe same time other issues such aslabelling GM foods imposing geo-graphical indications and introduc-ing environmental standards ontraded goods pose threats to the mul-tilateral trading system overall aswell as to developing countriesrsquo tradeand growth prospects

By joining the lsquocampaign ofblamersquo against the WTO Oxfam hasfailed to recognize the vital need forinstitutional and political change indeveloping countries if they are tobenefit from international economicintegration

Much of the poverty in sub-Sa-haran Africa and other marginalizedareas results from civil unrest au-thoritarian regimes and exclusion ofmuch of the population from themarket sector because of inadequateinstitutions and limited political sys-tems Most of those living in pov-erty in any part of the world fall out-side the direct reach of internationaltrade Any alleviation of their pov-erty depends on channelling some

part of the economic gains from lib-eral trade to them using domesticincome transfers and redistributionalmechanisms which require effectivedomestic economic institutions

It is inadequacies in political andinstitutional instruments that blockchanges in agricultural policies andother remaining areas of protectionin OECD markets too Witness therecent open letter to major Europeannewspapers by seven EU Ministersof Agriculture that trumpeted theblessings of the CAP Subsequentlythe French authorities have cam-paigned to preserve the present sys-tem until 2013

Analytical unevenness and fac-tual errors in the text also weakenits appeal

This kind of emotionally commit-ted report does little to resolve prob-lems while possibly misleading de-veloping countriesrsquo governmentsinto believing that their plight canbe eased by international actionsalone By advocating global manage-ment strategies Oxfam like mostNGOs avoids the difficult subjectssuch as political and institutionalreform in developing and developedeconomies In the summary (page 5)Oxfam asserts that lsquoWTO rules re-flect the power of vested interestsrsquobut arguing for more trade prefer-ences will create even more vestedinterests against change Shiftingdecision-making to make it easier forthe LDC majority to vote throughchanges will achieve nothing ifOECD governments are not party tothe decisions Reform of lsquorigged rulesand double standardsrsquo requires morethan arbitrary assignment of blame

This is a disappointing report Itis far too long because the editorshave failed both to pursue a consis-tent line of argument and to edit outrepetitions and irrelevancies It ac-knowledges economic benefits fromtrade liberalization but then tries todispose of conventional trade theoryIt recognizes the importance of do-mestic policies for trade policy butblames WTO rules for shortcomingsIt treats lsquodeveloping countriesrsquo as auniform group although the dispari-ties and divergences create as manyconflicts as common interests Theinconsistencies exaggerations andbiases mean that this report does notstrengthen the case for further pref-erences which weaken the prin-ciples that underpin the multilateraltrading system non-discriminationreciprocity and transparency

The future of the WTO will bedecided in the Doha Round and itssuccess will depend on a re-assertionof these principles

David Robertson is a Professorial Fellow at the MtEliza Business School

API

Contents

2 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Caveat emptor should be the rule inpolitics as it is in other spheres of lifeYet people seem to treat politics as ifit had no risks or consequences

Witness the recent Victorian Stateelection where across the State 92per cent of voters cast their primaryvote for the Greens Richmond whichis filling with aspirational youngprofessional types moving into trendyapartments recorded a vote of 27 percent for the Green candidate

Of course the concerns peoplehave about environmental degradationare both understandable and justifiedMany of our most difficult problemsemanate from our misuse of thenatural environment and as webecome wealthier we value theenvironment and its attributes highlyThe problem lies not with concernsabout the environment but with thedownright silly policies that theGreens put forward to deal with it

For example according to theirWebsite (wwwgreenorgau) theleading economic policy of the Greensin the last election was lsquotheabandonment of economic growth (asconventionally measured)rsquo Given thatthe apartment boom on which thelifestyle of the young things inRichmond depend is the single largestcontributor to our recent high level ofeconomic growth it is extremelystrange that they would vote in drovesfor a party that is serious about stiflingtheir lifestyle

Of course most people who votedfor the Greens did not read the policydocuments Moreover they votedGreen with the knowledge that theGreens would not win governmentThey probably assumed too thatsuccessful Greens would as BobBrown recently admitted be morelsquorealisticrsquo than promised

The confidence in the impotenceof the Greens is however misplacedThe Greens mean what they say Their

From the EditorMIKE NAHAN

policies are being implemented if notby them then by erstwhile moresensible governments seeking thegreen vote And the damage they aredoing is large and highly visible

Young people are fleeingTasmaniamdashthe home base of theGreensmdashfor a reason After 15 yearsof Green NIMBYism the competitivebase of the State is in tatters Notsatisfied the Greens are now workingto stop Basslinkmdashthe $200 millioninvestment that will connect Tassie tothe national electricity grid WhyBecause they do not want lsquodirtyelectronsrsquo polluting their lsquocleanelectronsrsquo Their solution is to exportthe electricity with batteriesmdashI kidyou not (see page 34) They are alsocampaigning to shut down Gunnsmdashthetimber and plantation firmmdashwhich isthe Statersquos largest private employer

The forest fires currently encirclingSydney are also in part the handiworkof the Greens The Greens haveinduced successive governments tolimit controlled burning curtail loggingand prevent the management ofprivate forests (see Jim Hoggett pages9ndash11) This has turned woodlands intowoodpiles ready to be ignited byarsonists lightning strikes and otherunavoidable causes

The kangaroo plague that iscurrently destroying vast tracts of farmland is also the product of our green

crusaders As outlined by Ian Mott(pages 12ndash14) thanks to the Greensthe States make ownership claims tokangaroo populations but exerciselittle responsibility over them This hasled to unchecked growth massstarvation and the destruction of theenvironment and the livelihood offarmers

The problem does not emanatefrom our formal political institutionsmdashparliamentary democracy a bicamerallegislature federalism Indeed theseare potentially vital counterweights tothe green thoughtlessness that issweeping society

It is within the informal politicalprocesses of civil society that theproblem is most severe People seemtoo readily to accept the simplestpronouncements of activists claimingto represent consumers the poor orthe environment They do not questiontheir bona fides values or actions Theyseem willing to allow these self-appointed guardians of virtue a greaterrole in collective action than theymerit

Faced with competition andpressure from unelected activists ourelected political agents and their publicservants are increasingly embracingthem and their approach Witness therecent proposal to appoint LouiseSylvan of the Australia ConsumersAssociation to the ACCC (see GaryJohns pages 15ndash16) and theGovernmentrsquos funding of anti-development NGOs to spread theirnarrow activist views and valuesabroad on our behalf (see DonDrsquoCruz pages 26ndash29)

The solution lies with holdingpolitical activism in so-called civilsociety to the same standards oftransparency scrutiny and robustdebate that takes place within ourformal institutions

API

3DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













Transnational


in widely dispersed

networked nodes

showed how it is

possible to swarm

together swiftly on



4 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















from terror

5DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













Netwars (RAND 2001)





or pinned down

API

6 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





I


PETER URBAN












7DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR









I

JOHN HYDE










API

8 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













privileges will say

that economic


for every political

reversal too

but they would say


API



9DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






F


JIM HOGGETT











10 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR



























11DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







F


IAN MOTT













Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at


on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim


13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

3DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













Transnational


in widely dispersed

networked nodes

showed how it is

possible to swarm

together swiftly on



4 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















from terror

5DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













Netwars (RAND 2001)





or pinned down

API

6 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





I


PETER URBAN












7DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR









I

JOHN HYDE










API

8 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













privileges will say

that economic


for every political

reversal too

but they would say


API



9DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






F


JIM HOGGETT











10 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR



























11DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







F


IAN MOTT













Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at


on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim


13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

4 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















from terror

5DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













Netwars (RAND 2001)





or pinned down

API

6 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





I


PETER URBAN












7DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR









I

JOHN HYDE










API

8 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













privileges will say

that economic


for every political

reversal too

but they would say


API



9DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






F


JIM HOGGETT











10 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR



























11DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







F


IAN MOTT













Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at


on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim


13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

5DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













Netwars (RAND 2001)





or pinned down

API

6 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





I


PETER URBAN












7DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR









I

JOHN HYDE










API

8 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













privileges will say

that economic


for every political

reversal too

but they would say


API



9DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






F


JIM HOGGETT











10 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR



























11DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







F


IAN MOTT













Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at


on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim


13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

6 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





I


PETER URBAN












7DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR









I

JOHN HYDE










API

8 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













privileges will say

that economic


for every political

reversal too

but they would say


API



9DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






F


JIM HOGGETT











10 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR



























11DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







F


IAN MOTT













Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at


on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim


13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

7DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR









I

JOHN HYDE










API

8 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













privileges will say

that economic


for every political

reversal too

but they would say


API



9DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






F


JIM HOGGETT











10 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR



























11DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







F


IAN MOTT













Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at


on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim


13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

8 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR













privileges will say

that economic


for every political

reversal too

but they would say


API



9DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






F


JIM HOGGETT











10 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR



























11DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







F


IAN MOTT













Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at


on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim


13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

9DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






F


JIM HOGGETT











10 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR



























11DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







F


IAN MOTT













Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at


on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim


13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

10 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR



























11DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







F


IAN MOTT













Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at


on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim


13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

11DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







F


IAN MOTT













Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at


on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim


13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

12 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







F


IAN MOTT













Instead of doling

out begrudging

assistance laced

with condescension

the community at


on the wrong end

of a very expensive

negligence claim


13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

13DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




















The farming

community is also


tree clearing but

few non-farmers

understand that


consequence of the

rsquoroo imbalance

14 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR
















of the community is




exercise of power








Reed Books 1994


API

15DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR















16 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API















17DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





W

API












a growing market

for universities to

train ideologues

and activists

18 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEVIN DONNELLY

API
















Education Agenda









19DECEMBER 2002












SPECIAL REPORT


20 DECEMBER 2002














UnionotherYear


Average score -90

21DECEMBER 2002
















UnionotherYear





































Average score -120

22 DECEMBER 2002





















23DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR








R


CHRIS CORRIGAN








Con

tain

ers

per

net c

rane

hou

r

1996 1998 2002 Patrick

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

15 14

24 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















Economics was

able to claim that


measures in this

study Australia is

at close to or

superior to world

best practice

25DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















API

26 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





T


DON DrsquoCRUZ










lsquo


27DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR














At the very least

therefore

governments should

not contract-out


to NGOs that hold

different values

and objectives to

their own

28 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR





















do no harm

29DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

ALAN MORAN

























14 Ibid page 18

15 Ibid page 19






21 Ibid









30 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR






















31DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

I












API








32 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone

wwwmovabletypeorg

wwwblogspotcom






Go to







wwwdrudgereportcom





E V I E WR

33DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

Reading FileDone




wwwlilekscombleats




wwwinstapunditcom




wwwsamizdatanet






wwwlibertarianorgau





wwwwhackingdaycom



E V I E WR

API

34 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

API























35DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR







API












36 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR


























37DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR























API

38 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

KEN PHILLIPS










Whatrsquos A Job







API

39DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR

















40 DECEMBER 2002

E V I E WR




developed economies













API

Contents

Inside This Issue...E-mail: [email protected] Webs ite: Cover photograph by David Hughes [(03) 9486...

Documents

Transcript of Inside This Issue...E-mail: [email protected] Webs ite: Cover photograph by David Hughes [(03) 9486...