GST legislation leads the sellout trifecta

by Peter Mac

With the help of the Australian Democrats and independent Senators 
Harradine and Colston, the Howard Government this week managed to gain 
approval for a "trifecta" of malicious legislation by the Australian 
Senate, just prior to the July replacement of half the Senators as a result 
of the 1998 Federal elections.

The States will now be responsible for matters affecting the environment, 
despite overwhelming historical evidence that the Federal Government needs 
to retain ultimate control over legislation on major environmental issues.

A further chunk of Telstra will now be sold to the private sector.

Country subscribers are becoming increasingly alarmed that a privatised 
Telecommunications organisation will rack up fees for services to regional 
subscribers and eliminate services to the most remote areas altogether.

The costs of the 10 per cent Goods and Services Tax will be borne by 
ordinary consumers and taxpayers.

The extreme difficulty of sorting out the new tax arrangements, 
particularly the differentiation between taxed and non-taxed items, will be 
reflected in considerable extra cost, which will be passed on to the 
consumer.

The situation is further complicated by the need to update computer 
systems, including those concerned with accounting, by the end of the year 
in order to avoid falling foul of the dreaded Y2K computer bug.

Convenience stores and restaurants, and providers of other non-essential 
services, will be especially hard hit, as consumers seek to reduce basic 
household costs following the introduction of the tax. Unemployment will 
rise.

The Australian Democrats are likely to suffer massive electoral damage at 
the next Federal elections.

PAYE taxpayers, who make up the bulk of the electorate, will have 
experienced the GST for anything up to 18 months, and will have had ample 
opportunity to discover the inadequacy of the meagre compensation such as 
offered by way of tax cuts.

They will also have discovered the impact of the GST on services, not just 
the things they buy at the supermarket. Bus fares, hair cuts, telephone 
calls, postage, insurance premiums, and a host of other services will cost 
more.

The GST is unfair, a tax on the essentials in life, and here to stay. Any 
"compensation" will be eroded over time.

Those hit will most certainly wreak revenge on those responsible — the 
Coalition and Democrats.

The Australian Greens have proved to be consistent and tenacious opponents 
of the legislation and deserve support.

The ALP also took a good position on the legislation but parliamentary 
leader Kim Beazley has indicated that Labor would not reverse the GST 
legislation once it was in place.

The tragedy is that the GST, Telstra and environmental legislation could 
have been defeated if the struggle had not been largely to the 
parliamentary arena.

If the rallies and other actions had been larger, if the working class had 
asserted its power and put its energy into fighting the legislation, then 
the Bills could have been defeated.

It is time now to put the pressure on the ALP in every forum possible so 
that by the next elections it is committed to reversing the sellout 
trifecta, and to get on with building the left and progressive alternative.