Monday 18 November 2013

16. Australian Wars

Hi. I am Greg and I want to mourn more than grumble today. Last week we celebrated Armistice Day, the end of the war to end wars. And we unveiled a memorial to Aboriginal soldiers who have fought for our country. Lest we forget.

But did we forget or fail to memorialise the Aboriginal soldiers who first fought for their country – against the European invasion? And what about the Australian militia that went to New Zealand to quell the Maori uprising in the 1860s, or the ten South Australian contingents who fought the Boers in South Africa and the Boxers in China at the turn of the last century.

After the war to end all wars, there were Australians in the British forces that fought on behalf of the aristocracy in the Russian Civil War, and a few brave volunteers who were the first to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War before the second world war swapped one dictator for another in Poland and ended in nuclear holocaust in the Pacific.

And after that Australians saw service in the Korean War and the Malayan emergency in the 1950s, and the Indonesian confrontation beginning in 1963. And then came the disaster in Vietnam and a generation’s respite before we went to defend a feudal regime in Kuwait against a dictator in Iraq – I’m sure it had nothing to do with the oil. Then there was the second Gulf War searching for non-existent weapons of mass destruction, and the invasion of Afghanistan which ended up being our longest official war.

And to finish this list, we must remember the Australian peace keepers in Africa, the Middle East, Timor Leste, the Solomon Islands and elsewhere.

Overall, a pretty mixed list – from heroic and necessary fights in defence of highest principles to cruel adventures for imperial self-interest.

I have no experience or even real comprehension of what those who fought these wars endured and make no judgement on them. But when it takes my whole 2 minutes to list the wars of our nation’s short history, I wonder at what point should our remembrance question the militarism of our heritage?

It’s not just about history, it’s also about culture and current priorities. Not just our foreign policy, but more locally, do we really want the second largest research organisation in the country to be dedicated to warfare, or our manufacturing base to be built on warships in the Port River? And is it ok to take over my local school with Maritime Courses to provide the kids of western suburbs a job in those industries? Perhaps it was forever thus for workers, but can we imagine a less militaristic future?

I hope so, but until then I am Greg, I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-16/

First Broadcast: 19 November 2013

Tuesday 12 November 2013

15. Climate Changes and Taxes

Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about climate change and taxes. Ok, this is a recurring grumble, but it is particularly topical this week as Tony Abbott’s legislation to scrap the carbon tax is introduced in the Federal Parliament. This was a flagship policy of the election campaign and we were promised that it would reduce electricity prices and ease cost of living pressures – his Bill to reduce our bills.

Except that now key business leaders are saying that we won’t see any big price reductions. Where were these voices during the election campaign I wonder? And where was the reporting of the current wave of economists who think that putting a pricing carbon is more effective and efficient than the proposed direct action approach to reducing carbon pollution. And that is without even questioning the manifestly inadequate pollution reduction targets of both schemes.

But the hip pocket question remains: will our power bills come down if we are without a carbon strategy – sorry, I mean a carbon tax? I don’t know, but I do know that carbon prices were always only a small proportion of the massive recent hikes in energy prices. Adelaide’s electricity prices went up 18.2% in the quarter immediately following the introduction of the carbon price, but only about a quarter of this increase was down to the carbon tax and the general inflation rate increased by only 1.5%. For most households, and particularly for the poorest households, this increase was more than covered for by the government’s compensation package.

The good news is that even if the carbon tax is scrapped, we will keep the compensation package. It is currently worth about $7 a week for pensioners, less for some other income support recipients. It’s not much, but it seems only reasonable to keep it after last week’s announcement that the Federal government would give the richest households a huge bonus by dropping the proposed tax on superannuation earnings over $100,000 a year (ie. for those whose super-pot is a couple of million dollars). And they announced that at the same time as announcing the dumping of the rebate support for low income earners’ contribution to super.

Who knows, after that bit of robbing from the poor to give to the rich, maybe the government figured it owed the poor one.

Shame about the planet though!

I am Greg, I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-15/

First Broadcast: 12 November 2013

Monday 4 November 2013

14. AGMs

Hi, I am Greg and I want to grumble about AGMs. Yes, it is that time of year when community organisations, sports clubs and local groups have their Annual General Meetings – the highpoint of grass-roots democracy where volunteers and members have a say in community organisations big and small. A time where organisation leaders can reach out, talk to and inspire their members, and where members can ask questions, stand for election and elect a management committee of their choice. Yeah, as if.

What often happens is that the AGM is almost a non-event, where formal business is rushed-through before getting on with the “more important” business of organising the next fundraiser, working bee or event. Alternatively, the AGM is a grand ceremony where self-important office holders present long, selective and uncritical propaganda reports on the year’s activities and finances. Unless members have other sources of information, there is no chance for real discussion and all sorts of problems are hidden.

Often when you get to an AGM, there are not enough volunteers to go on to the Management Committee or Board, so there is no election. Current committee members or their friends are dragooned into putting up their hand, and the same faces continue – sometimes with inspiration and passion, sometimes just keeping a seat warm. But in that dynamic there is no accountability, and with that comes a culture of power and entitlement and no culture of democracy and participation.

The peak body Volunteering SA&NT can help with skills for volunteers and volunteer engagement to enable better member participation, and there are a host of possibilities to make AGMs more interesting, but can I dare hold out a vision of governance beyond the AGM? Of participatory rather than representative structures? Do we really need hierarchic and largely self-appointed committees claiming to represent the organisation or community? Can we even dream of genuinely open structures without “office-holders”, one where decisions are made by those with knowledge, experience and interest rather than those who happened to be elected by a largely non-representative group of members at some antiquated ceremony? It would take some work, some radical changes to the way we do things, but it might also better mobilise and truly “represent” the community.

But in the meantime, we have the AGM. All those in favour?

I am Greg, and I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-14/

First Broadcast: 5 November 2013