32. Red Tape Bonfires

Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about “repeal day” – it’s tomorrow and it’s the day touted by the Federal government where over 10,000 regulations and legislative provisions will be repealed in a veritable bonfire of red tape reduction.

It is very exciting … except that you cut red tape, you don’t burn it. As any park ranger will tell you (if you can find such an increasingly rare species), when you burn things – even with good intentions – it can get out of control.

The government has copped lots of criticism over the proposal to remove restrictions on financial advisers' secret commissions and is now trying to hose down that particular part of the bonfire.

But I want to grumble about another bit of the pyromania: the abolition of the national charity regulator, the ACNC (Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission). This is not a hangover of some ancient legislation – it is a body put in place 18 months ago after a raft of government reports recommending its establishment.

There is widespread support for the ACNC in the community sector, although there are a few different voices from some parts of the Catholic Church who object to a slight increase in transparency for their tax free entities. But we only have to watch the nightly news to see how well trust and self-regulation has worked for the Church.

Let’s be clear though. Abolishing the ACNC is not about red tape reduction – it is simply a transfer of regulation from the ACNC back to the Tax Office or to ASIC. And when they had responsibility previously, they failed to even maintain an up-to-date list of who was entitled to get tax concessions and where those organisations could be found.

More importantly, the Tax Office has been used by past governments to attack and pressure charities who were doing effective policy advocacy.

For that reason, when the ACNC was established, its governing legislation ensured the independence of charities and our right to advocate for charitable causes. With its abolition, we lose the protections of an independent regulator.

This government has already been attacking advocacy: defunding the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia and the Environmental Defenders’ Offices, and cutting funding to Aboriginal community legal centres on the basis that advocacy and not front-line services should be cut.

So beware.

There are historical precedents for using bonfires to silence dissent: books, witches, villages – but it is not a good record.

I am Greg and I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 25 March 2014

31. The SA Election

Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about the state election.

I am not going to grumble about the fact that we don’t know the result yet – it is frustrating, but it is a small inconvenience and won’t impact on the future of our state.

Nor am I going to grumble about the misreporting of the campaign with weeks or months of media commentary about a safe Liberal win. It does make me wonder what the analysis of the journalists and pundits is really worth, but I suspect they were not alone in this instance.

And I am not going to grumble about standing at a polling booth for ten hours in a desperate attempt to get maybe one or two more votes for the candidate I was supporting. Possibly pointless, but if we ban how-to-vote handing out, then we might simply reinforce the power of the major players who dominate the media coverage. As much as I hate them, the same might be true of the core-flute street posters.

I could grumble about the numbers of people I saw on Saturday who complained about having to vote, didn’t know who was running and were indifferent to the result. Yes, their votes carry the same weight as anyone else’s, but I won’t grumble about that because voluntary voting would just magnify the power of marginal groups at the expense of a real representation of community opinion. And perhaps complete indifference is as legitimate a democratic position as any other.

Finally, I am not even going to grumble about the fact that the party that got the majority of votes has not necessarily been elected. The only real way to stop that would be not have local electorates, but that would make government very distant and unresponsive. And if government was truly proportional to the vote, there would always be minority government.

That said, I would not necessarily grumble about minority governments either, because, in recent times, at both state and federal levels, minority governments have proven stable and had good legislative records.

So all in all, I don’t have much to grumble about in this election. Ok, the upper house electoral system still needs reform, it would be nice if the media and the major parties didn’t treat it like a presidential contest, if the campaign events were less scripted and if more issues and voices were heard, but given all these systemic constraints, the election was ok.

I am Greg, and I am obviously getting soft!

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 18 March 2014

30. Things British

I am Greg and I want to grumble about things British.

On Monday next week, after searching the diversity of world music, WOMAD will present us with (groan) British folk music! - albeit in the iconic form of Billy Bragg.

Despite sometimes dubious gender politics and a more recent country twang in his music, Bragg has been knighted by the left, partly because of his articulate opposition to the brutality of Thatcherism in the late ‘70s, but also for giving us some decent words to the Internationale.

But there is bigger British news. A royal visit!  William, Kate and what’s-his-name coming here – to see us! I have already begun practicing bowing and tugging my forelock.

And better still, their most esteemed personages will visit Elizabeth – a town whose name pays homage to one ruling institution and its economic base to another.

However Elizabeth (the town not the corgi-owner) is doing it tough at the moment, so the distraction will be welcome as the young royals drop by to cheer the local spirit before disappearing to continue their world tour.

But beyond music and sycophantic flag waving, and sandwiched between the boom of V8 engines and the froth of various festivals, there is a celebration of a much greater British institution – a democratic election.

The South Australian state election. Does anyone actually know what policies are at play beyond sound bites about alleged economic miracles or basket-cases? Who will really help those struggling in Elizabeth or elsewhere?

The lack of policy detail and analysis is disappointing, and as usual we get almost no reporting of the Upper House so it’s a surprise when some marginal player we have never heard of flukes a seat.

To paraphrase Billy Bragg: the best of all this bad bunch is shouting to be heard, above the sound of personalities tweeting.

I am Greg and I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 4 March 2014