Insurgent Ink

The Helen Clark Labor Government two years ago opened the doors of Kiwi Bank.

It is a government-run bank largely using post offices. This has reversed the bank privatisation spree of the 80s that saw Victoria lose both its State Bank and the Commonwealth Bank which is now just one more private banking buccaneer.

Across the Tasman the politicians have shaken off the lethargy that characterises our federal and state governments by swinging in a new bank to support farmers and others in need.

In its 2002–03 annual report Kiwi Bank reported that it had during the year opened 70 new branches and customers had increased from 115,000 to 147,000. Home mortgages jumped from $42 million to $ 500 million, and it has maintained its policy of offering the lowest bank fees.

In Australia the Citizens Electoral Council seems to be the only party pressing for a return to government banking.

Much of the Australian press publish nothing about the Kiwi Bank thus limiting debate about its potential for Australia.

Larry Noye
Altona, Victoria

What Do We mean By “The Left”?

Your "Call" in the last issue centering on perceived shortcomings and limitations of the "Left" and extending criticism of our journal for not sufficiently "charting a way forward for the Left" was unfortunate for since when are these categories the real purpose of our journal?

On the contrary, I’ve always understood our role to be informing, educating and challenging as widely as possible among our people.

And anyhow what is "Left"supposed to mean these and who are those people designated "Left" these Our contributors? Our subscribers? Or who?

Let’s stay real! Surely we are part of the broad masses of our 20 million people, few of whom consider themselves "Left" anyway.

Consider, for example, the half million who hit the streets against our involvement in the rotten war against Iraq, and the thousands of letter-writers in newspapers and journals. Left?

And in the Illawarra area south of Sydney where I live, there’s repeated "grass roots" actions of citizens courageously battling for their rights, but one does not see "Left" inscribed on their banners.

So how correct, or useful, is it to continue stressing that our journal is essentially a "Left" vehicle, serving something amorphous similarly named, and is deficient in not having "found a way forward" for this amorphous something?

Surely it’s time—indeed overdue—to go beyond these narrow and limiting notions, designations and labels, and continue all our efforts to producing the best journal possible, and gaining new readers and contributors from among our people everywhere.

Ken O’Hara
Gerringong NSW

The Damage Caused by Unemployment

There are many things that contribute to the damage caused by unemployment. One problem is that politicians are unwilling to admit that they haven't got a quick fix for this shortage of work. As a consequence, the only fixes they are willing to consider seriously involve creating more work and using welfare to alleviate some of the economic pain. That is, when the more scurrilous politicians are not trying to blame the unemployed for unemployment and doing all they can to increase the damage to the unemployed.

The second problem is that employers that create unemployment by working individuals long hours are not the ones paying the unemployment welfare bill. Peter Brokensha's recent figures (Australian Options, Autumn 2004) suggest that over 700,000 extra 35 hr/week jobs would be created if nobody averaged more than 45 hrs/week. Perhaps we should go "user pays" and let employers who claim that they save money by working people long hours pay the cost of the unemployment welfare bill? Perhaps too, the union movement might ask itself whether the working class as a whole might not be better of if penalty rates for overtime were traded off for increases in base pay rates. Worker dependence on those hours at double time is part of the reason work-sharing is resisted.

The third problem is we assume unemployment is automatically damaging and ignore the possibility that there are ways of reducing the damage without reducing unemployment. There are certainly individuals who desperately need work for economic and other reasons. However, there are also those who are not damaged by unemployment and use it as an opportunity to further their education, start a new business or simply seek the perfect wave. I am sure that there are many employed people who would see 12 months on the dole as a welcome opportunity, particularly if they knew they could get work at the end of it. Most of us have worthwhile things we really want to do but never get around to because we never have the time. The shortage of work should have been treated as an opportunity to increase the skills of the workforce, create new business and allow individuals to spend time on more satisfactory things than working long hours.

Perhaps we should start saying that the real problem is that there are people unemployed who are damaged by unemployment, not unemployment as such. Yes, we need to think about creating jobs and providing welfare. Yes, we need to think about sharing the work that is available. But we also need to think about other ways of reducing the damage and actually using the opportunities unemployment offers individuals.

John Davidson
Chapel Hill , Queensland

The Way Forward

To reduce your objective of a better world to its fundamentals it will be necessary to achieve a drastic change in the ethics that flow from millions of years of human behaviour which encompass survival and reproduction, that is the passing on of our genes to the next generation. The two are entwined.

Society at every level has been demonstrating a noticeable increase in "Self: first, second and third" ad infinitum (with notable exceptions) for most of the 20th century with a clearly discernable acceleration in the last eight years, driven in Australia by the Howard Government's appeal to people's baser instincts. As you say, pretty much a world situation; one which you have recognised by your opposition to the ideologies of the Right.

Only by the example set by leadership will these characteristics gradually change, so the first steps must be to find and elect politicians of integrity and vision and encourage business and corporate leaders to abandon their strongly driven profit motive of acting for the primary benefit of their shareholders and obscene rewards for executives.

How to do it? With incredible difficulty! For a start, infiltrate political parties and spread the message; support broad- thinking Independents (not the single issue merchants); pressure institutions like the ABC and SBS and Aboriginal bodies to establish groups to promote the Republic and total reform of the Constitution; publicise New Zealand's stand against the US alliance; press for changes in school curricula; emphasise the benefits of appropriate Government regulation as opposed to "self regulation" and rampant outsourcing; lead support for the separation of state and church affairs and opposition to lobbying by religious organisations.

George D'Aran
Nelson Bay, NSW