The Guardian 22 March, 2006
Dingo bytes
The latest in the push for a national ID card appeared in the Daily Telegraph in Sydney. An article under the headline "500,000 Medicare cards are missing" says that "a staggering" 500,000 Medicare cards have been lost or stolen in the past 12 months. Hence, federal Human Services Minister Joe Hockey called for a photo of the holder to be included on the card because "criminals are using the lost or stolen cards to set up fake identities, open bank accounts and claim Medicare benefits". Well, for a start, there are not 500,000 criminals running around with other people’s Medicare cards. For another thing, just try and open a bank account without a photo ID: you won’t be able to. Furthermore, it is the Howard Government’s objective to kill off Medicare. If it succeeds, will it simply let the photo Medicare card go out of existence? Not on your life. They’ll keep it in another guise because it’s not fraud and other criminal practices they are concerned about at all: they want to be able to keep tabs on everyone using, every means. It’s called violating your civil liberties.
When the ABC’s science commentator Robin Williams recently travelled overseas to do a job for the national broadcaster, his budget was so meagre from his cash-strapped employer that he was forced to stay in a cheap, fleabag hotel room. On the other hand, those in cushy jobs in diplomatic missions in other countries — mostly jobs-for-the-boys government appointments — are being swamped with taxpayers’ money. Australian diplomats in Bangkok have six holiday homes, in Jakarta they have eight. In all, Australian missions around the world have 37 holiday homes, 52 servants, 30 tennis courts and a $4 million expense account. The numbers were revealed by the Department of Foreign Affairs in response to questions in Parliament. One revealing figure was the wages paid to the servants. The ambassador to Indonesia employs 11 domestic staff whose wages total $39,788 whereas the ambassador to the US has six domestic staff with a wages bill of $276,000.
Privatisation is being implemented in all publicly owned entities, including the military. Australian defence contractor ADI is already 50 percent owned by Transfield and now French military and aerospace giant Thales — 30 percent owned by the French Government — has put in a bid to buy 100 percent of the contractor. And no wonder, the profits are immense. For example, the Howard Government is about to spend $10 billion on new naval warships over the next ten years through ADI.
CAPITALIST HOG OF THE WEEK: is the NSW Minister for the Environment, Ian McDonald, who plans to open state forests and other public lands to recreational hunters under the title of the NSW Game Council. At present, recreational hunters can only shoot on privately owned land. Samantha Lee of the National Coalition for Gun Control summed up the move: "Let’s call the NSW Game Council what it really is; a state-owned hunting club and a front for the Shooters’ Party."