Editorial:
Sound and fury signifying nothing

In a desperate attempt to win back voters in time for the by-election in 
the Queensland seat of Ryan, Prime Minister Howard has made a pathetic 
gesture in cutting the fuel excise on petrol by 1.5c a litre and promising 
to abolish future increases linked to inflation. Including the associated 
reduction in GST, this works out at a reduction of 1.65c per litre. While 
the government and mass media have made a big thing out of this decrease, 
in reality it means very little for motorists. It amounts to only 66c for a 
40-litre fill-up (costing around $35 to $40) at the petrol station.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is also making noises 
about seeing that the cut is passed on to motorists by the service 
stations, thereby playing its part in the charade being foisted on the 
Australian people. With daily or even hourly petrol price fluctuations, 
often as high as five or more cents a litre, how does anyone know whether 
the 1.65c cut is passed on?

The cut is being accompanied by stern warnings from Treasurer Peter 
Costello that this single tiny cut will result in a "very tight budget" 
next May. He will use the loss of fuel excise to try to justify previously 
planned cuts in social spending and privatisations.

It is worth looking at a few facts. Of a litre of petrol costing motorists 
97.9c, the government takes 39.6c in excise and a further 8.9c for GST. The 
oil refineries get 40.7c and the retail service stations a mere 8.7c — the 
smallest take of all. The total amount taken by the government is 48.5c per 
litre — almost half the cost at the petrol pump.

These figures give lie to the repeated claims made by Howard, Costello and 
others that the real culprits are the OPEC oil-producing countries. The 
reality is that the higher the oil price, the more the government rakes in 
through the GST.

The concession on fuel excise was not Howard's only backdown last week. The 
government also put off new tax measures relating to trusts and agreed to 
annual Business Activity Statement returns for small business.

This is worrying big business circles — the government making even these 
small concessions to try to halt its slide in opinion polls and save the 
seat of Ryan. What if it is forced to make even more concessions as the 
Federal election comes closer?

Immediately following the Queensland poll a meeting of the government's 
Trade Policy Advisory Committee was held. It was attended by leading 
representatives of Telstra, Rio Tinto, BHP and other big corporations. 
These corporations are concerned that the public is rejecting their "free 
market" agenda and that the government might be forced to soften its 
commitment to their economic agenda — deregulation, privatisation, lower 
corporate taxes and more handouts to the corporations.

Mr Geoff Allen, the chairman of the Trade Policy Advisory Committee spelled 
out the politics of the situation. He said that business had a 
responsibility to provide a counter-weight to One Nation and other anti-
free trade groups. "By doing this we can play a role in protecting the 
major political parties from being dragged into supporting populist 
positions". It should be noted that the big corporations include the Labor 
Party under their protective arm.

The corporations are calling for a major public campaign that urges the 
Federal Government not to soften its economic "reform" and "free-trade" 
policies. Possible sources of funding for a campaign were canvassed at the 
meeting. The worry for the business leaders, according to the Financial 
Review, is that "a heavy handed campaign could be counter-productive if 
the electorate perceived big business was doing backroom deals with the 
major parties".

No amount of cover-up will, however, obscure this reality from the 
Australian people.

Australian motorists are being held to ransom by the combined forces of the 
foreign owned oil companies and the Australian government.

The oil companies are out for maximum profits and the government is out to 
get a maximum tax rip-off. It is to be hoped that the voters in Ryan will 
show their contempt for the Howard government's pathetic and dishonest 
manoeuvres.