Editorial:

Priorities: war and racism or jobs, education and health

In a hard hitting submission presented to the Howard Government, which 
is now preparing the May Budget, the Australian Council of Social Service 
(ACOSS) says: "The number of people living in poverty is rising with 
between 1.7 million and 2.4 million Australians (around 13 per cent of the 
population) now estimated as living in poverty."

ACOSS is well respected for its thorough research and factual statements. 
Their submission sharply challenges the priorities that the Howard 
Government is pursuing.

In recent legislation the Government has allocated an additional $400 
million on "defence and security" plus another $85 million to fund its 
"Pacific solution" refugee program. This is in addition to two previous 
"top-ups". The program was initially slated to cost $250 million but has 
now blown out to $482 million.

The Government's priority is its involvement in America's "war on 
terrorism" which has brought with it a sharp increase in overall military 
expenditure. It is also stubbornly maintaining its inhumane and racist 
exclusion of some refugees -- a policy bringing increasing criticism.

ACOSS puts forward different priorities. It calls for employment, education 
and training, social security, housing, community services, health, 
regional, rural and remote development, programs for the Indigenous people, 
and finally, law and justice. These are the priorities that most 
Australians would welcome.

"In terms of income, Australians have slipped from eight position in the 
world in 1970 to 26th today, says the ACOSS submission. "A recent ABS 
survey showed that 44 per cent of Australians found it difficult to pay 
even basic bills. The richest 20 per cent of families are now ten times 
better off than the poorest 20 per cent of families and the gap continues 
to grow", says ACOSS.

ACOSS disputes the official 7.1 per cent unemployment figure. "If we take 
into account people who were available for work but not actively seeking 
employment as well as those who wanted to work more than they were able, 
the figure is more likely to be around twice the official figure. This 
means that in 2001 around 1.4 million Australians did not have the work 
they needed to support themselves or their families".

The reality facing many families today is illustrated by the fact that in 
the first six months of 2001, over 2.3 million people were given assistance 
by community agencies with a further 250,000 being turned away. (The 
Guardian 12/12/01).

ACOSS offers a detailed list of priorities for the 2002 Federal Budget with 
specific means by which the Government can find the finance for an 
alternative Budget package.

Their program is summed up in their statement which says: "To counter the 
risk of exclusion and strengthen opportunity for all Australians, measures 
are required that are directly intended to reduce inequality and poverty. 
This includes increasing incomes at the bottom end by lowering unemployment 
and improving and integrating benefits". ACOSS calls for "greater health, 
housing and education spending which are so vital to a person's life 
chances, and change the distributional direction of tax and spending 
policy."

While putting forward a substantial alternative approach that most 
Australians would enthusiastically support, ACOSS does not criticise the 
Government's priorities which run directly counter to the priorities listed 
by ACOSS. As such it remains an economic program without political teeth.

ACOSS says that "Gaining a better understanding of the root causes of 
poverty and disadvantage ... is fundamental to moving forward and 
developing ... strategies most likely to yield results." ACOSS, however, 
does not identify these "root causes".

The priorities and economic policies being pursued by the Government are 
similar to those being implemented in most other countries -- in all other 
capitalist societies.

They are not just the policies of a "bad" Howard Government. These are the 
priorities and policies of the economic rationalists that essentially 
attack the working people and enrich the corporate rulers of our society 
and that is what is happening in Australian society. It comes from their 
war plans and the absolute priority given to military expenditure and big 
corporations. These are some of the root causes that need to be identified.