Our Prime Minister may have as much as 200 million dollars stashed away in an overseas tax haven. He admits to being worth at least 200 million dollars – but why have secret offshore bank accounts unless you are hiding money?
So for the sake of argument let’s say he has another 200 million dollars squirreled away. I may be wrong. It might be as little as 80 million; but unfortunately you and I will just never know. (I will immediately apologise if he gives me access to his overseas accounts for just long enough to add up all the columns).
You and I are being asked to believe that a man who once owned his own bank, his own Law Firm, dozens of companies, was a full partner in Goldman and Sachs USA, who owned and sold Ozemail, and represented Kerry Packer, is worth far less than Clive Palmer? Scepticism is the only rational response.
But regardless of the exact dollar sum that is deposited in these offshore tax-havens: how is it possible we can we allow someone who is so grossly conflicted to run our country?
Surely no-one who has half a brain would dare assert that having millions of dollars in an overseas tax-haven will not influence an individuals opinions regarding taxation and corporate governance? But this is exactly the argument that Aussie voters are being asked to accept. While our press regularly take us all for mugs; this is plain insulting.
We are being asked to believe that PM Turnbull has such a depth of character that he is able to run our country on behalf of the average taxpayer even though he has a massive fortune hidden away overseas in secret bank accounts.
We are being asked to believe that Mr Turnbull will be willing to crack down on those who are avoiding tax – despite the fact that any such crackdown will have direct personal implications.
We are being asked to believe that Mr Turnbull will be willing to force our banks to abandon their habit of ripping off their customers despite having made much of his fortune while running an international trading bank that was at the epicentre of the Global Financial Crisis.
We are being asked to believe that Mr Turnbull will force industry to be more respectful of our environment even though he made a fortune in the 1990’s as chairman of Axiom Forest Resources, which was responsible for conducting clear-felling operations all across the Solomon Islands.
We are being asked to believe that Mr Turnbull will be willing to manage the NBN on behalf of all Aussies despite having made millions of dollars as the owner of several private telecommunications companies.
How can it be possible that our PM is allowed to continue in his role despite being so obviously conflicted? Perhaps it’s because Australia is owned and controlled by big business.
In most comparable first-world economies the corporate sector was tamed following the great depression. In America (for example) anti-trust laws were introduced to ensure that no corporate entity could become ‘too-big-to-fail’ or so large that it might be able to corruptly influence legislatures – and although this does not seem to have stopped the American Banks from wreaking havoc on the global economy, there is no doubt that the Government of the USA is in charge of the American economy. While in Australia the Government is just another department of Big Business.
Australia is the land of the government enforced monopoly. Our country is run by our politicians on behalf of four banks, two giant retail outfits, three massive mining houses, and two large corporate media conglomerates. Aussie voters simply do not matter.
While many readers may protest that this sounds a little strident; just have a look at our recent political history and ask yourself: ‘Whose interests are the government serving?’
A carbon tax? Abolished. (Obviously a threat to the power and profits of our rulers).
A mining tax? Abolished. (Cannot be allowed as it will reduce profits).
A banking Royal Commission? Ruled out immediately. (Dangerous because it will destabilise the economy).
Instead we get a Royal Commission into the Unions on the basis that the Unions are holding the Australian economy to ransom?
How long is it since you have seen or heard anything in our press about reducing the monopoly ownership of our Press Barons? Twenty years ago this topic was a vital concern worrying everyone in our political class. Today it is not even discussed. Which is understandable. After all; if any Aussie politician did decide that the monopoly ownership of our press was a topic that might be in the public interest to discuss – then the issue would not even make it into our Press. However any politician who was so rash as to raise the issue would certainly be pilloried on our television screens and in our newspapers, and would almost certainly lose their pre-selection. Which just demonstrates that it’s plain stupid to criticise the boss in public.
Am I overstating the case?
Consider that during the last two weeks the Courier-Mail in Queensland has just about refused to even mention that 94% of the Northern Barrier Reef has experienced bleaching and that more than 40% of the reef will die due to the bleaching. A group of 56 scientists have even had to pay for a full page advertisement just to be able to get the issue into the paper at all. Does this look like a media that is acting on behalf of your average Aussie?
Consider that half of our media is constantly banging on about how Climate Change is a myth – despite the vast majority of Aussies believing that we urgently have to address the fact of climate change. Does this look like a media that is acting on behalf of your average Aussie?
Consider that while the vast majority of the readers believe that we need to reduce our coal exports – virtually all of our media are constantly telling us that if we don’t continue to export coal then thousands of starving people in the third world will have to go without light, heat, and cooking facilities. (Even though the Indian government has been loudly vocal about its huge stockpile of 94 million tons of coal and the fact that they intend to eliminate all coal imports within two years). Does this look like a media that is acting on behalf of your average Aussie?
We have lost control of our politicians and the recent changes to the Senate voting rules were enacted so as ensure that the Australian population cannot once again regain control. From here on if you want to get elected to government in Australia then you have to be a member of one of the big political parties, the very same big political parties that are owned lock stack and barrel by big business and other vested interests. So if you have 200 million dollars hidden away in a tax-haven then you are more than welcome to join the ruling class. But if you are an average Aussie dependent on an average wage then forget about it.
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Also by James Moylan:
‘Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did’
The Emperor fiddles while Rome burns
The ongoing News Limited ‘reality show’
Why we need to be intolerant of climate science fools
Yes, we do need to talk about the spurious nonsense being taught to children in our schools
Election 2016: Media Groundhog Day
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