Our Failed Drug War !

When the government calls for an enquiry into something that is causing public concern there is the assumption that whatever solutions emerge will get serious consideration and will most likely become common practice.

Decade after decade we are hearing the same old refrain on drug prevalence and the damage it is doing to our young people.  The purpose of the Ice enquiry was to dispassionately examine this problem and guide the government in the practical measures that need to be taken to reduce the harm caused.  We were given to believe this would deliver a clean slate on which all practical ideas would get serious consideration.

The five key findings of this four volume report have been rejected out of hand and stand no chance of being implemented.  The government is adamant that there will be no new injecting rooms despite  the obvious success of this venture in Kings Cross stopping drug deaths and bringing order to the drug scene.

Pill testing is similarly rejected despite the main cause of drug deaths arising from botched production by incompetent drug cooks resulting in lethal combinations being sold at music festivals. This runs hand in hand with a recommendation to retire drug sniffer dogs because their presence causes fear and some patrons panic and swallow all; the drugs they intended to ration over the event.

Even the very practical suggestion of introducing a needle exchange system into state prisons has received a rejection.  The fact that needles are shared makes jails a virtual disease exchange and makes this urgently relevant in cleaning up the cess pool our prisons have become.

What is very clear is that the 104 recommendations handed down from the enquiry, none will be put into immediate practice and the key recommendation that the use of Ice and other drugs for personal use be decriminalized, while still under consideration - is most likely to be rejected.

The government held a costly enquiry which was supposed to quell public disquiet at the rampaging drug scene and before it held its first sitting had quietly determined that it would make no changes to either the law of the practices that constitute drug control in New South Wales.

In other parts of the world what is mass public disobedience is seen as a need to change the law. Governments are backing away from harsh intimidation laws covering all types of drugs and bowing to public demand.  In particular, Marijuana is fast becoming a legal recreational substance in a similar manner to alcohol.

The drug enquiry was a complete waste of money.  There is no point in holding enquiries when the intent to change nothing has been set in concrete long before the enquiry holds its first meeting.

Monkey Business !

This week pedestrians were startled to share the footpath near Royal Prince Alfred Hospital campus with three Baboons who had escaped when the lock on their transporter malfunctioned.  They were quickly rounded up by police and we have since learned that the older male was on his way to a scheduled vasectomy.  The two younger females were included in the journey because it was reasoned that their company would keep him calm.

This is something medical research would have preferred to avoid.   It seems we have a Baboon breeding colony at Wallacia and because Baboons have a similar bodily structure to humans they are essential in the research laboratories.  They are part of research on gestational diabetes, kidney disease, and the benefits to be obtained from diet and exercise.  It seems that this incident will quickly gain the attention of activists who oppose drug testing on animals.

It has since been explained that this male was no longer being used in the breeding programme at Wallacia and it was decided that a vasectomy was necessary so that he could again live peacefully in the colony.  The vasectomy would ensure that he would not  aggressively compete with the other males for access to the females used in the breeding programme.

We constantly hear of medical advances that promise relief from conditions for which there is no effective cure and often it is predicted that it will be a further ten years before they become available in pharmacies.   Before such drugs are licensed for general use they must undergo extensive long term testing to determine what side affects they may deliver.   This usually proceeds in two stages.   The first test is conducted on an animal closely resembling the body structure of humans to gain safety approval, and then a long term test system of tests on groups of human volunteers will evaluate both the positive effect and any side affects that may be the outcome of using the drug or the procedure.

It seems that the public was generally unaware that we had a Baboon breeding colony at Wallacia and this unfortunate incident  has given it unwanted publicity.    This may even take the form of intruders seeking to penetrate the colony with the aim of releasing captive animals and this could disrupt trials under way and delay the final outcome of releasing new treatments to the public.  It is evident that security at Wallacia may need to be tightened.

There are still many ailments that are beyond the reach of present day medical research and some promising evaluations are in the pipeline.  Such research is costly and in many cases what seems likely to  be a success ends in dismal failure.  Animal research is essential to weed out these failures at an early stage to maintain the interest of the big drug laboratories who are spending huge sums of money on medical research.  Any adverse publicity condemning animal trials will certainly  be unhelpful.

Aged Care Crackdown !

There are 220,000 people living in aged care in Australia and the recent Royal Commission was critical of the use of " chemical restraints " used in this industry.  Relatives have expressed alarm at finding their loved ones " zonked out " and unresponsive.   The rules in place stipulate that Dementia drugs be used only for short terms but the investigation found that in some cases they were in constant use.

One of the problems is that about half the aged care providers in Australia run at a loss.  The ratio of staff to patients is critical in containing running costs and dosing them with Valium is seen as a control measure.  The interim findings of the aged care Royal Commission found this practice was " inhumane, abusive and unjustified ".

An academic review of aged care research, commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia  found that between forty percent and fifty percent of people in aged care were on medication that can cause sedation or confusion.Half of residents with dementia were taking medicines which could worsen their condition, and twenty percent of unplanned hospital admissions  were a result of inappropriate medicine use.

Aged and Community Services Australia wants medical reviews conducted more often but said most aged care operators  were not in a position to pay for additional reviews out of their own pockets.  Changes sought by the aged care sector, pharmacists and older Australians would cost the Federal budget at least $49 million over four years, based on medical reviews once a year.

We are an ageing nation and it is obvious that work in aged care is fast becoming  a growth industry. It is labour intensive because of the individual care required.  It was essential that the number of care workers is adequate to deliver the personal care that aged residents need to live a comfortable and secure life during their retirement years.

What is becoming very clear is the need for government intervention.  The standards applicable in aged care across the spectrum vary widely.  We hear horror stories about sub-standard meals and a lack of security that should not escape governing oversight.  Aged care is an essential service and it  should be both predictable and meeting a common standard of expectation.

People who choose to make a living running aged care must deliver a service that meets the required criteria or their license should be revoked.  There is just no room in the industry for shonky services and the people who suffer are the unfortunate residents who have the misfortune to be allocated to aged care homes that should not exist.

In that regard, the government needs to be unrelenting.  Aged care is a licensed occupation and standards apply.  Those standards need to be ruthlessly enforced  !

The Malaysian Enigma !

Malaysia is one of our nearest neighbours but our political relations with it have been strained.  For many years the Malaysian prime minister was Mahathir  Mohamad who was often critical of Australia and repeatedly clashed with Paul Keating when he headed the Australian government.

The man being groomed to take over from  Mahathir Mohamad when the geriatric looked to retire was Anwar Ibrahim but the two fell out and Anwar was charged and sent to prison on what many considered were politically motivated lies. A new face emerged when Najib  Razak became Malaysia's  prime minister and ruled until he became immersed in what was termed the "IMDB scandal ".  Billions of dollars mysteriously disappeared from a national wealth fund and much of it resurfaced in the prime minister's personal bank account.

By this time, Anwar had emerged from prison and was making progress to re-enter  politics.  Once again controversial evidence emerged and he was accused of sodonomy, which was a crime in Malaysia at that time.  Once again he was safely locked out of politics behind prison bars.

That ongoing IMDB scandal made Najib Razak's tenure as prime minister impossible and the nation went to the polls with Mahathir Mohamad emerging as the leading contender, running on a promise to step down in favour of Anwar in two years time. That was considered very acceptable as Mahathir was over ninety years old when he romped home as the new prime minister.

Now that two year term is up and the 94 year old prime minister is again looking to retire, but it seems that promise to step aside for Anwar is looking doubtful.  Politics in Malaysia is fragmented and the likely new government will be a coalition of six prominent political parties who are failing to find common ground behind Anwar.

Mahathir paid a visit to the king and was due to hold a press conference afterwards in which it was thought he would anoint Anwar, but that press conference did not eventuate and it was learned that Mahathir was at home, leading to speculation that another contender was being considered.

Twice Anwar has been close to attaining power and on each occasion he has been the victim of what many consider political plots to enmesh him in false charges.  He has a large public following and should the retirement of Mahathir from the job of prime minister lead to a general election he would probably prevail.  He promises reform and an end to the cronyism that has encumbered politics in Malaysia but achieving consensus with the other ruling parties would be difficult.

Mahathir had a prickly demeanour and was often out of step with public feeling in Australia but he supported a common defense relationship.  At least Mahathir delivered a degree of stability when we was in control of one of our nearest neighbours  !

Dodging the Tobacco Tax !

During the first half of the twentieth century nearly half the men in Australia smoked tobacco.  During both of the world wars keeping the troops supplied with cigarettes was almost as important as the ammunition supply.  The cigarette helped calm nerves and reduce the tension from combat.

When the deadly diseases caused by smoking became apparent mid century the wise began to abandon the habit.  Ash trays began to disappear from doctor's waiting rooms and hospitals and despite a propaganda campaign from the tobacco companies the government commenced an ever increasing anti smoking campaign.

Areas where smoking was permitted began to shrink and tobacco products needed to be hidden from view wherever it was sold.  Legislation forced cigarettes to be marketed in unsightly packaging containing graphic pictures of the wounds tobacco causes - and the government implemented an ever increasing punitive tax on tobacco products.

In the years 2015-16 that brought the cost of each individual cigarette to 53.7 cents each and delivered 9.4 billion dollars in tax to the government.  Steady rises in the tax each year are bringing the cost of each cigarette to a dollar each and the government tax dividend is fast reaching 17.2 billion dollars.

As the number of smokers continues to decline, the tax they pay has become essential government income.  At the same time, Australia is simply awash with smuggled tobacco products since the retail price made tobacco smuggling competitive with drugs and delivered a lesser prison sentence for those who got caught.

As we learned with the drug trade, Australia's borders are porous.  It is impossible to search every container passing over the docks and organized crime now runs a sophisticated distribution network. Smuggled tobacco products are sold in every suburb and in every little country town in the country.  The smokers " grape vine "  spreads the word about where smuggled tobacco is sold.

It can be in unlikely places.  Perhaps a restaurant that has suffered a trade reduction or a clothing store undergoing the reduced demand for clothing.  The merchandise is kept out of sight and must be specifically asked for. Smuggled tobacco sold at half the retail price still delivers a handsome reward to both the smuggler and the retailer.

The product sold takes two forms.  "  Chop  Chop " is bulk tobacco leaf favoured by those who roll their own cigarettes and the rest are the fully formed cigarettes sold in countries surrounding Australia which are lightly taxed by their governments.  They come in packs of twenty like legitimate cigarettes.

The statistics we see on smoking rates are derived from cigarette sales statistics and it is obvious from this underground tobacco industry that the number of smokers in Australia is higher than what is claimed.  As we learned with the drug trade, the law of supply and demand will always ensure that demand is accommodated, despite the risk.  In fact,. it is the risk factor that determines what the price of the smuggled goods will bring.

The more the government hikes the tax on tobacco, the greater the market opportunity for smugglers to provide an alternative supply - and the less tax the government gets to fund what it euphemistically calls " consolidated revenue ".

A New Danger !

One of the attractions in modern display homes and a big feature in the home renovation trade is the use of artificial stone benchtops in kitchens.  Today, the kitchen is a featured selling point in a home and we have moved past the stage where Laminex  covering will meet the discerning inspection of prospective buyers.

The problem is that much of this material is dry cut in the workshops that produce material for the building trade and we are starting to see the emergence of a deadly disease that is similar to what happens when users are exposed to asbestos.   The only difference is that asbestos related diseases take thirty to forty years to impact on health, silica dust released by the dry cutting of artificial stone appear in less than half that time lag.

We are starting to see young men who work in fitting artificial stone suffering autoimmune disease in their twenties, thirties and forties and this manifests itself by affecting joining tissue in the joints, lungs and skin.   We are facing an epidemic of silicosis bringing with it early death and a demand for items such as lung transplants.

This has so alarmed the government that from July 1 the dry cutting of artificial stone has been banned and silicosis will become a notifiable disease with all cases listed on a single register.  The firms that process artificial stone will need to install wet cutting procedures and ensure that no silica dust escapes into the air to gain access to the airways of workers.

The problem area is the " do it yourself " home renovation trade.  Artificial stone is not difficult to cut using abrasive tools and if that is not a wet process it is inevitable that silica dust will find its way into people's bodies. Items such as benchtops are usually available ready to install from hardware suppliers and if the worker needs to make small cuts to ensure a tight fit that is all that is required for dust release to induce silicosis.

Until now, silica dust has been regarded as harmless but now that artificial stone has become a leading feature of kitchen design we are beginning to realise  just what sort of monster fashion has thrust into the building trade.   There are still many older tradesmen who disregard the dangers of asbestos and there is little doubt that they will continue to cut artificial stone without adapting a wet process.  A government ordinance will have little effect beyond the big cutting shops that process the bulk of artificial stone.

Asbestos is present in all the homes built in Australia before the 1980's when it was banned.  It will still go on killing well into the next century.   In contrast artificial stone is a relatively new product and we need to spell out the danger before it gains even wider use !

When Minds Snap !

Australia was shocked this week when television news brought graphic pictures from a Brisbane street. A relationship breakdown ended when an estranged husband approached a car containing his wife and their three children aged  six, four and three.  He was carrying a can of petrol and he threw the liquid over them - and lit a match.

The vapour exploded and the car interior became a fireball.  As his family burned the man produced a knife and ended his own life.  Rescuers pulled the burning woman from the vehicle, but she died a few hours later in hospital.

Unfortunately, rage and violence over broken relationships has become common in our society and that was exactly what the Family Court was established to counter.  It granted "no fault divorce "in which decisions were supposed to be made in a fair and equal atmosphere to decider the division of assets and the living arrangements of any children from the union.

It seems reasonable to suppose that there were warning signs that went unheeded.  The separating couple together ran a gym and she had been a  trampolining champion.  The police had been called to their home on several occasions to settle what were termed "domestic violence issues ".  On Boxing day the husband kidnapped one of his daughters and took her interstate for several days.

It is a fact of life that a vast number of relationships - both married and de facto - end in some sort of argument. Fortunately, most eventually settle but domestic violence is often prevalent both before and after the separation actually takes place.  It is impossible to accurately predict which ones will end in a violent murder.

Women's groups have been calling for early intervention, but both genders are capable of violence. Often the male has the physique to dominate and respite where a woman may find shelter is in very short supply. Often the area of conflict are the children.  This introduces an "ownership "issue that can not be decided by any sort of intervention.  Extreme passion comes into play and sometimes bizarre actions follow.  Court orders are usually ignored.

Domestic violence is often followed by the relationship being re-established.  There are promises of change and it seems some women are attracted to violent partners.  This pattern of violence is repeated during many relationship changes and the police are actually verbally abused when they intervene.  Refusal to press charges follow.

So far, no practical solution to domestic violence has been forthcoming beyond a greater quantity of  secure emergency accommodation into which those fleeing a violent relationship are able to gain access.  Fortunately, it is rare for a relationship breakdown to trigger action similar to that which occurred in Brisbane when a father who previously showed love and affection for his children took the extreme step of delivering death to them and his partner before ending his own life.

Such is the complexity of the human mind  !

A Mental Illness Claim !

Julian Assange is an Australian who engaged in investigative journalism.  He convinced an American soldier tasked with  information transmission to make copies of material marked " Top Secret " and later released this to embarrass the United States government

To some, Assange is a hero.  That released material contained evidence of American criminal activities by their military in which innocent people were killed. The perpetrators  were never brought to justice and the killings were covered up.  The American government was infuriated and sought an arrest order against Assange and for a while he became an international identity.

While he was in Sweden it was suggested that Assange committed rape.  The American government urged Sweden to have Assange brought into that country to face the charge and Assange expected once he set foot on Swedish soil he would be transferred to America and spend the rest of his life in prison.

He was arrested in Britain and fought that extradition order.  When he lost that legal battle the Ecuadorian embassy in London offered him asylum.  He spent years as their guest, holding press interviews from a balcony just metres from surrounding British police.  He was still in the embassy when Sweden dropped all interest in those rape charges, but the British were continuing criminal action over the fact that he had skipped bail when he sought embassy protection.

Eventually, his mind deteriorated to the extent that the embassy asked police to remove Assange. He is now held in London's  Belmarsh prison where he spends twenty-three hours a day confined to his cell.  Two Australian members of parliament who have visited him claim he has been subjected to psychological torture. They report that he is "disoriented ", " dehumanised " and " depersonalised " .

Assange was the founder of WikiLeaks, a news gathering outfit that sought to bring state secrets to the notice of the public.  As such, he became the enemy of governments of all political persuasions that have secrets they do not want the public to know hidden in their archives.  It was the intent of Wikileaks to probe and obtain those secrets and to air them in the public media.

To say the Americans are seeking Assange as sheer vindictive spleen long after the serving soldier who stole the information has served a sentence and been rehabilitated puts the Australian government in an awkward position.  To demand Assange be released on mental health grounds would be seen by some as supporting information espionage and we have our own dirty little secrets hidden away in the archives.

Whatever view individuals hold on Wikileaks, Assange does not deserve to spend the rest of his life locked away in a remote American prison.  The information he released held the United States accountable for criminal actions their forces unleashed which killed innocent people - and which was carefully covered up by high government officials.  Assange has credibility because the information he released was the truth.

If the world does nothing and Assange is swallowed by the American justice machine it would simply condone more of the same by the American military  !

The " Welfare " Conundrum !

A lot of Australians face grim reality on the day that they retire.  The superannuation they amassed during a lifetime of work will not support them for the years they expect to live, but it is too much for them to gain the aged pension.  They find themselves in that weird category of being a " part pensioner ".

Pensions are a big item on Treasury expenditure and the government must protect its bottom line by imposing strict rules and these apply equally to both full and part pensioners. They must report even the smallest change in their financial position to Centrelink and failing to do so is a crime that may result in punishment in court.

That presents a problem for pensioners who enjoy good health and would like to find a small part time job to improve their standard of life in retirement.  The pension rules reduce the pension, often on the basis of fifty cents for each dollar that the pensioner earns.  That delivers a big incentive for the pensioner to seek what is known as " cash in hand " work.

The pension rules in Australia are less favourable that those in other Commonwealth countries.  In New Zealand both full and part pensioners can earn freely without it affecting their pension and in Canada they can earl up to $88,500.annually.   In Australia, that 50 cents in the dollar pension cut starts when they earn  above  $175 a fortnight.

 Obviously the Australian government sees all types of pensions as a form of " welfare " and is moving towards a stricter code of compliance.  W are about to start testing recipients of New Start and the Youth Allowance for the presence of illegal drugs in their system.  Just what happens to those who test positive is unclear.

New Start is just another name for the " dole " and it offers little more than subsistence money for those seeking employment.  Advocates for an increase of $95 a week claim it is impossible for applicants to pay the travel costs to go for job interviews and present neatly dressed with a reasonable haircut on the present level of the dole.

A long time ago many groups of young men specifically chose to live in beach resorts where any type of work was not offering.  Their interest was surfing and the dole covered communal living and they chose to extoll this lifestyle in the media.  It outrages the public and they were classed as " dole bludgers ".  It was a positive disincentive for any increase in the dole.

It seems that our pension system is out of step with the rest of the world and a more relaxed  attitude to pensioners earning a little to improve their lifestyle would be welcome.  When it comes to the dole we need to face reality.  The job market is changing and there are now many people who will never find a paying job.  Perhaps a need for a new welfare category.   One that pays less than the aged pension but more than New Start to allow the permanently unemployed to survive.

A Damaged Tourist Trade !

It seems possible that the coronavirus pandemic is about to run its course and disappear into the history books like the Spanish Flu that swept the world at the end of the first world war.  It still seems fairly active in Wuhan, China but the numbers are receding in the rest of the world and we are told that work on a vaccine is reaching an advanced stage.

Unfortunately, one of the news stories that repeatedly made world headlines concerned the passengers and crew of Diamond Princess, a luxury cruise ship stranded in the waters off Japan.  It - and several other similar ships - was refused entry to ports in many countries when it was discovered the virus was active onboard and  the ship went into lockdown.

Passengers were ordered to remain in their cabin and movement around the ship ceased. Initially, this was for a nominated number of days of quarantine with the promise they would then be able to leave the ship and fly home, but the numbers falling ill because of the virus mounted and various nationalities demanded their government make arrangements to fly them home.

That was exactly the bad news story the ever growing cruise ship industry didn't want the world to see and hear. The luxury liner was a growth industry back in the 1920's until it was replaced by the aeroplane.  The era of the jumbo jet drove down seat prices and opened the world to travel and shipping lines correctly guessed that luxury sea travel with high class entertainment would be a popular alternative to air travel.

The world has been in a ship building frenzy.  The liners coming out of shipyards are ever bigger and more luxurious. The superstructure is higher to contain staterooms with a view and a balcony and they each now cater for thousands of passengers.  Here in Australia we are experiencing a shortage of port facilities to accommodate the number of cruise ships scheduling an Australian visit.  Sydney is shedding its overload to Botany Bay and liners have been calling at coastal ports from Port Kembla to Eden.  This is a growth industry with no end in sight.

There is fear in the industry that the experience of the Diamond Princess passengers may curtail the booking frenzy.  Before the coronavirus hit the headlines there were reports of normal stomach bugs common when masses of people congregate sweeping through cruise ships and  creating the journey from hell.  Is is now usual for passengers entering the dining room to encounter stewards proffering hand disinfectant to lower that infection risk.

The shipping companies have made big investments in new ships in the expectation that they can fill most sailings.  If those numbers dwindle because of fear of being trapped aboard by a virus outbreak not only will the ships be less profitable but the money passengers spend at each port of call will also be much lower.  Cruse ships are now a big component of the Australian tourist industry.

There is no doubt that Diamond Princess passengers found their quarantine very unpleasant and even frightening.  No doubt the shipping companies will increase their advertising and probably offer fare enticement to try and maintain numbers but it also seems inevitable that some passengers will have second thoughts about ship travel until this virus scare blows over.

How long that takes is something the tourist industry in Australia will be watching with more than passing interest  !

The " Holden " Era Ends !

For seventy-two years the Holden badge was a source of pride because it was the car that was designed and built in Australia.  Model changes brought buyers to the car showrooms and it was an Australian workforce that produced these cars from massive factories in Melbourne and Adelaide. Year after year they dominated Australian roads.

We ignored the fact that Holden was the Australian subsidiary of General Motors, at that time the world's biggest car maker.  Eventually, things settled into a competition between Holden and Ford and supremacy was settled on the racing track at Mount Panorama.  Patrons became either " Holden " or " Falcon " enthusiasts.

When the Japanese entered the car trade the American industry faced competition from a smaller, cheaper range of quality built cars and General Motors was forced to seek bankruptcy protection. When it emerged as a slimmed down company, its interest in its Australian subsidiary withered.  It failed to promote the Australian built car as its export model and began looking for subsidies from the Australian government.   The writing was on the wall as the motor trade evolved into a world car industry.

Australia pumped over two billion dollars into Holden to keep the brand alive and preserve those well paying production jobs but eventually the car factories in Australia closed.  The car General Motors now offers as the Commodore equivalent wears a Chevrolet badge and finally GM has announced its total withdrawal from Australia.

In many respects, Australia is better off without car manufacturing plants within its borders.  It no longer needs to  limit imports to preserve local manufacturing and we are  customers of this world trade in more sophisticated cars.  The Japanese Toyota is now the biggest world car maker, but it is under pressure from South Korea and India and an ever growing China.   To complicate world car production, we seem on the cusp of changing to electric vehicles and leaving the driving to computers.

The decline of the local car manufacturing industry has had the result of Australians driving newer, safer cars because competition in the world car industry has driven down prices and made manufacturers more competitive.  The cars produced today contain safety features and crumple zones that preserve life in a crash.  We are now valued customers of this world car manufacturing consortium which is competing for our custom.

Perhaps a time to recognise that with a population of just twenty-five million people we lacked the home market size to support an independent car industry.  General Motors needed to concentrate its effort to preserve its American home market of over two hundred million people and closure of the Holden subsidiary was inevitable.

We live in an ever changing world and it is change that brings with it benefits and opportunities.  We need to carefully evaluate change when it happens to determine how it will affect the outcome in this country  The end of Holden is not the disaster some people suppose  !

The Stamp Duty Tax Dilemma !

Stamp duty is a state government tax that is proving to be a hurdle to young people getting into home ownership.  Not only do they need to save to have a deposit, but the stamp duty levied on the purchase of a home needs to be paid immediately and that runs to thousands of dollars.

So, exactly what is stamp duty  ?   It is a requirement that the transaction in which someone buys property is duly recorded in the government records by the affixing of payment stamps that have a value that reflects the value of the transaction.  Those stamps are purely a government creation to provide a revenue source for the state in which the transaction occurred.

In retrospect, it is probably wrongly  levied in the reverse order.   It should have been required on the sale of a property rather than the acquisition because the property owner selling is better positioned to pay a transaction levy than the buyer, who is usually struggling to afford the purchase.

Now it is suggested that stamp duty be replaced with a land tax and the only difference is that this is paid annually in instalments instead of in a lump sum when the property is first purchased.  To protect property owners who have already paid stamp duty this arrangement would need to make all existing farm and property owners exempt from this land tax and only apply it to properties conveyanced from its starting date.

The first hurdle to such a change would be the impact on state finances.  Stamp duty is a very important component of state government finance and a conversion to land tax would transfer lump sums paid at the time of purchase to lesser amounts paid annually.  State finance expenditure is built around stamp duty timing to fund important projects and this change would throw it into disarray.

That would be an incredibly messy arrangement.  We would have recent home buyers paying a land tax and avoiding the need to pay stamp duty and the bulk of existing property owners being exempt from that land tax.  It seems inevitable that this indemnity from land tax because of the stamp duty already paid would have a time limit and eventually a land tax would apply to all property.

Of course, the public attention focussed on stamp duty relates to the huge impost that occurs when real estate changes hands but stamp duty applies to lesser transactions.   We pay stamp duty when we purchase a new car, but because the cost is so much lower this does not attract the same attention  The reason stamp duty is under fire is the extraordinary inflation that has occurred in the house and land field.  The essential need for somewhere to live has driven home prices to heights that would have been deemed impossible just a few short years ago.   It is impossible to predict future trends.

Finding an acceptable method of evening out this stamp duty cost will be a nightmare for the financial wizards faced with the task, but for the ordinary householder pondering what the outgoings may be for the future the only safe bet is that a very wise man once made about the financial future.

The only eventuality is - death and taxes !

The Age of Fireworks Ends !

Anyone who can still remember when Australia celebrated what was called " Bonfire night " on November 5 each year would need to be in extreme old age.  This curios event was in recognition of someone named Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the British houses of parliament in 1605 and the practice of holding a celebration here ceased during the second world war.

Those were the days when the entire Australian population had some sort of link to Britain.  Either their ancestors got a free trip to the other side of the world in a prison ship, or they decided to exchange the harsh British climate for the warmth and sunshine Australia had to offer.  That need to mimic British celebrations saw giant bonfires assembled each year ready for November 5 and all the kids clustered around for the big event.  It was also called " Cracker night " because that bonfire was usually  accompanies by fireworks.

Today the use of fireworks reaches a climax when we welcome in a new year.  This last celebration was controversial because we were in the middle of a raging bushfire crisis and there were calls for it to be cancelled.  It received a last minute reprieve because the Sydney fireworks on New Year's eve is considered a world event and it is responsible for attracting the tourist flow that underpins our economy.

There is a growing rejection of fireworks as a public display on many grounds with cost being a major factor.   That Sydney new year display runs to a many million dollar outlay and the event lasts a mere fifteen minutes.  Strangely, many people camp out the night before to secure a prime viewing spot and a vast crowd swamps public transport once the event ends, and there are detracting factors.

The city chokes on the smoke residue after the event and the animals that panic at the noise fireworks produce are legendary.  At the height of summer, falling remnants introduce a fire risk across the city and in todays world setting off explosives in the sky seems a reminder of the barbarity the world experienced in two world wars.

Surely the stage has been reached where our entertainment should look to the future rather than back into the past.  Technology has advanced in mighty leaps since those days of bonfire nights and we now experience light shows on city buildings and the sails of the Opera house that draw vast crowds. This is now the beginning of the drone age and the wizardry of electronics is quite capable of putting a light show in the sky that will sparkle without the noise and smoke that is fast becoming a health hazard.

That New Year fireworks display has reached its zenith.  There is little to distinguish it from the year before and it is time we moved on and embraced new ground.   The challenge of this twenty-first century is to produce a light show that surpasses fireworks and both the cost and danger of exploding munitions to grab attention.

Like cracker night, that was yesteryear's entertainment.  We are now the people of the twenty-first century  !

Capital Gains Tax Increase !

In September, 1985 the Australian government introduced a new tax term that promised a flood of wealth into government coffers.   The Capital Gains Tax applies when something we bought gains in value during the time it was ours and the government demands a share of this profit when it is sold.

Perhaps we bought some shares when the price was low and with good management that firm became a market leader and the share price rose sharply.  The government declared that profit when it was sold as a " capital gain " and demanded they receive a share of that dividend.   This Capital Gains Tax applied widely across the entire investment spectrum, with the exception of the homes in which we live.

Australians have the right to claim exemption from the CGT for any gain in the value of their primary residence and until now that included those who were living overseas.  From this coming June 30 that changes.   Australians living overseas will be swept up in the CGT and required to pay any capital gain in the price of Australian property, irrespective of how long they haver owned it - and that will apply retrospectively.

According to the latest information available, 182,000 Australians living overseas are registered with the Australian tax office.  An unknown number are Australian property owners but it would be reasonable to assume some own property to which they hope to eventually retire.  Others may be the owners of property bought to house elderly parents and homes in Australia have been leading the world in the rate in which their value has been increasing on a month by month basis.

What is not yet clear is the fine print that applies to any change in government regulations.  The CGT only applies when you sell an asset that has increased in value on the price you originally paid, hence just owning a home in Australia will not have an  affect - until you sell it.

What has yet to be decided is the situation that applies if the Australian living overseas returns and commences to live in that property ?   No doubt that will have definitions that apply and these may be tested in Australian court cases.  No doubt the legal profession will be studying this CGT extension with more than passing interest.

The fact that the CGT has been extended to homes owned by overseas living Australians is something that must worry the rank and file of Australian home owners.  In the past twenty years the rise in Australian home prices has been extraordinary.   The median house price is approaching a million dollars and many long term owners will become millionaires when they sell.

That is a very tempting income source for a government strapped for money.  There is an expectation that eligibility for CGT exemption on the sale of the home we live in may one day face restrictions or have time limitations.  That concept of a tax on the upward movement on investment forms came as a shock when it was introduced in 1985.  It certainly introduced a proviso to the entire concept of investing for profit from that date forward.

It certainly sends a signal that the home ownership defensive tax regime is far from sacrosanct. !

Superannuation - For All !

We are fast reaching the stage when an ever growing number of young people will leave school and never settle into a permanent job in which they will start to accumulate a superannuation nest egg to fund their retirement.   The permanent work force is shrinking and is being replaced by semi permanent casual employment which avoids the costs should a recession make it imperative to reduce the workforce.

The job market is transforming into what is called the " Gig " economy.  Smart people who can not find an employer willing to offer them a job gravitate to becoming " contractors " providing some sort of service within the economy.  Unfortunately, the need for that service is sporadic and consequently their earnings fall far short of what constitutes a " living wage ".

The employment laws stipulate a threshold beyond which a casual automatically must become part of that employers permanent workforce, and that is set at $450 per week.   The rate per hour paid to a casual is more than that paid to a permanent employee to compensate for the lack of a superannuation component but the hours worked blur the distinction and that threshold is supposed to remove the " permanent casual " definition that applies to many jobs.

As a consequence, we now see many people working two or three casual jobs and that combination delivers fewer hours and a lower earning level  than what economists believe is a " living wage ".  Their lack of permanency and low income level causes rejection should they apply for a home mortgage.

This is a situation  that is ringing alarm bells in Treasury.  We are facing an ageing Australian population and this is causing an imbalance in the rate of workers compared to retirees.  It must eventually put the aged pension at risk unless those casuals can be included in the superannuation scheme and start building a nest egg for their own retirement.

A popular solution is the removal of that $450 threshold and the imposition of superannuation payments to apply to all forms of reimbursement.  Every citizens would need a superannuation account number and employers would be legally obliged to pay the required superannuation dividend into that account whenever they employed a casual, nomatter what length of time.

It would obviously be a pay office nightmare and costly for employers and it would probably be ignored by both the " black " economy and the drug trade which operates of a " cash in hand " basis.  It would be best handled as  a nationwide operation where any non permanent employee would be part of a common investment fund directly linked to their input of earnings. They would in fact become shareholders, and their number of shares would correspond with the amount cumulatively deposited by a number of employers.

This Gig economy is a fast expanding phenomenon.  The percentage of the workforce designated " casual " continues to grow and unless a way is found to include them in the superannuation retirement  distribution they will grow to form a class of citizen seriously disadvantaged in old age.

How you earn your money should not undercut the progression towards economic independence in old age.  The only issue is implementing a scheme that both employee and employer regard as reasonable - and making it work !

Police Search Power !

It can be irritating to be stopped in the street by a police officer who insists on carrying out a body search that can range from a pat down to a demand that you remove outer items of clothing.  It is a chilling thought that the police have the power to demand a strip search and this is not restricted to people entering music festivals.

Facts uncovered by Freedom of Information laws reveal that police are expected to meet individual search quotas and meeting these targets is an item in performance evaluations. Internal statistics show that police were expected to perform 241,632 searches in the fiscal year ending in June, 2019, and this was an eight percent increase on the previous year.

These search targets are set by the higher police command and seem to be part of a campaign to have the public obey the police because of the " fear factor ".  We obey the law because we fear the consequences of getting caught, not because we are just good citizens who always do the right thing.
Modern thinking requires we submit to searches without protest and senior police thinking is that a little fear is a good thing.

The President of the NSW Council of Civil Liberties does not see it that way. Nicholas Cowdery QC says that the use of targets means there was " great potential for abuse of power ".  " If a target is set by superior officers, especially a target that will be relevant to performance assessment, natural human response will be  to seek to meet the target by proper or improper means - by fudging, by exercising power where it is not properly warranted "

The outcome of these searches has little relevance to crime outcomes.  A police spokesperson said that under state law  officers must hold a reasonable suspicion when exercising searches and most ended with no crime being discovered.  Sometimes, by sheer chance, the person searched had drugs in their pocket or were found to be carrying a knife.

Location plays a big part in these search laws. Kings Cross area command had one of the highest targets in 20129 with 8800 searches, the equivalent of 44 searches for every hundred people living in the area.  It illustrates the odds of being searched if you happen to travel through that sector of the city.

The police will point to reduced crime levels in areas such as burglary, motor vehicle theft and " robbery " to illustrate the benefits accruing from their use of street searches but this is certainly not conclusive.  The sheer volume of police on the streets could be linked to a three percent fall in those categories of crime.

The law we get is the law our politicians put in the hands of the police  If we have definitive. standards on where, how and why the police should be permitted to conduct body searches we need to make that clear to our parliamentary representative.  The degree of policing inn each state is something that the voters decide !

" Industrial Manslaughter " Law Rejected !

Criminally unsafe work places will face harsher financial penalties but the option of those found responsible for death on unsafe worksites facing court charged with " Industrial manslaughter " has been rejected in New South Wales.   The bill amending the Work, Health and Safety Act has increased the penalty against a company whose  safety standards result in a workplace death from $3 million to $3.4 million with further increases keeping pace with inflation.

What many safety critics were looking for was a law change to make the person responsible for a work site criminally responsible if a breach of safety standards caused a workers death.  The industry is riddled with short cuts and omissions that reduce costs and consequently we are encountering a steady stream of deaths on work sites.

The legislators foresaw a problem identifying just who accepts responsibility for a work site.  That could be the company owner or the foreman who actually directs operations - or both.  In some cases it would be an entirely independent operator who supplies services to the site, but ultimately someone needs to be responsible for seeing that legal standards are maintained.

Facing a charge of criminal manslaughter in a court would be a very good reason not to disregard safety regulations lightly.  A financial penalty is simply a "cost " and may even be partly recovered from insurance.  Workers have the right to expect to return home from work after a day of earning their living and too often that ends in either hospital or the morgue.

What triggered this review was an accident on a major building site when scaffolding collapsed  killing 18 year old Christopher Cassaniti and badly injuring another workmate.  These and similar accidents have been proliferating across the Australian building industry.

At least this review did toughen the rules that apply and brought in a new offence of " gross negligence ".  Safe Work inspectors have been given new powers to issue " Stop Work " orders on sites where they discover safety breaches and these sites will remain dormant until the breaches have been rectified.

Safety notices will also be easier to legally deliver.  In the past, much time was wasted tracking down the individual responsible for a work site but now a safe work order can be delivered electronically or sent to a persons last known address - or left with a person over the age of sixteen.   The era of dodging receipt of a legal safe work order has now been sharply curtailed.

At least the legislation is moving in the right direction.  If accidents on building sites fail to  decrease that " industrial manslaughter " option will still be waiting in the wings to be adopted.

REMEMBERING the " BALI NINE " !

In April of 2005 nine young Australians disastrously tried their hand at drug importation from Indonesia.  They travelled to Bali with the intention of buying Heroin, strapping it tightly to their bodies and simply walking through both Indonesian and Australian customs undetected.

Their security was lax because the scheme became known to the Australian Federal police who tipped off the Indonesian police, who stopped some members as they passed through the airport, arrested others as they waited in their hotel with Heroin and plans to catch a later flight and caught the two ringleaders as they were planning to leave Bali.

All nine were put on trial and in Indonesia trafficking Heroin is an offence punished by either the death penalty or a life prison sentence.  Martin Scott, Rush Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugas, Martin Stephenson  and Tan Duc Nguyen were found guilty and sentenced to prison for life.   The only woman in the gang, Renae Lawrence had her life sentence reduced to twenty years after an appeal.

The two deemed to be the ringleaders of this smuggling plot, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were sentenced to death and executed by firing squad.  Twelve years into her sentence, Renae Lawrence had her sentence mercifully curtailed and she was released and deported back to Australia. She has since consistently campaigned for the release of the remaining five who remain in Indonesian prisons.  Tan Duc Nguyen died of stomach cancer in 2018.

This Bali Nine saga has been controversial.  Why the Federal police chose to involve Indonesia remains a mystery  Had they waited and arrested the Bali Nine at an Australian airport they would have been subjected to Australian law penalties.  The smuggling attempt involved about eight kilo's of Heroin, valued at that time at four million dollars.  Had they been sentenced here in Australia they would probably be nearing release about now.

Renae Lawrence is asking prime minister Scott Morrison to intercede with the Indonesian president, who is currently visiting Australia.   The best she can hope for would be a prisoner swap in which the Bali Nine would serve their time here in an Australian prison.  It is not suggested that the term be shortened, just that the families would be spared the expense of travelling to Indonesia to visit their children and the prisoners would be subjected to Australian values in their cuisine and the newspapers they read and television they watch.  An equal number of Indonesians in Australian prisons would be shipped home to complete their sentence in their home country.

Drug sentencing is a sensitive political issue in Indonesia and this would need to be handled carefully.  Indonesia would expect these prisoners to eventually die in an Australian prison and that would not sit well with the prison reform movement here, but as things stand there is little likelihood  of that life sentence gaining remission in Indonesia.  With the Indonesian president on Australian soil, this is probably an ideal time to ask for this concession.

Unfortunately the Bali Nine acted with youthful bravado and were dismissive of the risks involved.  The outcome has been tragic, for them and their families.   The only remaining hope is they can be spared eventual death in a foreign jail if this repatriation deal can be arranged.

Union Tactics Stop Trains !

The New South Wales government has been spending big money to replace the ageing fleet of trains that serve to link country with the city.  Fifty five new trains containing five hundred and fifty new carriages are on order from South Korea and the expenditure will run to two billion dollars.

The first shots in a coming war have been fired by the militant train union with a claim the trains are unsafe and that their members will refuse to operate them unless their safety concerns are met.  The first of these new trains has arrived in Sydney for testing and it is obvious to most observers that this is all about job protection.

What has raised union ire is the sophisticated use of  cameras to monitor passenger movement on and off at stations and to observe passenger safety and security during the rail journey.  Where this identical train design is used overseas it is staffed by just a driver and the union suspects that the government is planning a similar operation long term here.

The government has made it plain that each train will have a driver - and a guard.  The union has manufactured a complaint over automatic train door openings as a safety issue.  They will only open when the train has come to a complete stop while in the ageing fleet they can be opened and shut by the guard while the train is moving.

The union also complains that passengers can slip between the train and the station while boarding or leaving the train.  This is a risk present with the existing trains and will only be eliminated when stations are upgraded to achieve a closer tolerance.  The camera system allows the driver an unimpeded view of the entire length of the train while it is in a station.

Clearly, the rail unions are using safety to try and force a long term guarantee from the government that the guard position will not be eliminated later.  This is running against the pattern now in place on the world train system and raises questions on the duty of a guard.

Back in the steam age the guard rode in the caboose at the back of the train and carried red  and green flags.  He supervised passengers getting on and off at stations and signalled the driver when the train could safely resume its journey.  He could give assistance to aged passengers and help women with children and prams, but today that task is met by station staff.

In some overseas rail systems the guard has been renamed the " conductor " and the job entails moving through the train and checking that passengers have a valid ticket, but that usually applies to overnight trains with sleeping accommodation.

It seems likely that there will be delays in getting these new trains running on time because of this contrived safety problem.  It is unreasonable to expect the government to give an unlimited guarantee on future staffing and that issue needs to be resolved when - and if - it ever eventuates.

The rail unions are putting job safety well ahead of the needs of the travelling public  !

Changing the Tax Regime !

Every year the efficiency of those solar photo-voltaic cells we have on the roof of our homes to convert sunlight into electricity notches a little higher and its production cost slips lower.  The car industry has long dreamed of the evolution of an electric car that generates its own fuel from sunlight, but that seems impossible given the lack of sunlight on stormy days and the need to use cars at night.

The car industry is very interested in Australia's Solar Challenge which is a race from Darwin to Adelaide by cars built to run solely on solar energy.  Both the times and the speed improve each year and the statistics over this three thousand mile event have become impressive.

All the major car manufacturers are running tests to integrate solar into cars of the future and Toyota now claims that its rooftop model is capable of adding up to fifty kilometres a day to the range of its electric cars.  It seems inevitable that we will soon see cars with solar in place to constantly renew some of  the charge in the car batteries on sunny days.

That will be another headache for the planners trying to devise a way to recover the tax levied on petrol and diesel when electricity replaces that fuel source.  The option of taxing the electricity that flows through fast charging stations would be unworkable if cars could be recharged through the householders electricity supply and from solar built into the car roof.

That tax on oil products was perhaps the perfect tax regime. Petrol or diesel were essential for the internal combustion engine, and the tax was collected at the fuel pump.  It is becoming evident that many households will disconnect from the state electricity supply and install a battery to keep the lights burning at night and the family car will avoid the government fuel tax regime by drawing from this same source.

A need for a new fuel tax is becoming urgent.  The number of hybrid cars on the road is ever increasing with lower demand for petrol and it seems we are on the cusp of the all electric car becoming a production model.  As things stand, hybrid and electric car owners are enjoying a reprieve from fuel taxes and eventually this will cut into the government tax take unless a movement tax replaces the tax on fuel.

A movement tax is the only option, given both the present and future vagaries of the electricity supply.  The technology that applies to mobile phones is able to determine the actual location and movement of vehicles and the tax would vary between peak and off-peak use and the traffic density involved.  It could deliver a fairer outcome by eliminating the fixed standing charges of registration that make car ownership expensive.

Putting that in place is complex. Fuel tax is a Federal responsibility while car registration and insurance comes under state legislation..  For a time a movement tax and petrol tax will need to exist side by side as the car fleet embraces both fuel types simueltanously.  The government is probably waiting for the arrival of 5G to deliver the Australia wide cover that would make a movement tax viable.

The one thing that is absolutely certain is the tax on car fuel has to change as electric cars gain a greater share of the market.

Money Market Mooves !

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is very keen to enact a new laws to make it illegal to use cash money above ten thousand dollars in any transaction and this is being resisted by his party members.  The move has the support of the tax office which is looking for ways to defeat the " black economy " and cash laundering is a constant tactic used in the drug trade as criminals try to hide their vast profits.

Cash is already embargoed with sanctions.  Anyone offering cash above ten thousand dollars can expect the tax office knocking on their door with a demand they explain the source of that money. All cash transactions above ten thousand dollars must be reported and heavy penalties exist for any breach of that law.

There is suspicion that this rush to implement cash illegality has more to do with interest rates and the Australian banking system than meets the eye.   The Reserve bank has been steadily lowering interest rates to try and goose the economy and they are now at a low of 0.75 percent.  They would probably have gone even lower has not the bushfire crisis and the Coronavirus burst upon the economic  scene.   The Reserve bank meets on the first Tuesday of every month and the money market awaits in fear of another fall in interest rates.

The problem is the vast array of retired Australians who have accepted their superannuation in a lump sum and have the money invested in a term account with a bank.   They live off the interest it draws and this ever lower official interest rate is squeezing their income and driving them to distraction.  The share market is at a record high of over 7000 but many think that is too risky a gamble and stick rigidly to the term deposit routine.

Economists are unsure of what lays ahead.  Some see another rate cut on the cards and some even think we may descend to the situation that occurred in Europe during the 2008 recession.  The banks there resorted to negative gearing.   They paid no interest on term deposits, and in fact charged customers for minding their money by keeping it in their care.  That is a distinct possibility if rates are abysmally low and we encounter even a mild recession.

What the government fears is those retirees pulling their money out of the bank if negative interest rates apply and buying a safe  or stuffing it under the mattress.  That would be a disaster for the banks.  They are happily writing mortgage business and general lending using the cheap money from our term deposits.  If they were forced to replace that money in the money market their costs would skyrocket and we would have a recession on our hands.

It would be only a short step to move from making cash purchases of over ten thousand illegal - to making it illegal to have money in excess of ten thousand dollars in your home.  This would be justified as a legitimate method of flushing out drug profits held by the crime syndicates. It would also lock retirees into the term deposit option.

When politicians come up with bright ideas it is always wise to look for hidden agendas.

Robodebt was Illegal !

Internal emails revealed in the Federal parliament show that the Social Services department which controls Centrelink was advised by the Australian Tax department that its overpayment  recovery programme - known as " Robodebt " - was illegal.

These debts were based solely on DSS own income averaging of ATO annual tax data and not lawful debt.  The Robodebt system matched  tax office and Centrelink data to claw back overpaid welfare payments with recipients contacted by the system and told they had to prove they did not owe the flagged debt.

The onus was not on Centrelink to prove they owed the money but on them to prove otherwise. Ordinary citizens were confronted with the bewildering array of government jargon contained in the legislation that authorised payments which was usually way beyond their level of understanding.  All the recovery weapons were in Centrelink's hands.   They had the authority to intercept tax refunds and withdraw money from bank accounts.  If all else fails they had the option to call in the bailiffs and sell up the debtors property.

The anguish this caused was unimaginable.  It is highly likely that despair contributed to some suicides and in many cases the debtor simply paid the debt because no other reasonable action was available to them.  They repaid money they did not legally owe the government.  When the matter later went to a Federal court it delivered a finding that the scheme was unlawful.

Robodebt is now a dead issue and recovery has ceased.  The appropriate Federal minister has introduced legislation to change the recording of recipients income to when paid rather than when earned and it is believed that this will prevent people being paid the wrong amount of welfare.

There is no doubt that Robodebt persisted far too long after its shortcomings became evident.  The anguish and injustice it was causing received wide publicity and yet the department was relentless in seeking recovery of debt its own assessors must have known it could not reasonably and lawfully substantiate in court.  It was a giant bluff that used the government's coercive power to force compliance.

It is quite possible that some clients have not applied for benefits to which they are legally entitled because of fear of becoming involved in heavy handed recovery action, and the people who have paid this Robodebt which was unlawfully levied, should have those payments returned.

This whole Robodebt fiasco throws doubt on the governments integrity and honesty.  We expect better of the men and women we send to occupy the Treasury benches and not least is the expectation that they will look after the interests of the people of Australia.

Robodebt was certainly not their finest hour. Unless they improve their performance it will have consequences !

The Opioid Crisis !

According to the latest Coronial Information report, in 2016 opioids killed more people in Australia than the road toll.  We recorded almost 8500 deaths from a substance that is supposed to relieve pain and is often prescribed to ease the aftermath of surgery.  The problem is that it is addictive and once it gets its grip on people that hold becomes relentless.

In fact, Australia has the eighth highest opioid consumption in the world.  Out of 167 countries and territories its ahead of New Zealand and the United Kingdom but still far behind the United States which recorded an estimated 400,000 lost lives since 1999.

Opioids are a legitimate pain killing product produced by big Pharma and like other commercial products it is subjected to normal marketing pressures.  The companies employ sales representatives who make calls on doctors in their surgeries to extol the benefits of their products and they often make their calls with gifts.  Usually these are handy medical products like blood pressure monitors which feature the company name and serve as a constant reminder to the doctor and staff of those company products.

The pharmaceutical industry is also famous for sponsoring medical conferences, dinners and training seminars in which doctors and their partners are flown to an exotic holiday destination where important information is dispensed by leading medical specialists.  There is usually adequate time set aside for sightseeing and hospitality and this tends to result in the sponsoring companies products gaining goodwill regard.  It is a legitimate way of promoting the sale of the sponsors products.

Medical products containing opioids that could be purchased over the counter without the need for a prescription were recently removed from sale and doctors were urged to think twice before writing scripts and transfer patients to safer non addictive medication.  It was noted that patients in the grip of addiction would resist but it was hoped that the medical profession would be the fulcrum that would break the opioid crisis in this country.

Such is the opioid hold that many of the addicted  resorted to what is called " doctor shopping ".  They became patients of a number of doctors in well diversified suburbs and from each they gained a script for a small amount of opioids.  The time factor between visits did not invite suspicion but the cumulation of opioids gained served to meet the needs of their growing addiction.

This was foreseen when opioid sales were removed from sale from chemists shelves and sixteen million dollars was voted from parliament to setup a monitoring scheme to bring this practice to attention.   The combination of the need for each individual medical card number to be recorded at each doctor visit and the computerised data base of the PBS would quickly identify the people using the " doctor shopping " ploy and bring it to the attention of the doctors concerned.

Sadly, three years after this was supposed to be implemented it remains a " work in progress " and a commencement date can not be determined.   What is not surprising is the reaction that would have occurred had it been the road toll that reversed the spike in deaths and not the opioid crisis.  The politicians would be howling like banshees and the cops would be under pressure to rule the road with an iron fist and adopt harsher life saving tactics.

Such is the pace of political expediency  !

Changes to Retirement Planning !

At the start of the twentieth century superannuation was something reserved for the executive staff of banks, insurance companies and a few other large trading corporations   The expectation of ordinary wage earners was that retirement delivered a very frugal life sustained by the old age pension.

By the mid point of that century superannuation was steadily becoming more widely accessible in the workplace.  It was common for many people to work for the same employer for all of their working life and industry saw it as a way of ensuring loyalty.  An employee with a growing retirement nest egg was unlikely to be poached away by a competitor offering a small pay increase.

Eventually, the government became alarmed at the numbers predicted to be eligible for the aged pension as our population grew and implemented a national superannuation scheme which required employers to contribute a percentage of the wage paid into a retirement account.  The aim was to have all citizens retire without need for the aged pension.

Unfortunately, there are gaping holes in this ambition.  People who constantly changed jobs ended up with small amounts scattered in numerous funds with poor earning capacity.  It missed the target on those who are self employed and women usually fell short of an adequate retirement because they were paid less than men, often left the workforce to have children and lived longer in old age.  These shortages are expanding as we embrace the gig economy and the workforce has changed from permanent to casual employment.

The government plans to lift the employer contribution from 9% to 12% and there is a fear that this will continue the wage stagnation that is currently evident.  We live in an ever changing world and this entire retirement issue needs a new planning approach if it is to avoid the same problems that are seeing many retire with insufficient savings to fund their lifestyle.

One of the deficiencies of the present system concerns our Indigenous people. Unfortunately, they do not enjoy the same longevity as out non-indigenous citizens of whom men live for 80.2 years and woman  83.4.   In comparison, Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders achieve 71.6 years for men and 75.6 for women.

Despite this shorter lifestyle, the age at which they can access their superannuation is the same for both of the indigenous and non-indigenous groupings.  Given those lifetime discrepancies it would not be unreasonable to expect them to gain access earlier to compensate for the much shorter time they will experience in retirement.

Tinkering at the edges of the national retirement policy will only perpetuate the same mistakes.  Now would be the right time to take it apart and reconstitute what needs to be done to take into account the changes that are taking place in employment in Australia, and that may include the tax that apply to the gig economy to compensate for the lack of money it contributes to the retirement pool.

Disrupting Home Prices !

The machinations of the International Monetary Fund are of little interest to most householders but a change at the top is about to impact on house finance and it seems an absolute certainty that we about to see the greatest market change in a hundred years.

When legendary Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde headed the fund it ignored global warming and concentrated on market stability.  The recession that hit in 2008 caused a momentary scare, but a scarcity of buyers and a drop in the asking price quickly evaporated and the price spiral recovered its ever upward climb.

The new managing director of the International Monetary Fund is Kristalina Georgeiva (66), an environmental economist from Bulgaria.  The cities of the world that are leading this housing price spiral are Sydney and Hong Kong and here the median house price is hovering close to a million dollars.  What is being studiously ignored is the effect rising sea levels will have on land fronting beaches and where building on river flood plains is now expanding.  Science tells us this will be very apparent by the middle of this century - and that is just thirty years away.

We have had a  waning of what to expect.  In 2016 a storm off our east coast created a sea surge that stripped away beaches at Collaroy and destroyed the foundations of a group of beachfront homes.  Both the oil and the coal industries have been spreading doubt on global warming in an effort to protect their markets and the very homes that are most at risk are the ones attracting the highest resale prices.  These days a home fronting onto a beach is a multi million dollar proposition and usually attracts a mortgage that reflects that price tag.

The demand for new homes is seeing new estates built on flood plains beside rivers with the claim that they may see hundred year flood events.  A rising sea delivers rising river levels and within the span of many existing mortgages that flood may be a matter of when the daily high tide arrives.  That the banks are still freely lending for properties that will be subjected to flooding is madness.

It is likely that the diktat of the International Monetary Fund is about to bring change and for ordinary citizens the financial aspect can be devastating.  The price expectation of the home we live in is the foundation of our personal wealth.  What it is worth is decided by what others are prepared to pay for it and if the banks refuse to finance new loans that value will drop very sharply.   It seems obvious that this global warming equation and rising sea level is about to impact on the valuation of all low land - and it is the priciest suburbs that will be hit the hardest.

The banks have been ignoring this risk because the seeming inevitability of ever upward house price inflation has brought stability.  Should a borrower default on a loan, returning the home to the market ensures a plurality of buyers and now the long term effect of climate change on house prices is about to impact on those  areas which will feel the first effects of rising sea levels.

It was inevitable that this housing price bubble would eventually burst but the effect will be felt hardest on the areas which presently are the most attractive to buyers.  It is the ambition of many to live in a beach front home, and that home price is accordingly high.

It seems that home elevation on a flood map will be the new valuation index that will determine mortgage eligibility - and the price level  !

Driving Home the Message !

A hot summer Sunday night in Sydney.  Seven children were walking in a group on a footpath, some with pushbikes when a Mitsubishi Triton SUV ran a red light off busy Pennant Hills road and roared into their street, swerving over double lines to overtake a slower car on the wrong side of the road. Somehow the driver lost control and it mounted the kerb - and slammed into that group of children.

Four died on that roadside. Three - from the same family - were killed. Another - a cousin - was critically injured and the others are in  hospital with serious injuries.  The driver was a 29 year old man and a breath test allegedly returned a reading of .150, nearly four times over the legal alcohol limit.  He was arrested and charged with twenty offences which include manslaughter,  dangerous driving causing death and high range drink driving.  It seems inevitable that he will serve a lengthy prison sentence.

This is a tragedy for the family that lost three of their children to an act of stupidity.  Seeing those dreadful pictures on television probably  revived memories for many viewers of times they have driven home drunk - and had the good luck to avoid causing a similar accident.  There are few of us who have not at some time in our lives driven a car when affected with alcohol.

That killer driver is probably a nice young man in most other aspects, but today he is protected from other prisoners because he will be a marked man in the prison system.  Whatever career he was following will be disrupted and his life is changed forever.  The death of those children will forever haunt his imagination.

Once again the authorities juggle the question of how we get drunk or drug affected drivers off the road.  The good news is that this is a declining offence and that can clearly be sheeted home to random breath testing.  We were much more likely to have a few drinks and drive before those booze buses put fear into the equation and the percentage caught drink driving edges slowly lower.  The money it takes to mount a saturation breath test programme is money well spent because that is what gets through to the average driver.   It is the fear factor that a breath test can take place - anywhere and at any time.

Unfortunately, there is an element that does not respond to reason.   They are usually young and out of control and often behind the wheel of a stolen car.  They delight in outrunning police pursuits and when their driving license is suspended they drive regardless.  Usually, they are well known to the police and there is a need for them to be given special attention.  It is time that driving with a cancelled license automatically sees the offender serve a prison sentence.

We will never totally eliminate the drunken driver until self driving cars eliminate humans from behind the wheel.  The biggest problem is the driver who does not set out to exceed the drink limit but gets carried away with the bonhomie - and finds himself or herself on the wrong side of that .05 limit.   That is where the decision to call a cab - or drive home regardless is critical.

Making that right decision will probably hinge on the fear factor from   seeing those flashing blue lights and  breath testing taking place at all times of the day and night.   That is proving the most effective weapon in reducing drink driving !

Life After the EU !

After forty seven years of membership, Britain has finally severed its connection to the EU, but in the worst possible circumstances.   For the next year it will be subjected to the EU rules but will not have a vote in the decision making process.  That will be a time of negotiation to decide the terms that will apply to this " divorce " settlement and it is quite possible that twelve months from now a " no deal " exit may still be the final outcome.

Britain is negotiating from a position of weakness because all the power is now with the remaining EU members.  They have a vested interest in not making the terms of partition too generous to discourage other unhappy member countries from bolting out the door.   So far, the British problems with negotiating an orderly exit have tamped down discontent in the rank and file.

The big issue is how Britain will trade with the other EU countries.   The EU started out as a common market in which member countries gave preference to the goods exchanged between one another.  As an outsider, Britain is no longer entitled to that preference.  The old British empire has evaporated and Britain must stand on its own two feet and trade with the rest of the world.   This may not be welcomed if it disrupts existing trading block arrangements.

Perhaps the greatest area of friction may be within Britain itself.  A great number of the population voted at the referendum to remain in the EU and lost by a small margin.  Scotland is likely to demand another vote on remaining within the United Kingdom and hopes to re-join the EU.   That land border question in Ireland remains explosive and will doubtlessly dog the negotiations to arrange the final outcome of Britain's withdrawal from the EU.

Some EU members may re-engage old disputes with Britain now their vote is vital in seeking a settlement.  The status of Gibraltar is an old sore with Spain and may prove a hindrance in getting Spanish acceptance to withdrawal terms.  In the past Spain has closed the border and disconnected telephone contact to stop Spanish workers accessing the colony.  Britain would be wise to remember the Argentinian invasion of the Falkland islands when it thought Britain was distracted.

The biggest question is whether the people of Britain will enjoy what they term " getting their country back ".  Britain will still be the preferred destination for those escaping intolerant regimes and vast pools of refugees still exist on the continent awaiting a chance to cross the English channel. Britain neither changed its currency to the Euro or took part in the free movement across borders without passports or visas so it was spared the worst of change within the EU and it will still be subject to the International Court of Justice.

Perhaps this new " freedom " is mainly an illusion.  The blame for a changing world was sheeted home to EU membership.  There is no going back to an earlier world when Britain was head to a vast empire and " ruled the waves ".   Now it is a matter of fitting in to what may prove to be an unfriendly world of the future.

Limiting Purchasing Choice !

Aldous Huxley predicted in his book that in 1984 our lives would be controlled by a " Big Brother " appointed by the government.   That date came and went without incident, but today we are nearer the scenario described in " Animal Farm ",    Some are more equal than others !

We seem to be on the cusp of seeing a cashless welfare card displacing the practices of putting money in people's bank accounts.  The government despairs that too many people simply waste the largesse the government provides on alcohol, tobacco and gambling and in many cases this results in both domestic violence and their dependents living in poverty.

The results from trials of this system are promising.  The statistics show that in rural test areas where the cashless card applied there was a sharp decrease in alcohol sales and police responded to fewer callouts of a domestic violence nature.  These trial were carried out in Bundaberg and  Hervey Bay in Queensland,  Ceduna in South Australia and Western Australia's Kimberley region.  Significantly, all had a significant indigenous population.

The operational function is fairly simple.  This cashless card can only be used in nominated stores where it will not be accepted for the purchase of alcohol, tobacco or for any form of gambling. It can be used for domestic outgoings such as rent, electricity and gas, but the balance in the account can not be converted into a cash withdrawal.

This outcome has the government thinking of applying the system to all forms of welfare and obviously it would be resented by the vast majority of recipients who handle their benefits wisely. Its application would also distort the integrity of the market place because many shops would be excluded from the supply chain and only selected big stores with scanning equipment in place would be nominated as supply points.

This type of goods policing is specially applicable to both Coles and Woolworths.  All their merchandise passes through a scanner at point of sale and the computer can be programmed to reject a wide variety of items that fail this welfare test.  Exclusion of welfare spending from cafes and the general shopping diaspora would seriously disadvantage retail shopping centres.

This cashless card idea might be better suited for application on a more limited basis.  An alcoholic or a person addicted to drugs might request that card as a way of curbing their spending habits, but applying it to all forms of welfare would be a slap in the face for the vast number of people who manage their money well.

It also opens the door to a sharper approach to lifestyle management.  We are constantly urged to avoid sugary soda drinks that expand waistlines.  It would be tempting to exclude such fare from purchase with cashless welfare cards on a public health basis but that is just the type of intrusion that once started can be endless.

The government might be wise to avoid applying the cashless welfare card to all forms of welfare. It might be better selectively applied where spending is out of control, resulting in repeat police attention to respond to domestic violence and child protection.

What is really at issue here is " ownership " of money distributed by act of parliament.  At this point spending it is at the discretion of the recipient.  The cashless welfare card brings those decisions back under government control !

Wiring the World !

That old adage that a " chain is only as strong as its weakest link " applies to the 5G communications network which will become reality across the world later this year.  It is the inevitable advance of personal communication systems linked to the internet that arrived scores of years ago with a handset about the size of a brick.  5G promises an interconnected  world which will deliver marvels way beyond the realm of human imagination.

Britain's prime minister, Boris Johnston has just caved in to pressure from China and announced that he will allow Huawei to supply component parts for Britain's 5G network.  This breaks a world consensus aimed at keeping this Chinese technology giant from slipping backdoor entry points into the system that will allow China's homeland security services to eavesdrop on personal conversations and steal sensitive trade secrets from commercial traffic.

Johnston dismisses this concern when he claims that Huawei will only be allowed to supply perimeter equipment which is separated from the core.  Across the world the leading operators of 5G services are implacable that the core and radio services are so integrated that they can not be separated.  This British decision is putting 5G at risk of being rejected as the communication channel between the " Five Eyes " intelligence network shared between the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.  These countries would not transmit information that might be intercepted by China.

The Communist system of government in China is closely linked to industry and it is known that Huawei is integrated with Chinese state security.  Inviting Huawei into supplying 5G components would be similar to allowing the KGB  to run the world telephone network back in the days of the cold war.

There is the expectation that when 5G goes into full operation the relentless advance of computers running essential services will achieve even more power and disruption as a war weapon would be completely devastating.  Even now, a communication break shuts down the banking system, brings the supply of electric power to a standstill with the trains and trams no longer moving people and the petrol stations unable to provide petrol for car transport.  Australia - and the world - would grind to a halt if the computer network stopped working.

The ability of the computer will be further advanced by the 5G system and it is inevitable that human minds will apply it to more functions in the interests of efficiency and cost saving.  Our biggest fear has been a nuclear war that takes civilization back to the stone age.  Perhaps our growing reliance on the computer and the system that links them to our everyday living world is capable of delivering a similar event if it is open to sabotage.

Perhaps we are just too far along the way to a wired world to turn back.   Just like that nuclear bomb  ensuring the inability to wage war, perhaps the ability of the west to close down the entire 5G system might be sufficient to convince the Chinese to play by the rules.   In an interconnected world there can be no winners.  Perhaps the computer has replaced the atom bomb as the primary threat to the human species !

A Peace " Hoax " !

What an absolute joke !   Donald Trump, the president of the United States called a press conference and with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing at his side, announced their joint plan to solve the problem of finding a home for the displaced Palestinians now existing within the borders of the Israeli state.

Trump just happens to be only the third United States president ever facing impeachment for abuse of office and Netanyahu has been indicted for corruption and is fighting moves to make him face a judge and jury.  His hold on office is under threat.

What is so ludicrous about this plan is the absolute lack of a single Arab joining their press conference to give it support.  Two men who badly needed a distraction to take media attention away from their travails cobbled together a plan that gave the Israeli state what it wanted and  melded the scraps left over into a disjointed framework they had the effrontery to describe as a Palestinian state.

To add insult to injury. The Palestinians stated wish to have their capital in East Jerusalem has been granted, but Jerusalem will be the Israeli capital and the small area allocated to Palestinian control will be the less salubrious neighbourhood with boundary limits.

The Arabs have had a raw deal from the west over a very long time.  They fought with the victors in the first world war on the promise of an Arab state which was denied when the Middle East was carved up after the war by the victorious powers.  Then the second world war delivered the Nazi Holocaust and many European nations faced the shame of how complicit their citizens had been during the occupation in sending Jews to the concentration camps.   The survivors were unwanted in Europe and imposing a homeland in Palestine seemed an act of contrition which got universal support.

Israel has fought - and won - several wars against surrounding Arab armies and regards the Palestinians living within its borders as a " Fifth Column " that requires strict suppression. A peace deal has seemed close to agreement on several occasions but old enmities run deep and the Palestinians find themselves an oppressed people in what is now a Jewish state.   It seems to be the hope of the Israelis that this oppression will eventually cause them to migrate out of Israel and find a new home in the surrounding Arab countries.

This Trump and Netanyahu peace plan is going nowhere.  The Israeli war machine is fed and supplied by the United States and consequently it has an " edge " over surrounding armies.  As long as that continues it will survive in the Middle East and be close to perpetual war with its neighbours.  The only hope of a settlement rests on some change of world power in the future which is less  supportive of Israel and demands the contested land be divided into two states.

While the world chess board holds its present power pattern real change in the Middle East is highly unlikely  !