8-9-06, 10:30 pm

Australia -- Coalition MPs met on Monday in Canberra and failed to come up with any worthwhile policy to control the spiralling petrol prices. There was a lot of talk about various alternatives such as ethanol and converting vehicles to LPG but nothing is to be done to control prices, stopping the obvious collusion between the oil companies or lowering GST and excise on petrol. More radical policies such as nationalising the oil companies or looking for alternative sources of supply outside of those controlled by British and American oil companies will not have crossed the minds of Coalition MPs. Nor is there any emphasis on the development of public transport.

The high price of petrol will flow through the economy and inevitably put the price of other commodities up as almost everything is transported by motor vehicles at some stage of its manufacture and sale. In turn, the higher petrol prices become a reason for putting up interest rates as we have just seen.

This spiral inevitably results in lowered living standards. And when workers and the trade unions make claims for higher wages to meet the higher cost of living they are told that this will put workers out of a job. Because nothing has been done to meet the oil crisis which has been steadily emerging as a major threat to the economies of many countries, Australia may well be facing a severe economic crisis in the not too distant future.

It is nonsense for the PM to suggest that prices may come down to $1.15 a litre when all the indications are that it is more likely to rise well above the present $1.40. Some commentators and forecasters suggest it will be closer to $2. This is a clear indication that the PM has little idea of the realities and dangers being created for the Australian economy by an over-reliance on oil. The Howard Government supports the Israel-promoted war in the Middle East, one consequence of which could be a widening of the war and massive disruption to world oil supplies. His policies are breath-taking in their short-sightedness.

For the Howard Government the oil companies are sacred cows not to be touched by any worthwhile investigation, let alone be controlled or made publicly accountable. Yet the government must act to control the oil companies, rather than the oil companies imposing their control and their selfish interests on the community.

While Australian governments, whether Liberal or Labor, have been privatising public enterprises regardless of the overall interests of the Australian economy, it is ridiculous to claim that the same governments cannot effectively control if not nationalise private companies in the interests of the people of Australia. It is the political will that is lacking as the monied power of the corporations dazzle the main political parties who also lack the courage to act against big capital.

For many years governments have done everything to promote private motor vehicles and the road haulage of goods, including subsidise the profits of private tollway operators. This has been at the expense of the rail system and use of coastal shipping. Public transport has not been supported and it is only now that the high cost of fuel is beginning to force motorists to use the much cheaper public transport.

A realistic policy to meet the present situation, which together with higher interest rates is having a devastating effect on living standards, must include:

∙ Massive investment in, expansion of and encouragement to use public transport; ∙ Removal of the GST and a reduction of excise duty levied on petrol; ∙ Measures to encourage a switch to LPG and natural gas; ∙ Support for research into alternative fuels including the use of electric and hydrogen powered vehicles; ∙ Diversification of the sources of oil supply and where possible the conclusion of trade agreements with suppliers on favourable terms for both suppliers and consumers; ∙ The planned use of Australia’s limited oil and gas resources regulating their domestic use and export to other countries; ∙ The public ownership of these resources which have lain in the ground for millions of years and can never be regarded as the property of this or that corporation; ∙ The public ownership of the refining and distributive networks of the oil companies to ensure that the public interest is served rather than the profit interests of the corporations.

From The Guardian