A recipe for social structureBy ROB NEWITT(This is a one-off ... tasmaniantimes.com will not be publishing election manifestos of candidates, but presents Rob Newitt's political vision, unendorsed, as an example of democracy at its most heartfelt ...) In any democratic society, the government is elected by the populus to control the social structure of that society. The elected government has an obligation to ensure that the social structure within that society is fair and equal for all people. Governments are required to put into place policies that they have been elected on. This recipe is for a society that permits personal growth as well as meeting the needs of all those within the community. In the Beginning The true basis of any society is its peoples. Without people there is no community. The most important job in any society is the raising and care of children. This is the basic fundamental building block with which we build our communities. Therefore, the most important job in society is the care and wellbeing of our children. To facilitate this, when people make a conscious choice to have children, they must also understand that they have an obligation to the care of those children. In our modern society we have lost focus on what society truly is and the ramifications of this within our society. What our children need most is the love and attention of their parents, however with both parents working there is little time left to give to the children. This results in "latch key kids", and a breakdown in the family unit. What we need and how to get it This recipe is about changing the way we look at and administer our society. It will be presented in categories and is a complete package. The Living Wage To be able to give our children what they need in respect of parental care, we must first of all make sure that we have in place a structure that will allow this. Let me explain this as follows: If people make the conscious choice to have children, they must realize that they have an obligation to raise those children. Government also has an obligation to ensure that families are properly renumerated for this most important job. Too many families have both parents working to provide a substantial income to raise their children. This is where government should provide what I call a 'living wage'. For example, let's work on a thirty child childcare centre. It is government regulation that a carer is required for every ten children, so in a thirty child childcare centre we have three carers and lets say two administrative staff, a total of five employees. If a parent of those children was to stay at home and care for them, we have to look at what would happen. 1. Five employees of the childcare centre would lose their jobs, but thirty people have been extracted from the workforce to look after their children. The five employees of the childcare centre would then go into the workforce, leaving twenty five vacancies in the workforce. 2. Government would save money by not having to pay child care fees or subsidising the childcare centre. It would also save money (un-employment benefits) by twenty five unemployed people re-entering the workforce to fill the void. The benefits that flow from this are: * there is someone at home for the children when they come home from school. * Someone is home for the other parent when they have finished their day's work. * The household is more secure because there is someone there to guard it. * This has a flow on effect of reduced crime, which has an economic factor in relation to police and community vandalism. The 'living wage' will be paid to that parent that stays at home in this role. This will be paid fortnightly and indexed to the partner's income. It is not government's decision as to who stays at home, this is a decision that the family makes. Economy It is proposed for Tasmania to become an Independent Duty Free state, whilst still being part of the Commonwealth of Australia. This has many benefits for Tasmania, and would position it well in the global economy. We would find that many Australian businesses would relocate their head offices to Tasmania to enjoy the tax breaks that they would receive by being here. Taxation A user pays system is the fairest and most equitable of all. In this proposed system, GST will be increased from 10% to 15% across the board, nothing will be exempt. All stamp duty, payroll tax and other incidental taxes will be abolished. Personal income tax will be as follows: * Person no children up to $35,000 will pay no personal income tax * Person with children up to $45,000 will pay no personal income tax * Person no children $35,000 to $70,000 will pay 2.5% personal income tax * Person with children $45,000 to $90,000 will pay 2.5% personal income tax This taxation system will be graduated up until a person will pay no more than 10% personal income tax. The economic gain here is that the taxation department will be freed up from having to do so many personal income tax returns. To help the low income earners and self funded retirees they will be issued with a tax concession card. This will be set at 10% GST. Persons caught abusing their tax concession card will be warned in the first instance, have their card removed for 6 months in the second instance, and have their card removed entirely for any further breaches. Unemployment With the introduction of the living wage, we should see a reduction in unemployment. To get the state 'kick started' we need a major government employment initiative, this is the proposal: 1. To rebuild the state's rail network to encompass the whole of the state. This will lead to many jobs being created in the construction phase, and secondly in the operational stage. Rail is the fastest and most convenient mover of people and freight. By increasing the rail network not only do we provide employment for our people, but we also provide public transport and numerous tourist benefits. The value of rail cannot be over looked as is testament by the Federal Government of Australia, constructing the Alice Springs to Darwin rail link. Government Airline In Tasmania, an aircraft is no more than a metro bus with wings. It is an essential mode of transport for our island state. It is proposed for the government to start a 'state based' airline to provide the cheapest possible air fares for our people. By being government owned, it is not required to provide a dividend to a shareholder. It is only required to meet its overheads. If any other carrier wishes to operate within this state, they will have to match the fares of the government airline. This will ensure that people will be paying the cheapest possible airfare. Coastguard Being an island state Tasmania has different needs to the other states of the Commonwealth. Tasmania has more coastline than Victoria and NSW combined, yet we cannot get assistance to our mariners when they are in trouble. It is proposed to set up a state based coastguard. Initially we require a minimum of four boats to service our state. Each boat will be crewed by two police officers, two customs officers, two national parks officers and the remainder will be coastguard personnel. This is to ensure that they will be able to handle any situation that arises, eg. Smuggling, fisheries breaches, wildlife breaches and common law situations. Forestry and Logging It is understood that forestry and logging is an integral part of the Tasmanian economy. While this is to continue to provide timber for various reasons, it is also understood that we cannot continue to decimate our environment at the rate, which we presently do. To take the pressure off logging old forests and clear felling it is proposed to introduce genetically modified hemp growing. There are five clear industries that would arise from such a proposal. They are: 1. Paper manufacturing. Hemp provides the highest quality paper. 2. Rope manufacturing. Hemp is the toughest natural fibre to be made into rope. 3. Cloth making 4. Seed production, bird feed or stock feed 5. Oil production Hemp is an annual and therefore crops can be planted in the same ground year after year, as opposed to trees, which take thirty years to mature. We therefore should be able to produce more hemp product in thirty years of production than we can from one growth of trees. This is an economic bonus not only for our environment but also our farmers and rural workers. Oil Refinery Tasmania is currently held to ransom by having to import all of its fuel and oil. This can mean a dramatic increase in the cost of fuel and petrochemical products. It is proposed to build an oil refinery in Tasmania, so as to supply the local market. Any amount over and above what is required here can be sold off to the mainland or foreign clients. Tasmania would then be in a position to sell gas to the mainland via the Bass Strait gas link instead of importing it, another economic increase for the state. Essential Services There are some services that are essential to the every day living of all Tasmanians. These services are to stay in Government hands, to ensure that the people are not held to ransom by companies whose main priority is to provide a dividend to its shareholders. They are: * Power generation (Aurora/Hydro) * Public transport * Telecommunications * Postal services * Water/Sewerage services * Police/Security/Fire/Ambulance services Tasmania is to assume control over its borders, and will do so by means of a coastguard and internal military services. Federation of Australia has done nothing to help Tasmania in real terms. The Federal Government of Australia is controlled by the big power states of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, and as such, Tasmania has little, if any say in the running of the Commonwealth due to the voting structure. This is why it is necessary for Tasmanian Senators to stand together as a solid unit, to give us any say in Commonwealth policy. If Tasmanian people do not realize that this is necessary, then we will always be the 'poor nephew' of the Commonwealth. To this end, Tasmania needs a political party that has no affiliation or ties to a Federal Political party, because any Federal party member will do as their masters in Canberra dictate. Even State politicians who are tied to a Federal party will do as they are told. Tasmania needs and requires its own State based political party. Independent Tasmania Party The Independent Tasmania Party will be a State based political party that will work for the Tasmanian people for the betterment of Tasmania. It will not bow to the dictates of a Federal Political party, and work towards Tasmania becoming an independent duty free state.
Rob Newitt is gathering the 50 signatures necessary to nominate as
a candidate in the Federal Election. He says of himself: "I grew up in south east Tasmania
in the early seventies and had my sixteenth birthday two weeks after joining the Navy. I've been a railway shunter,
a bus captain,
truck driver, small farmer, and as a reult of injuries, a disability pensioner and Mr
Mum to two children. I am the current President of the North Hobart Junior Football Club, a Board
member of the North Hobart Football Club, and a board member of the Southern
Tasmanian Junior Football League. My belief in this state, and what it can do to survive in the corporate global world, is
both new and possible. It's a matter of paying people to work, instead
of paying people not to work. Don't be fooled by the Federal Government of Australia,
they care very little about Tasmania, because we don't pose enough of a political threat..........or so they think. I am
establishing a Tasmanian Federal Government party, aptly titled
"Independent Tasmania", with the purpose of making Tasmania a, duty free, independent state, whilst still part of the Commonwealth of Australia.
For information relating to this you can get me at, e-mail independentasmania@iprimus.com.au
RAPID RESPONSE EMAIL: What do you think? Sunday, September 5, 2004 |