THE LUCKY COUNTRY

There was a protest march in Melbourne this week. Started at the Trades Hall and thousands of unionists and Labor supporters voted with their feet and heard speeches by Kim Beazley and the new Trades Hall Council secretary, Brian Boyd, and the boss of the ACTU, Greg Combet. And Rob Hulls. And, for some obscure reason, the radical pastor, Father Peter Norden. Talk about the separation of church and state.

Their target was the Howard Government, which last year was elected to its fourth term in office, and the changes to our industrial relations system. It was also motivated by the fear that when Parliament reopens next month John Howard will have complete control of the Senate. The Labor Party, the Dems, the Greens, will be political eunuchs in the upstairs chamber.

And dozens of bills that have been blocked in the Senate can now be rammed through… including things like cross-media legislation and the final sale of the last pieces of Telstra. (I believe Telstra should be out there competing in the real world without Government involvement. And I acknowledge that I am a Telstra shareholder although I sold some of those shares recently).

I saw the TV news footage of the Labor demo and thought: You guys don’t know how good we have got it.

Maybe it is because I have just returned from a trip to Greece, France and Athens, and my credit card is still in meltdown.

On my return i saw a newspaper headline that said: rude shock. Get ready for $1.20 a litre. It was a story about Prime Minister Howard and his admission that petrol prices could go up yet again, with crude oil hitting $60 a barrel, and he can’t do anything about it.

Tell that to people in Europe. They would love to be paying ONLY the Euro equivalent of $1.20.

I know it sounds corny. Even perhaps, naïve. And maybe it is because I have just returned from a wallet-busting trip to Europe. But: there is no place like home. I truly believe that this IS the lucky country. Some of us, including some of those protesting marchers this week, don’t know how good we have got it.

As I wrote in a column from Greece, the Euro has crippled people in so many countries. How these people survive I do not know. No wonder the Italians have launched a campaign to bring back the lira and the British stubbornly, even truculently, stuck with the pound. Although that’s not much help to Australians where the three-to-one ratio means a single section on The underground costs you six Aussie dollars.

On the Champs Elysee in Paris two croissants and a bottle of water and a Heineken beer – at an ordinary café – cost the equivalent of 32 Australian dollars.

A cab ride from Heathrow Airport in London to Kensington cost the equivalent of $A140.

I sound like I am harping on the issue of wages but I don’t think Australians know how good we have got it. There was a court-ordered increase in the basic wage of $17 a week the other day and people bitched about out.

Ask an American worker on the basic wage there what they would think of that. I know waiters and bar tenders who earn a pittance and get up each day and go to work and pray they get good tips.

There are faults here. I don’t look at our country through rose-coloured glasses. If I were a Prime Minister or Premier I would make three things my priority. Health, education and public transport.

We do need better, cheaper, faster medical services. The waiting lists for so-called “elective surgery” are scandalous. And it is not “ elective surgery” -- as I have written before. It is non-emergency surgery. An elderly man or a woman who requires a hip replacement or needs a knee fixed is not in there for “elective surgery”. The fact that they may be on a waiting list for two years after paying taxes for fifty years is a disgrace.

We need smaller classes in our schools. And we need faster, safer, cleaner trams and trains. And bring back the connies.

I am told that on 3AW I sometimes sound like an apologist for Liberal Governments. Not true. The Australian people have decided that in every state and territory they want Labor Governments.

Federally, after the bitter, vindictive, self-destructing and self-serving Latham experience, the voters decided to stay with Howard. Yet again.

But I will pass on one complaint. Even though he didn’t, wouldn’t, use his full name.

The e-mail said:

I am not a member of the ALP,but I must say I thought your first hour of today’s show was a blatant piece of Liberal party crap.You only took calls from obviously paid up members of the Liberalparty,bar one.You cut him off,with the ridiculous statement that "We've never had it so good".This shows how little you really know about life in the suburbs.People are really strugglinTose on low incomes like me are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet.Charity organisations like the Smith family are flat out.The gap between rich and poor has never been bigger. The unemployment figures are a joke.Y are not counted as unemployed if you work one lousy hour per week,real unemploument figures are far higher than that. Also just wait until interest rates start moving up,that is when thousands of people will lose their homes.Finally when little Johnny gets control of the Senate,that is when the shit will really hit the fan.Just wait till the masses start losing their penalty rates,leave loading,long service leave,and a host of other benefits,and are forced to sign AWA's and then be unfairly dismissed.THAT is when the pendulum will finally swing against Howard,the little arrogant bastard is too cocksure,and he will crash,the people will turn against him over these IR reforms.Finally, how about a bit of balance on your show,why not mention the huge tensions between Costello and Howard.They despise each other,but you are turning your show into the Liberal hour by giving the Libs so many free kicks. Cheers, Stephen.

HINCH SAYS: Obviously, I don’t agree. I still think Australia IS the lucky country. And it is great to be home.

July 3, 2005

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2005