In Part 1 of this article, Oscar Tamsen deals with the way our modern and fast changing society and government agencies are using our personal and national taxpayer funds, often without due recognition of the outcome. Oscar instanced, for example, how $164,000 of government grant monies in the academic sphere paid for a university study of magical spells and rituals from the Second to the Fifth Centuries AD.
Although one must be very cognisant of the importance of real academic research funded by our Australiab public purse, it is, however, vital that the vast number of irrelevant studies of this nature should provide an outcome of benefit to the nation as such.
From my personal research of academic grants provided by the Federal Government under all political persuasions, literally millions of dollars are being wasted on what I would call ‘pie-in-the-sky’ matters of little meaningful substance.
What about the expenditure of $150,000 on a study into the impact of silver mining to make coins in Athens between the years of 550 BC and 480 BC? One may well ask, what relevance is that to our progress as a nation and to our economy.
Yet another of many examples of this wastage is the $65,000 invested into discovering the number of people who read Thomas Keneally’s books. One would think that the only person in Australia interested in this outcome would be Mr Keneally’s private publisher.
I was also curious when I discovered that $200,000 had been invested into studying what young Australian children are learning about sex, love and relationships.
We have also spent $370,000 on the effect of people’s “physiological plasticity” when confronted by things on which they do not agree. Or $265,000 on higher education in the Eastern Roman Empire in the years 300 BC to 500 AD.
And so, the long list goes on, accounting for multiple millions of dollars which could be better directed to truly realistic studies providing essential knowledge to our fast-changing country and economy.
Certain official institutions in Australia at present do not seem to realise which way to handle our national and personal finances to prevent a general and dangerous downturn at a crucial time when the economy is, and has been, severely squeezed.
The Reserve Bank has admitted certain previous inaction over reducing interest rates when possible; the Government is overspending, and continued inflation is threatening a severe economic imbalance.
All this is very similar to the 1930s before the Great Depression and the Second World War.
Particularly reminiscent of this unfortunate historic fact is the way the Australian economy is starting to seriously suffer from commercial middlemen who have become too apt to overcharge consumers, sometimes with offers of discounted prices actually far higher than their normal standard charges.
In addition to this, some middlemen working as providers of government social and financial assistance funds for essential goods and services are profiting far too highly from certain government N.D.I.S. and aged care dollars for pensioners and others.
One of many tangible examples is provided by the budget of an aged person on a government assisted $37,000 Home Care Package 3. In this case, the person is charged $120 an hour for a home care cleaning, shopping or personal showering service involving a single worker. The final cost is made up of a basic $81 an hour charge (compared to $55 per hour required by commercial operators) to which is added an annual $11,328 management fee to each client — and there are tens of thousands of Home Care Package recipients throughout Australia.
When considering the management of government monies, one also has to consider Australia’s $4.9 billion annual foreign aid programme.
As it is, our national debt is now over $907 billion and fast going up to $1 trillion — a figure representing over a third of our total gross domestic product. Of this $907 billion overspend, over 30 per cent of the $41 billion annual interest on capital has to be paid to 40 foreign lenders including the World Bank.
The $4.9 billion we hand over each year in the form of aid works out to a payment of $200,000 a year by each and every person, both young and old, in this country.
This year alone, $2 billion is being spent within the Pacific region on climate change, gender equality and minor infrastructure. Similarly, in Southeast Asia, $1.3 billion is financing “transition to net zero climate change” with $20 million of this figure financing a gender-based violence prevention platform and enhancing Asian women’s empowerment. According to Government statements, “gender equality continues to be a focus” for its aid programmes.
In 2022-23, Australia provided $142.3 million to 59 non-government organisations of no political importance in 53 countries.
We have also been assisting Papua New Guinea to meet its national budget deficits and shortfalls. In the year 2022-23, $1.5 billion was paid out to both P.N.G. and certain Pacific islands.
Meanwhile, here in Australia we currently have 3.4 million men, women and children living well below the weekly breadline income of $489 a week for one adult and $1,027 for a couple with two children.
Quite obviously, foreign aid is important for strategic reasons in a worried world, but it should rather only be based on tangible foreign developments after we have satisfied our charity needs at home. This is the message we need to impress on all the political parties seeking national election in a matter of weeks’ time.
At this time of writing, literally all the leading political parties standing for that election are desperately promising their would-be voters’ noses billions of dollars of expensive ‘carrots’ at a time when Australia is one thousand billion (a trillion) dollars in debt — and growing!