Lang Hancock, “Bizarre rights,”
The Australian, February 1, 1979, p. 6, as a letter to the editor.

Regarding the Prime Minister’s announcement that he is going to “introduce human rights legislation.”

Is he not aware that never before in Australia has there been such rights to speak freely, indeed, to denigrate one’s fellow man in the hearing of an entire nation; to publish anything and everything, including the most scurrilous gossip; to take drugs; to preach subversion; to propagandise for and publish bizarre sexual practices; to watch bloody and obscene entertainment?

Australians today are left free by the State to engage in activities that could, for the most part, be carried on just as readily in prisons, insane asylums and zoos.

The strange fact is that while Australians are constitutionally free today to do almost everything that our cultural tradition has previously held to be immoral and obscene, the police powers of the State are being invoked against almost every aspect of the economic productive process, so no one is free to pursue those activities which will give them a rising standard of living or ensure the well-being of the nation.

There has never been so little freedom before in Australia to exercise economic judgment to save, to invest, to build, to produce, to invent, to hire, to fire, to resist coercive unionisation, to exchange goods and services, to risk, to profit, to grow.

Conversely, monopoly, compulsion and tyranny rule the world of work — compulsory unionism, disruptive strikes, government monopolies which hold the people to ransom.

In other words we are controlled today by the most diabolical of all dictatorships — economic dictatorship.

Seeing that there can be no freedom without economic freedom, might I suggest, Mr Fraser, that instead of introducing further useless restrictive legislation you start unwinding the laws that have caused such a bureaucratic stranglehold on Australia’s economic life and leave the hypocritical facade of human rights to Jimmy Carter.

LANG HANCOCK
Perth, WA

*****

Vernon Wilcox, “Freeing freedom,”
The Australian, February 9, 1979, p. 10, as a letter to the editor.

Lang Hancock (1/2) speaks about economic dictatorship and makes the vital point that without economic freedom there can be no freedom at all.

I am sure that human rights bills, constitutions, etc finally mean nothing, unless there is economic freedom. In other words, it is only the dispersal of economic power which can guarantee the freedom of citizens or, if they like it more simply, their freedom of choice.

The editorial on the same day spoke of the way in which the bureaucracy at Canberra has gradually got on top of the Fraser Government. Bigger government, higher taxes — of course, they go together, and bring about a community stifled by the dead hand of government.

I have reluctantly come to the conclusion, that, these days, our political parties are not really close to the aspirations of the majority of Australians.

Too much government — at all levels. It is encouraging to see confirmation of views I have expressed, but it is much more important that the politicians realise that a majority of Australians are tired of so much government, and some are starting to realise how this strangles their freedoms. All the bills on human rights or any other legislation are “not worth a crumpet” without economic freedom, which is the only final guarantee of individual freedom.

VERNON WILCOX
Melbourne, Vic