Strength of minnows and bigheads - Is-saħħa taż-żgħir u l-kbir

Earlier in March 2017, elections were held in the state of Western Australia (WA).  There was a change of government, nothing new.  The new government is made up of the Labor Party, which has turned the tables dramatically.  The Liberal Party, governing in coalition with the National Party, saw its share of the vote decline by 16%, a reduction which benefited mainly the Labor Party with 9% and the populist conservative party One Nation with 5%.

 

What struck me was not the change of government, which happens regularly in democracies, nor the scale of the shift in voting patterns, but what happened in one particular seat of that state, that of the Pilbara, a region of half a million square kilometres (as big as Spain) and a population of 50 thousand only (Birkirkara, Tas-Sliema and Ħal-Qormi in Malta together count more inhabitants).

 

The Pilbara is a place of remarkable natural beauty, one of the places I've been to in Australia.  The more memorable experiences were that of the Karijini National Park, full of narrow and steep canyons with freezing streams, and the colour red which serves as the universal backdrop to a green grass called spinefex and dark blue skies - simply spectacular.

 

The red colour is a clue to one of the two main industries in the Pilbara - iron ore (the other industry is gas).  Red is one of the colours of the mineral hematitie, which is an iron oxide (in other words, rust).  In fact, most of the iron exported from Australia comes from the Pilbara.1

 

When one remembers that Australia is the second largest source of iron ore in the world behind China,2 you could (perhaps) imagine the amount of money we're talking about.

 

So in the Pilbara, the head of the WA National Party governing with the Liberal Party, Brendon Grylls, proposed to increase an infrastructure tax paid by the huge companies digging for iron ore in that state, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, from 25¢ to $5 per tonne, to generate $7 billion over four years to solve the WA government's financial crisis.3

 

These companies were recently relieved when the price of iron orde doubled from its level a year back, and saw a substantial increase in their profits.4  Giving more money to the government is the last thing on their agenda.

 

So during the election, an association representing these companies which speak in billions, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy, paid $2 million for a public campaign to attack this proposal by Brendon Grylls, threatening voters with job losses and a lack of investment.

 

This campaign was so effective, and specific to Mr Grylls, that the National Party share of the vote was virtually the same as the previous one (lost less than 1% of the vote), but Mr Grylls lost 11.4% of his votes, and his seat has been called for the Labor Party, which disagrees with this policy (so it says).  So the mineral industry has invested $2 million to save $7 billion - not bad for an investment!

 

The WA Labor Party has forgotten that the Australian federal Labor Party had proposed something similar some years back.  It was the Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that in 2010 had wanted to introduce a federal tax on the mining of minerals.  Then, the mineral industry had spent $22 million in a campaign against Rudd,5 and again was hugely successful as his position was greatly weakened, eventually being replaced by Julia Gillard who approached the industry on her knees, and negotiated a new tax that provided revenue to her government the equivalent of a few Maltese cheese cakes, compared to the previous proposals.

 

Until now, every attempt for the people of WA, or Australia, to share a bit more of the profits from the minerals that are dug up and exported, came to nothing after a public campaign, focused and well financed, by the minerals industry.

 

I believe that a country's resources are the country's, and companies digging them up do so, for a limited period of time, with the permission of, and under the conditions that, are requested by the citizens' representatives.  Therefore, the power resides in the country's leadership, in theory.

 

In practice, power, all of it, is vested in these massive multinationals.  They have the power to influence people, scaring them with job losses and other threats, and manipulating them during the democratic process to achieve the outcome the companies want.

 

Naturally, these are not the only organisations that use cynical and manipulative methods during elections, such as parties themselves, unions and other organisations.

 

Nevertheless it seems to me that those having the money have all the levers.  The people at large, equivalent to the minnows, tiny members of the carp family, ever careful on making ends meet and feeding their family, have to dance to the tune selected by the bigheads, at the opposite scale of the carp family, while always happy to be living in a functioning democracy!

 

No wonder confidence in the political process has faded.

 

Long live democracy!

 

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Iktar kmieni f'Marzu 20176 kellna l-elezzjonijiet tal-istat ta' Western Australia (WA).  Kien hemm bidla fil-gvern, xejn ġdid.  Il-gvern il-ġdid huwa magħmul mill-Partit Laburista, li qaleb il-folja drammatikament.  Il-Partit Liberali, li kien fil-gvern b'koalizzjoni mal-Partit Nazzjonali, ra s-sehem tal-vot tiegħu jonqos b'kwazi 16%, tnaqqis li bbenefikaw minnu l-iktar il-Partit Laburista b'9% u l-partit konservattiv populista One Nation b'5%.

 

Li laqatni ma kienx li nbidel gvern, ħaġa li tiġri regolarment f'demokraziji, lanqas l-iskala tal-bidla fil-votazzjoni, imma dak li ġara f'siġġu minn dak l-istat, dak tal-Pilbara, reġjun ta' nofs miljun kilometru kwadru (bejn wieħed u ieħor daqs Spanja), u popolazzjoni ta' 50 elf biss (Birkirara, Tas-Sliema u Ħal Qormi flimkien għandhom iktar nies).

 

Il-Pilbara huwa post ta' sbuħija naturali liema bħalha, wieħed mill-postijiet li kont żort fl-Awstralja.  L-iktar li niftakar minnu huma Ppark Nnazzjonali jismu Kariġini, li mimli b'widien dojoq u weqfin b'nixxiegħa ġierja bl-ilma ffriżat, u l-kulur aħmar li jservi ta' sfond kullimkien għal ħaxix ħadrani jismu spinefex u s-sema kaħlan skur - sempliċement spettakolari.

 

Il-kulur aħmar jagħti ħjiel għal waħda miż-żewġ industriji prinċipali tal-Pilbara - il-ħadid (l-industrija l-oħra hija l-gass).  L-aħmar huwa wieħed mill-kuluri tal-minerali ħematite, li huwa ossidu tal-ħadid (fi kliem ieħor, sadid).  Fil-fatt, il-biċċa l-kbira tal-ħadid esportat mill-Awstralja ġej mill-Pilbara.1

 

Meta wieħed jiftakar li l-Awstralja hija t-tieni l-ikbar produttur tal-ħadid fid-dinja wara ċ-Ċina,2 tista' timmaġina (forsi) l-iskala ta' flus li qed nitkellmu fuqhom.

 

Mela fil-Pilbara, il-kap tal-Partit Nazzjonali f'WA li kien qed jiggverna mal-Partit Liberali, jismu Brendon Grylls, ippropona li jżid taxxa tal-infrastruttura li titħallas mill-kumpanniji l-kbar li jħaffru għall-ħadid f'dak l-istat, il-BHP Billiton u Rio Tinto, minn 25¢ għal $5 kull tunnellata, biex jiġu ġġenerati $7 biljun fuq erba' snin biex isolvu l-kriżi finanzjarja tal-gvern ta' WA.3

 

Dawn il-kumpanniji reċentement ħadu r-ruħ meta l-prezz tal-ħadid irdoppja milli kien sena ilu, u raw żieda sostanzjali fil-profitti tagħhom.4  Li jagħtu flus lill-gvern b'rata iktar għolja hija l-aħħar ħaġa fuq l-aġenda tagħhom.

 

Għalhekk, waqt l-elezzjoni, għaqda li tirrappreżenta lil dawn il-kumpanniji li jitkellmu bil-biljuni, Chamber of Minerals and Energy, ħallset $2 miljun għal kampanja fuq pubblika biex jattakkaw qatta bla ħabel lil din il-proposta ta' Brendon Grylls, hedde        dt lill-votanti b'telf ta' impjiegi u nuqqas ta' investiment.

 

Din il-kampanja tant kienet effettiva, u speċifikata għas-Sur Grylls, li l-Partit Nazzjonali kważi baqa' fejn kien fl-elezzjoni (tilef inqas minn 1% tal-voti), imma s-Sur Grylls tilef 11.4% tal-voti, u s-siġġu tiegħu aktarx jintrebaħ mill-Partit Laburista, li din il-politika ma jaqbilx magħha (qal).  Mela l-industrija tal-minerali investiet $2 miljun biex tiffranka $7 biljun - dak investiment li jrendi!

 

Nesa l-Partit Laburista ta' WA li l-Partit Laburista federali Awstraljan kien ippropona xi ħaġa simili xi snin ilu.  Kien il-Prim Ministru Laburista Kevin Rudd fl-2010 li ried idaħħal taxxa federali fuq il-tħaffir għall-minerali.  Dakinhar, l-industrija tal-minerali nefqet $22 miljun fil-kampanja kontra Rudd,5 u wkoll kellha suċċess kbir għax dgħajfet il-pożizzjoni tiegħu, ħadet postu Julia Gillard li marret għarkubbtejha quddiem l-industrija tal-minerali, u nnegozjat taxxa ġdida li daħħlet flus lill-gvern l-eqwivalenti ta' ftit pastizzi, imqabbla mal-proposti ta' qabel.

 

S'issa, kull attentat biex il-poplu ta' WA, jew dak Awstraljan, igawdi iktar mill-profitti tal-minerali li jiġu mħaffra u esportati, ġew fix-xejn wara kampanja pubblika, iffukata u ffinanzjata tajjeb, tal-industrija tal-minerali.

 

Jien jidhirli li r-riżorsi tal-pajjiż huma tal-pajjiż, u l-kumpanniji li jħaffruhom jagħmlu hekk, għal perjodu limitat ta' żmien, bil-permess ta', u taħt il-kundizzjonijiet li, jintalbu mir-rappreżentanti taċ-ċittadini.  Għalhekk, il-poter huwa f'idejn min imexxi, fit-teorija.

 

Fil-prattika, il-poter, kollu, huwa f'idejn il-kumpanniji kbar multinazzjonali.  Għandhom il-poter li jinfluwenzaw lin-nies, iwerwruhom bin-nuqqas ta' impjiegi u theddid ieħor, u jimmanipulawhom waqt il-proċess demokratiku biex iġibu r-riżultat li jixtiequ.

 

Naturalment, dawn mhumiex l-uniċi organizzazzjonijiet li jużaw metodi ċiniċi u manipulattivi waqt elezzjonijiet, fosthom partiti, unjins u organizzazzjonijiet oħra.

 

Imma jidhirli jien li dawk li għandhom il-flus għandhom is-saħħa kollha, u l-popolin li jrid joqgħod attent kif se jdawwar ir-rota u jgħajjex 'il-familja, ħajtu kollha jiżfen żifna li l-mużika għaliha jiddeċidiha min għandu interessi kummerċjali kbar, filwaqt li dejjem kuntent li qed titwettaq id-demokrazija!

 

Mhux ta' b'xejn li l-kunfidenza fil-proċess politiku kważi sparixxa.

 

Viva d-demokrazija!

 

1http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/minerals/mineral-resources/iron-ore, retrieved 21/3/2017

2http://www.ironorefacts.com/the-facts/iron-ore-global-markets/, retrieved 21/3/2017

3http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-19/fall-of-wa-nationals-leader-brendon-grylls-and-his-mining-tax/8367508, retrieved 21/3/2017

4https://thewest.com.au/politics/state-election-2017/bhp-big-profit-fuel-for-grylls-mining-tax-hike-ng-b88393902z, retrieved 21/3/2017

5http://www.smh.com.au/business/a-snip-at-22m-to-get-rid-of-pm-20110201-1acgj.html, retrieved 21/3/2017

1http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/minerals/mineral-resources/iron-ore, retrieved 21/3/2017

2http://www.ironorefacts.com/the-facts/iron-ore-global-markets/, retrieved 21/3/2017

3http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-19/fall-of-wa-nationals-leader-brendon-grylls-and-his-mining-tax/8367508, retrieved 21/3/2017

4https://thewest.com.au/politics/state-election-2017/bhp-big-profit-fuel-for-grylls-mining-tax-hike-ng-b88393902z, retrieved 21/3/2017

5http://www.smh.com.au/business/a-snip-at-22m-to-get-rid-of-pm-20110201-1acgj.html, retrieved 21/3/2017