Retrospective Legislation

It appears that, in Victoria, many criminal cases are in jeopardy because affidavits have not been sworn in relation to search evidence faxed from police stations as required by law. The government, naturally, proposes to enact suitable legislation to ensure justice can proceed. Interesting! Lawyers exiting the courts are seen on TV saying that they do not favour retrospective legislation, but now it is necessary. Usually, any mention of retrospective legislation produces a hue and cry from many interests. At a time when tax avoidance became rife the Whitlam government proposed to introduce retrospective legislation so that new schemes to avoid tax could be legislated retrospectively against them when they became evident. The Democrats, with power in the Senate, could well have supported such legislation. However the latecomer to the Democrat fold, Don Chipp, reflecting his earlier connections with the Liberal Party, personally vetoed it, although the Democrat's mode was for the members to approve policies. In this case it was not. So we have two situations where retrospective legislation is acceptable in one case but not in the other.

Plainly, retrospective legislation, which is seen as a dirty word in official circles, is not a dirty word. It all depends on the situation which gives rise to its application. If it is tax (to fill the government coffers - a really dirty word), then the idea of retrospective legislation is seen as totally unacceptable to business, as business planning becomes more difficult. No doubt this is an understandable principle, in general, but hardly so when legitimate tax is being dodged by tricks. Parliaments should be able to clearly distinguish between true business arrangements and phony ones. But, of course, the lack of real ethics in party politics prevents us from fully trusting parliaments with retrospective legislation.

However when we see taxation in the light of the responsibilities of government and its funds to meet them, our view of tax avoidance may very well be different. Conservative politics prefers tax cuts at the high end of the tax scales and sympathises with minimising tax which is legal but far from ethical.

If democracy were complete, with genuine rule of the people, parliament could be entrusted with the ability to use retrospective legislation more widely, and the practice of clever lawyers and accountants ferreting out weaknesses in legislation to enable some of the wealthiest in the land to pay little, if any, tax would end.

A corollary to this unethical weakness in parliament is that government comes to be regarded as having nothing to do with morality. That is hardly surprising when money makes its own rules, demolishing democracy.

********************* The old Australian song 'Waltzing Matilda' comes to mind! Its origins shrouded in history, it has slightly different versions. At various times throughout Australia's comparatively brief history, there have been quite a few really 'doing it tough', for whom this ballad is an emotive reminder. Its history can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltzing_Matilda, with explanations of its strange wording, and the sometimes harsh conditions conditions which brought it into being.

Thus, unemployed men, 'tramps', also known as 'swaggies' often visited the same homes, year after year, where a meal 'out the back', was gratefully enjoyed. Without such kindness these men would have been driven to theft of food, and probably gaol. I well remember one such in my young days. He was known by us as 'Dirty Weather'. He had little on which to base conversation and this was a yearly comment! After the meal he would shoulder his 'Matilda', or bedroll and make his way elsewhere, perhaps many miles away, hopefully to another such home. The photograph of a 'swaggie' in the above site could well have been him!

Democracy still has a way to go to remedy the fallout from our economic ups and downs. 'Life was not meant to be easy' - as someone once said, but the encouragement of the few with targeted help is sometimes an essential on our way to a 'perfect democratic society!

So, how easy it is for genuine democracy to become subverted!