Andrew Phillips discusses the wider meaning of Protectionism, demonstrating that the ideology of Social Protectionism seeks to protect the freedoms, rights and future of the Australian people.
Many readers may have noticed an increase in articles, column pieces and news reports of noted identities railing about the threats to our nation posed by “protectionism”.
At this point in time, it would appear difficult to counter these media-sponsored tirades by politicians, journalist hacks and global village obsessed political opportunists with no loyalty to their own.
Such people work themselves into a frenzy, conjuring the “Protectionist Bogeyman”, a creature which will apparently drag the nations of the world back to the “Dark Ages” and, according to PM Rudd, was the cause of the Great Depression (never let research get in the way of a good headline, Kev).
For the advocates of the borderless world, gone are the days of great statesmen such as South Australian Premier Thomas Playford, a man with vision and confidence in the ability of his own people to build a nation and control their own destiny through the work of their own hands.
The development around the Ord River in WA, the Snowy Mountains and a myriad of other developments created by our forefathers are either hazy memories or worthless and immoral creations in the minds of the current New Class.
Recently, Rudd attacked his own union supporters for suggesting it might be a good idea for government to purchase locally as much as possible, thereby supporting Australian business and local jobs.
Unfortunately for the Aussie worker, the idea of Australian governments using the taxes paid by Australian workers to buy the products made by the workers paying the taxes is nothing but an economic heresy to our PM, the very same man who assured us he was here for “working families”.
A state of panic must have rippled through the PM’s office with the idea that even an internationalist body such as the union movement was entertaining the notion that, maybe, it might just be a good idea for Australians to show some consideration for themselves.
In an ill-prepared response, Rudd tried to paint a picture that by buying locally we would be closing the borders, becoming isolationist, returning to the days of the Great Depression as other nations close their borders, world trade would cease and those nasty protectionists would bring on a new Ice Age…..
A ridiculous opinion from a man fast losing his grip on both opinion polls and reality, as it ignores the fact that Australian exports have at times increased even when having to deal with tariffs imposed by our markets, as was witnessed during the days of the Clinton administration. Furthermore, perhaps Rudd would care to explain the machinations engaged by our neighbours during FTA negotiations?
As Australia leads the way breaking down trade barriers, our neighbours impose tariffs at the last minute so they have something (worthless) to offer at the bargaining table.
Australian Protectionists have no desire to cut our nation off from the world. International trade is a reality, there are many things we cannot produce on this continent, as is the case with most nations in the world and to deny this is nothing more than fantasy.
However, we do believe we have a social responsibility to support the livelihood of our fellow Australians as best we can. Australian governments should be sourcing resources from local suppliers as much as possible, supporting local research and development, ensuring transparent country of origin and foreign content labelling on goods (a policy now pushed by independent senator Nick Xenophon), supplying Australian produce purchased from local farmers and manufacturers when sending foreign aid in preference to handing over Australian taxes to often unscrupulous governments, and implementing a moderate, sensible system of tariffs to protect producers and consumers against cheap and substandard imports.
Opponents to Australian self-determination know their argument is weak and, for this reason, they try to limit the fronts on which they have to fight. This can be seen by their frantic attempts to box the whole issue neatly and conveniently into one of “economic protectionism”, smearing their opponents as “isolationist”.
Australians in general have become wise to these shenanigans and Australian Protectionists have no problem arguing their case in favour of the philosophy of Social Protectionism, the political position advocated by the Australian Protectionist Party.
Protectionism is more than mere economics – it is the desire to protect, to defend the very foundations of one’s society, to ensure the continuation of a healthy society; it is a natural instinct present in every thinking human being, regardless of their cultural background and should be encouraged. Indeed, such was the mindset of our very first government after Federation — a Protectionist Government.
This government was responsible for the creation of some of our most important institutions — the High Court and the Court of Arbitration as well as passing the Immigration Act which protected Australian workers against the threat of cheap imported labour and the community as a whole from the social problems we witness today.
Australian governments need to break free of the blinkered approach to measuring our nation’s so-called standard of living in mere dollar terms.
Our economists measure our nation’s prosperity by the amount of minerals we rip out of the earth and send unprocessed to our Asian competitors, how many foreign students we can cram into our universities and primary schools, or how much our land values have artificially inflated due to the demands for housing by ever-increasing numbers of immigrants and refugees.
Australian Protectionists, however, know there is more to wealth and quality of life than the values held by the economic rationalism obsessed globalists and the New Class who view their own people with unbridled contempt and would have them reduced to little more than economic units in a borderless world.
Many things affect our quality of life. Without a healthy natural and social environment humans are trapped into a living hell.
Governments should indeed be encouraging research and development in renewable and clean energy, not because Al Gore declares it to be the new religion and all those who refuse to “accept man made emissions” cause “global warming” should be the object of derision and hounded. No, for the simple reason that we cannot be sure how long fossil fuels will last and we should be preparing other options to ensure our standard of living does not decrease in the event that traditional sources become scarce.
State governments such as those in South Australia should be ashamed at the lack of support given to such alternatives as the “Hot Rocks” project in the state’s far north, particularly considering the debate raging over renewable energy and power supplies at this time.
Without a doubt, ours is a fragile continent, one which can only support a given number of people comfortably. Some experts have indicated that Australia is already overpopulated and cannot support any more without doing serious and irreversible damage to the land. With this in mind, Protectionists call for a zero net immigration policy which would ensure that immigration levels operate on a “one in, one out” basis, although linked with regard to any natural increase in the Australian population.
With the current water crisis, droughts (there have been times when Australia has had to import wheat from Canada to feed our own population), and housing shortages, it is either foolishness at best or greed at worst for governments to plan for a population of 44 million by 2050, with an increase of 1.6 million in the next 5 years as reported recently by ABC Radio.
Families are the cornerstone of a healthy, productive society. Despite the long campaign by social engineers who have worked to undermine the value of this institution and denigrate the role of motherhood, Australian Protectionists recognise the undeniable value of the family in the nation’s future.
We call for measures to protect the rightful place of the family in society, including income splitting to reduce the financial burden upon breadwinners and giving those who want to stay at home and raise their children the opportunity to do so, rather than be forced out to the workforce through economic necessity.
We also recognise that the traditional family unit is made of two parents, male and female, working together to raise and nurture their children until they are ready to take their productive place in society as adults.
There are circumstances in which this is not the case, as in the situation of marital breakdown, but this does not change the obvious fact that two parents were involved. This being the case, we do not recognise the push by social engineers and liberals to allow adoption of children by homosexuals, IVF treatment for homosexuals or the undermining of the institution of marriage by recognising so-called “same sex unions”.
Nor do we support the use of taxpayer funding to instruct impressionable children about “alternative lifestyles” or to fund parades and festivals celebrating these lifestyles, especially at a time when sectors such as health and education are experiencing shortages.
Quality of life is also determined by the freedom enjoyed by a nation. While governments bend over backwards to accommodate the needs and demands of every minority group imaginable, the rights of Australians have been systematically eroded for decades, bound by increasing amounts of legislative red tape designed to limit choice and the personal rights of those who have worked to build the nation.
Law, freedom of expression and association, property rights – all these have been eroded right under our noses by politicians who only pay lip service to our concerns during an election campaign.
Criminals do not receive punishments befitting their crimes, despite the periodic outcry from a fearful public. Rapists, paedophiles and those who terrorise and assault the elderly and defenceless get inadequate gaol sentences, while those who engage in self-defence are often treated as criminals.
Australian Protectionists will push for reforms to the law, supporting the rights of those living in fear to self-defence, the right of responsible citizens to own a firearm without being treated as potential criminals, reaffirming the right of Australians to freedom of speech and also hold politicians to account by supporting the implementation of Citizens’ Initiated Referenda (CIR), which was so obviously derailed by the Rann government in South Australia.
Few can deny the future of our nation lies in the hands of our children. Our young should be given every opportunity to develop and exercise their skills to the best of their abilities.
Government should be in constant dialogue with business and rural producers about the skills needed now and in the future in order to ascertain policy direction in regards to the education sector. There is no point spending millions to indoctrinate our children into becoming tolerant of alternative lifestyles, incompatible cultures, having a black armband view of their own history, and being good little global citizens when they can barely read and write without the use of a computer, let alone fend for themselves in the real world.
If we do not start addressing these issues soon, the drop in living standards so feared by the advocates of a global village will become a reality. Our children will have no link to their society, few worthwhile job opportunities, no moral compass by which to lead their lives and no sense of belonging, loyalty or identity.
Those with a religious leaning might be familiar with the question “Which man among you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone, or asks for fish, will give him a serpent?”
Australian Protectionists recognise that Australian youth hunger for a secure future with real value and seek a certainty for themselves both in a national sense and a personal sense.
When faced with the prospect of being a worthless stone in the foundation of the Global Village and governed by unscrupulous serpents in the Houses of Parliament, Australian Protectionists will not be silenced. All Australians, especially future generations, deserve honest representation in parliament in opposition to the anti-national spirit shown by advocates of the global village, those same people who claim to love all nationalities alike when in reality they are indifferent to all.
Such people know nothing of the strengthening influence of pure patriotism, and fear an open and honest debate about the future of our nation. With your help and support, Australian Protectionists will reverse this trend.
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