Jimmy's weblog

The story of the boy who cried wolf is one of Aesop’s fables I remember from my childhood.

It features a boy shepherd who cries “Wolf, wolf” one day when he’s bored. The villlagers all come running to help him and are angry when there is no wolf. Amused, the boy does this a second time much to the anger of the villagers.

A third time the boy cries “Wolf, wolf” and this time the villagers don’t come running to his aid. Unfortunately this time there is a wolf and all the boy’s sheep get scattered.

As with most fables, the moral of the story is clear. This moral serves to underline the reason why I have trouble believing John Howard when he claims that he was not told of doubts over the veracity of intelligence on Iraq’s nuclear capabilities.

John Howard came to power with a promise for more accountability and honesty in Australian politics.

“Can I look you straight in the eye and say this, that if I state before an election that we’re not going to do something and say it in concrete terms, I mean it. One of the worst things about politics in Australia at the moment is that the public doesn’t believe what political leaders say.”

Radio 2NC - December 11, 1995

Earlier that same year he announced that a Goods and Services Tax (GST) was off the Liberal political agenda for good.

Journalist: “So you’ve left the door open for a GST now, haven’t you?”
Howard: “No, there’s no way that a GST will ever be part of our policy”.
Journalist: “Never ever?”
Howard: “Never ever. It’s dead. It was killed by the voters at the last election”.

Doorstop interview - May 2, 1995

“A GST or anything resembling it is no longer Coalition policy. Nor will it be policy at any time in the future. It is completely off the political agenda in Australia.”

Press release - May 2, 1995

It is a matter of historical record that Australia now has a 10% GST introduced and championed by Howard’s Liberal Party.

Soon after coming to power in 1996, Howard used a budget shortfall (blamed on the previous government) to implement a series of large cuts to health, education and social services. These cuts violated many of Howard’s pre-election promises and forced him to introduce the concept of ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ pledges.

According to the Howard doctrine on election promises, ‘core’ promises would be honoured while ‘non-core’ promises would not be honoured immediately and might never be honoured at all. When Australia’s economic condition did improve,
most of the money was diverted to other areas, including a private health insurance rebate and income tax cuts for high income earners.

The concept of ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ election promises might seem a little strange coming from someone who said:

“. . . particularly at the federal level, exaggerated election promises, followed by seemingly guiltless repudiation shortly after an election, have also fuelled growing cynicism and resentment.”

Menzies Research Centre inaugural lecture - 1995

By now it was becoming clear to many that the nickname “Honest John” was once again beginning to take on the ironic connotations it had during the “fist of dollars” election of 1975. In the lead-up to this election the Liberal government, with John Howard as treasurer, had promised tax cuts to voters. After winning the election these tax cuts had suddenly disappeared to be replaced with a “temporary surcharge”.

Fast forward to the year 2001. The Liberal / National coalition government is struggling in the polls largely due to dissatisfaction with the GST. With an election looming, Howard needs to something to change his electoral fortunes.

He found it in the form of asulym seekers trying to reach Australia by boat from Indonesia. During the leadup to the 2001 federal election, the HMAS Adelaide intercepted a boat (codenamed SIEV4) carrying asylum seekers.

Howard, the defence minister Peter Reith, and the immigration minister Philip Ruddock, claimed that asylum seekers on SIEV4 had thrown their children overboard in an attempt to force the navy to take them to Australia. They even showed photos of children in the water to support their case.

Unfortunately the government’s version of events involving SIEV4 was a fabrication. No children had been thrown in the water, and the pictures were from a different boat where the children had jumped in the water because their boat was sinking.

Even worse, the navy had quickly informed the government their version of events was wrong and that the photos were from a different incident. This wasn’t considered important enough to as the correction was not revealed by the government until after the election.

Howard went on to paint the asylum seekers as the type who would throw their own children overboard and proclaim that they were not the type of people we want(ed) in our country.

“. . . honesty is being swamped by cynical election campaigns based on fear, or the big scare, or the massive lie.”

Menzies Research Centre inaugural lecture - 1995

“We will decide who comes to this country, and the circumstances in which they come.”

John Howard election campaign slogan - 2001

Now, in 2003, serious questions are being asked about the evidence that the US, UK, and Australian governments presented as the primary reason for going to war in Iraq. International law makes it illegal to invade another country except in self-defence. The Australian government’s case for supporting the US invasion of Iraq was based largely upon the concept of pre-emptive self defence.

“The Australian Government knows that Iraq still has chemical and biological weapons . . .”

Speech to Federal Parliament - February 4, 2003

“Doing nothing about Iraq potentially is much more costly than using force if necessary to ensure Iraq’s disarmament.”

National address - March 13, 2003

Many months after the war, no chemical, nuclear, or biological weapons have been found in Iraq. It also appears that some intelligence reports used as justification for war were not only incorrect, but based on reports known to have been forged.

Despite his history of lying, John Howard now wants us to believe that he didn’t know about the doubts and false information when committing Australian troops to war.

In case you have forgotten Prime Minister, the last line of Aesop’s fable reads like this:

“We’ll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning,” he said, putting his arm around the youth, “Nobody believes a liar…even when he is telling the truth!”