Wall of Shame
The great shaming, time will reveal all · Australia’s biggest blunders and sellouts
This is not an attack on any individual.
Our politicians didn’t start this fire, and they cannot put it out alone.
About half of Australia’s government debt is owed overseas. Our banks rely on offshore wholesale funding to help finance Australian lending, including mortgages, and even our national gold reserves are held in London.
We must recognise the power of the international banking system: private international banks, institutional creditors, central banks and financial markets can exert enormous influence over nations, their economies and their political independence.
And the threats are not merely economic. Financial pressure, political coercion, diplomatic intimidation and violence are real instruments of international power. History has shown repeatedly that nations and their leaders can face consequences when they challenge powerful financial and geopolitical interests. We should neither dismiss these realities nor attribute specific threats without evidence.
Our leaders operate within a global system far larger than any one parliament. They must navigate international creditors, banking institutions, foreign governments, domestic political pressure and the expectations of ordinary Australians.
They have a responsibility to protect Australia’s sovereignty, preserve our financial independence and ensure that our national interests are not subordinated to the interests of overseas institutions.
Understanding the system is the first step towards changing it. We must be able to question who creates credit, who owns the resulting claims, who collects the interest, who bears the risk and, ultimately, who holds the power.
This page records the policies that have trapped us further, so we don’t make the same mistakes again.
Here are the names of Australians who, in their pursuit of fair representation for the people, have been caught up in or blinded by this evil.Here we record them forever: the corrupted and the deluded.We will never forget.May God have mercy on their souls.
Corrupted & deluded, out of 100Power over Australia’s sovereignty & freedoms, out of 100 (a Prime Minister is 100)Ranked by total evil: both added together
The propaganda
How they sold the war
Every Australian who fought in the First World War was a volunteer: voters said no to conscription twice, in 1916 and 1917. So the men had to be talked into it. They were shamed off the beach, told the Kaiser was coming for Australia, and their wives and mothers were frightened into sending them. 416,809 enlisted. More than 60,000 never came home.
Guilt“It is nice in the surf, but what about the men in the trenches? Go and help.”D.H. Souter for the Win the War League, Sydney, 1917 (Library of Congress, public domain) 
Peer pressure“There is still a place in the line for you. Will you fill it?”William Brooks & Co., Sydney, 1915, from a British design (Australian War Memorial ARTV00076, public domain) 
Fear“Women of Queensland! Do you realise that your treatment would be worse? Send a man to-day to fight for you.”J.S. Watkins for the Queensland Recruiting Committee, 1914–18 (Australian War Memorial ARTV05632, public domain) 
Invasion scare“Must it come to this? Enlist!”B.E. Pike, V.A.P. Service, 1914–18 (Australian War Memorial ARTV06030, public domain)
How we got here
The laws that built today’s money system · oldest first
1945
Central banking powers formalised
Chifley government · Labor
- The Commonwealth Bank Act and the Banking Act formalised the Commonwealth Bank's powers over monetary and banking policy, and exchange control. Reserve Bank of Australia: our history ↗
1959–60
Reserve Bank established
Menzies government · Liberal
- The Reserve Bank Act 1959 separated central banking from commercial banking, which went to a new Commonwealth Banking Corporation. Reserve Bank of Australia: our history ↗
- The Reserve Bank of Australia began operating on 14 January 1960. Reserve Bank of Australia: our history ↗
1972–75
Expansion of government
Whitlam government · Labor
- University tuition fees were abolished, and Medibank, a national health scheme, was set up. Museum of Australian Democracy ↗
- A new federal Department of Urban and Regional Development took Canberra into planning cities and regions. Department of Urban and Regional Development (1972–75) ↗
- Inflation took off: consumer prices were 17% higher in mid-1975 than a year earlier, the fastest rise since 1951–52. Reserve Bank Annual Report 1975 ↗
1983–91
Financial deregulation
Hawke government · Labor
- The Australian dollar was floated and exchange controls removed in December 1983. Reserve Bank Annual Report 1996 ↗
- Foreign banks were let in: 15 foreign-owned banks were authorised in 1985–86. Reserve Bank Annual Report 1996 ↗
- Financial controls were removed step by step: interest rates on deposits and loans were deregulated, and "price and quantity controls and captive market arrangements were abandoned". Reserve Bank Annual Report 1996 ↗
- Compulsory super began in 1986: 3% of pay for workers on federal awards, in place of wage rises. (It was extended to most workers by the Superannuation Guarantee in 1992.) Reserve Bank research paper 2004-01 ↗
- Capital gains tax was introduced in 1985, and fringe benefits tax in 1986. Treasury: a brief history of Australia's tax system ↗
1999–2000
Capital gains discount and GST
Howard government · Liberal
- From 21 September 1999, only half of a capital gain is taxed for individuals and trusts that held the asset more than a year: the 50% CGT discount. Peter Costello, media release, 10 December 1999 ↗
- From 1 July 2000, a 10% GST on most goods and services replaced the wholesale sales tax and a number of state taxes. Parliamentary Education Office ↗
- GST revenue goes to the states and territories. Treasury: a brief history of Australia's tax system ↗
Not affiliated with any government or party, and not an attack on any person. Each entry is about a policy and is based on the public record linked beside it; any commentary is the opinion of this site. Portraits are stylised illustrations.