Contents

by News Weekly

News Weekly, December 18, 1999
Business tax: why did Labor support the Government? (page 3)
The Government did not have to wait for Democrat approval to get its business tax package through the Senate. The ALP was more than obliging.

In a world where Government and Opposition argue the toss on every issue, the ALP's support for such substantial changes to the tax system is a little puzzling - even more so when one considers that the losers in the package are small business, farmers and tradesmen (the backbone of the disgruntled swinging voters that are currently making and breaking governments).

Dairy deregulation: Central Gippsland Nationals say No (page 4)
The Victorian Government is currently balloting dairy farmers across the state over the vexed question of dairy deregulation.
National Party members in Gippsland, citing the cost to the community of previous deregulation policies, have called for a No vote.

WTO's Seattle rebuff (page 5)
Did the outcome of the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle signal the end of the economic world as we know it, or did a little reality finally enter the debate?

New Zealand's swing to the Left (page 8)
The election of a Labour-dominated coalition in New Zealand did not come as a surprise.
While economic considerations were the prime influence on the result, the incoming government has signalled that it has a lot of social engineering on its agenda.

Islam and the family (page 12)
The strong family ties that exist in the Islamic world have done much to ameliorate the effects of urbanisation and modernisation.