Thanks to Glenn Druery for the plan and to Glenn, Marty, Leon, Peter and Amanda for their efforts.

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Recently Peter Whelan and Bede Ireland spent a couple of hours signing up 15 members of Ulysses MB Club at their coffee stop at Round Corner, Dural.

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Victoria

 Please note that the postal address for the Victorian Office will be:  

PO Box 3066

 Auburn Vic 3123

 Ph:(03) 9018 9362

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To gain registration in Victoria a few hundred more Victorian members need to be signed up. To this end the SHOT Show on the 24 May and a computer fair next month will be targeted. If you can assist please contact the office.

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Queensland

Galen invites you to "QLD Division - LDP May 2009 meeting" on Tuesday, May19 at 7:00pm.

Event: QLD Division - LDP May 2009 meeting

What: Club/Group Meeting

Host: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

Start Time:  7:00pm

End Time:  10:00pm

Where: Back of outdoor area in The Three Monkeys Cafe

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=78101877627&mid=75eb74G1ff1d766G1a0d909G7

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60 Minutes, 26 April

 Following sent, in relation to the 60 Minutes program on 26 April : “Rough Justice”.

 “For many individuals and groups in the community, the Police are seen as the enemy. This is because of the multitude of laws introduced by poorly advised politicians and applied by an over authoritarian Police "force". For example, Police took firearms away from tens of thousands of people who had NEVER committed any crime with a firearm; many more people have been "pinged" for using a mobile phone while driving, even though no accident occurred and nobody had been injured; police intimidation includes patrolling sniffer dogs in areas where young people are simply enjoying themselves.

Most of the rash of new laws introduced have led to arrests, heavy fines and jail for "victimless crimes", while the REAL victims of crime are largely ignored by police. In NSW there are currently around 200 unsolved murders! Are the police too busy acting as tax collectors for the government? The Liberal Democratic Party has a platform to eliminate many of the "victimless crimes" on the statute books, so that Police can once again work in cooperation with the community, to tackle the REAL criminals.”

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Preparations for Elections

 Federal election preparations

The LDP will be running candidates in the next federal election for both the Senate and House of Representatives. This must be held by late 2010 although an early election is very likely.

While we only have a chance of success in the Senate, it is important to run in the lower house to gain recognition for the party and to force the major parties to consider our policies in an effort to gain our preferences. We will negotiate with both Labor and the Coalition, most likely on a seat by seat basis.

Members with an interest in running as a candidate, for either the House or Senate, are invited to contact the Secretary (Graham Nickols, secretary@ldp.org.au) or Treasurer (David Leyonhjelm, treasurer@ldp.org.au or 0418 461431). There is no requirement for candidates to live in the seat or state in which they are standing, but we will give preference to those who do. We will also give preference to candidates who are willing to pay for the nomination deposit - $500 for the House and $750 for the Senate.

 Member recruiting

We are actively recruiting members in an effort to gain State registration. NSW and Victoria are high priority but the other states are also of interest. If you’d like to help, please contact the President Peter Whelan on president@ldp.org.au or 02 9652 0415.

 Policy blog

Some new draft policies will soon be available for comment on the policy blog site: http://ldpblog.wordpress.com/  Members with an interest in policy development are advised to keep an eye on the site and invited to contribute to improvement in the policies.

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The Economy

 As predicted, the world markets are enjoying a bounce.

 People who had no idea there was anything wrong with the world financial system two years ago, now say the problem has been fixed

 Who fixed it? The people who had no idea what was wrong with it, of course.

 What did they fix it with? The same thing that caused the problem they didn't see - debt.

 Who makes sure it won't break again? The people who didn't notice the wheels coming off the last time.

The Daily Reckoning, 6 May 2009

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Some people are saying that Australia won't have a housing correction. 

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Freedom

From a recent Wall Street Journal .

Voltaire on capitalism and religious toleration, from his 18th century "Letters on the English":

Take a view of the Royal Exchange in London, a place more venerable than many courts of justice, where the representatives of all nations meet for the benefit of mankind. There the Jew, the Mahometan [Muslim], and the Christian transact together, as though they all professed the same religion, and give the name of infidel to none but bankrupts. There the Presbyterian confides in the Anabaptist, and the Churchman depends on the Quaker's word.

At the breaking up of this pacific and free assembly, some withdraw to the synagogue, and others to take a glass. This man goes and is baptized in a great tub, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: that man has his son's foreskin cut off, whilst a set of Hebrew words (quite unintelligible to him) are mumbled over his child. Others retire to their churches, and there wait for the inspiration of heaven with their hats on, and all are satisfied.

Thanks to David Leyonhjelm

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Tax

Happy Tax Freedom Day!
Oliver Hartwich

A tax is ‘a compulsory exaction of money by a public authority for public purposes, enforceable by law, and is not a payment for services rendered.’ At least that is the way the High Court defined it way back in 1938. To put it simply: A tax is something you must pay to the government; what you get in return is another matter.

In all other areas of life, when we pay someone we would like to see what it is for. With taxes, it is not that easy. Your hard-earned money that goes to the government may be used to pay fire-fighters in the country or fix potholes in your street. It may fund the government’s broadband network or morph into your neighbour’s $900 cash bonus. Even more strangely, your money could well return to you as your own cash bonus (minus the costs of administering this redistribution).

With so little control over the use of our money, it is little wonder that nobody likes paying taxes. That’s the reason governments have become very good at concealing them. Imagine if you physically had to write a ‘tax cheque’ to the Treasurer every time you refilled your car, did your shopping, or received your salary. No doubt it would keep reminding you just how much money you pay the state. But because we don’t write such cheques, most of us are blissfully unaware how much of our money goes to the government.

Last year, the average Australian paid a total of $16,401 to the tax authorities. This sounds substantial already – the equivalent of a small car. But it is also quite a lot compared to the average income – 30.8% to be precise. It means that the average taxpayers need to work the first 112 days of the year just to pay taxes to the government. Only on 23 April do they actually start earning money for themselves to spend and save as they please.

So on 23 April, celebrate your Tax Freedom Day for 2009. You will be free from the taxman for the rest of the year. But enjoy it while you can: The government is working hard to push your Tax Freedom Day well into May next year.

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Contributions

Contributions and details of meetings are welcome up to 6pm on the second Friday of each month, after which the newsletter is submitted for editing.

Send to Graham Nickols at secretary@ldp.org.au

Urgent material missing the deadline should be forwarded directly to David Leyonhjelm at treasurer@ldp.org.au

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Liberty Links

Given the size of the LDP a lot of our members aren't able to make it to our state branch meetings. So here's a list of links of websites that may interest you. None of the listed websites are affiliated with the LDP and none of the views expressed represent LDP policy.

Australian Libertarian Society
Catallaxy Files
Free Market.Net
Introduction to libertarianism
CATO Institute
Centre for Independent Studies
Institute for Public Affairs
US Libertarian Party

If you have a link you'd like to appear here email info@ldp.org.au and let us know about it.