Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Okay, welcome to the IPL coverage if you like of the upcoming by election in Secret Harbour. And we've been introducing and asking questions for the candidates and at the moment we have a another candidate who's come in and joined us and decided to spend some of his time and answer a few questions.
And it's Peter Dunn.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: Peter D. Done.
[00:00:31] Speaker A: Peter D. Done?
[00:00:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Peter Daryl Dunn.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:00:35] Speaker B: Peter D. Done. Yeah.
[00:00:36] Speaker A: Okay, well we haven't got the D there Peter, but we have got him done. So is it well done?
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Well, sorry. Well done Peter D. Well done. Done. The Peter D. Done. Well done. Done. Do you love me? That's right.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: Okay, so my first question. Well first of all, who are you representing generally in your.
[00:00:57] Speaker B: Well, all classes actually. Rich and poor and rich.
Okay, classes.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: And what would you like, what would your message be as a candidate for Secret Harbor?
[00:01:08] Speaker B: I can.
The first thing I want to mention to the the listeners and the viewers is this. The what I call the important sectors of the economy. Economy include the very different big business and petite capitalist enterprises or small business, they're very different and the very different big business and medium sized capitalist enterprises and they're both small business and medium sized capitalist enterprises can include family farms, although some farms are big business and private big business and the halfway there half marks people's enterprises in a mixed economy such people's enterprises are economic entities that are owned by the people already managed by the government of the day. And they include public hospitals, public universities, Western Power, Water Corp. Transfer, Transwa and Homes West.
They're different from Bunnings, the brick factories and the banks, Ampol, bp, Caltech, Shell and you know, Liberty, Vibe and Burkeville. Liberty and Vibe, they're very different economic categories if you like different economic. We need to pay attention to big business ends enterprises, big business and medium sized capital enterprises and private big business and the halfway there half marks people's enterprises such as Watercourt in our mixed
[00:02:28] Speaker A: economy what do you want them to do? What is your plan for them? Because we've covered sort of like you say, big business, medium business
[00:02:37] Speaker B: in our public universities which are part of the public sector.
I want elected Vice Chancellors elected Chancellors, all the Senates elected on university courts of law.
I want university legal aid services, I want speakers corners and I want free and fair elections. Now at Oxford and Cambridge in the UK the Chancellor are elected by the academics present and past and by the graduates. It's a lot of voters that elect the Chancellors at Oxford and Cambridge in Britain we don't have anything like that in Western Australia. Nor in Australia, as far as I know.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: What do you see? The biggest issue is like, if you have to.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: So the biggest issue is the reorganisation of the economy, including a major revamp of Holmes West. Its management should be elected and should have to face re election.
Now, I don't know whether they're getting paid anything like these vice chancellors at universities, but these unelected vice chancellors are currently being paid, some of them, two of them in Western Australia, $1.3 million. They never have to face re election.
They're not accountable to courts of law unless you have the money of a Clive Palmer or a Gina Rinehart.
So Holmes west needs to have its management elected and they need to reprioritise. They need to allow people to run their own Melbourne Cup.
I met a young lady today, an Aboriginal lady, she's right in the mechanics, right?
[00:04:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: But I know that there's mechanical workshops at every transferth depot.
If they can't harness people, you know, employ them.
Not that they'd be stuck there nine to five to practice their mechanics. Now the other one is a conference of the fuel companies, Ampol, bp, Caltech, Shell, Liberty Burke, Liberty, Vibe, all them in a conference.
A set of law changes, basic law changes by agreement with the current owners, the current managers, the current workforce and any union representation that might be there or might not be there. And the government to say, well, we need some fraction of these companies have got to have some number of some fraction of mechanical workshops by law, by level playing field, law changes, mechanics training, mechanics. None of them be required to be there 9 to 5 at all toilets and showers 24, 7 where those that are open 24, 7. And electric fuel pumps and also some workers number some workers shares like the Anz bank has already done for its workers and Bunnings is already doing for its workers, I believe, and also some group of elected managers to join the current experts. They're appointed because they know what they're doing.
But they're different from the public sector, the universities where the vice chancellors can be elected, et cetera, and the public hospitals because they're doctors and nurses and the physiotherapists and the pathologists and the dietitians and the social workers. All of them are fully capable of electing their own management and they don't have to put up with an appointed management and God knows what they're getting paid.
[00:05:52] Speaker A: So you think it's such a broad picture that you paint, Peter.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: It's called Greater Democracy and Greater justice and greater human rights. Basically.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. It's very, very difficult, isn't it? I mean, to, you know, we're covering a whole lot of public service.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: The banks need to have a conference as well.
[00:06:11] Speaker A: Yeah. And how do we, like. I'll just ask a random question.
If you look at banks, whether it be the four big banks, generally their head honchos, for want of a better word, they're all based in the eastern states.
So how do we get a.
From Western Australia.
[00:06:35] Speaker B: We'll invite them over for a conference and we will urge them to agree to a basic set of law changes prioritising cars, carapies, first homes and small business, including family farms and the rest of them, the big companies or corporate farms will have to pay some sort of premium interest rate.
The banks will have to agree to it. We're not going to force it, we're going to argue with them to agree.
The priorities are cars and car repairs first, homes and small business and family farms.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: So cars, cars and car repairs, how does that fit in?
[00:07:13] Speaker B: Well, it's going to be a priority for lending, basically by agreement. If they don't agree with it, we don't get it.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: As in what for the cars? What are you talking about?
[00:07:21] Speaker B: Well, some. If it's about a $5,000 car, it should be interest free. This would prevent car thievery. Right. Within car thievery. And those that are tradies got trading utes and things, or they're more expensive cars, but we need to somehow prioritise the interest rate.
So they're back at work earning money for themselves and paying taxes for schools and hospitals, et cetera, and home Swiss.
And these are sort of priorities. And by the way, it's very unusual, very strange, very unsatisfactory, the rac, they don't offer finance for car repairs. They've got great mechanics and great workshops. But a lot of people, they don't offer. The RAC itself doesn't offer any finance for car repairs.
They should be tracking down cheap money, like Kim Lanie did in the 1970s.
But they wouldn't need to use telexes, they just use email.
Find out where the cheap money. Is it in Taiwan, is it in China, Is it in Israel, is it in Palestine or nearby? Is it in Saudi Arabia or Iran, Iraq? Where is it in Britain, Is it in France? Where's the cheap money for the RAC to offer money for its customers to get the repairs on loan for a cheap interest loan? And they don't also, they don't offer Interest rates either for if you got an excess on your insurance they don't offer you loans to cover it. You could pay the rec back for the excess. Right.
[00:08:51] Speaker A: So just interestingly that you know, as we dive into diverse into different areas what was your driving with your ideas Peter? Whether it be banks or big business, what drives your thoughts into what should be done?
[00:09:09] Speaker B: Well put it this way, when I was in primary school south of Mantle and Subiacker were near the bottom of the ladder in Western Australia and I said to my parents can I get a South for Mantle jumper please and a Subiaco jumper Because I see a lot of people who they're not allowed to run their own Melbourne Cup. Now I met a young lady today, an Aboriginal lady, she knows quite a bit about mechanics. She can't get a job easily at a petrol station either in the mechanical workshop or in the driveway. These are not easy to get these jobs but a level playing field, set of laws that they all agreed on in a conference could see her in her own Melbourne Cup.
And people are going to be able to afford to buy their own homes. Homes versus very important emergency and then can provide homes that can be bought as well.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: So with your thoughts on say where did you.
Do you have a history of where you've worked Peter Witchford?
[00:10:05] Speaker B: Well yes, I've worked in trucking, in stores, in libraries and also as a university tutor for five years now the tutor's not a lecturer, certainly not a senior lecturer but it's just sort of the bottom rung of academic work tutoring and so I'm now retired and I did occasionally work for my father had a small trucking fleet over the years. Over the years I'd do jobs for him shifting furniture and what have you and other deliveries.
I joined up a party called the Socialist Labour League when I was a young person. I don't regret that a bit. I now call myself the Communist Labour League or an independent communist. And I think the way to put it is I believe everyone should be allowed to run their own Melbourne Cup Whether it's the lady I met today at the Salvation army drop in centre whether it's to work in mechanical field, you know, she's telling me how she bought wheels once and she knows about carburetors and all this stuff and she also is interested in studying law as well. And now these things have got to be made possible for well those who are struggling at the moment and homes versus a big part of that. So is Transperth.
I believe that all Trans Perth should be running 247 with voluntary fares for all.
So the shooter guys would be checking on bullying and harassment and brawling, but not tickets.
[00:11:47] Speaker A: So if.
If we just.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: You save a lot of parking too.
For example, at Charlie's, the parking there is incredibly expensive, but the bus is running 24 7.
You could leave your car alone.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: So if we. If we take it. So one of your dues, which is, you know, say, 247 buses and trains, buses and trains, etc.
And a lot of your other ideas, Peter, which you know are very good.
Where do we unlock everything?
Where do we get the money for this?
[00:12:21] Speaker B: Well, it's imaginative. It's a matter of juggling your priorities. Now, I believe someone like Gina Rinehart will be glad to pay tax for some of these things, right? If she knew that there's a conference of the petrol stations where there'd be a price fixing, by the way, throughout the state. But, you know, every two or three days it could change, right? You wouldn't have queues of two or three petrol stations throughout the metropolitan area.
It'd be equalised.
And now this would bring in. It'd be accountable to courts of law and things. The committee decided that, you know, the petrol company representatives, they know what they're paying, etc. The government knows what tax they're paying. These are the sort of people on the committee, I believe, in New Zealand, the price of petrol prices fixed every two for two or three days in New Zealand, then they look at it again and people know they don't queue up at one, two or three petrol stations. They know the local petrol station is pretty much the price. Anywhere you could vary keeps you a watch so that the 2 or 3 cents or 1 or 2 cents difference might matter. You might travel to the next suburb, et cetera. But in Holmes West. Well, does Gina Rinehart want social peace? I believe she does.
If it's going to cost, I think she'd be happy to pay taxes on something like Holmes West.
Allowing people to run their own Melbourne cup, whether it's to practice their mechanical interest or whatever it is, study law, just become sort of some history buff studying history or trying to be a dentist, that might be their Melbourne Cup.
There could be a lot of obstacles at the moment preventing them.
[00:14:10] Speaker A: So if they're with all your things that you would like to see done, Peter.
[00:14:17] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:14:17] Speaker A: And like you say, it's a. It's a Melbourne cup of ideas that
[00:14:22] Speaker B: you have, well, you know, people got their own Melbourne Cup.
[00:14:25] Speaker A: So what would you.
What would you in this by election, if you were to be selected, what would be the first thing that you. I mean we've got all these things that we've discussed. What would be the first thing Peter Dunn says, well, this is all we want to achieve.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: All right, well I would be two things. First of all, the management of Homes Rest would be elected. We look at the policies, what, how they're going to spend the current money, what would they do with extra money? Homes west and also the universities, these vice chancellors and these chancellors and all the senate, they need to be elected. There needs to be university courts of law.
They currently got these things called integrity and standards units which are.
They don't represent justice. They're nothing like something between Judge Judy and the O.J. simpson trial.
They're totally unjust. And anyway, anyway, so the university reform and Holmes Rest, I suppose would be my two main priorities, I think, because.
And also the university, we need the university legal aid service.
We're featuring law graduates because a lot of people, the missing island lawyers. We need to train more and educate more and more lawyers. We have lawyer cadets in our schools.
We need more and more human rights from our parliaments. Right, not forgetting, just sort of a patch up for, well, the homelessness.
What we have homes versus it needs to be improved. The management needs to be elected and if more money needs to be found, it needs to be found either in renovating buildings that aren't currently used in government buildings. They're free, they're free to renovate. We own them already. They're managed by the government. If they're private buildings, we'd have to buy them. We can negotiate a good price or we can develop caravan parks throughout the country towns because not a lot of big buildings. I don't think in country towns developed caravan parks. And eventually with your reorganization of the economy, at the petrol stations, the banks, the grocery chains and the department stores, Kmart, Coles, et cetera, people could begin to buy their own homes and if they later trained to become an engineer or something, they could upgrade from where they are to buy a home at City Beach. The banks would know about it and the money involved and the real estate agents would all know all the new rules.
They'd say, well, because you're an engineer now, you know, of course you can upgrade, go to City beach or Del Keith or Floriot or you know, wherever it is somewhere Maylands or something nice, very nice home in Maylands. Because you're an engineer, because you're a dentist, you can afford It, Yeah, but that's another issue. Housing, like the price of the existing housing. Private owners, private ownership. Those who paid a packet already, those who are still paying a packet, they need to be compensated, right? But we need to draw a line.
All land and homes in the future, although heavily regulated, must be as cheap as possible. Heavily regulated because it's cheap doesn't mean you buy 50 homes. You buy one home for sort of minimum cost. The second home has got to cost a bit more. If you're buying for your family and that, it's got to cost a bit more.
It's no more renting. Buying 50 homes and renting them out, that's all gone. But those that have paid a packet, those are paying a packet, need to be able to take their cases to courts of law. Compensation, courts of law. It might be a move to a nicer suburb, it might be a voucher to build a granny flat when you can find a builder and when the bank manager okays it and all that.
So we need to compensate those who have paid a packet or paying a packet. And the court will decide how much is sort of how much you rode, how much is your. What you paid for your property, what's it owe? You know, we need to draw a line for the next generation to have land and housing as cheap as possible but heavily regulated. And then the real estate agent will know all these rules. And they say because you're a dentist, you know, we can find a nice home because for you, where's another nice one? In the hills.
[00:18:33] Speaker A: So if we Killamunda, if we look at, you know, listening to, to you and some of your ideas, you sound like an idealist with a lot of things.
So if, if what I'm saying is correct, you are an idealist, what country would you say has got it mostly right?
[00:18:57] Speaker B: Well, I don't think any country's got it really at the right. But I'll tell you two figures in history who I believe we can learn a lot of lessons from. FW De Klerk in South Africa, right? He was the last apartheid president.
He organised in that white parliament. White only parliament. Universal adult suffrage. And he had Nelson Mandela released from prison by presidential decree allowing him to be a candidate. We know that because everyone could vote. Then Nelson Mandano became the president. But that wasn't the end of history. Great step forward for that country. Not the end of history, but FW Clerk of the last apartheid president in the white only votes a role model for people in our universities, our public hospitals, Trans Perth Holmes west, he's a role model.
He was the last to part our president South Africa, he said, you know, we've got a crisis in this country.
We've got to bring in universal adult suffrage. The so called coloured's gotta be able to vote. The so called black's gotta be allowed to vote. Not just us white folk, said FW De Klerk.
And then he also had Nelson Mandela reduced from prison by presidential decree. He was the last apartheid president. FW D. And another one is Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan once said, you know, we can work with this guy, right? We can work with this guy. Except he was arrested by the old Stalinists. Didn't like the changes that Mikhail Gorbachev was trying to bring into the Soviet Union. By the time he was released, the Soviet Union was gone. But he didn't have industrial democracy, right? It didn't have it say. Well, it didn't have elected managers. Now I'm talking about the shop floor managers say at Bunnings, the shop floor managers at Coles to join the existing appointed managers, right? The existing appointed managers to be part of a team, be part of a team in transitioning to something better. But we already own Homes West. We already own Transperth. We can have 24, seven buses and trains anytime we like it or anytime we like. We can have elected managers at Homes west anytime we like. We can have the vice chancellors of the universities elect at any time we like. We, we can have a university, courts of law anytime we like. We can have universal legal aid service anytime we care to organise it.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: So if we look at say Australian politics at the moment and who, who is there anybody in Australian politics you think that particular person has, has aligned with a lot of your thoughts?
[00:21:34] Speaker B: Well, I tell you what, let me just say this. I want to steal the votes of one nation, but I'm afraid the leaders of one nation are way off target. They're off target. They do indicate the problems we're having, right? There's some problems we're having. That's because we haven't reorganised the economy properly. So the people are focused on egalitarian prosperity and egalitarian family life opportunities, right?
There's got to be opportunities for family life and there's got to be opportunities for egalitarian prosperity. Prosperity and family life opportunities.
Now I want to steal her voters, but I don't believe she's got a lot to offer herself. She's blaming minorities yet again.
But Labor's recent decision that they're going to be discussing it at the conference to bring in another industrial court of law where, you know, certain disputes can be settled by learned judges, male and female, all races, ideally all races, all genders, learned, experienced, looking at, studying cases.
That's a good idea. We used to have that to bring it back. Now that's replacing the kangaroo court. They got rid of Labor.
I think it's called the building and Construction industrial court or something. It was a kangaroo court. You weren't allowed to speak, talk about it. This new one they're talking about, of course the media are going to be there.
It's the sort of court that Bob Hawke was a star in before even Bob Hawke and John Howard and Paul Keating between them rolled that all back was a big mistake. So now the Greens, I like a lot of what they're saying, but I'm afraid they're not reorganising the universities to have elected vice chancellors, elected chancellors, all of a sudden elected university courts of law, speakers corners where you take your turn in the queue and have what you say, have your turn to say what you want to say. They're not doing that and you know, they're not having homes first managers elected.
They're pretty good, but they're not good enough. They. They're phony watermelons. They're not genuine watermelons. I'm a communist because the Labor Party were brand as Communists in the 1950s, right. They were saying, oh, you, you labor, you're communists. Well, I am one. Right. But you need to go beyond that and examine my policies. Right. Labor Party were brand as Communists in the 1950s, before the 1955 split and it took until the 1972 election.
The ALP team led by Gough Liplam, the government, probably the best government, one of the best governments we've ever had for sure.
And the DLP faded into oblivion. They did recently have one member of parliament and so the albrand is communist. There was a split and everything. And I'm openly. I'm not a phony watermelon.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: No, you're pretty genuine. What about things that a lot of people in Secret Harbour and all around Australia and the world and west, they're worried about the. The climate.
[00:24:44] Speaker B: Yep, so am I.
[00:24:46] Speaker A: So how do you feel about the climate?
[00:24:49] Speaker B: I'll tell you what the Greens got to do. They got to negotiate with the workers and their unions, right? Some contract they will agree to and that's going to be ratified by the industrial court, maybe the new one Labor's setting up the workers have got to have a contract that's enforceable about the transition. What's going to happen if these gas jobs go where are we going? And the light Greens have got to organise a contract which the workers there and the union leaders are happy with, which can be endorsed by a court of law and then the Greens can get what they want.
They're going to make a law change and just say, well, you know, that's the way it goes. You go on the dole for one, all this and you know it's not going to work.
[00:25:27] Speaker A: Okay, PETER well, it's been we allow our candidates half hour, so our time's just about up. I've found it very interesting in your thoughts and your your ideals and thank you very much. I wish you all the best in the election.
[00:25:41] Speaker B: PETER thank you very much indeed. And I hope this is going to be published as widely as I can, and I intend to get the link to it and publish it myself.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: Okay, thank you very much.
[00:25:51] Speaker B: Thank you.
