The federal government yesterday released details of its proposed new anti-terrorism measures.

The proposals include empowering police agencies to restrict our basic freedoms, including rights of communication, association, travel & privacy, based on suspicion, & individuals subject to the new ‘control orders’ would be required to wear tracking devices.

The proposed ‘control orders’ (shades of apatheid) would be issued as a result of secret court hearings & not as a consequence of charges having been laid or as a result of a trial & conviction.

The Prime Meanster claims that these new police powers are necessary due to the need to ‘cope with an unusual & threatening situation’.

Whilst there are those who might think that the great protector of our ‘core values’ is worried about outbreaks of violence & civil unrest in response to the ongoing Telstra debacle, the truth is that record fuel prices are more likely to be the cause of a widespread uprising, particularly when our great hand wringer whines that there’s nothing that can be done about it.

Coolly taking command in the face of this latest crisis, the great batsman responded to widespread public outrage at rising fuel prices, by promising to investigate price rorting by evil swarthy petrol station proprietors & blaming Hurricane Katrina.

Whilst pump prices in Australia hit $1.40 a litre this week, ExxonMobil, Chevron Texaco, BP & Shell have taken more than US$250 billion in price increases since 2000, generating incremental profits of a staggering US$80 billion.

More recently, ExxonMobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, reported a 32% jump in profits, whilst Royal Dutch Shell recorded a 34% increase & ConocoPhillips a whopping 51% increase.

Given these kinds of returns, who in their right minds would be contemplating buying Telstra shares?

No doubt whilst he’s there, he’ll find time to talk to junior about the terrorist attacks being mounted on us by the oil companies, in particular given the latest developments in that neck of the woods? 

Two days ago, the US Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) issued a press release exposing internal oil company memos that show how the industry intentionally reduced domestic refining capacity to drive up profits. 

The FTCR released copies of internal memos from Mobil, Chevron & Texaco, illustrating how the oil juggernauts reduced refining capacity & drove independent refiners out of business, in an effort to increase fuel prices (since 1981, the number of refineries in the US has dropped from 300 to 149 & only one new refinery has been built since 1975).

The highly confidential memos reveal a nationwide effort by the American Petroleum Institute, the lobbying & research arm of the US oil industry, to encourage major refiners to close their refineries in the mid 1990s. Shorting The Market

A few days before, the FTCR issued a press release applauding the move by California Attorney-General, Bill Lockyer, to subpoena oil company executives & investigate allegations of fuel price gouging by US oil companies. Gas Gouging

This followed the release of the FTCR’s own report into US oil company profiteering & a call for a Congessional Investigation by Senator Hillary Clinton, following the failure of the Californian or Federal governments to respond to oil company activities. Profiteering  

But of course, if it comes to a choice between seriously taking on the oil companies or restricting our rights to object about being fleeced, we’ll all probably wind-up being subject to ’control orders’, even though we won’t be able to afford to go anywhere anyway.

Maybe when the boy returns from his latest jaunt, he can give further thought to how the federal government might use some of its windfall excise revenue of $1.5 billion per annum to relieve spiralling fuel costs?

In the meantime, the corporate terrorists are rampant.