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Issue No. 136 | 17 May 2002 |
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Modern Labour
Interview: Licking the Wounds Industrial: The Accidental Tourist Unions: Stars And Stripes International: The Un-Promised Land History: Mate Against Mate Politics: Reith's Gong Poetry: You've Got a Friend Review: War on Terror: Now Showing Satire: Burmese Regime Makes Genuine Commitment To Pretence Of Change
The Soapbox The Locker Room Bosswatch Postcard Week in Review
 Gangsta RapMore May Day Hate MailWhat Women WantChucking a WobblyIs Caustic Costello the Despot of Despair?East Timor: Independent Or Mendicant?
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Unions Stars And Stripes
Don Watson, tongue in cheek, recently suggested we give up our sovereignty and join the United States. Peter Costello seems to have taken him seriously. Once upon a time issues like education, health and nation building used to be at the centre of our political debate. Now the American model rules supreme here - politics is about war, enemies and punishment for the vulnerable. But while American jingoism, in its perverse way, can be a Keynesian pump primer for a militarised economy, Australian jingoism gets paid for by the poor and the sick. With his seventh budget The Smirk took up the baton his boss has run with since Tampa, pumping unbelievable amounts of cash - over $4 billion - into beefing up a security state and funding an iron curtain against leaky Indonesian fishing boats. Meanwhile the bill gets mailed to the disabled, the aged and the unwell. This is the incredible transformation in the Australian politic in the last eight months: firstly our democratic structures have been degraded by a lying Government fostering fear and loathing to hold onto power. And now we have the country's national economic drivers - Treasury, Treasurer and budget - used to rationalise the Liberal Party's irresponsible and irrational moral panic. Paying For The Fear 1. Education While Peter Costello's budget speech was peppered with references to terror, war and security, education was mentioned once. ACTU President Sharan Burrow says the Government is failing to invest in the future, especially in the vital areas of research and development and education. 'Peter Costello can hardly campaign as the generational change PM with this lack of investment in education,' she says. 'A knowledge economy cannot be built by denying young Australians a quality education.' The class commitment of the Liberals was on show in education with rich private schools picking up funding increases of up to 43.5%, while TAFE, the educational choice of 1.3 million Australians, continues to be starved of funds. 2. Health Despite ten years of sustained and robust economic growth the Liberals are still justifying massive cuts to health programs - almost $1 billion over four years. AMA chief Kerryn Phelps pointed out to the Australian newspaper the poor economics involved in cutting the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. 'Slashing $2 billion from the PBS is false economy. We will ultimately have to pay that bill in terms of increased visits to the doctor,' she said.
Add to this the Government's hypocrisy when it says the scheme is unaffordable: last year it was putting drugs on the list against its advisory committee's advice and appointing a member with links to the drug companies. 3. Welfare cuts Other cuts which represent the meanness of this government include: � $500 million cut to welfare � $400 million cut to disability pensions � $60 million cut to unemployment assistance 4. Women Sharan Burrow says the budget is a raw prawn for thousands of working women who have helped build a booming economy and contributed millions in taxes. 'With his baby bonus John Howard values motherhood at just $1.37 a day, which would barely buy a litre of milk,' she says. Sharan Burrow says low-paid women would receive the least from the baby bonus because the scheme is packaged as a tax rebate. 'Thirty per cent of working women (low income earners) will be entitled to less than $10 a week, 50% of women (middle income earners) will receive up to $16 a week, while just 5% (high income earners) will gain the most with a rebate of $48 a week.' When change will be more of the same In Rabbit Syndrome - his essay on the relationship between Australia and America - Don Watson outlines the attacks by the American right against multiculturalists, feminists, homosexual activists, black activists and progressive intellectuals. 'This diatribe sounds familiar to our own ears of course accustomed as they are to the abuse of elites, special interest groups, black armband historians, pushy blacks and chattering classes,' he says. Howard has been brilliantly successful in defining our politics as a choice between the John Wayne Strongman and the Bleeding Heart. Peter Costello's budget cleverly and enthusiastically uses his control of the economic levers to consolidate Howard's American-inspired vision for Australia. In the past Costello has tried to differentiate himself from Howard on social issues but this budget suggests a changing of the guard in the Liberal palace will make zero difference to the politics of Australia.
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