Labor politicians and the trade union leaders allied to them have undermined working-class cohesion and consciousness. In doing so, they have severely weakened the very forces that could have blunted Hanson’s impact.
The screaming about “tax grabs”, “death taxes”, “class war” and “communism” from the sorry brigade of start-up shysters, investors, small businesses, big capitalists, right-wing journos and politicians is an absolute festival of reaction.
Now, more than ever, we need a fighting left and a strident movement for Palestinian justice. The commission is an attempt to intimidate the left and to make resistance to war, fascism and racism more difficult.
The government’s talk of fairness and tackling inequality is empty noise. Yet in some ways, the budget is ambitious: it is characterised by an ambition to keep Australian capitalism’s winners rich and its losers poor.
