11-29-07, 3:06 pm
The comprehensive defeat of the Howard government and Howard himself is a great victory for the Australian labour movement, from Kevin Rudd to the tens of thousands of rank and file trade unionists and the members of many other community organizations.
They hope and expect that there will be a real new direction in policies on the many pressing issues raised in the election campaign — living standards, climate change, education, health and on the rights of trade unions.
There is one claim made several times by Kevin Rudd that he cannot fulfill — it’s the claim that he will govern for all Australians.
Howard made the same claim when he celebrated his election victory in 1996 under the banner of 'For all of us.' It didn’t turn out that way and never could. Howard governed for the big end of town while systematically dismantling welfare, living standards and the rights of working people. He imposed the 'never ever' GST and pushed Australia into war in Iraq and Afghanistan on a raft of lies. He fenced off Australia, demonizing and incarcerating asylum seekers.
Those who elected the ALP candidates around the country were once again the 'true believers' and the millions of voters who believed that a new government would pursue policies that are different from those of Howard. Many ALP candidates were elected via Green preferences. In fact, it is likely that the ALP would not have been returned to government without Green preferences.
The ALP’s candidates were not elected by those from the North Shore or from Toorak or by those who have made new found wealth out of the resources boom in WA.
Perhaps Kevin Rudd believes that he has the answer to the class struggle and that his 'togetherness' will be able to eliminate that feature of social life. But that’s a myth. All the talk of 'fairness' and the 'national interest' will not alter the fact that the economic interests of workers and those of the corporations are opposed.
Workers and their unions will struggle for wages, working conditions and the right of trade unions to stand up for their members’ interests. Furthermore, workers comprise the overwhelming majority of the population. On the other hand the corporations comprise a very small percentage of the population but they do control the economy at present. The Howard government has seen to it that big business has even more powers than previously.
They control prices, interest rates, trade, investment, can hire and fire workers, control the media and much else. Any government restriction of their power and privileges is immediately met with counter action, including the sabotage of governments and a media counter-offensive to whip up 'popular' support against such measures.
Big business control of the economy has been strengthened in the last several decades by the privatization of many public enterprises (Telstra, the Commonwealth Bank, airports, massive aid to private schools, etc) by both Liberal and Labor governments. There is no suggestion that a Rudd government is going to alter the policy of privatization.
It is as well for the new government to remember who elected it and that it is not there to continue, even with some changes, the same policies that were implemented by Howard.
There are already some straws in the wind. In an ABC interview Julia Gillard said that the government will consult the Business Advisory Council on industrial relations legislation and, only as an after-thought, mentioned consulting the trade unions. ALP policy statements leading up to the elections indicated that the same anti-trade union penalties are going to stay in place. Furthermore, the severe attacks made against several militant trade union leaders illustrates the existence of a underlying hostility to trade unionists who happen to disagree with Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.
Another straw in the wind is Rudd’s decision that he will handpick his cabinet without any input from the other members of the ALP Caucus, thereby overturning a 100-year-old practice of former newly-elected Labor prime ministers. This act alone suggests an authoritarian streak that may grow in the future. It remains to be seen whether the ALP Caucus will meekly accept Rudd’s unilateral decision.
The next few weeks and months will reveal all.
From The Guardian
