The following Editorial was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of
the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, October 1st,
2003. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010
Australia.
Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795.
CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
"The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au>
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Editorial: Are the ALP leaders determined to lose the next election?
Recent statements by several leaders of the Labor Party give the
impression that they are determined to lose the next election despite
the lying of the Howard Government and its concerted attacks on
education, health care and every other aspect of social security and
welfare.
The ALP still refuses to make a commitment to abolish the private health
insurance subsidy by which billions of taxpayers' money is being
ploughed into the pockets of the private insurance companies and used to
prop up private hospitals. The rebate could and should be redirected to
the public health system.
Then only last week Simon Crean ruled out an increase in the Medicare
levy - another means by which funding could be found so that
bulk-billing and the whole basis of Medicare as a universal health care
system could be preserved.
The ALP has quietly dropped its opposition to the GST which signals that
it has no intention of removing the iniquitous GST but would continue
its operation. No single piece of legislation has so severely
discriminated against the working people of Australia, imposed such a
massive increase in the tax burden on low and middle income earners and
resulted in substantially increased prices.
Mark Latham has added to the perception that there is practically no
difference between the economic and social policies of the ALP and the
Liberal/National Party Coalition by parading an economic policy based on
"the rigour of private sector competition and the demands of corporate
social responsibility". Latham's policy prescription is called "A Strong
Economy for a Fair Society".
To talk about "private sector competition" and "corporate social
responsibility" is plain nonsense. "Competition policy" was introduced
at least a decade ago by Paul Keating but what has actually been
achieved by this policy apart from deregulation and privatisation?
The Commonwealth Bank was privatised. It has since sacked many thousands
of workers, imposed a multitude of ever-rising fees, closed branches and
massively reduced services to customers. These are the "achievements" of
this policy.
In what way has the privatisation of Australian airports, water
supplies, rail transport, etc. increased competition? And how did the
sackings and higher fees benefit customers? Where is the "corporate
social responsibility" of Ansett towards its workers who are still
waiting for their entitlements after almost two years. Many other
workers have also been stripped of their long service leave,
superannuation, holiday and sick leave entitlements by employers who
have conveniently become insolvent?
Mark Latham is totally committed to private enterprise and merely mouths
off about a "Fair Society" aiming to deceive the Australian people into
believing such catch-cries have some meaning when, in practice, they
mean nothing.
Latham declares that a market economy, (meaning a capitalist economy),
is here to stay. He and almost all other Labor Party parliamentarians
have given up all pretence of putting forward a socialist or even
progressive alternative as the founders of the Labor Party once did.
To top it all the Labor Party cannot find the means to offload Simon
Crean as its leader when all the evidence shows that he is the most
unpopular Labor Party leader ever. The reality is that the Labor Party
is bereft of a leadership that is capable of really standing up for the
working people of Australia. Even the Labor Party Left has become almost
indistinguishable from the right-wing factions and fails to enunciate or
stand up consistently and forthrightly for people friendly policies.
A left and progressive alternative must be found and built if there is
to be any worthwhile solutions to the many economic and social problems
that are piling up. This alternative is not a pipe-dream. The people of
South Africa, Venezuela and Brazil have already put their feet firmly on
the path of serious change in the interests of the working people and
the poor in society and the working farmers who are also facing very
serious economic and environmental problems that cannot be overcome by
mere band-aids.
This is the path for the Australian people to take, and the sooner the
better.
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