Labor Party pays the price

Vanguard March 2012 p. 3

The Gillard and Rudd crisis in the Labor Party didn’t just happen because of the personalities involved. Overshadowing the whole period of Federal Labor government has been the influence of the powerful mining monopolies and their agents in the mass media.

Mining monopoly campaigns against Rudd’s super profits mining tax and emissions trading scheme unleashed a torrent of negative media reports and push-polling that rattled the Labor politicians and played on the disappointments that many Labor voters already felt. Issues such as continuation of the anti-worker ABCC, the weak international stance on climate change, maintaining troops in Iraq and Afghanistan; these and other issues undermined much of the support base for the Rudd government among the more progressive sections of the people.

Instead of standing up to the mining monopolies and rallying the people to demand a fairer national share of the wealth being generated, the Rudd government floundered in the parliamentary swamp.

Gillard and her gang of conspirators simply took advantage of this to dump Rudd, and move quickly to water down the mining tax. They hoped that this would placate the mining monopolies and their local and foreign monopoly mates in the Business Council of Australia.

Appeasement never works

When the Gillard government introduced legislation for a carbon tax, another torrent of monopoly funded media reports and polls played on the fears of ordinary people over job security and the rising cost of living.

Once again, the Labor government failed to mobilise the people and failed to answer the negative and distorted position of the monopoly interests. Once again, Labor relied on parliamentary numbers, rather than the masses. And, once again, a compromise was reached with the monopolies to water down the carbon tax and extend concessions, especially to the big mining monopolies.

Unfortunately for Gillard, this didn’t get them of her back. It was apparent that key sections of the ruling class had shifted their focus to the Abbott crew, feeling that Labor had outlived its usefulness.

Rudd, still bitter, and ambitious to strut again on the world stage, has used this opportunity to try a comeback.

It’s all very tacky. It doesn’t change the fact that Australia will continue to be dominated by US, European and other foreign imperialists in concert with powerful local monopoly forces. The working class and other working people will continue to be exploited and suffer the harsh consequences of economic recession, while the rich and powerful take more and more and give nothing in return.

Rudd and Gillard have competed shamelessly to ingratiate themselves to US imperialism, endorsing US aggression around the world, offering bases in Australia, promoting the US “Free Trade” agenda.

The disarray in Federal Labor is the price to be paid for cosying up to imperialism and its ruthless monopolies. “If you sleep with dogs, you get fleas!”