Dancing On The Grave Of The Greens
As Australia comes to terms with its overwhelming rejection of Peter Dutton and the Trumpian LNP Coalition I have noticed another phenomenon happening. Dancing on the grave of the Greens by the corporate media and News Corp in particular. Not being able to square the clear rejection of the right wing agenda with their own narrative they are going after other targets. The decimation of the Liberal Party does not play well with their conservative viewers, so some grave dancing on an old enemy is on high rotation.
The Shared Dental Into Medicare Aspirations Of The Greens
The Greens had a policy of including dental under Medicare, which has wide support within the community, especially the 60% of Australians who struggle to afford going to the dentist. It will be a real shame if the returned Labor government does not expand its mandate to look into some sort of expansion of Medicare into dental, as this anomaly is both illogical and harming the health of millions of Australians long term. The Greens were bold in their progressive aspirations on a number of fronts and were good for the country on this basis alone. I sincerely hope that the Albanese government does not slip back into complacency after their big victory.
Greens Gone From Lower House But Independents Remain
The divisive Dutton is gone and the Libs left a mere husk of what they formerly were. It will be up to the Independents to keep the pressure on the government to accelerate progress on the renewable energy transition and to shift the economic settings, which currently unfairly favour the propertied and the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Australians. The tax laws need remedying around the housing situation to fix things up. The fact that a third of all corporations doing business in Australia pay no tax is another public disgrace. News Corp paid no tax.
“Serial tax dodgers News Corp, Santos, Qantas and Transurban once again failed to pay any income tax in Australia in 2022-23, the latest Australian Tax Office tax transparency data shows.”
The government must be held accountable in light of these loop holes and their relationship to these powerful corporations. The Australian people do not want a continuation of the unfair playing field, when it comes to oligarchs, the lack of competition in sectors, and the influence of powerful concerns on how the economy functions downunder.
Australia Still Needs A Green Tinge
Speaking truth to power and holding the government accountable will be the challenge in this next term of government. The power brokers will be wooed by vested interests and the ALP installed as the new status quo’s top dog. The biggest enemy of good government in this situation is complacency. Voldemort is dead; and ministers wanting to stay in their comfort zones will be on the cards. Dancing on the grave of the Greens in the lower house may compound this problem for the country. Hopefully their strong presence in the Senate will maintain the progressive push for better.
Libs = Self-Interest
The Liberal Party should rename itself Self-Interest, as this is their credo really. The right wing agenda has long been about – what is in it for me? The wealthy support the Libs because they promise to look after their best interests in this regard. Wealth redistribution is a dirty term for these folk. They want flat regressive taxes and few taxes on capital or assets. Let the workers pay all the tax via income tax. Don’t touch our gains whether ill gotten or not. Superannuation isn’t that a low taxing bolthole for the super-rich? The calibre of people leading the Liberal Party is of this nature. Peter Dutton, Scott Morrison, Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott and John Howard – none are short of a bob or two. Principles, perhaps, are less conspicuous? Australia rejected this naked self-interest in those wanting to lead them at this juncture in time. The Trump debacle in the United States was illustrative of where this behaviour takes you when given its head.
Green Shoots
The Greens have long been the perceived enemy of this kind of naked self-interest downunder. Dancing on the grave of the Greens is an expression of the hatred felt by those who bat for the Murdochs and their corporate ilk. Speaking truth to power is seen by them as an afront. How dare they! The world is changing, however, and younger folk don’t listen to the News Corp platforms. The power dynamics are shifting like tectonic plates beneath our feet. Legacy media is dying or pretty much dead in influencing the next generations of Australians. The wealthy will be reaching out to new agents of influence. Trump has the oligarchs of techfeudalism in his grasp, will a similar story play out here I wonder?
“Already, the influence of billionaire oligarchs like Musk is making waves globally. The majority of human beings are followers like sheep and like to be told what to do. All this democratic choice of the last century or so has worn the tiny minds of many out. They long for orders and instructions to blindly follow. Follow the money is the mantra of many. Follow the loudest voice in the room is the default position of many more. Don’t think too deeply about anything and keep your head down is the pathway for a majority of citizens. ‘Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose’, so goes the lyrics of a song anyway.”
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump.
©HouseTherapy
