Deal-making on AUKUS and Palestine is a dead-end |
As senior cabinet and party factional leaders intended, the Labor National Conference, over July 23-25, was a stage-managed affair with no serious debate on AUKUS or the genocide in Palestine.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, last year, declared his desire to make Labor the “natural party of government”. In practice, it means he is governing to ensure that Labor is the default party of Australian capitalism. On all major policy areas, his government is proving to be a steady hand for big business.
Yes, Labor’s modest changes to the capital gains tax and negative gearing did produce some squeals from the Coalition and business figures and, while their grievances are genuine, it also contains an element of theatre.
Big business needs more than one loyal servant in parliament to capture and deflect dissatisfaction with the status quo.
Pretending to govern on behalf of the whole population in the so-called “national interest” while putting the interests of big business first is the very art of politics for the majority of MPs.
Nowhere is this more true than in the bi-partisan determination to preserve bi-lateral military ties with Israel and to push ahead with the disastrous AUKUS war pact.
Both policies are reinforced by the bipartisan long-term plan to make Australia one of the top 10 global weapons’........