Since when did building a climate movement mean cheerleading neoliberal government policies? In the last post I argued that the deep crisis of the Gillard government is also a crisis of the Greens and the Left more generally. By effectively entering a “Left” government the Greens have replicated the disastrous strategy of Italy’s main party of the […]
13 Sep
Comments Off on Australia’s ‘Left’ in government. Part 1: The graveyard of progressive politics?
The stench of death surrounds the Gillard Government. It is impossible to exaggerate the historic depths to which the ALP has fallen in the polls, with last week’s 27 percent in Newspoll confirming that there would be no “bounce” once the carbon tax announcement was digested by the electorate. Even the temporary revival of sleaze allegations against […]
11 Sep
Comments Off on Ten years since 9/11: What have progressives really learned about war & Islamophobia?
The tenth anniversary of 9/11 has seen TV outlets promo tribute after tribute, where the message is clear: the tragedy of the twin towers requires of us an uncritical outpouring of grief. The now ten years old footage, which has been replayed so very many times, is still raw and powerful: people jumping from burning […]
11 Jul
Comments Off on Where is the alternative? The Tasmanian Greens join the deficit hawks
Nick McKim faces protests over school closures Political debate in Australia seems firmly hinged on a cognitive dissonance over questions about the economy. Setting aside the ever-present obsession of discussing economic questions as if they are somehow separate to political ones, we have a federal government simultaneously arguing the economy is strong and we are […]
09 Jul
Comments Off on Carbon pricing — even the Right admits it’s really all about neoliberalism
This is what the climate movement, the Greens and sections of the Left have staked their futures on: [I]n Australia, the push for carbon pricing originated from the Treasury as a pro-market economy-wide reform whose great advocates were Ken Henry, Martin Parkinson and Ross Garnaut with their ideas holding sway with John Howard, Rudd and […]
27 Jun
Comments Off on The age of austerity: Social polarisation, fake partisanship & the Left’s strategy
Austerity (noun): 1. Enforced or extreme economy. From the Greek, austēros, meaning “harsh” or “severe”. 2. Merriam-Webster Word of the Year, 2010. The conversion of the present ALP federal government from new-era Keynesian stimulus apostles to sovereign debt doom merchants did not take place overnight, but if it happened anywhere it was in Toronto at the […]
09 Jun
Comments Off on Unfit for purpose: The carbon price debate as smokescreen for inaction
ABC’s The Drum has published an article today by @Dr_Tad and I about the reliance on market mechanisms to solve the climate crisis. We take on the accepted wisdom these mechanisms can adequately deal with the climate crisis, or that they are the only option. Moreover, we argue the debate is a distraction harming the climate movement and likely to see its demobilisation and defeat. Yet it is […]
05 Jun
Comments Off on #nswisconsin: How the age of austerity came to NSW & what can be done about it
Lest you thought the warnings raised on this blog about the “Age of Austerity” currently ravaging Europe and North America coming to Australia (see here and here, for example) were exaggerated, Barry O’Farrell has exceeded even our worst fears about the scale of attacks being planned in elite circles. What is being sold by the media as a case of reining […]
24 May
Comments Off on Thin edge of the wedge: Economic nationalism & the skilled migration ‘debate’
To his credit Bob Brown was one of the clearest opponents of Pauline Hanson when she rose to infamy in the 1990s, not something the major party leaders could have been accused of at the time. But more recently he has pushed both population limits arguments and a line against skilled migration. Yet Hanson used […]
09 May
Comments Off on The balance of forces
> by Dr_Tad and liz_beths Since the NSW election discussion among many readers of Left Flank has been dominated by the battle over Marrickville Council’s BDS policy. The Left inside the party has just had to face down the combined forces of the Murdoch media, Barry O’Farrell, Kevin Rudd, various sections of the pro-Israel lobby, and the party’s own national […]
15 Sep
Comments Off on Australia’s ‘Left’ in government. Part 2: Greens trapped in a prison of their own making