Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 13:42:18 +1000 (EST)
From: Gary MacLennan <g.maclennan-AT-qut.edu.au>
Subject: M-I: Oz and populism & communitarianism



The recent by-election for the seat of Lindsey in Sydney saw the working
-class turn out and repeat with a vengeance their rejection of the Labor
Party at the federal election of 7 months ago.

This was something of a surprise because the conservative coalition had
recently run into a scandal which exposed just how rich their members were
and how many shares they held even while being ministers.  They are  indeed
a trade of millionaires.

But none  of this flashed with the working class.  The M.P. they had
previously elected had forfeited her seat on a technicality  so it seems
they decided to give here "a fair go" as the populists say here. 

The Coalition greeted the reelection of one of their own  with  joy.  It is
all as if the lamb had said to the butcher "yes go ahead I want my throat
cut". The government is now expected to proceed with speed with the drive to
produce a low wage economy.

I know it is elitist but in this context I almost  feel we should resurrect
the term "stupid" as a political category. The working class in Sydney have
rightly rejected the economic rationalism of the Labor Party but by going
Conservative they have endangered us all.

What is most obvious here  is the absolute decay of the traditions of
working class militancy and solidarity.  e.g.  "Never scab", "never cross a
picket line" and "never vote Tory", "never rat on a mate" etc.  I know the
Labor Party and the Union Bureaucracy have  played a most  treacherous  role
here but also relevant is the survival  and mutation of Australian populism
and communitarianism.

The Tory  rat that succeeded had apparently won over a lot of people by
getting a job in a fish n chip shop. It seems they thought she had become
one of their community.  She will  now vote for their  decimation.

What are the particular elements of populism that came into play here?  I
have already mentioned the "fair go". This is the notion that everyone
should have a chance.  It is extraordinarily ill defined what a "chance"
means but this is of course a source of ideological power not weakness. 

There is also the concept of the "battler".  Again this is ill defined, but
whatever its  original  impetus  it no longer means "working-class."  Now it
tends to mean anyone who seems to be trying hard and doing it a little
tough. In other words the term "battler" can be stretched to include the
petty bourgeoisie.  Thus the racist rat-bag Pauline Hanson, who was also
elected by the working-class,  was thought of as a "battler" because she too
runs a fish n chip shop.  Her parents are it seems millionaires but this
fact has I suspect not registered with the workers.


So to sum up, I think we are in a desperate situation here in Australia.
That might be my natural  pessimism but I think the problems are deep and
long term.   Thanks at least in part to the disaster that is the Australian
Labor Party we have had a decline in class consciousness.  This has
gradually been replaced by a communitarianism and a populism that the ruling
class have successfully colonized via the agency of  the petty bourgeoisie.

regards

Gary




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