Date: Thu, 07 Mar 1996 17:53:03 +1000 (EST)
From: g.maclennan-AT-qut.edu.au (g.maclennan)
Subject: re: Conservatives win Australian election


I have enjoyed this thread.  marcus has been brilliant as always. Adam
thoughtful and carlos probing and intelligent.  I find myself in substantial
agreement also with jeff. (do we know each other from ISO?)

I have got over my initial depression at the thought of Howard's face, such
an ugly little man, for the next three years.  It is simply too early to
tell which way things will go.  A word of caution though. Labor still got
47% of the two party preferred vote.  It may only  have got about thirty per
cent of the seats in parliament but in terms of class power it is not the
enormous defeat that the papers would have us believe.

The real problem is the lack of socialist ideas anywhere.  The ABC (State
media) is full of the common sense of the ruling class i.e. wage rises=bad;
profits =good.  We hear of the danger of a "wages breakout" all the time.
the very concept of a "profits breakout" does not exist.

I think one of the worst features of the Labor Party is that it has no means
of constructing even laborist ideology among the working class.  so petit
bourgeois ideas have had a field day.

I wonder what my Australian comrades think about  my analysis of racism?  I
have argued that the ruling class do not want racism to develp here because
of the necessity of economic links with Asia.  It has been interesting in
this context to watch the media crucify the rqacist independent  from the
Ipswich area here in Qld.

regards

Gary
g.maclennan
school of media & journalism
qut




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