The type of conservatism driving the rump of the Coalition government longs for a time which was oppressive, deferential, bigoted and callous1. Some of these traits are evident in the current policies of the Liberal and National coalition government, whether it be dealing with asylum-seekers, those on benefits, those on minimum wages, those depending on penalty rates, or those with a disability. Nobody else seems to matter to them except big business; everyone else is excluded from their purview. People have had enough of these sorts of policies which simply make the rich richer and keep the poor in their place, and the government knows it. As a consequence, the Coalition can see an existential threat arising for them which is demonstrated by their continuing, slowly declining share of the primary vote and the fragmentation of the ‘conservative’ vote.
To counteract this decline, they have ‘Guthried’ the ABC, so that it gives the government a distinctly easier ride2,3; the Murdoch press have been even more strident in their support of the government with the help of a $30 million bribe to Foxtel, with none of the requisite documentation4; government ministers and others have adopted Trumpesque techniques of obfuscation, flat-out lying and lying by omission5,6,7; other corporate media have adopted more favourable reporting on government policies and activities, because they have been blackmailed into supporting the government by the latter dangling corporate tax cuts over their heads. On top of this, the government is now attempting to change the rules to prevent charities and community organisations from being able to express political opinions8.
The amazing beatup that was the Dastyari Affair, exemplified the complicity of the corporate media in regurgitating the government line. Dastyari was guilty of precisely the same acceptance of donations, and presumably influence, that members of the government have accepted; indeed, the donations to the government were from the same Chinese billionaire9.
The Coalition government is also prosecuting a war against reality. This is mostly due to the coercive effect introduced into their thought processes by the need to maximise their fund-raising. This is why people like Barnaby Joyce don’t much care for the concerns of farmers, despite the National Party being ostensibly the party for farmers. The reason for Joyce’s lack of concern is the fact that he has been purchased by the mining lobby, most notably by Gina Rinehart. The same is true of Matthew Canavan. He has clearly also been purchased by the fossil fuel lobby, as is clear from all his bleatings regarding the proposed Adani Carmichael coal mine10. This war against reality was perhaps demonstrated best by the almost complete excision of any comment on climate change in the 2015 Intergenerational Report11. This is an extraordinary omission, given that the most dangerous intergenerational risk is that of climate change.
The Liberal Party and the carbuncle that is the National Party are desperate to hold on to power, because deep down, they know that their brand of conservatism is in terminal decline. If they lose power they realise that it will be devastating for them and will probably lead to the final fragmentation of the conservative vote in Australia, and years or decades in the wilderness of opposition. The first inklings of this are the defection of Cory Bernardi from the Liberal Party to set up the Australian Conservatives12, and the popularity of Nick Xenophon’s SA First party for the upcoming South Australian election. Opinion polls have SA First outpolling both the Labor government and the Liberal Party opposition13. Some commentators think this may be the beginning of the end for the two party system. I suspect it will signal the beginning of the end of the Liberal Party and their neoliberal ideology.
Sources
- http://www.blotreport.com/australian-politics/conservatives-shouting-21st-century/
- http://www.blotreport.com/australian-politics/abc-prepared-privatisation/
- http://www.blotreport.com/australian-politics/facilitating-fake-news-australia/
- http://www.blotreport.com/australian-politics/money-brown-paper-bag/
- http://www.blotreport.com/australian-politics/morrison-porter-blackmail-lying/
- http://www.blotreport.com/australian-politics/morrisons-shell-game/
- http://www.blotreport.com/australian-politics/morrison-does-donors-bidding/
- https://www.hrlc.org.au/news/2017/12/5/government-set-to-silence-charities
- http://www.blotreport.com/australian-politics/just-another-beatup/
- http://www.blotreport.com/australian-politics/twit-canavan/
- https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/05/intergenerational-report-climate-change-silence-in-2015-a-stark-contrast-to-2010
- http://www.blotreport.com/australian-politics/where-to-now-saint-bernardi/
- http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-19/xenophons-sa-best-leading-newspolls-popularity-poll/9270690
I agree that both the Liberal and National parties are a waste of space and that it is possible that they will fragment in the not too distant future. It may be rerun of the fragmentation of the conservative side of politics that occurred early in World War II. What has happened to the ABC is a bit of a worry. Unfortunately, Matthew Abraham, one of the long running morning announcers in Adelaide pulled the pin in the middle of the year. Listening to Abraham and his offsider, David Bevan, interviewing a politician on either side of politics was quite fascinating with no holds barred. Their bullshit meter was always very well tuned, although towards the end Abraham went over the top at times and clearly needed a change.
While climate change may be important, it is really only a symptom of the main problem, i.e., the fact that the world is already hopelessly overpopulated. Until this is sorted out everything else is essentially irrelevant and problems such as increasing deforestation will continue to grow.
In my view Sam Dastyari should have been tossed out. The only problem is that he was not accompanied by a lot of fellow parliamentarians from both sides. Acceptance by a political party of money from any private organisation (Australian or foreign) is given for a reason, i.e., they want something in return. Unfortunately we seem to be heading down the American path where anyone standing for elected office needs bucket loads of money.
Anyone who say that they know what is going to happen in the upcoming SA election on March 17 is out of touch with reality. In fairness, none of the pundits are even trying to predict the result. The present ALP government is hopeless, the Liberal opposition is almost non-existent and all Nick Xenophon can offer is continuing stunts. You could not get a decent cabinet out of the whole lot. It is not a happy situation.
Lol Arthur. Fortunately these embarrassments are irrelevant to the Brits who have more than a few of their own self-obsessed lightweight conservatives to worry about.