Hasn’t Treasurer Wayne Swan found his voice this past fortnight?
He of the poison pen, fresh from slamming former foreign minister Kevin Rudd as “a man of great weakness” (among other dirty words) last week, has performed a bit of a K-Rudd move himself and filed a piece for The Monthly magazine. But this is less about quoting Bonhoeffer, and more about channelling Wayne’s newly-found rage towards a different set of targets — specifically, the filthy rich. Those who seek to wield political influence, that is …
Swan is taking it up to Australia’s answer to Russia’s oligarchs. Our mining giants and those that unquestioningly support and parrot their line, that is: “The combination of industry deep pockets, conservative political support, biased editorial policy and shock-jock ranting has been mobilised in an attempt to protect vested interests.” He continues:
“Politicians have a choice … between standing up for workers and kneeling down at the feet of the Gina Rineharts and the Clive Palmers …
“… To be blunt, the rising power of vested interests is undermining our equality and threatening our democracy … We see this most obviously in the ferocious and highly misleading campaigns waged in recent years against resource taxation reforms and the pricing of carbon pollution. The infamous billionaires’ protest against the mining tax would have been laughed out of town in the Australia I grew up in, and yet it received a wide and favourable reception two years ago.”
We like that the Treasurer is getting lippy, but given the success of that “infamous billionaires’ protest”, launched off the back of a flat bed truck, it’s a case of too little too late. After all, if these “ferocious and highly misleading campaigns” actually work, then it’s hardly going to discourage our hard working, salt of the earth, billionaire Aussie miners.
That minor quibble aside, it’s hard to argue with Swan’s contentions. Just witness Palmer’s bizarre display yesterday in what initially seemed to be an announcement of his intention to launch a second football (soccer) league as just the latest salvo in his ongoing dispute with Frank Lowy and was later watered down to some kind of “watchdog”. Palmer dominated last night’s news cycle with that little thought bubble, in the same week he bragged about his 68-0 success rate in court cases. (As The Power Index reported yesterday, he used to list “litigation” as a hobby in his Who’s Who biography.) Because he can. So too, Rinehart is a fan of clogging the courts, as she continues to gag the media from reporting on her small family spat, all while buying into that same media, of course. Because she can.
They all can. The billionaires of the mining boom can all afford to buy and sell us 10 times over, which essentially is meaningless — until they start thinking they can.
Combine their penchant for politics with media outlets suffering from plummeting revenue and therefore vulnerable to takeovers (combined with depleted resources to scrutinise the powerful less and less), a public who despite living in the information age seems even more amenable to swallowing a line and defamation law that suggests you can sue anyone if you just have the money. It’s these factors, not just the cash, that means the mining boom is ensuring these people are getting richer and more powerful with every minute, whether they’re launching a media takeover, a think tank, a football club, a High Court challenge, or laying on the couch.
Sound off Swan, somebody needs to. Then again, as Bernard Keane recites today, you could start backing up the big words by getting serious about lobbying reforms. Just a thought …
Finally a politician who is prepared to stand up for fairness, at the risk of falling victim to the problem he has highlighted. I was disgusted with Gina and Co’s ability to effectively buy popular opinion about the mining tax through throwing lots of money into ads that somehow convinced people that sharing SOME more of the SUPER PROFITS amongst the wider community was going to cause the employment levels in Australia to drop. (Companies are about maximizing profits. They cut jobs to the minimum whether they pay SUPER profits tax or not. Look at QANTAS and the big four banks. They are cutting jobs without any super profits tax. If you want the facts about the mining industry read the Austalia Institute’s report on it. If anything sharing these profits a little more fairly will create jobs by giving non-super-wealthy a little more money to start small businesses). I think Mr Swan needs to add Rupert Murdoch to this list of people with too much influence over politicians. So come on Gina and Co, give a little more back to the country that contains in its soil the elements you dig up and sell. Or at least wear some blush next time you are on the back of a ute wearing pearls so it can at least look like you are a little embarrassed by your greed.
The World’s Best Treasurer (alleged) could’ve separated some serious megabucks from the 0.01 per cent if he hadn’t folded on Rudd’s sensible RSPT proposal. It was his prime chance to stick it to the over-endowed. Opportunity lost.
Actions speak louder than words, Swannie. Is that a hollow ringing we hear…?
This feels like a case of Better Late Than Never.
And you mob can stop giving them oxygen. its the press that prevented them neing laughed out of town.
Witness a moron in a coloured jacket that was fresh out of a packet and he has never been underground. The man is a clown but got all the press.
Witness big tobacco getting positive press. Witness big banks getting positive press.
witness anybody speaking out about them being pillioried by the press.
There was a time when the press did its job too instead of big moneys job; and surprise surprise, still made money.
The whole problem for Wayne Swan’s argument is of course the same elitism that arises from the power of money is the precisely the same elitism that is has arisen in the Labor party as a result of political power.
“Labor Politicians have a choice … between standing up for their constituents and kneeling down at the feet of the Gina Rineharts and the Clive Palmers …
“… To be blunt, the rising power of vested interests is undermining our equality and threatening our democracy … We see this most obviously in the ferocious and highly misleading positions of Labor politicians caving into campaigns waged in recent years against resource taxation reforms and the pricing of carbon pollution. The infamous Rudd sacking as a result of his attempt to introduce a mining tax would have been laughed out of town in the Australia I grew up in, and yet it received wide and favourable nods of approval two years ago and again just recently so that the current leadership could protect the watered down version of these taxes to look after their billionaire buddies.”
In the same way as the NSW Labor party protected, strengthened and fed off elitism in its years in power and so goes the Australian Labor Government.
O diddums, where were these fine fighting words when the mining tax was mooted and so quickly diluted?