Anthony Albanese’s government has no functional opposition, but an Australian socialist utopia seems as remote as ever. Would Ben Chifley recognise Labor in the 21st century? What happened to the ‘betterment of mankind’? The party which once existed to serve the interests of the working class now seems utterly beholden to the military industrial complex, big miners and the gambling industry.
Veteran ALP firebrand and retired senator Doug Cameron didn’t hold back in his recent Laurie Carmichael lecture, attacking AUKUS, increasing militarism and the criminalisation of protest. What’s become of Labor’s historic commitment to peace and diplomacy?
‘There can be no winners in a conflict with China that could lead to the weapons of mass destruction,’ he said. ‘It’s time that we stop the simplistic claptrap promoted by the Labor cabinet and promulgated by its defence ministers that deterring war through strength promotes peace. If you want peace, you should prepare for peace, not war.’
Cameron described the AUKUS submarine plan as a complete repudiation of decades Australian anti-nuclear weapons policy.
‘Labor is junking its own policy heritage, he said.
‘Surely we should be advocating for a deeper bilateral engagement with China… too many of our parliamentarians have no experience and even less idea of the horrors inflicted on working class people when diplomacy and peace give way to war.’
Bewildered
Doug Cameron said there was no need for Labor to blindly follow Scott Morrison into AUKUS.
‘I do not understand why a party with a long history of anti-nuclear activism can abandon its integrity, its history and its credibility by capitulating to militarism within 24 hours of learning about the AUKUS deal…
‘I am even more bewildered that the Labor Party with such a massive majority in parliament would resort to word games about having undertaken a serious review of AUKUS and why so many of my former colleagues have been muted, intimidated and acquiescent.’
Cameron was also scathing about his own party’s failure on the housing crisis.
‘How crazy it it that our own government ignores a basic human right to housing, champions market-based solutions and home ownership, while disregarding the lessons of the past that public housing and a Housing Commission is a proven solution to unaffordable housing for working class Australians?’ he asked.
‘At the very time the availability of social housing is declining… Australia is funding public housing for United States’ armed forces personnel in Western Australia. How crazy is this?’
After discussing the USA’s sordid and murderous history of overthrowing progressive governments, Doug Cameron said ‘the spirit of Ronald Reagan is alive and well in the Labor Party cabinet… We should stop using flawed, lazy and inept analysis, and stop parroting right wing rhetoric in defense of the indefensible.’
Cameron called for a parliament inquiry into the implications of the revolving door between politicians and the global military industrial complex, and said this should be applied to the mining industry too.
Pocock tackles gambling industry
It was left to independent senator and former rugby union star David Pocock to address the third elephant in the room when he found himself unceremoniously kicked out of the Parliamentary Sports Club last week for mentioning the fact that the club (which appears on the lobbying register) also takes money from the gambling industry, including Responsible Wagering Australia.
Independent members Allegra Spender and Monique Ryan have also quit the Sports Club over its links to the gambling lobby.
Pocock pointed out that Anthony Albanese is the president of the club, which organises early morning sport and social games between politicians and the press gallery.
Albo waved away the suggestion that this was a conflict of interest, as did Penny Wong in the Senate, but Pocock said he had ‘serious concerns’ about ongoing capitulation to gambling interests, particularly considering the government was yet to respond to its own Murphy Review, which sought to reduce the serious harm caused by the industry across the country, particularly the connection between sport and problem gambling.
‘You’ve got Australians out there who are in a lot of pain, you’ve got young Australians who are being advertised to the point that they think gambling is just a normal part of watching sport,’ said Mr Pocock. ‘Surely we can do better than that as a country.’
With the gambling issue threatening to blow up in the government’s face again, Senator Pocock has now been reinvited to join the Parliamentary Sports Club, but says he will not do so until the club undertakes a ‘transparent, open’ process to reconsider its sponsorship arrangements.
Labor’s sponsorship arrangements might prove harder to fix.
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
You can find more of his writing at Patreon and Gumroad.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
