- by C Bartholomew
- The Guardian
- Issue #2114
Several ABC commentators this week have been singing Parliament’s praises, cheering on co-operation between Labor and the Coalition. However, these messages about ‘reaching across the aisle’ obscure the fact that the working class is the one forced to compromise.
NDIS AND AGED CARE
Labor’s newly passed NDIS reforms have been the subject of significant public outcry from Australia’s disabled community. Headline failures have included the classification of period care products as a “lifestyle” item alongside vapes and gaming consoles, despite data showing that 78 per cent of Australians with a disability who need period care products cannot afford them.
Despite Labor’s election promise not to cut the NDIS, they were more than happy to team up with the Coalition and Pauline Hanson to carve $14.4 billion from disability support. Rather than address abuse and corruption among private providers, the government has chosen to betray the trust of Australia’s disabled community and place the weight of these cuts on their shoulders.
As Greens senator Jordon Steele-John rightly pointed out, the government could only manage to give the disabled community a window to provide feedback on the support they need which expired faster than a bottle of milk.
Likewise with aged care reforms. The ALP conceded to the Coalition, and dropped plans to introduce criminal penalties for dodgy private providers. When it comes to compromise, Labor is ready to throw working people to the wolves while protecting their corporate mates.
CFMEU AND THE WAR ON UNIONS
The most blatant attack from the anti-worker alliance between Labor and the Coalition is the war on the CFMEU. The ABC and corporate media have celebrated the “clean up” effort. Labor’s administrator scheme, which disregards the Fair Work Act and the presumption of innocence, is designed to tear unions apart using union members’ own money. The ABC and corporate media see this as parliament working as it should. Meanwhile, class-conscious unions across Australia have called out Labor’s deal with the devil for what it is. The attack will not end with the CFMEU.
BUSINESS AS USUAL
So, is the ABC correct when it says that this is Parliament “functioning as a parliament should?” While we might want Parliament to act in the best interests of the working class, this pattern of sacrificing the interests of everyday people in favour of corporate profit is the true function of government under capitalism.
Within a political system designed to benefit the ruling corporate class and keep workers in line, Labor and Parliament in general will continue to lurch rightwards. When Labor and the Coalition work together “as a parliament should”, it is always the working class who is forced to compromise.
