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We appear to be heading for a hung parliament here in Oz. The conservative coalition government went to the polls with the economic "plan" of tax cuts for the wealthy as tactic to boost the flagging economy. This "plan" ignores the volumes of evidence that tax cuts are not being invested in production. Not surprisingly the "plan" did not inspire the multitude, and the multi-millionaire Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull is now fighting for his political life. His far-right opponents within his own party are circling around him. So, political instability appears to have come to this the most conservative and stable of nations. At the heart of it all, is the collapse of Australian manufacturing. The car industry, for example, will close next year with the loss of thousands of jobs. The Prime Minister can only bleat about the need to "innovate" and be "flexible". In the mean time the politics of neo-liberalism holds sway in all the political parties. Whatever the outcome of yesterday's vote, Australia is unlikely to break free from the grip of neo-liberal austerity under the current political balance. Yet discontent grows on the right as the re-emergence of the racist and chauvinist Pauline Hanson shows. There is also discontent on the Left, but as yet it has not evolved into a coherent political alternative. There is no Corbyn here, nor even a Sanders. But there are signs of a crisis of authority on the right. The term "neo-liberalism" is now common currency and that is a sure sign of a lessening of hegemony. Austerity remains deeply unpopular. Yet the economic storms gather and we drift towards a deeper crisis. The political stalemate we now face is emblematic of the wider and deeper impasse that accompanies these the end days of neo-liberalism. comradely Gary _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
