The temperature is rising and there is nothing Albo and others in the cast of actors and clowns can do. The attack on M.P. Helen Haines, the rise of sovereign citizens movements alongside the One Nation Party are some of the symptoms of the distress and anger in Australia. This journal has long outlined the difficulties and hardships of the people of Australia. And then there are the political and structural problems of the nation. For the people and the nation there has rarely been a greater urgency to solve them.
With the attempted murder of Helen Haines there was 24/7 commentary poring over details and then there was endless parade of politicians calling for civility and dialling down the temperature. What is happening? Was it social media? The manosphere? These were some suggestions from the media; poking at the entrails for causes but they avoided the big questions.
The media is awash with stories about the rise in popularity of One Nation. In by-elections in SA, NSW and the upcoming state an election in Victoria there is alarm that old two party, tweedle-dum and tweedle-di election show isn’t working.
The Albanese ALP government won 94 seats in the last Federal election despite getting a primary vote hovering around 30%. The Coalition received similar dismal results.
Disaffection and dissent has become widespread and difficult to contain. The causes are many and well known- the cost of living, housing/ homelessness, health care, welfare, aged care, child care, immigration and defence.
The people, their organizations, NGOs, experts and media commentators call out for action on these mountains of problems. Yet nothing happens, there is no movement. There is endless debate in the theatre of parliament. Cries of “We need a bipartisan agreement on the bill” “There’s budget restraints” “It needs to go the Senate committee for review” or “There no room in the current parliamentary sitting year, * suddenly nothing happens.
With its budgetary and taxation powers, the Federal government has tremendous powers and resources, yet there is tremendous timidity and inertia. The state and territories also wield power but are regularly captured by corporate interests with expensive promises of “Jobs and Growth). The corporates play states against themselves and the greater national interest. And the players provide that great cover –“It’s a state matter – It’s a federal problem” a see-saw blame game.
The states and territories are a dysfunctional colonial legacy that keeps Australia in safe hands.
Not even the potential of a total collapse of the Liberal party provides any incentive for the Albanese ALP government to move. ALP members and branches disaffected and alienated by actions and policies of the Federal parliamentary ALP wrings their hands, powerlessly.
Why is this so?
Who is benefiting from the policies and actions of government?
MINING
The foreign mining companies, mineral and hydrocarbon exporters who pay no tax, secure rights to mine, regardless of environmental or cultural concerns. And the subsidies and “concessions’ they receive. The ministerial doors are always open to mining magnates and their minions. Reports show that the tertiary education tax HECS /HELP ($4.9billion) collects more than double the revenue for the Australian government than Petroleum Resources Tax ($2.3 billion).
BANKS
The four big banks backed by their masters, Blackrock and Vanguard from Wall St, conduct their cartel without fear as they squeeze people and small business with their loans and “services”. There was a Royal Commission into Banking, Financial Services and Superannuation services industry where some of the 4 big banks and Macquarie bank were required to refund hundreds of millions to customers who were wrongfully charged fees or interest. The only penalties were token fines and a few resignations. Aided by digitalization and AI, the banks roll out a campaign of closures and mass sackings of thousands. Banks rule!
AUKUS
AUKUS, negotiated by Scott Morrison * and signed off by the Albanese ALP opposition has secured a pipeline of money flowing to foreign arms companies. Australia has committed $4.7 billion (approx. US$3 billion) to the United States and £2.4 billion to the United Kingdom to expand and accelerate their lagging domestic submarine-building industrial bases. (Guardian 12/5/26) The mooted short-term AUKUS budget for the next decade stands between A$71 billion and A$96 billion and ultimately ballooning out to A$368 billion (the 30 year estimate).
MONOPOLIES
Then there are the domestic monopolies in retail, insurance, airlines and freight transport who dance around regulatory bodies avoiding control using the best lawyers the tax payers can provide. All making record profits.
GAMBLING
Described as being the Greatest Gambling Loser nation ($31.5 billion 2026) and despite the findings of the Murphy Parliamentary Inquiry (2022–2023) the massive gambling industry continues to draw blood.
Australia is indeed in safe hands for the massive corporate interests that dominate the Australian economy and set the agenda for all the decisions and developments. These interests, their media and think-tanks set out and propagate the ideological dialogue that justifies their rule. The big questions of sovereignty and supervision of Australia’s resources and wealth for the benefit of the people lies unanswered.
Prosperity, it goes, is the reward for opening your borders, freeing your capital, shrinking your state and letting prices do the thinking. It is a lovely story but deeply flawed.
Only when colonial relics of rule are removed and replaced by a democratic People’s Republic that genuinely puts the Australian people first, where the wealth flows to housing, health, education and welfare instead of the vaults of Wall St, London, Switzerland and other tax havens. Where services are expanded to meet the needs of Australians. Where corruption is crushed and its perpetrators jailed. This could be an Australia that genuinely embraces the world on its own terms, and not a lap dog on the leash of the U.S.A. or the former master, Britain.
| Federal Parliament Annual Sitting Days |
| *House of Representatives: 56 sitting days *Senate: 45 sitting days *Senate Estimates: 12 days [ Not exactly flat out] |
- Morrison now resides in the U.S.A where he works for defence and aerospace companies
