Freedom is a nano-thin veneer in 21st Century Australia. Unlike many well developed countries, we have no Bill of Rights, to guarantee basic freedoms. The right to vote for all men and women was hard won by a series of struggles sparked by the Eureka Rebellion in December 1854, but it was not until 1967 that this right was uniformly won by the first nations people.
Worker struggles also created the rights to organise and associate however these were overseen by the industrial courts of the land, and subject to the power of the state when the state of affairs swung too much in favour of workers. The wharfies, the coal-miners, the builders labourers and pilots have all suffered the wrath of the ruling class.
First nations people, everyday, face harassment, arrest, assault and death from the armed forces of the state.
We the people, have no rights. But extraordinary power is wielded by the monopoly media (through all its channels) big business organisations and their think-tanks and ideologues. The money flows to them and their policies prevail.
The dusty veil of parliamentary democracy is just about faded by scandal, waste and corruption in the three levels of parliamentary democracy. The on-message lies and bluster uttered by professional politicians too, has sent participation in the major political parties plummeting. People are walking away, disgusted with the cynical power-plays.
In the vacuum, new and sometimes dangerous forms emerge often under the banner of freedom. They seek to divide the people and attack perceived enemies. They are financed and supported by seen and unseen benefactors. In Pearls and Irritations, Lucy Hamilton outlines some worrying trends and calls out the new fascists and their ringleaders.
