THE SUBS 'N' DUDS

REPORT

• Hark's Barks
  • John Howard's Right Wing Coup
• Where's Me Tablets! by Gort Slypesunder
  • Life in Tory Australia

HARK'S BARKSby Harold Hark

John Howard's Broken Election Promises Amount to a Right Wing Coup

"THIS IS NOT THE END OF DEMOCRACY AS WE KNOW IT, BUT AN ADJUSTMENT ..." Thus spake Richard Alston on PM, 21 August 1996.

Australians will have to shift into a higher gear in order to cope with the loss of their culture. They had better realise this sooner than later, for life in the 'standing-in-it zone' is often clouded by the sameness of the day to day. The people of Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union, Mao's China and Ceaucescu's Rumania have all shared the inability to SEE the pattern of events as they unfolded, until one day they awoke to realise they had copped it, lives ruined for generations.

The Howard Government approves of America's attacks on Saddam Hussein, but secretly wishes it had the Butcher's power. To that extent they are downsizing our media, curtailing our outlets of information. The critical voices of the ABC and Radio National are about to be radically altered. What will take the place of radio's AM, The World at Noon, and PM, or television's 7:30 Report, Four Corners, and Lateline? The Feds would like us to be reliant on Brian-told-me-nothing and Ray Martin, or Melbourne's Herald-Sun and Sydney's Daily Telegraph. Jill Singer, the strongest voice of political honesty on commercial television, won't stand a chance; only her beauty will keep her on the payroll. This ruling party, the so-called 'Liberal Party' of Australia is bent on destabilising and confusing its people to the point of inertia.

There is no denying the Labor Party instigated the betrayal.

"...dictatorships never occur by chance or whim, they are always the fruit of the political class that precedes them, of its blindness, its ineptitude, its irresponsibility, its lies, its hypocrisy." (attributed to Alexander Panagoulis by Oriana Fallaci in her book, "A Man".)

In Victoria, Western Australia, and Federally, Labor paved the way for regressive Coalition regimes to step in and conquer. For that betrayal, Labor deserves a few decades in the wilderness; the Coalition is much better at screwing the people. Nevertheless, those who voted for the Coalition must take responsibility for their wilful ignorance, their failure to see the broader picture which promotes a just society ahead of inward-directed selfishness.

Sane voices have pleaded with the Kennett, Court and Howard governments to reject the Friedman-inspired Economic Rationalist policies which have produced an underclass in the United States and Great Britain unseen since the nineteenth century. While the Hawke-Keating governments laid the foundation of EconoRat reforms, they did so with a human face, however indistinct. But with the Coalition's victory, it has taken less than half a year to rip that face to shreds. The unacceptable violence which erupted in Canberra on Budget eve must be seen as a reflection of the anger people feel at John Howard's truly un-Australian reforms. Unless you are stupid, or a Coalition 'My Party, Right or Wrong' ideologue, then it must be clear that the one and only cause of the storming of Parliament was the John Howard budget and it's inhuman cuts to the well-being of Australia's citizens.

Macquarrie's second definition of treason: the betrayal of a trust or confidence; breach of faith; treachery. John Howard, along with Jeff Kennett and Richard Court before him, are in truth traitors. Each lied to voters, and each redefined 'mandate' as a synonym for autocracy. Each is obsessed with a desiccated model of finance. That history has proven this model to be disastrous on a social level is of no importance; on the Corporate level it has been a boon. The steps to financial success have never been so clear. All that is required is an MBA mentality and a one-eyed concept of what life is all about: the acquisition of power through money. No one can deny that wealth is indeed wonderful, but only if it comes as the byproduct of a life lived with integrity.

It is an historical fact that people will not act against treacherous governments until they are directly affected, and by then it is often too late. Nearly every Australian must surely, understand that the lifestyle enjoyed until now is about to be terminated for no good reason. We cannot be so intellectually undernourished that we cannot see that John Howard and his cronies want our subservience, our financial incapacitation. If we are not a nation of bunnies, then the time has come to stand up and be counted. Unlike the Iraqis under Saddam Hussein, we can and must stop John Howard before it is too late, because make no mistake, the very foundation of Australian society is under attack. We will not recover from these Coalition crimes within our lifetime. A general strike--on a rotating and then a permanent basis--is the only solution. A withdrawal of our time, our expertise, our talent, our dollars. The policies of Economic Rationalism and it's trickle-down pain cannot cope with empty coffers.

The Bell Curve of evolution is entering another trough. Few generations get by without suffering being visited on them. Ours is about to get a taste. Some of us were in WWII, some in Korea, some in Vietnam. But those who stayed home have yet to see the horror.

The PPF, inching ever closer to the reality of its name, urges the Education, Public, Health and Social sectors, the trade unions, the staff and management of the ABC, and religious and aboriginal communities to form a coalition of their own for the purpose of calling a general strike. (It may be opportune to reiterate here that the PPF is not aligned with any political party or organisation. The PPF simply wants its contribution to a free and democratic society to be matched proportionately by all members of society and government. The PPF does not believe in winners and losers, but in equality, inasmuch as that is possible.)

We will win eventually; we always have. If we hadn't, the human race would still be on all fours, crawling towards a promised land represented by Gympie. In the meantime, it's war once again. We are the people who get on with the joy of learning and discovery. We may be a plumber, a barrister, an outworker, a bartender, a waitress, a mum, a bum, a former PM, homeless or wealthy, but we are blessed with a conscience. We shall prevail.

GENERAL STRIKE!

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WHERE'S ME TABLETS!
by Gort Slypesunder

Life in Tory Australia

• Les Carlyon's columns are always an enjoyable read for this gnashing reporter, but in these times of corporate style government, his attempts to level the peaks and troughs of hope and despair into some kind of witty, homogenised wisdom are irritating. We're not looking back with hindsight, Les, we're standing in it! It may be true that the government doesn't hate workers. Perhaps a sneering disdain is more appropriate, the attitude wealthy landowners exhibited to their serfs in the not too distant past. And Father Brennan may have gone a tad over the top by branding Clueless John a racist. But if the PM isn't racist, what is he? Is it possible he has no idea who he is? These are the times we thought we didn't have to have, of violence--verbal and physical--so common during Tory regimes.

• Tim Fisher, intelligence dwarfed by ignorance, consoled Chinese businessmen on the ingratitude of uppity Tibetans by citing clear evidence of improved health conditions during his one week, government chaperoned tour in 1993. Responding to criticism of his comments, he said, "We call a spade a spade, which is one of the penchants of the National Party." Well, the contest is on. Which drongo will make the world laugh the most at Australia, Tim 'Spayed-Brains' Fisher, or Alexander 'Little Lord' Downer!

• Gee, I'm losing count of the violent demonstrations here in John Howard's Forward-To-The-Past-Land. Is it three since the budget? Not to worry, there'll be more. The recent student rally in Melbourne provides some interesting points to consider. 1) After four years of Kennett, Victorians--students and others alike--have reached boilover. 2) The student rally organisers were naive to request media to shoot some scenes and not others. True, the Police (hereafter referred to as State Thugs, or simply, Thugs) can demand video evidence to prosecute the provoked, but the media can also provide video evidence of State Thug thuggery. 3) Eye witness accounts point to Thug provocation (in the case of political rallies, that has been their job since Gilgamesh was a pup), and once again a small contingent of beasties (SWAT or Neo Nazi?) were on the scene, without identification, punching with gusto. 4) Howard the Coward's beloved Silent Majority will never be sympathetic to free thinking, violence or no violence.

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