{"id":2126,"date":"2022-05-25T08:53:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T09:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/?p=2126"},"modified":"2022-05-25T09:14:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T10:14:18","slug":"the-2022-australian-federal-election-for-a-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/2022\/05\/25\/the-2022-australian-federal-election-for-a-start\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2022 Australian federal election, for a start"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">In case you haven\u2019t heard, Australians just endured another federal election.\u00a0 From what I hear from my friends there, it is kind of like the refrain from this old favorite. After the song, read on:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OMAIsqvTh7g\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><!--more--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">One of my Australian friends asked me to comment on the election. I am happy to oblige, but just so readers know, I am unable to vote in the elections there, even though I still have Australian citizenship, having lived abroad too many years now (I live in northern Italy). I still call Australia home, however \u2013 one of three \u2018homes\u2019 now, along with the US and Italy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">So, in Australia we have a new PM for our wide, brown land, a land girt by sea. I wax a little nostalgic here. Australians will understand. I do miss the people and the land, but not the politics, which is pretty much the same across the Anglo-American landscape. We will get to the latter point in a bit, because that is central to what is about to be outlined here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">ScoMo dropped the ball on his marketing campaign. What with rising prices for everything, <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.news.com.au\/finance\/money\/costs\/fears-rising-petrol-rises-could-break-records\/news-story\/f2e49af8b09b6f7b80cc85c8dd82c186\">a litre of petrol over $2<\/a><\/span>, a cost of living crisis that is handily blamed on the government (Yes, ScoMo, it is all <em>your<\/em> fault! But never mind the past 30 years of neoliberal economic policy. She\u2019ll be right!), Times are \u201cdifficult\u201d for Australians, according to acting PM Richard Marles. ScoMo was not available to answer charges, having resigned. But apparently you can get an app on your phone that will show you where the cheapest petrol is in your area. Every little bit helps. The app also encourages investigative talent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">We start our investigations with the <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/aliceportman.com\/australias-birth-chart\/\">Australian \u2018swearing-in\u2019 chart<\/a><\/span>, looking at directions and transits, below (<span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"http:\/\/malvinartley.com\/PDF%20Files\/charts\/aussie_election_2022.png\">bigger<\/a><\/span>):<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2128 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/aussie_election_2022-1024x567.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"291\" srcset=\"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/aussie_election_2022-1024x567.png 1024w, https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/aussie_election_2022-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/aussie_election_2022-768x425.png 768w, https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/aussie_election_2022-1536x850.png 1536w, https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/aussie_election_2022.png 1782w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">It was time for a change of residence from The Lodge for ScoMo, due to his exhausting talents. He decided he needed a bit of solitude after he won the election for Labor. This was shown by a direction of the Jupiter\/Saturn midpoint to the Meridian axis: \u201c<strong>The desire for solitude<\/strong>, the demonstration of inhibitions, <strong>a love of seclusion and loneliness<\/strong>. &#8211; <strong>Fluctuating success, changes, losses<\/strong>. &#8211; <em>The philosopher<\/em>.\u201d And <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/australia-news\/2022\/may\/22\/scott-morrison-horizon-church-sheds-tears-last-prime-ministers-speech-at-his-church\">he does seem to be philosophical about it all<\/a><\/span>. He will triumph in the Lord, \u201ceven if the fig tree does not blossom\u2026\u201d, some of his final words as he resigned. <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/xyk7K9r8gzA?t=145\">It reminds one of a song<\/a><\/span>: Don\u2019t cry for thee, so long ScoMo. The truth is your public just left you\u2026and so on. (Sing along for a bit of karaoke fun.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Shown to the side of the chart is the progressed Moon, which was on the natal Descendant of the swearing-in chart, showing the influence of women in the election and their ascendancy in the Albo government and among independence. <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/2021\/04\/01\/scomos-women-problems\/\">ScoMo&#8217;s women troubles<\/a><\/span> came back to haunt the Parliament. It will be good for Australia. One of the big headlines after the election was &#8220;<span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2022-05-23\/women-stormed-2022-federal-election-what-has-labor-pledged\/101091444\">Women stormed the 2022 election in numbers too big to ignore<\/a><\/span>&#8220;. Yes, indeedy. They are going to represent a decisive factor in Parliament now. Respect, ladies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">In turn, the progressed Moon was square to transiting Pluto, which in its turn had been transiting square the Australian Horizon, showing the disgruntlement of the populace. The Moon represents public opinion. The Horizon axis shows the interplay between the common people and their relative well-being (1<sup>st<\/sup> house) and public disputes (7<sup>th<\/sup> house).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">I had heard through the grapevine during the campaigning that it was a pretty daggy affair, mostly attacks between the respective candidates instead of any real debate on the issues \u2013 another display of gutter politics, which the Capricorn\/Aries combination in the Australian chart can produce. In addition, none of the candidates stood out in terms of any sort of promising action. At least with <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=r1Ivp-A413A\">Keating and his classic insults<\/a><\/span> there was some mild entertainment value to government. For the most part this time around, people just wanted the campaign to stop, and they voted for change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Change is shown in the chart by the directions of the Ascendant and Uranus to the natal nodal axis, along with the transit of Saturn hovering over the natal Ceres, showing a turning point for the nation. Saturn was also semisquare the natal Sun, showing a darker mood for the nation. Further, the directions of Mercury and Neptune to the Horizon axis gives us the following, Asc=Mer\/Nep: \u201cThe <strong>tendency to open oneself to the influences coming from other people<\/strong>, <strong>the state of being exploited, deceived or harmed by others<\/strong>.\u201d Was that the case with this election? It is a question we will come back to in a moment, but this combination also goes to the old riddle: How do you tell if a politician is lying? Their lips are moving.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Keep in mind also transiting Pluto has been amplifying the Asc=Mer\/Nep direction for the past months. This gives us some more clues as to what is happening with Australia at the moment. We have the following: \u201c<strong>Unusual actions originating in the subconscious mind<\/strong>, <strong>the tendency to draw highly upon nervous energy<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">There is thus an entire string of influences here, playing upon the collective consciousness of Australia, as well as there being a strong subconscious element as well. That string of influences is: Asc\/Desc=Mer\/Nep=Moon\/Pluto. It is a combination that shows quite a bit of uncertainty, the potential for deceptive practices, but also the potential for imaginative solutions to the nation\u2019s challenges. Whether or not such solutions would be practical is another matter. So, what were the main issues that swung the election Labor? <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2022-05-22\/labor-won-federal-election-albanese-policies\/101088720\">Labor campaigned on the following<\/a><\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify; padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cThe Labor election campaign focused on <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2022-03-31\/anthony-albanese-budget-reply-aged-care-election\/100955290\">aged care in Australia<\/a><\/span>, the introduction of a <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2022-04-16\/labor-promises-national-integrity-commission-by-christmas\/100995104\">National Anti-Corruption Commission<\/a><\/span>, <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2020-10-08\/albanese-child-care-announcement-in-budget-reply-speech\/12744984\">childcare subsidies<\/a><\/span>, <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2021-12-03\/labor-announces-2030-emissions-reductions-target\/100671512\">climate change<\/a><\/span>, a similar <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2022-03-10\/labor-to-spend-more-on-defence-says-opposition-leader-albanese\/100897282\">Defence budget<\/a><\/span> to the Coalition but with a Defence Posture Review into resources and strategy, <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2021-12-04\/labor-gets-election-ready-with-a-1-2-billion-promise\/100674976\">education<\/a><\/span>, <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2021-03-31\/labor-promises-cheaper-electric-cars\/100039794\">electric vehicles<\/a><\/span>, farming, health, <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2022-05-01\/labor-affordable-housing-shared-equity-scheme-campaign\/101028354\">housing<\/a><\/span>, <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2022-05-18\/anthony-albanese-press-club-address\/101076710\">infrastructure<\/a><\/span> [including high speed rail], a <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2022-04-19\/labor-ndis-review-election\/100999022\">review of the NDIS<\/a><\/span>, measures to help older Australians.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Not mentioned in the preceding is that Labor would support the final stages of the tax cuts the Libs introduced, which would be a handout to the wealthy, but instead to close tax loopholes for large multinational corporations. They also support turning back the boats and offshore processing of immigrants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">What are we looking at in terms of the composition of the new government? In other words, how likely is Albo to be able to push through his initiatives? Well, the number of women in Parliament should certainly help. But Labor clinched the election but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.9news.com.au\/federal-election-2022\"><span style=\"color: #993300;\">it does not have a clear majority of the seats in Parliament<\/span>.<\/a> 76 are needed for a majority, and Labor has 75 secured. The Greens have 3 seats, The Libs lost 18 seats, down to 57. There are still about 25% of the votes to be counted as of this writing and five seats still to call. Labor would need at least a few more seats to be able to rule with a clear, unchallenged mandate. As of yet, they don\u2019t have it. There are 16 independent seats, most of those occupied by women, and those could decide any vote for a bill that has to pass through Parliament. But we do have Albo, though, after Labor\u2019s 9 years in the wilderness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Anthony Norman Albanese \u2013 \u201cAlbo\u201d \u2013 is a Piscean, born 2 Mar 1963, birth time unknown, in Sydney, NSW. I won&#8217;t go into his chart here, especially without a birth time. This is more to give context. He is of Italian-Irish descent, with an Irish mother and Italian father. He didn\u2019t meet his father until 2009, having been told his father was dead. The story was probably told to avoid telling Albo he was conceived during a fling on a transport ship. His father was a steward on that ship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Albo\u2019s mother raised him as a single parent, helped by his maternal grandparents. His mother suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and eventually couldn\u2019t work, so they survived on his mother\u2019s pension. This gives a little background and context as to his views on family and family support. So, he came from modest means. He describes himself as a progressive, aligned with the Labor Left. That puts him at odds with the Labor establishment, which is right wing. We can already get a sense of some battles going forward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Like most people across the collective \u2018West\u2019 we all want a positive change of direction from our governments \u2013 more investment in the public instead of pandering to the donor class. We all know our Western governments in general no longer serve our best interests, except for the interests of a very few, and it has been that way for the past few decades. I watched it evolve when I was living in Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Neoliberalism \u2013 also known as \u2018globalization\u2019, \u2018free market economics\u2019, \u2018laissez faire economics\u2019 or financial capitalism \u2013 was brought into Australia by the Labor Right establishment under Hawke and Keating. Voters tend to think of Labor as \u2018left wing\u2019, but this is a misleading narrative, cultivated to effect election outcomes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Labor has lost support over the years because of its right wing tendencies. I moved to Australia when Keating began introducing neoliberal policies as a result of the economic downturn of the early \u201890s, calling that period \u201c<span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160402011541\/http:\/www.theage.com.au\/news\/business\/the-real-reasons-why-it-was-the-1990s-recession-we-had-to-have\/2006\/12\/01\/1164777791623.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2\">the recession we had to have<\/a><\/span>\u201d. It was a period of high interest rates, coming on the heels of the economic boom of the \u201880s and an overstretched Australian economy, vulnerable to the vagaries of the world economic situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">The rise of neoliberalism under Labor has been described in a book by political economist Elizabeth Humphrys, <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><em><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/How-Labour-Built-Neoliberalism-Australias\/dp\/1642590681\">How Labour Built Neoliberalism<\/a><\/em><\/span> (2019). What follows is important to understand, because so many people are placing their hopes in Albo now. But unless Labor ditches neoliberalism, all we will have with this government is more of the same, but with a veneer of identity politics. From a recent article regarding Labor and neoliberalism:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify; padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cIn the case of Australia, the implementation of neoliberalism occurred through a \u201cpositive\u201d corporatist project centered on working-class sacrifice in the national interest. In turn, the use of corporatism within vanguard neoliberalism led to a particular method of labour disorganization \u2014 one marked by the labour movement itself implementing successful wage suppression and self-policing of industrial activity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify; padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">With the consent of the then-powerful union movement, the Hawke\u2013Keating governments implemented an astounding array of reforms that swung the pendulum away from workers and toward capital. In the account supplied by Humphrys, these reforms included<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify; padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">\u201c.\u2009.\u2009. floating the Australian dollar and abolishing exchange controls; deregulating the financial and banking sectors; dismantling the tariff system and promoting \u201cfree trade\u201d; widespread industry deregulation; privatization of government-owned entities; corporatization of government departments and contracting out of services.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">I watched all this happen in real time and I saw what it did to gut Australian industry and workers\u2019 rights. I lived in Australia for almost 20 years and it was neoliberalism that was one of the deciding factors that caused me to leave. Between rising costs, loss of customers due to shop closures (I was working in machine tool repairs at the time) and then the 2008 financial crisis, the main basis of my business closed their shops and moved overseas, or just closed altogether. I was told after the fact I had made a good decision, because even more closures of key industries in my area took place after I left.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Throughout my time in Australia I saw state infrastructure \u2013 gas, water, electricity, etc. \u2013 all become privatized, with resulting rising rates and declining services. Medical expenses gradually crept up. Speculation in housing caused rent and house prices to sharply rise, to the point now where the average Aussie family cannot afford to buy a home by themselves. <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/australia-news\/2021\/jul\/08\/more-than-80-of-australians-mistakenly-believe-chinese-investors-are-driving-up-house-prices\">It is blamed on the Chinese, which is political rhetoric rather than factual<\/a><\/span>, and any anti-China meme is pushed hard by the Murdoch press, which has a virtual monopoly on the press in Australia. But <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dfat.gov.au\/trade\/resources\/investment-statistics\/statistics-on-who-invests-in-australia\">the biggest investors in Australia<\/a><\/span> are the US, UK, Belgium, Japan and Hong Kong, in that order. China ranks 8<sup>th<\/sup>, at 2.2%.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Housing prices are driven by domestic concerns. Non-resident foreign investors cannot buy housing in Australia. Just be aware, part of the deception being foisted on the Australian public regarding China is actually due to American and British foreign policy. It has produced a strident anti-China sentiment in the Australian public, and the US and UK would be more than happy for Australia to engage in a military confrontation with China. AUKUS and The Quad are better off being abandoned. They are not doing Australians any favors. But we digress.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Returning to Albo\u2019s chart, his Uranus makes some very favorable contacts with Australia\u2019s chart, showing a positive and more humanistic turn for the nation \u2013 if he chooses to pursue it. A progressive PM is just what the doctor ordered for Australia\u2019s ills, provided policy is sensibly approached and vetted. But there is a warning there, and the <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/independentaustralia.net\/politics\/politics-display\/anthony-albanese-defeats-rupert-murdoch-to-become-31st-pm-of-australia,16391\">Murdoch press and his Sky News (\u2018Australia\u2019s Fox News\u2019) is already rolling out the attack dogs<\/a><\/span> to scuttle Albo\u2019s initiatives before they even start. But Albo made a good go of it to start \u2013 he defeated Murdoch to become PM. Australia now has a golden opportunity to bring about a reversal of 30 years of public disenfranchisement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Rolling back neoliberalism would require first a reexamination of media rulership rules in Australia, meaning breaking up the Murdoch monopoly. People would then be given information that would stimulate debate instead of dog-whistle politics. The government doesn\u2019t care about dis\/misinformation. They do not want the public to have truthful information. Then, protections for the public would have to be slowly implemented and so on \u2013 a slow reversal of the neoliberal policies introduced during the Hawke-Keating years, as described above. But there is a catch (Isn\u2019t there always?).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Albo will have to woo the independents to push anything through Parliament. It is the most diverse Parliament in recent memory. He had better strike while the irons are hot once the election and his cabinet is settled, or Murdoch and his acolytes will steadily whittle away at him. But there is a bigger danger still \u2013 the Queen, a.k.a. the British establishment. If you don\u2019t think this is a problem, make a study of <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2014\/oct\/23\/gough-whitlam-1975-coup-ended-australian-independence\">what happened to Gough Whitlam and why<\/a><\/span>. He was the last progressive PM we had in Australia prior to Albo. That was about 50 years ago. Then, there are the Americans, who are keen to keep their business, defense and anti-China interests intact and more than that \u2013 robust. Albo has a fine line to walk as a result. Hence, all the hysteria we hear about the Solomon Islands. But that is another story.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">If Labor tries to do too much too quickly the government will be dismissed, or perhaps we will be putting Albo (<span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Disappearance_of_Harold_Holt\">salt<\/a><\/span>) on our fish \u2018n chips. The former was what happened to Whitlam. He ran afoul of the Americans and they in turn had the GG dismiss him. Yes, that\u2019s a thing. Don\u2019t think it can\u2019t happen. The US is after China in a big way now that the Russians have basically won in Ukraine. We are going to hear an endless dumpster-load of rhetoric about how bad\/aggressive\/predatory (insert negative appellation) China is as a result. These next few years are going to be a little dicey. But the press has to do its duty and keep us all firmly in line with the Western narrative. We have to get those American-built Australian nuclear subs in action to \u2018counter the Chinese\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">If Albo is smart, he will give just enough to the US and UK to keep them occupied without dragging Australia into a war, all the while working steadily and calmly to overhaul domestic issues. <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jacobinmag.com\/2021\/02\/australian-labor-party-alp-right-faction-neoliberalism\">But the key is ditching neoliberalism<\/a><\/span> and reinvesting in Australia and Australians. It can be done, but it will require strong public support and smart leadership to get it done.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">In conclusion, Labor can reinvent itself and become the party of working class \u2013 the average Aussie battler \u2013 once again, but it will require an internal purge of enough of the Labor Right, or in bringing them on side. It may seem to be an impossible task the way things look at the moment, but with the US and UK facing major internal problems and their own neoliberal, right wing Democratic and Labour parties on the ropes, stranger things have happened.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">We are watching history in the making. The world will be a different place in a few years, and for the better for most of the world. Australia can be at the vanguard of such change if we so choose. Having lived in Australia for those years I can tell you that the majority of Australians would rather say goodbye to the monarchy and have more sovereignty from the Americans. There is a lot more we could say, but this gives us a start. <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Murdoch_RC\">A Murdoch Royal Commission<\/a><\/span> would be a good beginning, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 12pt;\">Featured pic from <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ilfattoquotidiano.it\/2022\/05\/23\/anthony-albanese-la-vera-storia-del-primo-presidente-italiano-daustralia\/6601369\/\">Il Fatto Quotidiano<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In case you haven\u2019t heard, Australians just endured another federal election.\u00a0 From what I hear from my friends there, it is kind of like the refrain from this old favorite. After the song, read on:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[513,544,11,51,157,167,524,545,308],"class_list":["post-2126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-513","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-astrology","tag-australia","tag-election","tag-labor","tag-labour","tag-murdoch","tag-neoliberalism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2126"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2132,"href":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126\/revisions\/2132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}