Australian democracy is fading fast, with little care on the part of the Coalition and mainstream media or realisation on the part of Labor. Bruce Haigh’s article is edited below.
Howard set the framework for an intolerant and racist Australia which endures to this day. He put in place what might be termed the Howard Regime with the specific aim of making the wealthy wealthier and fostering European supremacy. He inaugurated a raft of terrorism and security laws designed to intimidate and control his fellow Australians as much as to ensure security.
Using the overblown threat of terrorism Howard corralled and controlled the Main Stream Media (MSM) with leaks and releases to tame journalists. Media laws were watered down allowing all but a seat to Murdoch at the Cabinet Table. Labor Prime Ministers, Rudd and Gillard, did not break the mould. They proved to be LNP Light, particularly with respect to the human rights issues of Indigenous Australians, refugees, single mothers, the unemployed and the environment.
If Morrison gets re-elected expect him to pursue ‘disruptive elements’ that he will claim are harming Australia’s interests and are backed by Chinese money and agents. He will move to consolidate himself in power and render Labor weak and unelectable. Australia could become a one-party state with token opposition.
You may believe this far-fetched, ‘couldn’t happen here mate’, but it can. I have seen it unfold in South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It will all be done under the umbrella of a security threat from China and enable the deployment of the considerable arsenal of security legislation already in existence. Australia, like South Africa, will become a pariah state with US backing.
Albanese has to make waves; that’s what leaders do. It may surprise him but voters are not interested in the fact that he was brought up in public housing. It sounds like self-pity. He gives the appearance of running a 1980s’ election campaign. Somebody should tell him the times have changed. Australian democracy is fading fast. Canberra is 1930’s Chicago.
Read the full transcript Australian democracy is fading fast – by Bruce Haigh, Pearls & Irritations 9 June 202 [External link]
Related Readings
Easy lies and influence: the familiar face of corruption in Australia – by Fiona McLeod in Pearls and Irritations 23 Aug 2021
Our democracy is decaying from within – by John Menadue, Pearls & Irritations, 16 Sep 2021
A pox on both your houses – Andrew Charlton & Lachlan Harris, The Monthly, Dec 2016
Bruce Haigh is an Australian political commentator and former diplomat. Haigh joined the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs in 1972. He served in South Africa from 1976 to 1979 with the Australian Embassy (now High Commission), as well as Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Sri Lanka.
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