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“The Australian Right in the ‘Asian Century’: Inequality and the Implications for Social

Democracy.”1

Carol Johnson, Department of Politics and International Studies,

University of Adelaide, Australia, email: carol.johnson@adelaide.edu.au

Paper for RC30.05 Panel on “Democracy, Neoliberalism and the Politics of the New Right in Asia”,

24th International Political Science Association World Congress

Poznań, Poland, 23-28 July 2016.

Abstract

This paper’s key research questions centre around analysing what has been the response of Australian right-

wing governments to the changing geopolitical and geoeconomic imperatives of the so-called “Asian Century”

and the implications of that response for Australian social democracy. It explores the way in which Australian

right-wing governments have combined neoliberal economic policies with forms of cultural nationalism —

socially conservative forms that hark back to an ethnically privileged Anglosphere in the case of the Howard

and Abbott governments and more ostensibly ‘inclusive’ forms that situate Australian identity at the cutting

edge of free markets, new industries and new technologies in the case of the Turnbull government. Despite

such differences in their narratives, successive governments of the right in Australia have used the increasing

economic power of key Asian countries to justify market-driven policies as well as (potentially) reduced welfare

benefits and reduced Australian industrial relations standards. The paper explores the resulting implications

for diverse forms of social and economic inequality in Australia, and for the challenges Australian social

democracy faces as a result. It addresses these issues using a variety of methodological approaches ranging

from policy analysis to analysing forms of nationalist political discourse. Finally, the paper suggests that the

Australian experience may have a broader international relevance for analysing some conservative and social

democratic parties elsewhere, as well as for analysing the political and social impacts on inequality of a

changing global economy.

This paper focuses on analysing the socially conservative, nationalistic and neoliberal policy discourse

of right-wing governments in Australia, which has major implications for issues of equality, and the

response of Labor, Australia’s social democratic party, to it. It argues that, while such policy discourse

cannot be explained solely in terms of an analysis of underlying economic forces, the changing

geopolitics and geoeconomics of the rise of Asia has contributed to a rightward shift in some

conservative views. This takes on particular significance given that Australia is located and at least

partially economically integrated into the Asia-Pacific region. Furthermore, the rise of Asia also poses

challenges for Labor’s economic equality policies, in terms of its impact on employment, industry,

1 This paper draws on research undertaken for a larger Australian Research Council funded project

(DP140100168) entitled: “Expanding equality: A historical perspective on developments and dilemmas in contemporary Australian social democracy.”

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education, training and welfare policy. Nonetheless, Labor has responded with policies that support

greater economic and social equality and that, along with public opposition to austerity agendas, has

caused the Liberal government (Australia’s conservative party) to apparently back down on some

aspects of its neoliberal austerity agenda, while still generally pursuing cut-backs to government

services and free market policies.

In short this paper argues that there are increasing signs of resistance to the situation analysed by

Colin Crouch, amongst others, in which “under the conditions of a post democracy that increasingly

cedes power to business lobbies, there is little hope for an agenda of strong egalitarian policies for the

redistribution of power and wealth”.2 However, one would not wish to overstate the degree of

redistribution involved. Australian social democracy, like its counterparts internationally, remains

supportive of a humanised capitalism rather than advocating more radical socialist challenges to

existing class inequalities.3 Nonetheless, Labor’s current position reveals a partial shift away from

Labor’s previously enthusiastic embrace of neo-liberal solutions during the years of the Hawke and

Keating governments (1983-6). Australia’s trade union and social democratic traditions are contributing

to significant forms of resistance to neoliberal and conservative policies (even if they may not always

be successful).4 Australian political regimes therefore exhibit some different features from the forms of

authoritarian statism in some other countries the Asian region that are analysed by Jayasuriya.5

However, there are also questions over whether Labor will be able to successfully manage some of the

economic challenges that Australia faces from the rise of Asia and their possible impacts on jobs, living

standards and welfare provision. These are also questions that are relevant for social democracy

internationally.

The Australian right: 1996 to the current day.

The mainstream right parties of governance in Australia, the Liberal Party (in Coalition with its partner

the Nationals) have arguably been moving in a particularly conservative direction over the last two

decades in significant respects since the advent of the Howard government in 1996. While liberal

parliamentary democracy is well established in Australia, conservative governments have sometimes

used more authoritarian forms of liberal governance, for example against unions or in the national

security and border protection area. Neo-liberal economic policy has been combined with forms of

social conservatism that have frequently continued under the Prime Ministership of Malcolm Turnbull

(2015- ), even though Turnbull was previously known as a moderate small “l” liberal on social issues

ranging from climate change to support for same-sex marriage and for replacing Australia’s (British

colonial influenced) constitutional monarchy with a Republic.

Since this paper largely focuses on Australian social democracy’s response to this rightward shift, I can

only give a brief outline of its trajectory here. As I have explained in more detail in previous work,

2 Colin Crouch , Post Democracy (Polity, London, 2004), p. 4.

3 Carol Johnson, The Labor Legacy: Curtin, Chifley, Whitlam, Hawke (Allen and Unwin Sydney 1989); George

Ross, “Social Democrats Today: Tribe, Extended Family, or Club?”, in Jean-Michael De Waele, Fabien Escalona and Mathiew Viera eds, The Palgrave Handbook of Social Democracy in the European Union (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) , p. 603. 4 This paper was due to be submitted the day before the outcome of Australia’s 2016 federal election (which

the Liberals were expected by many commentators to win narrowly) was known. 5 See Kanishka Jayasuriya, “The Rise of the New Right in Asia’s Democracies: Authoritarian Statism and

Neoliberalism”, paper presented in panel on Democracy , Neoliberalism and the Politics of the New Right in Asia, IPSA Conference, Poznan July 2016.

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(Governing Change), Liberal Prime Minister John Howard (1996-2007) tried to reconcile Australian

voters to rapid economic and social change, by suggesting that, while changes in the international

economy made (neo-liberal influenced) economic change inevitable, the Australian people could and

should resist key aspects of social change.6 A significant part of the social change that Howard was

rejecting, reflected the influence of the new social movements in areas such as gender, sexuality and

race and the increasingly multicultural nature of Australian society. However, it also involved rejecting

social changes driven by transformations in geopolitics and geoeconomics related to the rise of Asia.

For example, Howard argued that his Labor predecessor, Paul Keating (1991-96), had undermined

traditional Australian identity in his attempts to encourage engagement with Asia. By contrast, Howard

argued that it was possible for Australia to still engage with, and benefit from, the rising economies of

Asia while retaining its identity as a predominantly Anglo-Celtic and Christian nation with close links to

both Britain and the US. 7

The increasing social conservatism under Howard had ramifications for a wide range of forms of social

and economic inequality. Howard argued that previous Labor governments had supported “special

interests” associated with the new social movements, for example, in respect to indigenous rights,

women’s rights and same-sex equality. Howard defunded or constrained many NGO organisations in a

way that critics have described as “silencing dissent”.8 In the process, he put forward what I have

referred to elsewhere as a “state-based theory of exploitation”. Howard claimed that Labor governments

had ripped off ordinary “mainstream” tax payers by giving government largesse to those special

interests.9 It was an argument that distortedly mimicked class-based theories of exploitation by

suggesting that the source of exploitation of ordinary people lay not in the market but at the level of the

state. It involved an, at least initially, successful attempt to wedge off conservative working class voters

from Australia’s social democratic party, the Labor Party.

Overall, Howard’s agenda drew on the policies of Margaret Thatcher and both Bush presidencies,

including their strategies for gaining ideological legitimacy, while tackling the circumstances facing late

twentieth and early twenty-first century Australia. As Stuart Hall pointed out many years ago when

responding to Poulantzas’s work on authoritarian statism, Poulantzas tended to underestimate the

extent to which forms of popular consent could be developed to support neoliberal projects.10 As Hall

6 See Carol Johnson, Governing Change: From Keating to Howard (Revised edition, Australian Scholarly Classics

Series, Network Books, 2007), chapter three. 7 See Carol Johnson, “Howard’s Values and Australian Identity”, Australian Journal of Political Science, 2007,

vol 42, no. 2, pp. 195-210; John Howard, “Politics and Patriotism: A Reflection on the National Identity Debate’, .13 December 1995, Grand Hyatt Hotel Melbourne, available at http://australianpolitics.com/1995/12/13/national-identity-howard-headland-speech.html, downloaded 6 June 2016; John Howard, “Address to the Lowy Institute for International Policy, ‘Australia in the World.” 31 March 2005 Pandora National Library of Australia John Howard Archive. URL: <http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/10052/20050521-0000/www.pm.gov.au/news/speeches/speech1292.html>.Downloaded 15 July 2008. 8 Clive Hamilton and Sarah Maddison eds, Silencing Dissent: How the Australian Government is Controlling

Public Opinion and Stifling Debate, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 2007. 9 John Howard, “The Role of Government: A Modern Liberal Approach”, Headland Speech, Parliament House,

Canberra, June 1994, typescript, p. 4.; available at http://australianpolitics.com/1995/06/06/john-howard-headland-speech-role-of-govt.html 10

See Stuart Hall, “Authoritarian Populism: A Reply to Jessop et al”, Reprinted in Stuart Hall, The Hard Road to Renewal, Verso, London, 1988, p. 152 and Nicos Poulantzas, State, Power, Socialism, New Left Books, London, 1978, pp. 213, 241, 243-5; for an account of Poulatzas’s and Hall’s arguments, which has a slightly different analysis of social democracy than that given here, see Ian Bruff, “The Rise of Authoritarian Neoliberalism”, Rethinking Marxism, 26 (1), pp. 113-129

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explained, those forms of consent could incorporate market-based anti-state elements, at the same

time as the state also utilised “state-centralist”, ‘dirigiste” methods. 11 Hall’s work on Thatcherism

focused on attempting to analyse such forms of authoritarianism.12 As Hall famously argued, however,

neither the ideology nor forms of citizen identity involved in gaining such popular consent could be

simply read off from the economic.13 Furthermore, as I have pointed out elsewhere, Hall’s arguments,

though suggestive and useful, cannot be automatically applied to, Australia, including to Australian

social democracy.14 Nonetheless, the right in Australia has frequently been successful in its attempts to

gain popular consent for its policies, including more authoritarian aspects.

Howard also mobilised “us” against “them” rhetoric against asylum seekers fleeing persecution in

countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq. After September 11 2001, such attacks escalated, with

arguments that “border security” required that asylum seeker boats be stopped, and the use of the navy

and detention centres to attempt to do that.15 Howard’s rhetoric against Australian Muslims also

hardened. The fact that Middle Eastern and central Asian asylum seekers were coming to Australia via

countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia allowed Howard to implicitly evoke old, “White Australia”

fears of invasions from Asia.16 The United Nations criticised Australia’s treatment of both indigenous

people and asylum seekers on human rights grounds but Howard had already dismissed human rights

arguments for supporting special interests.17

In terms of economic policy, much emphasis was placed on Australia’s need to become economically

competitive in a globalised world, with major implications for government protection of wages and

working conditions. Once the Howard government gained control of the Senate as well as the House of

Representatives, it introduced tough industrial relations laws, the so-called “Work Choices” legislation,

that significantly reduced the existing industrial rights of workers. It also set up a Building Construction

Commission to constrain the power of powerful construction unions. 18

Howard lost office in 2007 and successive Labor governments held office until 2013. However,

Howard’s subsequent successor as Liberal Prime Minister, Tony Abbott (2013-15) went even further

than Howard had. Howard may have privileged anglo-celtic identity but he drew the line at saying that

Australia was part of an international Anglosphere – at least while he was a serving politician. Abbott

had no such qualms.19 Abbott also had policies that were even tougher on asylum seekers, given that

11

See Hall, “Authoritarian Populism: A Reply to Jessop et al”, p. 152. 12

See Stuart Hall, The Hard Road to Renewal (Verso, London, 1988). 13

See Stuart Hall, “The Problem of ideology: Marxism without guarantees”, reprinted in David Morley and Kuan-Hsing Chen, Stuart Hall, Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies, pp. 44-45. 14

See Carol Johnson “’Other Times’: Thatcher, Hawke, Keating and the Politics of Identity”, in Geoffrey Stokes ed., The Politics of Identity in Australia (Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 37-49. 15

David Marr and Marian Wilkinson, Dark Victory, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest NSW, 2003, p 151 16

Tony Burke, In Fear of Security: Australia’s Invasion Anxiety (Pluto, Sydney, 2001). 17

John Howard, “A Sense of Balance: the Australian Achievement in 2006”, Address to the National Press Club 25 January 2006. PM’s News Room: Speeches. Canberra: Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. URL: <http://www.pm.gov.au/news/speeches/speech1754.html>. Consulted 15 Feburary 2006; Sarah Joseph, “The Howard Government’s Record of Engagement with the International Human Rights System”, Australian Year Book of International Law, Vol. 27, 2008, pp. 45-68. 18

David Peetz, “How wide is the impact of WorkChoices?”, in K Abbott, B Hearn Mackinnon, L Morris, K Saville & D Waddell (eds), Work Choices: Evolution or Revolution (Heidelberg Press, Melbourne, 2007), pp. 23-42. 19

Abbott’s and Howard’s differing statements on the Anglosphere (at least while Howard was in parliament) can be found at, Tony Abbott, “Address to the Lowy Institute - National Security Fundamentals”, 23 April 2010, http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/22487/20100601-0017/www.tonyabbott.com.au/Pages/Article30c8.html?ID=4033, downloaded 26/6/16; John Howard, transcript of the prime minister, Press Conference, United Nations, New York,

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he not only turned back boats but also (building on a Rudd Labor policy) insisted that asylum seekers

who were on boats too defective to be turned back would be processed on Nauru or in Papua New

Guinea rather than reaching the Australian mainland. Abbott’s rhetoric regarding Muslims continued to

be inflammatory at times, despite his attempts to distance ordinary Muslims from the ISIL “death

cult”.20 Anti-terrorism laws were further strengthened in ways which were strongly criticised by civil

libertarians.21 Abbott’s attorney general continued Howard’s reservations about minority rights,

criticising the Australian Human Rights Commission for placing too much emphasis on minority rights

and not sufficient emphasis on freedom of speech.22 Abbott attempted to bring back some of Howard’s

strict controls on militant unions, that Labor had dismantled, including unsuccessfully trying to bring

back the ABCC and setting up a Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption that

was partly designed to target former Labor Leaders with union connections.23

Meanwhile Abbott’s treasurer, Joe Hockey, made some remarkably frank statements, in which he

argued that Australia could not afford to have a western style social welfare state given the much

smaller proportion of GDP spent on welfare by our Asian competitors.24 As Joe Hockey put it: “We need

to compare ourselves with our Asian neighbours where the entitlements programs of the state are far

less than they are in Australia… we need to reduce the size of the state, and this is the fundamental

problem.”25 In the process, Hockey suggested that the social democratic state was a project of western

affluence that can no longer be afforded in the new geopolitics: “If the [Labor] Government talks about

the Asian century, then the Asian countries are our competition, our children's competition. We can no

longer compare ourselves with Europe and the United States, which have massive fiscal and structural

problems.” 26 For example, Hockey argued that in Australia 16 percent “of GDP is going towards public

welfare and health care and pension costs” compared with 10 percent in Korea.27

The Abbott Government’s 2014 budget contained major cuts to government services and entitlements,

despite election promises not to bring in such cuts. However, the public backlash against the cuts

helped contribute to Tony Abbott’s replacement as Prime Minister by Malcolm Turnbull. Turnbull has

retained some of these cuts, while jettisoning some others. Both Abbott and Turnbull have attempted to

bring back tougher Howard-era industrial relations legislation, that the subsequent Labor government

http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/10052/20030521-0000/www.pm.gov.au/news/interviews/2003/interview2275.htm, downloaded 28/6/16 20

Pete Lentini, “Demonizing ISIL and Defending Muslims: Australian Muslim Citizenship and Tony Abbott's ‘Death Cult’ Rhetoric”, Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, Vol. 26, no 2, 2015, pp. 237-252; Mohamad Abdullah, “Abbott’s Betrayal of Australian Muslims: We are Right to Expect Better”, 5 March 2015, http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2015/03/05/4192161.htm, downloaded 20/6/16. 21

Andrew Lynch, Nicola McGarrity and George Williams, Inside Australia’s Anti-Terrorism Laws and Trials (New South Publishing, Sydney, 2015); Katherine Gelber, Free Speech after 9/11 (Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2016). 22

George Brandis, “The Freedom Wars: Speech to the Sydney Institute”, May 2013 http://nofibs.com.au/2013/05/09/freedom-wars-the-george-brandis-speech/. Downloaded 26/6/16. 23

Anthony Forsyth, “Industrial legislation in Australia in 2015”, Journal of Industrial Relations, 58 (3), 2016: pp. 372-387. 24

Joe Hockey, Lateline Interview, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 18 April 2012, http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3480665.htm>. 25

Joe Hockey, Lateline Interview, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 18 April 2012, http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3480665.htm, downloaded 26/6/16.. 26

Hockey, Lateline Interview. 27

Hockey, Lateline Interview.

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had jettisoned, in the form of a particularly repressive form of industrial relations watchdog in the

building industry (once again strongly condemned by civil libertarians).28 These attempts were blocked

by Labor along with Greens and some independents, resulting in Turnbull proroguing parliament and

calling an early election, using anti-union rhetoric in the process.29 Both the Turnbull and Abbott

governments have strongly supported free trade agreements, although their country-based Nationals

partner has forced them to be cautious of some foreign investment in the agricultural sector. The fear of

losing seats in states particularly badly hit by deindustrialisation has also contributed to government

taking steps to shore up advanced manufacturing industry in the forms of naval shipbuilding and

submarines – while basically giving some other areas, such as the car industry, up as a lost cause. It

should be noted that the car industry’s problems were exacerbated not only by increasing competition

from Asian competitors but by a period in which the Australian dollar was unusually high due to a

mining boom related to China’s growing need for natural resources.

Admittedly, Turnbull himself has made fewer socially conservative statements than Abbott or Howard,

has supported multiculturalism and argued that it is crucial to have the mainstream Australian Muslim

community on side to fight terrorism.30 At the same time, strong anti-terrorist laws, including ones which

limit free speech remain in operation. Turnbull has retained the Abbott government’s tough asylum

seeker policy. He has also supported retaining an Abbott-era policy regarding holding a plebiscite on

same-sex marriage (despite this not being constitutionally necessary). His government has also cut

continuing funding too and restricted an anti-homophobic bullying campaign for schools.

Since becoming Prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull has been generally upbeat in his arguments about

the opportunities offered by the rising Asian economies. In the 2016 election campaign, he

emphasised that a re-elected Turnbull government would encourage the entrepreneurship and flexibility

that would enable Australian businesses to benefit from selling goods and services to the rising Asian

middle class.31 It was an argument that that potentially evoked underlying western assumptions of

economic and technological superiority. However, Turnbull was less sanguine in some of his earlier

arguments before taking over the Prime Ministership. Indeed, he argued that

…realistic governments in advanced economies can’t be blind to the impact of

convergence, technological catch-up, and growing competition across a range of sectors

from the skilled, productive workforces and sophisticated, innovative producers we see in

emerging Asia and elsewhere. Every year the list of trade-exposed sectors gets longer.

These forces are exacerbating the fiscal and demographic problems democracies already

face with their high incomes, high costs, high tax burdens, high levels of regulatory

intervention, and generous social welfare programs. So too in many cases, unrealistically

28

George Williams, “Building watchdog undermines liberty,” Sydney Morning Herald, July 6, 2010, http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/building-watchdog-undermines-liberty-20100705-zxir.html, downloaded 23/6/16 29

Turnbull, Doorstop at Truck Rally, NSW, 19th June 2016, http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/doorstop-at-truck-rally-nsw, downloaded 26/6/16. 30

Turnbull, Interview with Neil Mitchell, 3AW 17th June 2016, www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/interview-with-neil-mitchell-3aw downloaded 19/6/16 31

Turnbull, Leaders Debate at the National Press Club, Canberra 29th May 2016,http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/leaders-debate-at-the-national-press-club-canberra, downloaded 1/6/16

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high expectations among voters and politicians alike as to the sustainability of the status

quo. Many of the policies and premises of the past are already unsustainable. 32

He went on to ask a key question “amidst all this, how do countries like Australia … maintain our wage

levels, our social safety nets, our first world economies?” 33 Turnbull argued that the answer lay not in

“wealth redistribution” but in trying to provide “good jobs” by encouraging innovative, competitive and

technologically advanced industry. His answers were largely neo-liberal ones, involving budget cuts,

privatisation and corporatisation:

But perhaps most importantly, governments can get the basics right – by pursuing

policies that encourage macroeconomic stability, by balancing budgets, by investing

capital prudently and efficiently, by avoiding public sector activities that the private sector

can do better, and by ensuring open and competitive markets.34

In short, while Turnbull’s solutions were not as explicitly stated as Hockey’s, concerning implications for

Labor and lower income earners remained. Meanwhile, a substantial tax cut for business plays a

central part in Turnbull’s economic strategy.35

Labor responses.

Labor has responded to the growth of social conservatism in Liberal governments, and the changing

geopolitics and changing geoeconomics, in ways that have often been very different from the

conservative responses but were also initially constrained by them. However, in recent years, Labor

has increasingly pursued an agenda that emphasises issues of equality (within the context of

humanising, rather than challenging, capitalism as noted previously). This section will begin by

outlining some of Labor’s general responses on issues of equality and inequality but will then proceed

to discuss equality issues posed by changing geo-economics, particularly the rise of Asia.

While Prime Minister Paul Keating’s (1991-6) position on national identity was more complex than

Howard’s caricature of it, Keating had indeed suggested that it was necessary to embrace a modern,

cosmopolitan and multicultural, Australian identity that would assist in Australia’s post-colonial

engagement with Asia.36 It was a model that attempted to reconcile social and economic issues – for

example indigenous rights were seen as compatible with indigenous communities selling their art and

culture; the Australian economy would benefit from the language and cultural skills of its diverse

population in a globalised world; equal rights for women would encourage their economic participation

and contribute the Australian economy.37

32

Turnbull, Assessing the Future of the Asia-Pacific - US/Australia Dialogue http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/future-of-the-asia-pacific, downloaded 8 February 2015. Assessing the Future of the Asia-Pacific - US/Australia Dialogue 33

Turnbull, Future of the Asia-Pacific. 34

Turnbull, Future of the Asia-Pacific . 35

Turnbull, Speech: A Stronger New Economy to Secure Our Future, 10th June 2016, http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/speech-a-stronger-new-economy-to-secure-our-future, downloaded 26/6/16. 36

Carol Johnson, “Howard’s Values and Australian Identity”, Australian Journal of Political Science, 42 ( 2), 2007, pp. 195-210. 37

Johnson, Governing Change, chapter 2.

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However, following Howard’s 1996 electoral defeat of Keating, for many years Labor was so concerned

about being “wedged” by their opponents’ social conservatism that they took a very cautious “small

target” approach on equality issues such as gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity and refugees in their

electoral policy strategies.38 Labor was also very cautious on economic issues. Prior to the election of

the Howard government, the Hawke and Keating Labor governments (1983-1996) had introduced a

watered-down form of neo-liberal economic policies that prefigured Schroeder and Blair’s Third Way

politics.39 However, a key difference with conservative parties’ neo-liberal strategies, was that Labor’s

policy had been based on negotiating with unions to bring about real wage cuts in return for welfare and

other concessions as opposed to attempting to crush union power. While Australian union membership

is declining and impacted by de-industrialisation, unions still play a significant role in the Labor party.

Consequently, when the Howard government attempted to use its Work Choices legislation to attempt

to reduce union power and further reduce workers’ pay and conditions, Labor and the trade unions

responded with a strong campaign against it at the 2007 election – an election which Howard lost.40

Labor’s cautious response to other equality issues also began to change. While Rudd went to the 2007

election running a relatively small target policy on social issues; he did also project an image of himself

as a more modern man than Howard, as someone whose wife was a successful businesswoman; who

would use his own Mandarin-speaking skills to engage with China; whose son-in-law was from Hong

Kong and who would modernise the Australian economy by providing high speed broadband .41 He

consequently evoked a far more cosmopolitan (and Asia-oriented) conception of Australian identity

than Howard’s.

Despite going to the 2007 election claiming to be a fiscal conservative (albeit with a proviso that

budgets would balance across the economic cycle), Rudd had actually long been critical of neo-liberal

constraints on government spending in areas such as education and health, and this flowed over into

his period as Prime Minister (2007-10; 2013), despite his sympathy for some aspects of pro-market

policies.42 Once the Global Financial Crisis hit, Rudd and his treasurer Wayne Swan pursued a

Keynesian-influenced counter-cyclical stimulus strategy.43 Labor also systematically removed

Howard’s anti-union legislation on gaining office (albeit while not going as far in protecting those

conditions as some unions would have liked).44 Although Rudd was temporarily removed as Prime

Minister by Julia Gillard (2010-13), who had a somewhat more pro-market position than Rudd,

Treasurer Swan remained along with his Keynesian-influenced counter-cyclical strategies.45

38

See e.g. Carol Johnson, "The 2001 election campaign: The ideological context" in Marian Simms and John Warhurst eds, 2001: The Centenary Election (University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 2002), pp. 33-40; Carol Johnson, “The Ideological Contest: Neo-liberalism Versus New Labor” in Marian Simms and John Warhurst eds, Mortgage the Nation?: The 2004 Australian Election (API Network, Nedlands, 2005), pp. 45-54. 39

Andrew Scott, Running on Empty: ‘Modernising’ the British and Australian labour Parties, Pluto Press Australia, Sydney, 2000.; Carol Johnson and Fran Tonkiss, “The Third Influence: The Blair Government and Australian Labor”, Policy and Politics, 30 (1), 2002, pp. 5-18 40

Kathie Muir, K. 2008, Worth Fighting For: Inside the Your Rights at Work Campaign (University of NSW Press, Sydney, 2008); Kevin Rudd, “Child of Hayek”, opinion piece, The Australian, 20 December 2006, p. 12. 41

See Carol Johnson “The Ideological Contest”, Australian Cultural History, 28, 1, (April 2010), pp. 7-14. 42

Kevin Rudd, “Child of Hayek”. 43

See Kevin Rudd, “The Global Financial Crisis”, The Monthly (February 2009), pp.20-28. 44

Carol Johnson, “Gillard, Rudd and Labor Tradition”, Australian Journal of Politics and History, 57 (4), 2011, pp. 577-8. 45

Johnson, “Gillard, Rudd and Labor Tradition”, pp. 566-9.

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The Rudd and Gillard governments both raised the profile of equality issues, especially by assessing

legislation in terms of their equality outcomes.46 Later in her term of office, Gillard gave a particularly

high profile to gender equality issues, in terms of her support for equal pay and in terms of a response

to conservative attacks that tried to use her own gender against her.47 (Though this didn’t prevent some

government cut-backs having detrimental effects on women e.g. single parents). Gillard in turn was

temporarily replaced by Rudd again (2013) who subsequently lost the election to the Liberal

(conservative) government led by Tony Abbott.

Following his election loss, Rudd was replaced as leader of the Labor Opposition by Bill Shorten

(2013). Despite Shorten’s reputation as a former right-wing union boss who sometimes made less than

optimal deals with employers on behalf of his workers, Shorten has taken left-wing positions in some

respects. Labor has focused on criticising Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for supporting the big

end of town, denouncing Turnbull’s tax cuts to big business as an example of a discredited trickle-down

theory.48 Labor’s strategy was to depict Malcolm Turnbull as seriously out of touch with ordinary voters

while Bill Shorten is depicted as a caring politician who will support health, education, jobs growth, good

pay and conditions and a strong welfare safety-net.49 Labor has also proposed a royal commission into

the banking sector and proposed tax increases on higher income earners, for example, by reforming

negative gearing tax concessions on investment properties.

Labor argues that there is a growing inequality in Australian society that a Labor government would

seek to address and that the election of Malcolm Turnbull would worsen. Labor explicitly argues that it

will govern on behalf of working and middle class Australians, in a significant move since the term

“class” hasn’t tended to be used by Labor in recent years – indeed even during the Work Choices

debate, Labor tended to depict itself as supporting “working families” rather than the working class,

albeit partly in an attempt to undermine Howard’s family values rhetoric. Although Labor doesn’t

adequately analyse the causes, including whether its own previous neo-liberal influenced policies have

been a contributor, Labor argues that Australian society has been characterised by a growing economic

inequality. For example, from 1975 to 2014 the bottom tenth of wage earners have seen a rise in their

wages of 23 percent while the top tenth have seen a rise of 72 per cent.50

More alarming is the distribution of wealth in our society today. The average wealth of a

household in the top 20 per cent wealth group is about 70 times the average wealth of a

household in the bottom 20 per cent. The top 10 per cent of households own 45 per cent

of all wealth, and most of the remainder is owned by the next 50 per cent of households.

The bottom 40 per cent of households own just five per cent of all wealth.51

46

Nicola Roxon, “Attorney-General, Human Rights check for New Laws” 4 January 2012, http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/Media-releases/Pages/2012/First%20Quarter/4-January-2012---Human-Rights-check-for-new-laws.aspx, downloaded 5 March 2012. 47

See Carol Johnson, “Playing the Gender Card: The Uses and Abuses of Gender in Australian Politics”, Politics & Gender, 11 (2015), pp. 291–319 48

Bill Shorten, Doorstop - Launceston - Sunday, 8 May 2016, Doorstop Launceston, Sunday, 8 May 2016 , http://www.billshorten.com.au/doorstop_launceston_sunday_8_may_2016, downloaded 26/6/16 49

Shorten, Doorstop Launceston. 50

Australian Labor Party, Growing Together, http://www.alp.org.au/growing_together downloaded 25/3/16, p. 11 51

Growing Together, p. 11

10

Labor goes on to argue that tackling inequality is in the interests of economic growth. In Shorten’s words “we think that the best way to have sustainable economic growth in Australia is to have fair distribution of income. We've got to ensure that we have inclusive growth. Inequality - and it's at a 75-year high - is a handbrake on economic growth.” 52 That argument was backed up in a 138 page Labor Party report Growing Together which quotes the IMF, the OECD and Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz to back up Labor’s case that increasing inequality dampens economic growth.53

One of Labor’s arguments is that increasing economic inequality lowers peoples’ ability to consume.54

In other words, Labor is drawing on a Keynesian-influenced argument that reduced consumption

lessens private businesses’ ability to sell their products. Elsewhere, Shorten has argued that funding

education well is also essential for Australia’s economic growth by developing a skilled workforce. 55

(Though, post the GFC, there isn’t the same Keynesian focus on the government actually creating

jobs). While providing adequate funding for medicare (Australia’s public health benefit system) also

increases employees’ health and participation in the labour force. In Shorten’s words: “Medicare is a

driver of economic growth. It is an investment, not a cost. It keeps Australians active, healthy,

productive at work. It saves employers and businesses the costs, the red tape the risk of organising

health insurance for their workforce.”56

In short, Labor is implying that greater income equity, along with good quality government subsidised

education and health services, can have benefits for the private sector as well as the general

population. It is not a radical socialist agenda. Rather it is the latest version of a traditional form of

Labor ideology, which has tended to emphasise the common interests of labour and capital and does

not see an inherent conflict between them.57 Nonetheless, Turnbull has responded by accusing Labor

of “setting themselves up for some kind of class war” and engaging in “the politics of envy”.58 Labor has

also faced a strong campaign by business organisations in support of Turnbull government policies,

especially tax cuts.59 In countering such campaigns, Labor faces a traditional social democratic

dilemma, namely the structural power of business in a capitalist economy in which private investment is

indeed crucial for employment and living standards.60

52

Bill Shorten, Interview Leigh Sales, 7.30 Report, http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4425667.htm, downloaded 26/6/16 53

Growing Together, p. 4. 54

Growing Together, p. 32; Jenny Macklin, http://www.jennymacklin.net.au/launch_of_growing_together_labor_s_agenda_for_tackling_inequality downloaded 24/3/16 55

Bill Shorten, Growing Strong and Fair: Labor’s Vision for The Modern Economy National Press Club, Canberra , Tuesday, 15 March 2016 http://www.billshorten.com.au/growing_strong_and_fair_labor_s_vision_for_the_modern_economy, downloaded 26/6/16. 56

Bill Shorten, Address to Nsw Labor Supporters Network Rally - Saturday, 21 May 2016 http://www.billshorten.com.au/address_to_nsw_labor_supporters_network_rally_saturday_21_may_2016, Downloaded 1/6/16 57

See Carol Johnson, The Labor Legacy: Curtin, Chifley, Whitlam, Hawke (Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1979). 58

Malcolm Turnbull, Interview with Fran Kelly on RN Breakfast, 04 May 2016, https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2016-05-04/interview-fran-kelly-rn-breakfast 59

See Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, “Business Calls for Election Commitment to Improve Australia’s Competitiveness”, https://www.acci.asn.au/news/business-calls-election-commitment-improve-australia-s-competitiveness, downloaded 26/6/16. 60

See Adam Przeworski, Capitalism and Social Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 1985, pp. 7-46, 139.

11

Labor’s focus on both social and economic equality has been a broad one that goes beyond narrow,

male wage-earner conceptions of class. Shorten has made strong statements in regard to gender

equality, including equal pay, and against discrimination on the grounds of sexuality.61 He has

denounced the “systemic racism” that can still be present in Australian society when it comes to the

relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and has called for a “constitutional

settlement” to help resolve the “gnawing unresolved divisions”. 62

However, Labor has remained concerned about being electorally wedged on issues of “border

security” though, while justifying harsh measures on the grounds that they discourage asylum seekers

from attempting the perilous sea journey to Australia. Labor has said that it “has the same approach as

the Government when it comes to deterring and defeating the people smugglers”, including supporting

boat turn-backs and asylum seekers being taken to offshore processing centres in third world countries,

although Labor is more prepared to pursue resettlement elsewhere and has a more generous position

in regard to residency rights of those already in Australia.63

In cases other than asylum seekers, Labor has therefore generally responded to the right’s social

conservatism and attacks on working class living standards by supporting equality agendas. In this

respect, the Australian situation reflects the relatively stronger position of organised Labor and the

social democratic opposition than in some other countries in the Asia Pacific with right-wing

governments. Indeed, the Turnbull government has been forced to back down on some (although not

all) of the budget cuts which the Abbott government attempted to introduce in 2014 and which, like the

reintroduction of anti union legislation, have been blocked by the Labor party, minor parties and

independents in the Senate, Australia’s upper house which acts as a house of review. Most recently,

Turnbull has been forced by Labor election campaigning to deny that he had plans to privatise

medicare and has pledged to keep all its functions currently performed by government. 64 Turnbull has

also been driven to state that the government will not drive an attempt to reduce the (internationally

relatively generous) penalty rates that Australian workers are paid for working out of normal work hours

(though, unlike Labor, he didn’t say that the government would argue against attempts by employers

and industrial bodies to reduce them). 65

This is not to suggest that Labor’s attempts to challenge inequality will be as successful as they

suggest, particularly given factors such as technological disruption and the growth of precarious work.

Labor strategy for reducing future inequality relies heavily on skills and training as well as its hopes to

foster the development of diverse twenty-first century industries, that will sell to both traditional markets

and the emerging middle class of Asia. However, Australia also faces economic competition from the

rising Asian powers, including from countries in which right-wing governments have had more

substantial success in suppressing, or at least constraining, their labour movements and left-wing

parties.

61

Leaders Debate at the National Press Club, Canberra 29th May 2016, http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/leaders-debate-at-the-national-press-club-canberra, downloaded 1/6/16 62

Bill Shorten, Address to the Reconciliation Australia Dinner - Melbourne - Friday, 27 May 2016, http://www.billshorten.com.au/address_to_the_reconciliation_australia_dinner_melbourne_friday_27_may_2016 , downloaded 1/6/16 63

Shorten, Leaders Debate at the National Press Club. 64

http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/joint-doorstop-alphadale-nsw downloaded 19/6/16 65

Turnbull, http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/online-leaders-debate-sydney, 17 June 2016 downloaded 19/6/16

12

Here as elsewhere, Labor’s policies still reflect the residual influence of a belief in market-based solutions. Successive Labor governments had tended to assume that the rise of the Asian economies would be largely beneficial to Australia, producing new markets for Australian goods and services (and that industries that were encountering increasing Asian competition, e.g. steel and vehicle manufacturing, would be able to be successfully restructured to remain economically competitive).66 There are indeed potentially enormous opportunities to be gained via Australia’s economic engagement

with the growing markets of Asia, in addition to those benefits which Australia has already

experienced.67 However, there are also potential downsides that may not have been adequately

recognised, partly due to residual neo-liberal influences but also to an underlying assumption of

western economic and technological superiority that was never justified and is under ever increasing

challenge in the changing geoeconomics and geopolitics of the 21st century.68

Indeed a number of problems resulting from the changing geoeconomics of the Asia Pacific region, and

that impact on Australian jobs and standards of living issues, began to emerge during the years of the

Rudd and Gillard Labor governments (2007 – 2013). Even before he achieved office, Rudd had

stressed the need to develop cutting-edge Australian industry, and the domestic job opportunities

arising from it, and not be over-reliant on simply selling natural resources to the booming economies

of Asia.

…will Australia in the future be a manufacturing country, will we still make things or is that all

gone? We believe that we do have a future as a manufacturing country. We have a new future

with knowledge-intensive industries. But it is one where government must be engaged, not just

sitting idly by watching from the sidelines.69

Furthermore, Rudd was particularly aware that Australia needed to compete better with its regional

neighbours who were also placing considerable emphasis on education and training.

I don’t want this country to end up being China’s quarry and Japan’s beach. We can’t just

hope the resources boom lasts forever. It won’t. We’ve got to build for the future. That’s

why our nation needs an education revolution. To set a vision for ourselves to become the

best educated country, the most skilled economy, the best trained workforce in the world.

I don’t want Australia to fall behind our competitors. And in many areas of education and

training, we are. Most of our neighbours have education as their top national priority. We

do not. That must change.70

66

Paul Keating, “Asia-Australia Institute Address,” 26 October 1994, in Ryan ed., Advancing Australia, p. 208; Paul Keating, “Australia and Asia.” Asia-Australia Institute Address, Sydney, 7 April 1992, in Ryan ed., Advancing Australia, p. 191; Julia Gillard, “Speech at the Launch of the White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century: “History asks great nations great questions”“, 28 October 2012, http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/speech-launch-white-paper-australia-asian-century-%E2%80%9Chistory-asks-great-nations-great-que, downloaded 3 January 2013. 67

See the analysis in, Australian Government, Australia in the Asian Century, White Paper, October 2012, http://www.defence.gov.au/whitepaper/2013/docs/australia_in_the_asian_century_white_paper.pdf , downloaded 26/6/16. 68

For a historical account see John M Hobson, The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation (Cambridge University Press, 2004). 69

Kevin Rudd, “ALP, New leadership Team”, Press Conference 4th December 2006, http://www.alporg.au/media/1206/pcloo040.php, downloaded 24 December 2006 ; For similar, more recent arguments see Chris Bowen, Hearts and Minds: A Blueprint for Modern Labor (Melbourne, 2013), pp. 50-52. 70

Kevin Rudd, “ALP, Investing in our Future”, 26 January 2007, http://www.alorg.au/media/0107/spe260.php, downloaded 28 February 2008. .

13

However, the Labor governments’ attempts to create such an economy faced major hurdles and these

arose from some of the presumed benefits of the rising Asian economies as well as some of the

competitive downsides. As Prime Minister Gillard noted at the time, the resources boom resulting from

the massive growth of key Asian economies such as China was contributing to domestic “patchwork

pressures” arising from the high dollar and “competitive pressures and changes in the global

economy”.71 These were impacting negatively on employment prospects and income in manufacturing,

tourism, retail and residential construction. 72 The patchwork economy was also having other impacts

on equality. Gillard was committed to improving women’s equal pay, albeit in forms that would be

phased in slowly over a number of years.73 Yet the patchwork economy was undermining moves

towards equality of women’s wages given differential impacts on a gendered labour market in which

much of the employment generated in the mining sector was male. 74

The Labor government attempted to mitigate some of these patchwork pressures by introducing a tax

on mining companies super profits that could be used to transfer resources to industries and regions

that had been impacted badly. The aim was to ensure an equitable outcome, so that “our nation

emerges from this resources boom with a diversified economy that can offer opportunity to all”.75

However, concessions made to mining companies in response to a major campaign against the

government’s policies meant that the mining tax raised relatively little revenue before being abolished

by the Abbott government.

The Rudd and Gillard Labor governments still promoted a vision of a diverse, technologically advanced,

greener economy which employed highly skilled workers and would stand Australia in good stead once

the resources boom was finished. Despite manufacturing’s problems, it would be an economy based on

free trade not protectionism.76 In views similar to Labor predecessors such as Paul Keating, they

71

Julia Gillard, in Gillard and Wayne Swan, “Transcript of Joint Press Conference”, 22 August 2011, http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/transcript-joint-press-conference-canberra-14>. Consulted 20 September 2012. 72

Gillard, in Gillard and Swan, “Transcript of Joint Press Conference”, 22 August 2011; Wayne Swan, “Spreading the Boom Through our Patchwork Economy,” Address to the NSW Business Chamber of Commerce, Sydney, 15 May 2012, http://www.treasurer.gov.au/DisplayDocs.aspx?pageID=005&doc=../content/speeches/2012/013.htm&min=wms, downloaded 20 May 2012. 73

Julia Gillard, “Address to Social and Community Sector Workers”, November 2011, http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/address-social-and-community-sector-workers-sydney, downloaded 15 December, 2011. 74

Savanth Sebastian, “Point of View: Women fall behind in pay stakes”, Comm Sec Market Bulletin, 19 August 2011, accessed 20 September 2012, http://images.comsec.com.au/ipo/UploadedImages/MB1908114fe6023c9adf49649d7a58ddcff5d7f7.pdf, downloaded 20 October 2012. 75

Gillard, in Gillard and Swan, “Transcript Press Conference”, Canberra, 23 November 2011. http://www.treasurer.gov.au/DisplayDocs.aspx?doc=transcripts/2011/178.htm&pageID=004&min=wms&Year=&DocType=2, downloaded 13 March 2012. 76

Julia Gillard, “Address to the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, Bali”, 18 November 2011, http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/address-asean-business-and-investment-summit-bali, downloaded 1 January 2012.

14

argued that it would be an economy that sold goods and services, such as higher education and

technology, to the growing Asian middle class.77

Meanwhile, Rudd and Gillard government treasurer, Wayne Swan, responded to Abbott-era

suggestions, such as Joe Hockey’s, that the Asian Century required cuts to government benefits by

arguing that Hockey’s position would result in an unfair, unjust society.78 However, arguably Swan

didn’t adequately address the pressures which competition from countries with much smaller welfare

states can put on Australia in an increasingly competitive economic environment, in which Australian

neo-liberals can seize on such arguments to justify their own ideologically-driven cuts. Meanwhile,

Gillard merely asserted that Asia’s growing wealth, as opposed to poverty, reinforces Australia’s “high-

wage, high-skill” path and means that “today, we no longer have to juggle our social democratic values

and our Asian regional context” because “for the first time in our history, Asia is not a threat to our high-

skill high-wage road. It is a reason to stay on it”.79

Such views rightly draw attention to some of the genuine economic opportunities offered by the

massive markets opened up in the Asian Century. However, they downplay the challenges posed to

attempts to develop cutting edge Australian industries and to sell Australian goods, expertise and

services to Asia. These challenges range from the development of competing high-tech Asian

industries, including those making heavy use of robotics; to the online outsourcing of skilled Australian

white collar work to Asian countries; to competition in high-level services (e.g. medical tourism by

Australians to Asia). 80 As papers given in this IPSA panel demonstrate, Australia will sometimes be

competing with countries in which new right governments have, at least partially, succeeded in

constraining unions and attempts to develop more extensive welfare systems. In turn those competitive

pressures can then be used by Australian neo-liberals to justify their own ideological positions in regard

to more “flexibility” on wages and cuts to benefits and services.

It is not just governments in more capitalist societies that are of concern either, but also governments in

countries that combine elements of capitalism with particularly authoritarian forms of state- socialism.

For example, Labor eventually agreed to support the China Australia Free Trade agreement negotiated

by the Liberal government, but only after winning what they saw as adequate “legal safeguards and

protections for Australian jobs, for Australian wages and conditions, for Australian skills and

77

Gillard, “Address to Asean”; Wayne Swan, “Structural Change and the Rise of Asia Conference,” Canberra, 19 September 2012, http://www.treasurer.gov.au/wmsDisplayDocs.aspx?doc=speeches/2012/027.htm&PageID=003&min=wms&Year=&DocType=1, downloaded 20 March 2013. 78

Wayne Swan, “Growing Wealth the Labor Way, Per Capita Post-Budget Address”, Adelaide, 17 May 2012, http://www.treasurer.gov.au/wmsDisplayDocs.aspx?doc=speeches/2012/015.htm&PageID=003&min=wms&Year=&DocType=1, downloaded 1 January 2013. 79

Julia Gillard, “Speech at the Launch of the White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century: “History asks great nations great questions”“, 28 October 2012, http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/speech-launch-white-paper-australia-asian-century-%E2%80%9Chistory-asks-great-nations-great-que, downloaded 3 March 2013. 80

An increasing competitive trend noted by the business sections of Australian newspapers, see e.g. “White collar jobs head abroad,” The Australian Financial Review 2 March, 2013, http://www.afr.com/p/national/white_collar_jobs_head_abroad_MpSQJ2IPC27szyiNX7P08H, downloaded 5 June 2013; “Your accountants are now in Manila,” The Australian Financial Review, 2 March 2013, http://www.afr.com/p/national/your_accountants_are_now_in_manila_OcSAl3st6saT8uhS1VSdeJ, downloaded 28 June 2013; Medical health insurance policies are now being offered that incorporate medical tourism. See “NIB Bullish on Medical Tourism”, Sydney Morning Herald, Business Day, 30 October 2013, <http://www.smh.com.au/business/nib-bullish-on-medical-tourism-20131029-2we3b.html, downloaded 6 November, 2013.

15

occupational licensing.”81 Media reports suggest that some companies have already worked out ways

to bypass such measures.82

Labor has reasserted its support for free trade.83 However, Shorten has announced funding for the

Australian Steel Industry (badly hit by Chinese competition) and supported an Australian Made

campaign, including via government purchasing provisions. He argued that “I think that when you look

at the range of issues we offer right to what we're saying today about Made in Australia - I think there's

a lot of blue-collar working-class and middle-class families who are sick of seeing all of our jobs being

exported overseas, who are greatly sceptical that there aren't rorts in some aspects of our visa

system.”84

The socially conservative views of many right-wing governments in Asia have also been cited

favourably by Australian social conservatives. For example, in the words of conservative Liberal

Senator Eric Abetz, ‘the Labor Party and other journalists tell us, time and time again, that we are living

in the Asian century. Tell me how many Asian countries have redefined marriage?’85 Here, as

elsewhere, the growth of a socially conservative Right in Asia can be used by social conservatives in

other countries to justify their own ideological positions as well.

European social democrats are also facing Europe’s relative decline as Asian economies rise, even if

they may be hesitant to describe it as such. As former British Labour leader David Miliband pointed out

“economic power is shifting to the east, putting huge pressures on tax revenues” at the same time as

economic inequality and unemployment are rising in Europe.86 Australia’s geographic location and rich

mineral resources mean that Australian Labor now potentially finds itself in the vanguard of developing

social democratic strategies that deal with the impact of the rise of Asia. Yet a key question remains. If

social democratic governments in the (predominantly) western country that is arguably best

geographically situated to benefit from the Asian Century is finding those challenges difficult, with

implications for industry competitiveness, employment and equity, how much more difficult will they be

81

Bill Shorten, Press Conference: Canberra - China-Australia Free Trade Agreement; Question Time Changes Wednesday, 21 October 2015, http://www.billshorten.com.au/press-conference-canberra-china-australia-free-trade-agreement-question-time-changes , Downloaded 1/6/16 82

Adele Ferguson and Sarah Danckert, “Dodgy safety certificates under China Australia Free Trade Agreement”, June 4, 2016 http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/no-safety-wage-harness-under-china-australia-free-trade-agreement-20160602-gpakxm.html , downloaded 24/6/16. 83

Senator The Hon Penny Wong, Shadow Minister For Trade And Investment, Speech 13 June 2015 Why Labor Supports Trade – Australian Fabians Forum – Melbourne, https://www.Pennywong.Com.Au/Speeches/Why-Labor-Supports-Trade-Australian-Fabians-Forum-Melbourne/ Downloaded 13/6/16 84

Bill Shorten, Doorstop - Townsville - Saturday, 25 June 2016, http://www.billshorten.com.au/doorstop_townsville_saturday_25_june_2016 Downloaded 26/6/16 85

Eric Abetz, Interview with Michael Brissendon. ABC radio, 2 July 2015. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2015/s4265941.htm (accessed 13 September 2015). 86

Ed Miliband, “New Year Message”, 2012, http://www.edmiliband.org/ed-miliband-new-year-message, downloaded 13 July 2012; François Hollande,” Conférence de presse de M. le Président de la République à Los Cabos,” 19 June 2012, http://www.elysee.fr/president/les-actualites/conferences-de-presse/2012/conference-de-presse-de-m-le-president-de-la.13499.html, downloaded13 July 2012 ; France 24, “Hollande désigne Pékin comme "l”adversaire" économique de l”Europe”. France 24 online, <http://www.france24.com/fr/20120512-francois-hollande-designe-chine-adversaire-economique-union-europeenne-livre-eric-dupin.,downloaded 13 July 2012.

16

for social democratic parties elsewhere in the west?

Conclusion. Clearly, Australian social democracy is not alone in having a newfound scepticism about aspects of neo-liberal solutions, particularly in the aftermath of the GFC. Other labour and social democratic parties are also beginning to embrace current arguments regarding the need to reduce economic inequality.87 Nonetheless, one should not over-emphasise the radically egalitarian nature of the policies being pursued by mainstream social democratic parties. Rather, social democrats are aiming to replace an excessively exploitative, and potentially self-destructive, form of capitalism with a somewhat more humane form that, they argue, better fosters economic growth.

In trying to build a more equal society, social democratic parties do not just face challenges from their

socially conservative and neo-liberal opponents on the right. This paper has suggested that social

democracy also faces more fundamental global challenges. Those challenges include not just

economic ones but also socially conservative appeals to nostalgic forms of social conservatism that are

partly, though certainly not entirely, related to them.88 Such appeals to ethnocentric issues of national

identity are at least partly related to the relative decline of former western powers (whether that be

Howard and Abbott-era debates over national identity, and links with Britain and America,in Australia;

Brexit in England or Donald Trump in the US). Shorten has argued that Brexit reinforces the need for

Australia’s social democratic party to seriously address the falling living standards and increasing

inequality which Australian working and middle class voters are facing.89 However, while it is beyond

the scope of the current paper, there is also the much larger question of how will issues of global

inequality, not just issues of inequality within particular nation states, be addressed in the context of the

changing geopolitics and geoeconomics of the twenty-first century? The need for an analysis of key

87

See also Jeremy Corbyn, Jeremy Corbyn’s response to the Budget http://jeremycorbyn.org.uk/articles/jeremy-corbyns-response-to-the-budget/ ( 2016) downloaded 23/6/16; Though there are severe reservations about the extent to which more progressive approaches to tackling inequality have been adopted – see e.g. Thomas Piketty’s subsequent denouncing of Hollande, whom he had once hoped would be a new Roosevelt, See Geert De Clercq "French Roosevelt" in Hollande http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-election-inequality-idUKBRE83G0ZN20120417 Downloaded, 23/6/16; ”, Francetv info , “Légion d'honneur refusée : Piketty et Hollande, du soutien à la rupture, Mis à jour le 15/01/2015; http://www.francetvinfo.fr/economie/legion-d-honneur-refusee-piketty-et-hollande-du-soutien-a-la-rupture_786009.html downloaded 23/6/16. See further, Christophe Bouillaud, The French Socialist Party (2008-13): not revolutionaries, just ‘normal’ guys amidst the tempest, In David J Bailey et al, European Social democracy During the Global Economic Crisis: Renovation or Resignation (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2014). 88

See e.g. Hans-Georg Betz and Carol Johnson, “Against the current — stemming the tide: the nostalgic ideology of the contemporary radical populist right“, Journal of Political Ideologies, 9 (3), 2004, pp. 311-327; Carol Johnson, Steve Patten and Hans-Georg Betz, “Identarian Politics and Populism in Canada and the Antipodes” in Jens Rydgren (ed). Movements of Exclusion. Radical Right-wing Populism in the Western World (Hauppauge/N.Y, Nova Science, 2005), pp. 85-100. 89

Shorten, Doorstop, Townsville.

17

issues and problems in broader international contexts is particularly pressing given the globally

interconnected nature of many of the issues discussed in this paper.90

90

See Kanishka Jayasuriya, Beyond the culturalist problematic: Towards a global social science in the Asian Century? In Carol Johnson, Vera Mackie and Tessa Morris-Suzuki eds, The Social Sciences in the Asian Century (ANU Press, Canberra, 2015), pp. 81-96. Available at http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p325111/pdf/ch055.pdf