Kernot is wrong: Labor is no alternative
By Peter Boyle
To cover her opportunist career move in line for a future Labor cabinet position, former Democrat leader Cheryl Kernot has claimed her decision is motivated by a desire to better fight the Howard Coalition government. But, according to Democratic Socialist Party national secretary John Percy, Kernot's move is only part of a cynical attempt by the ALP to repackage itself as "New Labor" before the next elections.
"After their 1996 defeat, the ALP leaders concluded that Labor in government had all the right policies — their only problem was selling those policies. Gareth Evans was explicit on this point. Now they obviously hope Kernot will help them sell the same poison to the public for a second time and help them imitate British Labour's Tony Blair.
"It is ironic that the ALP seeks to rehabilitate its image with a politician whose last major political contribution was helping the Howard government get its anti-worker workplace relations bill through the Senate. This reactionary law made union solidarity a crime, and is helping big business intensify its exploitation of workers.
"Kim Beazley says that Kernot's values sit comfortably with the ALP. While Democrat leader, Kernot took that party to the right. In the 1996 election she insisted (over local party objections) that half the Democrat preferences in Oxley be directed to Pauline Hanson. And now Labor hopes recruiting Kernot will make it look more 'progressive'! It shows how reactionary Labor has become."
Percy said that the recent South Australian election results showed that mass disillusionment with a Coalition government does not automatically translate into votes for Labor and it was doubtful that Kernot's defection would do the trick for Labor.
"Labor with Kernot still offers no real alternative to the Coalition. As Kernot admitted in her resignation speech, she was courted by both Labor and the Coalition and found this flattering."
Greens Senator Bob Brown labelled Kernot's move as a "defection to big party politics" but heralded it as a "new spring day for the Greens". Kernot's defection had "freed the Democrats" and he predicted a "more rewarding" relationship between the Greens and the Democrats.
Brown said Kernot's view of progressive politics has proven to be one of "progress for me, me first!"
"Yesterday she opposed uranium mining, today she doesn't. Yesterday she wanted woodchippers out of the forest, today she doesn't. Yesterday she vigorously opposed the military rule in Tibet, East Timor and Burma, today she doesn't. Yesterday she supported Aboriginal women of Hindmarsh Island, today she doesn't. The list is almost as big as her ambition."
Percy told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly: "Labor is clearly not providing real opposition to the Coalition government because it is committed to essentially the same 'economic rationalist' policies — policies that have destroyed hundreds of thousands of jobs and sacrificed justice and the environment at the altar of corporate profitability.
"That is why Labor supports Howard's work-for-the-dole scheme and is prepared to sacrifice native title to satisfy greedy mining companies and the richest pastoral landowners. That's why Labor supports Howard's abrogation of the greenhouse gas targets set at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero.
"If we want a real opposition to the Howard government we need an alliance of all the forces that seriously oppose the Lib-Lab profits-first consensus. But an effective oppositional alliance would have to extend beyond the Democrats and Greens who prioritise working through parliament. We need an 'alliance in the street' that can involve and empower ordinary people.
"People are sick of politicians promising to fix things for them. More and more people have lost any respect for the halls of privilege that make up parliament", said Percy. "Coming after the Travelgate scandals, Kernot's dramatic grab for future access to the perks of ministerial office will only deepen this disillusionment. That is a good thing."