Yesterday I was in Parliament House, Canberra, attending a workshop/discussion organised by Senator David Pocock on the Loophole Bill.
Here’s a quick update on the progress of the Bill (6 minutes).
New Australian Socialism
Self Employed. Marxism. Corruption. Not Above The Law
At Self-Employed Australia we’re covering what seems to be a wide range of topics. In fact, these all come back to a central ‘thing’ that we seek to protect—namely, your right to be self-employed should you wish. That is, your right to Be Your Own Boss.
One of our great supporters is Discernable, an on-line blog television channel run by Matt Wong. Matt’s a true self-employed, small business innovator. He’s invested his own money, time and effort to pursue a vision that says that media news and issues coverage doesn’t have to be slogan-slamming but can undertake patient, intelligent coverage of issues.
If you haven’t watched Discernable we highly recommend doing so. If you’re like us, you’re likely to find the long (frequently 2 hour) interviews engaging, addictive and binge-watchable. The stories that come from Matt’s guests are fabulously insightful.
Matt has interviewed SEA’s Ken Phillips on several occasions covering our Not Above The Law campaign and more. Just this week Matt interviewed Ken and SEA chairman Nick Karamouzis.
The interview is available here.
We covered a range of topics. And to make it easy for you here are the timeslots of the issues we covered.
We trust our interview gives you a good handle on our campaign efforts.
Reporting from Marxism Conference 2023
We’ve reported that the Albanese government has committed itself to upending our right as self-employed people to be self-employed. Its stated agenda is to create a third definition of self-employment called ‘employee-like.’ This will throw into confusion, perhaps even remove, key protections we have long campaigned to achieve—for example, protection from unfair contracts.
The government plans to move with legislation later in the year. We intend to mount a strong campaign against this and are preparing for the battle ahead. The government comes at its agenda from the perspective that there is an inherent conflict between ‘workers and bosses’. This is the old Left-wing perspective of the social and economic order.
The challenge posed by self-employed people to this perspective is that we are both worker and boss at the same time. So, do we exploit ourselves? Are we inherently in conflict with ourselves? Um … confusing!!
Over Easter, Australian Marxists held their Marxism Conference 2023 in Melbourne. Self-Employed Australia’s Executive Director Ken Phillips attended the full three days. His aim was to seek to understand what the Marxists’ arguments are and the world view that underpins them. If we are to effectively defend the right to be self-employed, we need to understand what the ‘other side’ are saying and thinking—even at the furthest end of the spectrum.
The Albanese government is broadly of a Left-wing persuasion. Prime Minister Albanese is from the socialist left of the Labor Party. We’re not offering a view on that, but rather seek to understand a range of political views. All political views fit somewhere along a spectrum of some sort. We don’t know where the PM sits on the Left-wing spectrum. We doubt that he is a hard-line Marxist as presented at the Easter Marxism Conference.
What we have done, however, is to put together some day-to-day reports on what we think it is that Australian Marxists believe. Here are the three reports we put together over Easter:
Reporting from the Marxist Front Line – Overview and agenda
- Listing the agenda items.
Reporting from the Marxist Front Line – Day One
- Capitalism is the enemy.
- We are defined by our class.
- On War and Identity Politics
We have genuinely attempted to present reports of what was said and what was argued. We’re not commentating on those claims. Rather, we’re simply trying to gain a broader understanding of the mind of the Marxist Left.
They say there’s “trouble Down Under?”
The speed with which Australia’s fundamental operational structures are being changed is quite breathtaking.
At the beginning of February, the Federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, released a ‘thought’ article where he announced “…the beginnings of a new economic model” by creating “…a new values-based capitalism for Australia”. This embodies a surprisingly radical intent, even given the tradition of the labour movement’s ambitions over the last 50 years.
On my thesis, ‘The New Australian Socialist Experiment’ (also released in February), I saw Chalmers’ declaration as part that emerging experiment. What I hadn’t expected was the rapid rate at which this new agenda unfolded, became apparent and ignited a vigorous debate.
Gary Banks was the head of the Productivity Commission from 1998 to 2013. The Productivity Commission is the major government-funded ‘think tank’ that looks at, and reports on, how to make Australia efficient and productive. Normally any criticism by such government bodies directed at government (even by retired heads) is cautious, using toned-down bureaucratic language. But this week Gary Banks came out swinging.
In a damning assessment of the current policy direction Banks referred to “…policies that have damaged our economy’s ability to cope with change, to be competitive and support economic growth.” He refers to “monumental bungling”, policies that are “…contrived to maximise the cost…” and “…we [Australia] have been busily eliminating our competitive advantage…”
Gary Banks’ criticism is directed at all governments, not just the current federal government. What is significant is not simply his criticism of specific policies, but the unexpected tone of his criticism. He is flagging an Australian structural, self-created, economic downslide.
Banks’ blunt warning comes just as many retirees are reeling in shock at unexpected significant changes to superannuation tax rates. While the proposed tax regime only appears to affect ‘rich’ people, those changes also signal that using superannuation for retirement is now much more risky. Is this the beginning of the end for superannuation?
To us (SEA), it’s not just what’s already happened that’s caught our attention, but what seems to be pending. There are tea leaves to be read!
- There is broad media reporting of a rental crisis. But emerging policy seems to be pushing housing rental supply in a negative direction. One much-touted ‘solution’ is the imposition of rental price controls and rent freezes.
- Influential, wealthy unions are supporting and calling for price controls—not only on energy but, seemingly, more broadly as well.
- State workers’ compensation schemes are in financial crisis, unable to fund their obligations.
Our experience is that when this sort of media coverage starts happening it’s usually followed by new regulations to ‘solve’ such problems.
And we know that the policy knives are out to harm self-employed people. We reported in February on just one agenda item designed to kill off independent truck drivers.
Over the next few weeks we’ll try and put together analysis of these issues and more. Things are certainly moving at a rapid rate!
The New Australian Socialist Experiment
January was ‘thinking’ time.
Yes, we/I needed to absorb and contemplate the outcome of our Supreme Court action to require WorkSafe Victoria to do its job, that is to apply the law. We reported to you on this in mid-January.
But something else unfolded in late-2022 that made me think more deeply. The new Federal Labor government passed major labour laws that threw out the very laws that the ALP themselves made in 2009. And they went hard on regulations covering the gas industry. Some commentators referred to this as ‘quasi-nationalisation’. “What is going on?”, I had to ask. But a picture started to emerge—so fingers went to the keyboard.
Then on Monday last (30 January 2023) the Federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, released his own thought piece (6,000 words) called ‘My plan for the rebirth of Australian Capitalism.’
Goodness, the picture became stark. I’ve produced my own thesis called ‘The New Australian Socialist Experiment.’
Jim Chalmers talks of “…the beginnings of a new economic model” with “…a new values-based capitalism for Australia.”
He says that “…2023 will be the year we build a better capitalism, uniquely Australian” where “…we will create a new, sustainable finance architecture…”
The Australian reports that the Treasurer says he is “Foreshadowing a seismic policy shift …(where) Labor will ditch the free-market policy consensus that has steered rich countries over two generations.” In short, this is BIG. And the thinking over January has been worthwhile.
I offer you, then, a perspective on what’s going on. It’s not just what Treasurer Chalmers says that’s important, but what has already been put in place. This is a new socialism with Australian characteristics. And counter to the usual ‘reds under the beds’ narrative, socialism does not mean poverty. It depends. Hence I’m not seeking to debate the rights or wrongs but to understand the thinking.
My analysis is as long as the Treasurer’s (6,000 words) so I’ve broken it up into sections. And I’ve taken an additional step in opening an account with Substack, a platform for writers where you can access my analysis.
- I provide an Introduction and overview here.
And the detail covering:
- The socialists have captured capitalism.
- The labour market revolution; including the move against the self-employed.
- Quasi-nationalisation of business and changing key institutions.
The scale of what is occurring is major.
It’s important to understand, particularly if you are self-employed, your own boss, running your own business. I hope that my analysis and facts paint a helpful picture.