Anna Bligh deserves credit for being the first woman to be directly elected Premier of any Australian state. Previous women premiers such as Joan Kirner have have been appointed to the position only to lose it at the next election.
Part of the reason for her victory was the Liberal National opposition. She faced a united opposition but people realised that effectively this opposition is National Party dominated. Their leader Springborg came from the Nationals. They are extremely unpopular in South East Queensland where hundreds of thousands have migrated from the southern states. Whereas in the past Nationals have held Gold Coast seats, their chance of winning them back does not look promising.
Bligh has inherited a state with problems. One of the main ones being its credit ranking had been demoted from AAA to AA+. This is not such a dramatic concern so long as the State Government can prove its �responsible�. Bligh is proving her responsibility � to the system. Bligh is establishing her credentials.
Bligh, like Rees in N.S.W., is supposed to be �of the Left faction�. Yet she is showing even more so than Rees how little these labels mean. In practise she is worse than her predecessor Peter Beattie, �of the Right faction�. Bligh Labor is behaving like any economically rationalist government.
Right-wing pundits like Rupert Murdoch�s Australian are praising her efforts but caution she should proceed with a bit more tact. In Queensland motorists have had subsidised petrol. The rural communities argue that because of the large distances they are forced to cover, more petrol is needed and therefore should be subsidised. This has been abolished.
Bligh has also embarked on a programme of privatisation. Certain railway lines which carry raw materials are to be sold off as are port facilities and state owned forests. Unions claim that Bligh�s privatisation may cost up to ten thousand jobs. Privatisation benefits the bosses and not the workers or the consumers. Privatisation is �more efficient� because it makes ordinary people suffer more efficiently.
Anna Bligh has absolutely no mandate for her agenda. She didn�t mention privatisation during her election campaign. Some suggest that she would have lost the election if she did!
She is getting pats on the back from fellow Queenslanders Wayne Swan and Kevin Rudd for �taking the hard economic decisions.�
She also does not let a small trifle like Labor Party democracy get in her way .She informed Labor supporters that the decision had already been made. So it is bad luck if the majority disagree, capitalist interests take priority. ALP members are treated with contempt. Anna is member for South Brisbane, which is an electorate and an area dominated by the Left. A branch meeting carried a resolution uunanimously to expel her from the party. This is what she deserves. The rank and file are angry and are holding meetings in protest. No doubt Anna Bligh will tough these out.
More serious opposition comes from the trade union movement. Both the MUA and the ETU have made strong statements. It is more serious because unions can actually threaten direct action. More than protest is needed.
There is nothing new about Labor governments treating both party democracy and democracy in general with contempt. For example, both Iemma and Costa intended to go full steam ahead with electricity privatisation with neither an electoral mandate nor party support. In fact, party policy was strongly opposed to this reactionary measure.
In NSW Rees was previously of �the Left faction� (he resigned on being appointed premier) but now he is threatening to privatise ferries and prisons. It is clear that Rees does not oppose privatisation on principle.
Bligh�s reactionary attacks pose the question: whither the Labor Party? Clearly, right-wingers can run rough shot over the rank and file, treating them as mere fodder fit only to hand out leaflets and how to vote tickets. This situation is no accident. The Labor Left has been shown to be bankrupt as have even moderate reforming elements. The only way Labor gets in power is if it obeys the dictates of the system. We must draw the conclusion that the only way we can get power is if we stand for a programme to overthrow the system. Otherwise the right-wing agenda will continue.
more...