5. Election Debate

Hi, I’m Greg and I want to grumble about the state of the election debate, in particular about the contribution of leading journalist, Ross Gittins, the Economics Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald.

Last week he published a column claiming that there is not much difference between the two major parties in terms of economic management credentials, but there is in fact a big difference in relation to who wins and loses from their policies. He pointed out a whole range of policies like superannuation, the abolition of the mining tax, paid parental leave and the fringe benefits tax treatment of company vehicles where Tony Abbott’s policies will disproportionately benefit those who are better off. And then there are policies like the plan to abolish the twice yearly supplement to the pitifully small Newstart unemployment allowance which take directly from the poor.

But Gittins also savaged Labor which refuses to talk about inequality and which, to its unforgivable shame, has repeatedly refused to increase the poverty level-rate of Newstart.

Taken together, he says there is class warfare going on and the rich class is winning.

Now you may be thinking that whether one agrees with his conclusions or not, Gittens has given us an important analysis of policies. So why am I grumbling? Well, I am grumbling because of what it says about the political debate and how far we have drifted. What does it say about the policies at play in this election when the Economics Editor of one of the bastions of the establishment media is driven to warn us of inequality and impact of the policies on the poor!

Still, if Ross Gittens wants to put it out there, I say yep, let’s vote for a fairer share of wealth. And more than that, let’s vote for justice, for the environment and all the things that are important. Let’s vote for community and for compassion, and not for the purveyors (of any political colour) of so-called “tough love”, or of greed and economic self-interest.

As the great English songwriter Billy Bragg put it many years ago, vote not for the iron fist but for the helping hand.

We’ll see what happens on Saturday, but until then, I am Greg and I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard or downloaded at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-5/

First Broadcast: 3 September 2013