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IS THE ABBOTT GOVERNMENT FASCIST?
John Biggs
Since the last Federal election, people have been shocked at where Australia seems to be heading.
So where is Australia heading? Towards fascism? There are straws in the wind.
The Collins Dictionary defines fascism thus: n 1 any doctrine, system or practice regarded as
authoritarian, militaristic, chauvinistic or extremely right wing.
Expanding on this, a fascist government: has a strong leader or small group of leaders with
psychopathic tendencies; rules by fiat and slogan; has a culture of lying; defines and maintains an
underclass while redistributing wealth and power to an elite; filters information so that the
government only receives advice it wants to hear; controls the media; is nationalistic and militaristic;
is a poor world neighbour; takes over industry and commerce.
Let us see how the Abbott Government stacks up on these criteria.
A strong leader or small group of leaders with psychopathic tendencies
A fascist leader is obsessed with power and control for its own sake and will do whatever it takes to
grab and maintain power. This suggests a strong streak of psychopathy. Psychologist Lyn Bender asks
in Independent Australia, 13 May, 2014, “What if Abbott and his cronies are just a bunch of
psychopaths?” She makes a startling case that they probably are, mentioning indicators from
Abbott, Joe Hockey and Scott Morrison. http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politicsdisplay/what-if-abbott-and-his-cronies-are-just-a-bunch-of-psychopaths,6472
Psychopaths are commonly described as lacking empathy and compassion, as exhibiting no guilt or
remorse, given to seeking revenge, compulsive lying, seeing the end as justifying the means and
narcissism.
Abbott has shown himself lacking in empathy and compassion on several occasions. In October
2007, he accused dying asbestos victim Bernie Banton’s public protests against James Hardy as “a
stunt”. During a visit to Afghanistan in February 2011, his comment on being told the details of how
an Australian soldier had died was “shit happens.” When a Channel 7 reporter questioned Abbott on
this comment, his reaction was utterly bizarre, glaring at the reporter, jerking his head for a full 28
seconds, remaining silent. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wT9XS_TvzQ Laurie Oakes
said these and other “flat-footed comments will surely call his leadership of the Liberal Party into
question … and he will pay dearly for it.” Later on talk-back radio, when a grandmother complaining
about the budget said she was forced to do telephone sex work to make ends meet, Abbott smirked
and gave the radio host a sleazy wink.
Rules by fiat and slogan
The following is attributed to Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels: “The most brilliant propagandist
technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly – it
must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.” And this is exactly how Abbott
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had conducted his campaign, with mindless slogans such as “stop the boats”, “repeal the carbon
tax”, “earn or learn”, repeated ad nauseam. No explanation, no justification.
Political debate in a democracy has parties standing on different platforms. Come election time they
argue their case with evidence and logic, taking apart their opponents’ policies and arguments
accordingly. Certainly candidates hurl insults at each other but they are the exhaust pollution that
comes from a working engine. Prior to and during the last Federal election, however, Tony Abbott
brought political debate to an all-time low in Australia: the pollution of insults became the engine.
Such slogans pre-empt discussion of how those ends are to be achieved or reflection on possible
consequences of achieving them.
A culture of lying
Fascist governments survive through a culture of lying. Joseph Goebbels again: “If you tell a lie big
enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained
only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military
consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to
repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the
greatest enemy of the State.”
In Independent Australia, 26 April 2014, Alan Austin defines political lying not as broken promises,
which happen in all parties, but as “a knowingly false statement by a politician, expressed with the
intention to deceive”. http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/is-australiarun-by-compulsive-liars-part-two-abbotts-astonishing-30-lies,6398 Here is the lie score of recent
political leaders: Kevin Rudd 1, Alexander Downer 7, John Howard 15+, Tony Abbott 30, other recent
leaders of all parties, including Julia Gillard, 0. The Federal Liberals are thus by far the most
mendacious of all other parties, and Abbott worse than other Liberals.
In this interview Kerry O’Brien tries hard to pin Abbott down on lying. It is as telling as Abbott’s 28
seconds of furious nodding silence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc5ljcri6Nk
Defines and maintains an underclass while redistributing wealth and power to an elite
Fascist governments on gaining power take the country in a radical new direction. Pre-election
Abbott promised no surprises, steady as she goes, but post-election we were in for a big surprise.
First, Abbott destroyed virtually every positive initiative established by Labor – apart from Labor’s
own cruel initiative in sending asylum seekers offshore. Labor’s social justice initiatives – Gonski,
the National Disability Insurance Scheme, gambling reforms, superannuation tax relief for low
income earners, the NBN and much more. The decks had been cleared for big changes.
The Budget gave the new game away. Australia has a Triple-A credit rating, 22 years free of
recession, a strong health care system, and one of the lowest debt to GDP ratios in OECD countries.
Yet the Abbott Government claimed that in view of Australia’s economic crisis (a lie) a really tough
Budget was necessary (another lie) and that all Australians would have to do the heavy lifting (yet
another lie). Unemployed 23-year-olds stand to lose 18 per cent of their disposable income, an
unemployed sole parent with an eight-year-old child would lose 12 per cent. By contrast, a high-
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income couple with a combined income of $360,000 a year would lose nothing they might notice.
The “heavy lifting” is to be done by those least able to lift.
People under 30 would not receive any benefits at all if they lose their job leaving them with nothing
to live on. Family Tax Benefit would be restricted to those earning under $100,000 and payment
stops when their child reaches six, previously 16. With youth unemployment around 20 percent
across the nation and higher in Tasmania, young Tasmanians were told to leave the state to get a
job: “earn or learn” or you are cut off the Newstart unemployment benefits for six months.
“Learning” means going to university where uncapped fees could in some faculties triple. With
higher HECS interest rates, repayments could take decades to clear. What low SES youth would buy
into that? That’s assuming they had the ability and the interest in going to university. Student with
parents wealthy enough to pay fees will not be saddled with a long term debt, giving them an
enormous lifelong advantage.
The Government has gutted Gonski with its egalitarian intent, giving more and more largess to
independent schools. $245 million has been allocated to finance untrained chaplains to provide
ideologically tainted support for students while removing professionally trained social workers and
psychologists. Abbott is putting future generations at risk by cutting science on all fronts. He
abolished a Minister for Science which has been there since 1938; has savagely cut $140 million from
the CSIRO; the tertiary sector by 20 per cent but uncapping the fees universities may charge; all the
instrumentalities set up by Labor for climate change and renewable energy have been abolished. If
climate change is real, and there is very strong empirical evidence that it is, all this is
psychopathically irresponsible. Future generations will not thank the Abbott Government.
The $7 co-payment and increased pharmaceutical fees in the health budget are the first step in
dismantling Medicare and setting up a more privatised health system along US lines. Yet the US
spends 17.7% on GDP on health for a far worse and unequitable system than ours, whereas Australia
spends 9.5% on health, including Medicare, for a much superior health service: a difference largely
due to the fact that if people don’t go to the doctor the later consequences can be expensive. The
Budget intervention on health is not about economics or efficiency of service, but a deliberate hit at
the poor. The $20 billion medical research fund, impossibly financed by the medical co-payments, is
an obvious furphy that won’t do anything for the poor with their present health problems.
The Budget and the Coalition’s tax policies see that the already rich become richer and the poor
poorer. The super payments of those on $35,000 pa or less, once tax free, will be taxed at 15 per
cent, but Labor’s plan to tax the richest retirees’ super funds will be abandoned. Family trusts and
other tax lurks worked out by tricky tax consultants will not be addressed. Abbott’s paid parental
leave scheme as originally proposed was to the enormous benefit of rich double income families
while child minding facilities of essential value to poor parents and especially single mothers were
cut.
But there is meaning in this madness. Fascist governments need an elite and an underclass. That is
what the Budget is helping to create.
The planned redrafting of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act is another tactic in defining an
underclass. Currently 18C makes it unlawful for a person to act in a way likely to “offend, insult,
humiliate or intimidate” someone because of their race or ethnicity. The change proposed by
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Attorney General George Brandis would replace these words with “vilify”. Thus, it would no longer
be an offense to offend, insult or humiliate anyone of a different ethnicity. And not to be
discriminatory, it would also be okay to offend, insult or humiliate anyone of the same ethnicity – a
bogan, perhaps, or a Greenie.
Asylum seekers, demonised by Howard as child murderers, have become a target for community
hatred, fear, and contempt. There is even a whisper, just a whisper, of a parallel with the demonising
of certain minority groups by the Third Reich.
Filters information so that the government only receives advice it wants to hear
A fascist government does not want to entertain information or to consider possibilities it doesn’t
want to hear: “the truth is the enemy of the State”, as Goebels had said.
Abbott has stacked all committees and inquiries he has set up with far right wingers and climate
change deniers, such as the Royal Commission into pink batts and the National Commission of Audit.
Clearly, he is not interested in seeking the truth of matters but to gain the result he wants.
SBS and especially the ABC are accused of left wing bias, although most ABC panels have
representation from left and right. Both are in for heavy cuts and possible merging.
Controls the media
As part of information filtering, a fascist government controls the media. No dissent allowed. That is
not the case in Australia, but perhaps there is little need. News Corp, which backs the government
100 per cent, owns over 140 papers and magazines and is far and away the most widely read.
Robert Manne writes in The Monthly (November 2013): “Murdoch’s domination of the metropolitan
press has two main consequences for our democracy. First, any government, no matter how worthy
or unworthy, is now vulnerable should News Corp decide to target it in the way it targeted the
Gillard government more than two years ago. Second, while News Corp retains its present
dominance, mainstream debate about certain fundamental ideologically sensitive questions – how
to respond adequately to the climate-change crisis; what levels and kinds of taxation are needed to
develop the welfare state; the trajectory of foreign policy during the rise of China; Australia’s Middle
Eastern policy; and, of course, media reform – is effectively ruled out in advance.”
Anthropogenic climate change is rubbished in all News Corp publications. 97 per cent of the columns
appearing in the Herald-Sun were sceptical of human-caused global warming, an interestingly
symmetry to the 97 per cent of scientists who conclude the very opposite. This is irresponsibly
dangerous – but perfectly in line with Abbott Government policy.
Is nationalistic and militaristic
The militarisation of Operation Sovereign Borders was entirely unnecessary, turning what should be
a humane rescue operation into a military exercise with tight security clamps on information. Its
handling probably reflects Scott Morrison’s militaristic fantasies as much as Abbott’s. A general was
appointed in charge of Operation Sovereign Borders, now replaced by Australian Border Force. Is
appointing another general as Governor-General of Australia a straw in the same wind?
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In this time of supposed financial crisis, defence spending is increased to $122.7 billion for the four
years to 2018, which amounts to 2 per cent of GDP. Then there is the purchase on 58 F-35 strike
fighters for $12 billion. The F-35 is regarded as a lemon in military circles with performance and
safety problems. Oddly, it is designed for attack not for defence. Arming for defence makes sense,
but who are we going to attack?
Is a poor world neighbour
Being a good world neighbour means at least signing human rights treaties and adhering to them
and to international law. Australia has signed 12 such, including treaties on refugees, torture, rights
of children and of people with disabilities. Many of these treaties have been broken with regard to
aborigines (as in John Pilger’s 2014 film Utopia) and in past and current asylum seeker policy.
Abbott’s treatment of asylum seekers breaks several signed treaties: separating children from
parents, keeping legal asylum seekers in ignorance of when their claims will be processed, the foul
and dehumanising conditions in the offshore detention centres under conditions that have been
damned by the UN and Amnesty International and that amount to torture. Abbott has disbanded the
Immigration Health Advisory Group, the only body to give independent advice on the physical and
mental health of asylum seekers.
In order to “stop the boats” the government had to make coming by boat (but not by plane) as nasty
as the nastiness from which asylum seekers were fleeing. When boats of hopeful disbelievers in
Australia’s nastiness kept coming, Abbott and Scott Morrison resorted to extraordinarily silly
expediencies: buying Indonesian fishing boats in Indonesia so that none would be available to come
to Australia; towing the people-smuggling boats back into Indonesian waters; packing asylum
seekers into lifeboats and sending them back to Indonesia. All violate Indonesian territory and
relations with our most important neighbor have been seriously damaged. Stopping the boats also
involved Abbott in praising Sri Lanka’s murderous regime, presenting President Mahinda Rajapaksa
with two patrol boats in order to help stop any Sri Lankan asylum seekers leaving for Australia. Such
tactics have severely damaged Australia’s reputation internationally.
The environment sees Abbott at his worst as a world neighbour. Australia is per capita the largest
carbon emitting country in the world. We are obliged to do our global bit. Not according to Abbott.
He has axed or intends to axe carbon pricing, the Kyoto agreements, the Climate Change Advisory
Committee, with $10 billlion cut from renewable energy investment. One such cut is totally
irrational: that of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which arranges investment in
renewable energy and low emissions projects. The CEFC, chaired by financier Jillian Broadbent,
obtains private sector investors to invest in renewable energy projects: some $3 billion since last
July. These projects not only decrease carbon emissions but make big money in the long term.
Environmentalists want it, the big end of town wants it. Win-win all round you might think. But
unfortunately the CEFC was created by the Gillard government. The bill for dismantling it has been
passed by the House of Representatives twice, but the current Senate isn't cooperating. So far.
Abbott’s unthinking ruthlessness on achieving his ends has damaged foreign relations with
Indonesia, with China, and with East Timor by defrauding Timor Leste of oil rights in favour of
Woodside’s interests. His foolish resurrection of Royal titles was done without proper consultation
with Buckingham Palace. Even more damaging in the long term has been an $8 billion cut in foreign
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aid to impoverished countries, lowering foreign aid to .29 per cent of GDP, compared to England’s .7
per cent. Twenty per cent of all cuts in the recent budget has been borne by the poorest countries in
world.
Abbott’s international image will not be enhanced with this video, played on John Oliver’s Last Week
Tonight show on Abbott’s first visit to the US as Australian PM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3IaKVmkXuk
Takes over industry and commerce.
In fascist countries the state owns industry and the means of production. This is not so in Australia.
Here it is rather the other way around: corporate power owns the government. The results for us
however are much the same.
In Australia, company tax rate is 30 percent but few pay that. The average rate is 22 per cent for
companies, but Westfield paid 8 per cent last financial year, and through a loophole, Apple and
Google pay virtually no tax at all despite enormous profits made in Australia. Labor tried to fix that
but when the Abbott government came to power the Labor initiative was dumped.
The mining tax on 2011 rates would now be yielding about $60 billion pa but after a ferocious
campaign by both mining corporations and the Liberal Opposition, PM Gillard watered it down so
much it yielded nothing in the first year although it will raise around $3.8 billion over four years.
Now Finance Minister Matthias Corman wants to abolish it altogether claiming through a convoluted
flow-on argument that it would save $13.8 billion. Believe it or not. The diesel fuel rebate cost the
government $5.4 billion in 2012-13, which the Australian says is “fair” (10 May, 2014).
Abbott’s dismantling of renewable energy projects is at the behest of the mining and fossil fuel
industries. Abbott’s Direct Action policy is ineffectual with regard to reducing emissions, but very
effective in giving large handouts to the worst polluting industries.
The Great Barrier Reef is to be a dumping ground for dredged silt, World Heritage nominations are
to be dropped, marine parks around Australia have been scrapped, the “greatly endangered” listing
of the Murray-Darling Basin has been removed, the Tasmanian Forestry Agreement is to be ripped
up, and all environmental assessments for development projects are to be in the hands of the states,
who want the royalties from development whatever the environmental cost, as in Queensland and
West Australia
The damage isn’t being done only for the benefit of Australian based corporations. The proposed
Trans Pacific Partnership would include an Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clause into the
agreement, which is only available to corporations. Philip Morris tobacco is claiming compensation
for loss of revenue, against the Australian Government’s legislation for the plain packaging of
cigarettes using an ISDS clause contained in an earlier trade agreement with Hong Kong. The fact
that this law was made by a democratically elected Parliament and had been deemed legitimate by
the nation’s highest court is irrelevant under the proposed TPP legislation.
One tribunal judge reportedly said, with regard to the ISDS clause:
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It never ceases to amaze me that sovereign states have agreed to investment arbitration at
all … Three private individuals are entrusted with the power to review, without any
restriction or appeal procedure, all actions of the government, all decisions of the courts,
and all laws and regulations emanating from parliament. (The Guardian, 5 November 2013).
The government’s stated policy of “small government”, deregulating, and allowing market forces to
prevail means giving open slather to the corporate world, even to international corporations who
are not at all interested in the welfare of Australians.
So is the Abbott Government fascist?
The Abbott Government would no doubt defend its policies and radical change of direction as simply
implementing their neoliberal agenda, which they would say they were elected to do. The public’s
highly negative reaction to that agenda post-election suggests that they were fooled.
Neoliberalism leads to the adoption of most characteristics of fascism, except for the role of
government itself. Neoliberalism’s so-called “small government” just hands control and the destinies
of citizens to the corporate sector, which as Joel Bakan’s film The Corporation (2003) sees as
manifesting all the symptoms of full blown psychopathy.
Whether we ordinary people are being bullied by psychopathic fascist governments or by equally
psychopathic corporations, it’s not nice to be at the receiving end. Worse, we seem to lack the
power to do very much about it. As Richard Cooke points out in “A class of their own” (The Monthly,
June, 2014), political accountability is a myth. The values and decisions of political and economic
elites are basically unaffected by the needs and values of their constituents. A majority of people
want less privatisation, more spending on health care, social welfare for the poor (certainly not for
the rich) even if all these mean higher taxes. Neoliberal governments give exactly the opposite to
what a majority of people want – and tragically for us they seem to be getting away with it.
Neoliberalism is grabbing power across much of the Western World; it is a juggernaut that must be
stopped.
To answer the question then, hard line neoliberalism, which is what the Abbott Government is
about, is indeed a form of neofascism.
The good news for us Australians, as John Oliver’s little doco points out, is that Abbott and his mates
are being so kack-handed about it they’ll self-destruct, to peals of international laughter.