Sigma’s Simulacrum of Reality

Labor under Kevin Rudd has been rejuvenated and is itching to implement their pet policies and toss out Howard’s programs after an agonising 11 1/2 year wait for a victory. Kevin Rudd might not please all Labor supporters, especially the ones on the Left, but he’ll do for me. Rudd is a right-wing Labor politician of the Tony Blair and Paul Keating mold. He’s big on Christianity, free market, Asia, the environment, republicanism and Aboriginal reconciliation.

Rajan said that Rudd looks more like a conservative than a traditional Labor man, and he’s right. But in the present political climate in Australia, I guess that was what it took for Labor to win power. And I’ve no problem with that, since I’ve always viewed my politics from a pragmatic view.

On the issue of being an Asian-Australian in Australia, Rudd should be one of the best things to happen to us for a long time now. After 11 1/2 years under Howard with his barely disguised disdain for Asian-Aussies and other minorities, Rudd is like a bright ray of sunshine for us. In addition to being a Sinophile with a love for Chinese history, he also speaks Mandarin and has a Chinese son-in-law. He has also appointed Penny Wong, a Malaysian-born Labor MP to his Cabinet. He has plenty of good contacts with the Chinese government as well, due to his past service as Australia’s diplomat in Beijing.

On the issue of the economy, I don’t think he would fuck things up since he’s from the Labor Right. He has no interest in a socialist economy. And everyone knows Howard’s no magician in running the economy. The good economy right now is due to the resources boom in WA due to demand from China and India.

On the social side of things, I expect many interesting things to happen soon. On top of my list is another referendum to make Australia into a republic. After the last botched attempt, I hope this time Rudd will get it right and finally free Australia from the irrelevant British Crown. I’m not as excited towards Aboriginal reconciliation, since that’s all fine and dandy, but I feel it’s much more important for Labor to lift that community’s standard of living in addition to giving it an apology. I hope Labor can do that.

Rudd will not play the race card unlike Howard now, so that’s good. Howard’s government is disgusting in how he has subsequently made the Asian, and then the Middle-Eastern, and now the African community the scapegoats for all the ills of the Australian society. He has made Australia into a move divisive and racist community. I hope that Rudd will strive to improve and embrace Australia’s multiracialism.

Things are looking very good on the education front, with the left-wing Julia Gillard taking up the Education portfolio. I have always advocated a socialisation of the education and healthcare services. Full fee-paying uni places will soon be eliminated, and I am hoping that uni funding will be substantially increased, along with academics’ and teacher’s pays. I voted for the Greens for the Senate, due to their call for free uni places and subsidised healthcare plan in hope that they will be able to influence Labor to go more towards that direction than the opposite.

I’m ambivalent toward Gillard holding the Workplace Relations portfolio as well. I support an adequate minimum wage provision, but I am well aware of the adverse effects of too high a wage on employment levels. I have always been in the Third Way camp on this. I hope Gillard doesn’t get carried away on this and maintains a balance between the minimum wage and employment levels. On her being close to the unions, I don’t really mind that. I’ve seen plenty of the good work done by the unions, from Bernie Banton’s fight against James Hardie, to the Greg Combet’s leadership of the MUA against Patrick Stevedores. And the good economy experienced by Australia happened before Howard’s Americanised neo-liberal industrial relation prescriptions of Work Choices. So it shows that the old IR system was working perfectly fine for Australia’s economy and there was no need for Howard’s Work Choice was merely due to his own ideological preference, not the economy’s needs.

I hope Medicare will be expanded to cover more services. And I hope the new Health Minister Roxon will kick the NSW Health Minister’s ass to improve the atrocious hospital system. If not, I will vote for the Liberals again in the next state elections.

The cost of the increased subsidisation of education and health should be paid for from increasing the taxation levels on the highest income earners bracket. So call me a socialist, I don’t give a damn

On foreign relations, Rudd has ‘de-gayified’ Australia’s relation with Bush’s USA. He has promised to preserve good relations with America, but also to intensify its relations with Asia. Howard has only seen engagement with Asia as an irritating necessity, but Rudd will probably broaden this relationship to go beyond narrow trade.

These are probably the things I’m interested in atm then. So hopefully most of what I hope for will be carried out by Labor.