Mark Latham is nothing more than a weaker version of John Howard

The 2004 federal election will be fought by two major political parties who are prepared to undermine human rights, persuade the electorate that terrorism is such a threat to Australia that it requires further erosion of liberty, and engage in a tax-cutting war to win over the middle class at the expense of decent public services.

Labor is confirming that today it is a party firmly on the right of the political spectrum. That’s where Mark Latham sits and Robert McClelland is happy to go along for the ride. For voters who believe that government has a constructive role to play in the welfare system, that respect for individual liberty must be paramount in any genuinely democratic society and that we must stop eroding our tax revenue base if we are to ensure greater access to education and health care in the future, Mark Latham’s ALP has nothing to offer.

Just as British Labour under Tony Blair is rightly regarded as an extension of Thatcherism, so too will a Latham Labor government be a slightly less extreme version of Howardism.

The voters have no real choice between the two major parties next year and that’s tragic for those who want a fairer Australia.