Responding to Andrew Bolt: is social insurance 'class warfare'?

Secondly:Social Insurance. Progressively financed protections for all Australian suffering a disability, and for the Aged Care requirements of all elderly Australians; provided on the basis of need, and excluding regressive user pays mechanisms for low income and working class Australian families.

Thirdly:Maintained commitment to a price on carbon emissions, and to direct public investment in renewable energy; as well as subsidies for low income Australians especially to invest in renewables, and so to lessen cost-of-living pressures.

Fourthly:Maintain the bulk of the Fair Work Commission's industrial relations regime; except revisit the theme of modernised Awards; Intervene directly to raise minimum wages in real terms, and deliver on the previous promise that no worker be left worse off. Defend pattern bargaining.

Fifth:Deliver a diverse Australian media, not only seeking to wind back virtual monopolism; but also encouraging new entrants into the sector for the sake of pluralism; and maintaining funding for a public ABC and SBS – with charters to deliver on diverse local content, and promoting political balance to deliver meaningfully on that policy of inclusive and authentic pluralism.

Sixth:Deliver further on effective cost of living relief for those who really need it; Achieve this through tax restructure and welfare reform (including raising Newstart) as well as increased minimum wages. To that same end seek to contain further cost-of-living pressures by ruling out infrastructure privatisation and regressive user-pays charges for existing and future infrastructure; and by publicly funding future communications, energy and water infrastructure. (reducing borrowing costs; and including the National Broadband Network) Commit that if user charges do apply for state-owned transport infrastructure that they will be progressively structured (excluding low income groups), spread fairly, and will not effectively discriminate against Australian families and workers – often in new, infrastructure poor suburbs - who lack access to sufficient public transport.

Seventh and Finally:Fund all these policies progressively. No more austerity for vulnerable groups. An absolute Minimum policy of withdrawing superannuation concessions (not the same as a new tax!) for the top 5% income demographic, and reverting to 75% dividend imputation – drawing in $15 billion in new revenue. Furthermore consider reform of the Minerals Resource Rent Tax, and implement a progressively scaled levy to assist in funding NDIS and Aged Care Social Insurance, cementing the principle of 'Social Insurance' in the public's imagination and vocabulary.

Labor is seeking to follow in the footsteps of the Obama presidential campaign – mobilising 'on the ground' on an unprecedented scale. But the social forces Labor is hoping to marshal will demand more than rhetoric; with "one step forward, two steps back", or 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'. Already teachers, aged care workers, child care workers and community sector workers have good reason to support Labor in 2013. A revisitation of the MRRT, with some revenue being deployed to support industries impacted by the high Australian dollar – could also get some employers 'in Labor's corner'.

At this point the possibility of 'Bob Katter's Australia Party' holding the balance of power should not be dismissed either. Some on the Left support 'free trade internationalism', but if an accommodation with agrarian interests is what it takes to spare Australia an Abbott government, dealing with Katter should not be ruled out. Indeed, it was just such a manoeuvre that preceded decades of social democratic hegemony in Sweden beginning in the 1930s. Katter is also sympathetic when it comes to industrial rights. Though if it comes to that Labor should bargain hard in the search for common ground, and not relent on matters of social conservatism or environmental sustainability.

Labor has a long and difficult task ahead of itself, fostering party unity and mobilisation in the wake of recent events. But we should not give in on the struggle before it even really begins. The May Budget will be crucial. Labor must be in a position to fund Gonski, the NDIS and Aged Care Insurance without austerity elsewhere. For Gonski and the NDIS alone it has to raise over $20 billion in the context of a $1.4 trillion economy. (more to include Aged Care Social Insurance)

Australia is one of the lowest taxing nations in the OECD. Specifically, Australia's federal tax intake (excluding state taxation) is about 30% of GDP comparedwith 48.5% in Sweden. So there is certainly scope for tax reform to provide for disability and aged care social insurance, as well as reform of education and welfare. This is what Wayne Swan and Cabinet need to keep in mind as the May Federal Budget is developed. It will be the best chance Labor has to turn the debate around, and win credibility on funding its crucial signature policies.