Can Howard pull a Tampa and escape? There are no longer any easy options - immigration is largely defused, national security is running against him, same with the energy issue …
He might play the class-war card and go after Labor as captive of the unions, but no one really believes unions are serious players in national politico-economic affairs any more. Globalisation and the related structural changes have made them defensive remnants of what they once were.
No, it is shaping up like a Labor win. With Labor governments in every state, this would be an extraordinary opportunity for the country to overcome a whole raft of problems currently beset by federal-state rivalries. And the way things are going, all government needs to start working properly if we are to survive, let alone prosper.
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John Howard has been the beneficiary of certain historical trends, but history has moved on. Looking back, we will see his as a time of lost opportunity.
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About the Author
Dr Peter McMahon has worked in a number of jobs including in politics at local, state and federal level. He has also taught Australian studies, politics and political economy at university level, and until recently he taught sustainable development at Murdoch University. He has been published in various newspapers, journals and magazines in Australia and has written a short history of economic development and sustainability in Western Australia. His book Global Control: Information Technology and Globalisation was published in the UK in 2002. He is now an independent researcher and writer on issues related to global change.
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