April 2000 The Paper of the Socialist Party Issue 02

When 10% of Aboriginal children are forcibly taken from their mothers and handed over to strangers, the Howard Government says it's not a stolen generation and we should calm down. When black youth are jailed for stealing a tin of beans, they say we should respect State and Territory rights and ignore human rights.

When Kerry Packer pays $35 a year tax, that apparently is the legal dodging of the tax system.Yet construction workers fighting for a 36 hour week, Aboriginal people preparing to protest at the Olympics, and single parents on a pittance from CentreLink are all "unAustralian" and "bludgers" and will face the full force of the law and attacks from Canberra.

This government is the most reactionary government for decades. Howard is a throwback to the 1950s. Yet in the bush and the cities, amongst old and young, worker and unemployed, there is a growing sense of opposition to the economic rationalism and racism of Howard. We can upset the whitewash Olympics, we can win a 36 hour week, we can strike against job cuts. After 25 years of economic rationalist offensive there is a growing sense that ordinary people have had enough and Howard's attempts to divert attention with racism will not work.