POPULISM NOW! DAVID MCKNIGHT is an honorary associate professor in the School of the Arts and Media at the University of New South Wales He has worked as a journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald and Four Corners and has written or co-written many books including Big Coal: Australia’s dirtiest habit (NewSouth, 2013) as well as Rupert Murdoch: An investigation of political power (Allen & Unwin, 2012) and Beyond Right and Left: New politics and the culture war (Allen & Unwin, 2005) He co-edited (with Robert Manne) Goodbye to All That? (Black Inc, 2010) In 2012 he was the coauthor of Journalism at the Speed of Bytes, a study commissioned by the Walkley Foundation for Journalism on the future of journalism in view of the crisis in newspapers’ business model He is also a historian of the Cold War and espionage, having written an authoritative history of Australia’s internal security, Australia’s Spies and Their Secrets (1994) and a history of the underground political tradition of the Communist International, Espionage and the Roots of the Cold War (2002) A NewSouth book Published by NewSouth Publishing University of New South Wales Press Ltd University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA newsouthpublishing.com © David McKnight 2018 First published 2018 10 This book is copyright Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without written permission Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia ISBN 9781742235639 (pbk) 9781742244204 (ebook) 9781742248615 (ePDF) Design: Josephine Pajor-Markus Cover design: Luke Causby, Blue Cork Printer: Griffin Press All reasonable efforts were taken to obtain permission to use copyright material reproduced in this book, but in some cases copyright could not be traced The author welcomes information in this regard This book is printed on paper using fibre supplied from plantation or sustainably managed forests CONTENTS Introduction The politics of populism PART ONE: LOOKING BACKWARDS, LOOKING FORWARD The rise and rise of the super-rich Taming the fossil fuel elite PART TWO: LIVING IN A DEREGULATED WORLD Stolen property: privatising the public sector Working in Australia’s jobs jungle Tax me if you can Banks: the money masters PART THREE: REBUILDING THE COMMON GOOD Towards a progressive populism Thanks Notes Index For Jane, companion, critic, comrade, collaborator Always a source of wise advice And to the memory of Andrew Casey (1953–2018), a labour movement activist in both Australia and the world INTRODUCTION Here’s a quick quiz What the following political figures have in common: Pauline Hanson, Bill Shorten, Donald Trump, Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders? Answer: all have been accused of populism Whether they’ve bashed banks, billionaires or boat people, they’ve been damned as populists Yet these political figures come from wildly different parts of the Left and Right Can they all be populists? Mostly, when I hear people damning someone as a populist, they are talking about a right-wing version But it’s not that simple In this book, I argue that a progressive version of populism exists too A progressive populism takes up the genuine economic grievances of everyday Australians without scapegoating migrants or minorities in the way Donald Trump and the pro-Brexit forces have done In fact, a progressive form of populism is the best way of defeating the racist backlash of rightwing populism because it addresses the social and economic problems which partly drive the rise of right-wing populism As well, it asserts our common humanity, whatever diversity we also express I first discovered populism when I began teaching investigative journalism in the late 1990s at university I had some understanding of the subject already, having worked on the ABC’s investigative TV program Four Corners Like other journalists, I knew about the role of investigative journalism in the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s However, to teach it as an academic course I needed to know about its historical origins I found that investigative journalism (originally called muckraking) began in the United States around 1900 during what Americans call ‘the Progressive Era’ It was called this because it was a period of radical ideas and activism about social reform One expression of this was the emergence of a new political party, the People’s Party, in 1890–91 It stood for the interests of ordinary people – farmers and workers – against the ‘robber barons’ in the privately owned banking, oil and railway industries Friends and enemies alike described the approach of the People’s Party as Populism and its supporters as Populists The muckraking journalists were crusaders on issues which they shared with the Populists For example, in his book The Jungle, writer Upton Sinclair exposed the dangerous and filthy conditions endured by the Chicago meatworkers Years later his book was recognised as one of the forces behind the introduction of food safety laws One of the first female muckrakers, Ida Tarbell, exposed the ruthless practices of Standard Oil in crushing rival companies in a series of articles published in McClure’s Magazine , and eventually a book, The History of the Standard Oil Company Today, Standard Oil is better known as Exxon and remains a ruthless corporation Lincoln Steffens’ book The Shame of the Cities exposed the corruption of political machines linked to gambling, prostitution and bribery Other muckrakers attacked the role of big money in government and the power of Wall Street Their journalism, I realised, was a key contribution to the progressive causes shared with the Populists The key idea of the Populists was that the interests of ordinary people were in conflict with those of the elite Some of the Populists had conspiratorial ideas about money and power but their movement was a powerful challenge to aggressive, unregulated big business Having been on the Left of politics since my teens, I found this history of a forgotten reform movement fascinating Its goals of economic and social justice for ordinary people are still relevant today Years later I rediscovered American populism when I read a book by journalist Thomas Frank, What’s the Matter with Kansas? Published in the wake of the election of George W Bush, his book pointed out that Kansas, now a conservative Republican state, was once a centre of radical activity One Kansas town produced a socialist newspaper, Appeal to Reason, which sold hundreds of thousands of copies In the 1890s its farmers, driven to the brink of ruin by years of bad prices and debt, held huge meetings where Kansas radicals like Mary Elizabeth Lease urged the farmers to ‘raise less corn and more hell’ From this situation, the People’s Party emerged as the enemy of the ‘money power’ and as an alternative to both Democrats and Republicans It advocated publicly owned railways and banks along with a progressive income tax on the rich For this, Frank tells us, they were reviled ‘for their bumpkin assault on free market orthodoxy’ In 2015 and 2016 I found myself hearing commentators talk about the rise of modern forms of populism during the looming US presidential election Both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were referred to as populists Sanders had opened his campaign with the statement: ‘This country and our government belongs to all of us, not just a handful of billionaires’ It was a modern echo of the progressive side of the American populist tradition Although he didn’t win the Democrats’ presidential nomination, Sanders shifted the political agenda and challenged the untrammelled power of the wealthy in the name of ordinary people Trump, a right-wing populist, represented the worst aspects of popular prejudice Yet he won Like many others, I was stunned as I read the first online news reports announcing this How could it have happened? One of the most illuminating insights came from Thomas Frank, who argued that Trump’s populist campaign on economic issues was far more important than most people realised at the time and had been the key to him winning crucial states The abandoned factories and crumbling buildings in cities devastated by free trade deals had created a ‘heartland rage’ that swamped the Democrats All of this was ‘the utterly predictable fruit of the Democrats’ neoliberal turn’, he said ‘Every time our liberal leaders signed off on some lousy trade deal, figuring that working-class people had “nowhere else to go”, they were making what happened last November [Trump’s win] a little more likely.’ Such sentiments inspired this book And all of this is relevant to Australia because both our Labor and Liberal politicians have, in recent decades, largely accepted the principles of deregulation, privatisation and small government, together known as neoliberalism In part, this book is an investigation into the failures of these principles in Australia The final reason for writing this book is more personal I grew up in a single-income, blue-collar family with my mother suffering from a severe mental illness Yet we survived and thrived thanks in part to a strong public sector, especially in health and education This public sector was grounded in the major parties’ consensus that it was both morally obligatory and economically sound that important public services should be equally available to all and provided collectively Now this consensus is being broken apart and discarded This is not some misty-eyed memory about a nonexistent golden age – an error often made by right-wing populists when they equate the White Australia Policy years with better conditions overall Australia is a better and more open society today, not least because it is more culturally diverse But in terms of simple practical things such as expecting a secure well-paid job, social services and a home to live in, we are going backwards When I started researching this book in the wake of the shock Trump victory and the vote for Brexit I was already a critic of neoliberalism But as I probed more deeply I grew angrier and angrier My research revealed that the orthodoxies of deregulation and privatisation, regarded as supreme common sense by the political and economic elite, are radically transforming Australia The gulf between billionaires and the poor is widening as old egalitarian Australia crumbles; deregulated banks have become parasitic to the rest of the economy; corporate tax avoidance is out of control; and our pay and conditions are being eroded As it had with me, this has angered many ordinary Australians Some falsely blame migrants and refugees while others rightly blame a corporate and political elite To change things, we need to rebuild a new progressive agenda which unites ordinary Australians against these elitedriven policies Of prime importance in such a renewed progressive agenda is genuine action on the biggest danger of all, irreversible climate change, which will hit ordinary Australians first A progressive populist approach aims to unite Australians in the broadest possible new movement – one that will provide the necessary people power to avert the worst kinds of changes in the future Nothing less than the survival of humanity is at stake CHAPTER THE POLITICS OF POPULISM We forced discussions on issues the establishment had swept under the rug for too long We brought attention to the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality in this country and the importance of breaking up the large banks we are stronger when we stand together and not allow demagogues to divide us by race, gender, sexual orientation or where we were born US presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders1 The establishment complains I don’t play by the rules By which they mean their rules We can’t win, they say, because we don’t play their game We don’t fit in their cosy club We don’t accept that it is natural for Britain to be governed by a ruling elite, the City and the tax-dodgers, and we don’t accept that the British people just have to take what they’re given British Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn2 With Donald Trump’s successful campaign to win the US presidency and Britain’s decision to ‘Brexit’ from Europe, we suddenly began to hear a lot of the word ‘populism’ in the political discourse At first it was used to describe the attack Donald Trump made on illegal Mexican immigration when he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in mid-2015 With his trademark bombast, he declaimed, ‘When Mexico sends its people they’re not sending their best … They’re sending people who have lots of problems … They’re bringing drugs They’re bringing crime They’re rapists’ He then added, ‘and some, I assume, are good people’ His call to build a wall on the US–Mexico border (‘which Mexico will pay for’) became a recurrent theme of his campaign and later, his presidency Nor was his abuse limited to Mexicans After a Muslim US citizen committed a terrorist attack in San Bernadino, California, Trump called for a ban preventing Muslims from entering the United States, at one point including those who were American citizens currently abroad Trump’s campaign received what seemed to be a certain death blow in October 2016, when the Washington Post revealed an audio tape of his boast that, because he was ‘a star’, he could grab women ‘by the pussy’ and get away with it By the normal rules of elections in the United States and elsewhere, his popular support should have shrunk Trump’s coded appeals to racism, crude misogyny and calculated abuse should have fatally wounded his bid for the White House But his popular support grew and Trump eventually attained the most powerful position in the world In office, he has confirmed the worst expectations, responding to North Korea’s threat to the United States with a warning that North Korea ‘will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen before’, a thinly disguised threat to unleash a nuclear war How did we get into this situation? Trump’s election victory owed a lot to two factors One was his economic populism, which criticised free trade and globalisation This received a warm response from many working Americans He threatened to withdraw the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement He promised to impose high tariffs on runaway US companies which moved production overseas He threatened restrictions on imported Chinese goods Globalisation, he said, helped ‘the financial elite’ while leaving ‘millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache’.3 All the while he targeted the states hardest hit by economic globalisation Much of this Chapter 5: Working in Australia’s jobs jungle Sally McManus, Speech to National Press Club, Canberra, 29 March 2017, Adele Ferguson, ‘Karaoke sex slavery a stain on all of us’, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 December 2015 The raid is described in A Report of the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Inquiry into 7-Eleven: Identifying and addressing the drivers of non-compliance in the 7-Eleven network, April 2016, p 14 See Adele Ferguson, ‘7-Eleven: The price of convenience’, Four Corners, ABC TV, 31 August 2015; Adele Ferguson, Sarah Danckert and Klaus Toft, ‘7-Eleven: investigation exposes shocking exploitation of convenience store workers’, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 August 2015 Adele Ferguson, Sarah Danckert and Klaus Toft, ‘Corner sweatshop’, Age, 29 August 2015 Adele Ferguson, ‘Karaoke sex slavery a stain on all of us’, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 December 2015 Ben Schneiders and Royce Millar, ‘How rip-off Australia exploits its foreigners’, Sydney Morning Herald, October 2015 Peter Mares, Not Quite Australian: How temporary migration is changing the nation, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2016, p The one in ten figure comes from Adele Ferguson, ‘Worker exploitation a national disgrace’, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 March, 2016 Peter Mares, Not Quite Australian, pp 47–50 Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), Inquiry into the Wages and Conditions of People Working Under the 417 Working Holiday Visa Program, October 2016, p 10 See Peter Mares, Not Quite Australian, p 50 Peter Mares, Not Quite Australian, p 50 Senate Education and Employment References Committee, A National Disgrace: The exploitation of temporary work visa holders, p 120, Senate Committee, A National Disgrace, pp 196–97 FWO, Inquiry into the Wages and Conditions, pp 2–5 FWO, Inquiry, p 32 FWO, Inquiry, p 39 FWO, Inquiry, p 15 Sally McManus, Speech to the TJ Ryan Foundation, Brisbane, September, 2017, Senate Committee, A National Disgrace, p 120 Peter Mares, Not Quite Australian, pp 40–42 Ben Doherty, ‘Fast food chains barred from using foreign workers on 457 visas’, Guardian, March 2017 Anna Patty, ‘Worst of old 457 visa system will carry over into the new’, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 April 2017 Senate Committee, A National Disgrace, p 155 Senate Committee, A National Disgrace, pp 50–51 Senate Committee, A National Disgrace, p 51 Senate Committee, A National Disgrace, p 53 Senate Committee, A National Disgrace, p 99 Dean Parham, Labour’s Share of Growth in Income and Prosperity, Productivity Commission, 2013 David Hetherington, Paradise Lost? The race to maintain Australia’s living standards, Per Capita, 2015, p Ewin Hannan, ‘Wages growth stuck at record low of 2.1pc’, Australian Financial Review, 18 August 2016 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), In It Together: Why less inequality benefits all, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2015, p 28 Ian Watson, John Buchanan, Iain Campbell and Chris Briggs, Fragmented Futures: New challenges in working life, Federation Press, Annandale, 2003, pp 16–17 Elisabeth Wynhausen, Dirt Cheap: Life at the wrong end of the job market, Macmillan, Sydney, 2005, p Elisabeth Wynhausen, Dirt Cheap, p Ian Watson et al, Fragmented Futures, p 67 Ian Watson et al, Fragmented Futures, pp 62–63 Ian Watson et al, Fragmented Futures, p 71 Kristy Jones, Tough Jobs: The rise of an Australian working underclass, CFMEU Research Paper, 2016, p 15 Royce Miller and Ben Schneiders, ‘The Precariat’, Sydney Morning Herald, October 2015; ‘Australia’s hidden slave trade’, the Australian, 31 May 2016 Kristy Jones, Tough Jobs, p 12 Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Characteristics of employment, Australia, August 2014, Cat no 6330.0, Canberra’, cited in Jones, Tough Jobs, pp 8, 12 Chapter 6: Tax me if you can Wayne Swan, Speech on International Tax Agreements Amendment Bill, House of Representatives, 12 October 2016 Samantha Sharf, ‘American Riviera’, Forbes, 20 December 2016 Katie Walsh, ‘Tax-proud Google just doesn’t get it’, Australian Financial Review, 14 December 2012 Michael West, ‘Wanna raise real money? Start with tax lurks’, Sydney Morning Herald, May 2014 Nassim Khadem, ‘Google’s tax bill rising with its revenue’, the Australian Financial Review, May 2014 Neil Chenoweth and Jennifer Hewett, ‘ATO showdown with Apple, Google’, Australian Financial Review, 27 September 2014 Nassim Khadem, ‘Google’s tax bill rising with its revenue’ Gaspard Sebag and Stephanie Bodini, ‘Google’s Paris offices raided by tax investigators’, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 May 2016 Nassim Khadem, ‘Apple’s 2015 tax bill just 1pc of revenue’, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 January 2016 Antony Ting, ‘Apple iTax: made in Ireland, designed in the US’, Conversation, 12 March 2014 Neil Chenoweth, ‘Apple’s $9bn profit shift’, Australian Financial Review, March 2014 Will Ockenden, ‘Apple pays $193m in Australia on $27b revenue’, ABC News, March, 2014 Senate Economics Reference Committee on Corporate Tax Avoidance, Part 1: You cannot tax what you cannot see, August 2015, p 17 Senate Committee, Part 1: You cannot tax, p 24 Senate Committee, Part 1: You cannot tax, p 25 Neil Chenoweth, ‘Miners’ $1.9 billion Singapore slug’, Australian Financial Review, April, 2017 Neil Chenoweth, ‘Chevron says Gorgon’s $1.7 billion profit not taxable’, Australian Financial Review, 19 November 2015 Nassim Khadem and Sara Danckert, ‘Chevron loses landmark fight with ATO’, Australian Financial Review, 24 October 2015 Georgia Wilkins, ‘Chevron used loans to slash tax bill’, Australian Financial Review, October 2014 Michael West, ‘Chevron tax whinge doesn’t stack up’, Sydney Morning Herald, June 2015 Neil Chenoweth, ‘Move to close $3b Gorgon loophole’, Australian Financial Review, 18 August 2015 Paddy Crumlin, president International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITWF), to Senator Chris Ketter, chair, Senate Economic References Committee, November 2015, Submission 124, Inquiry into Corporate Tax Avoidance Gabriel Zucman, The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The scourge of tax havens, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2015, pp 105–06 Gabriel Zucman, The Hidden Wealth of Nations, p In order, they are also known as: Peat Marwick, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Deloitte Ross Tohmatsu and Ernst & Young Michael Hudson, Sasha Chavkin and Bart Mos, ‘Big four audit firms behind global profit shifting’, Sydney Morning Herald, November 2014 Michael West, ‘Oligarchs of the treasure islands’ See ;Stephen Long, ‘Corporate tax minimisation costs governments $US trillion’, ABC News, 12 July 2016, Michael West, ‘Oligarchs of the Treasure Islands’ Who Pays for Our Common Wealth? Report produced by United Voice and the Tax Justice Network, 2014 See Neil Chenoweth, ‘From Luxembourg with love’, Australian Financial Review, November 2014 Matt Liddy, ‘Who pays what? ATO names large companies’, ABC News, December 2016, ; and Michael Janda, ‘Corporate taxes not paid by more than a third’, ABC News, December 2016, Oxfam Policy Paper, ‘Tax battles: the dangerous global race to the bottom on corporate tax’, 12 December 2016, Oxfam Policy Paper, ‘Tax battles’, p Gabriel Zucman, ‘The Missing Wealth of Nations’, chapter of The Hidden Wealth of Nations , pp 34–55 Gabriel Zucman, The Hidden Wealth of Nations, pp 43–45 Rod Quinn, ‘Australians linked to hidden offshore dealings’, Age, April 2013 Neil Chenoweth, ‘Scandal without bounds’, Australian Financial Review, April 2016 Alan Rusbridger, ‘Panama: the hidden trillions’, New York Review of Books, 27 October 2016 Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier, The Panama Papers: Breaking the story of how the rich and powerful hide their money Oneworld Publications, London, 2016, p 184 Chapter 7: Banks: the money masters Josh Fear, Richard Denniss and David Richardson, Money and Power: The case for better regulation in banking, Institute Paper No August 2010, p James Eyers and Alice Uribe, ‘Banks’ accusers eager to be heard’, Australian Financial Review, December 2017 Michael Evans, ‘How a criminal syndicate exploited an ATM loophole’, Sydney Morning Herald, August 2017 Adele Ferguson, ‘If watchdogs can’t trust banks, how can we?’, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 August 2017 Adele Ferguson, Klaus Toft and Mario Christodoulou, ‘Money for nothing’, Four Corners, ABC TV, Transcript, March 2016 Submission from Jeffrey Morris (Submission 421) to the Senate Economics References Committee Inquiry into the Performance of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, 2013–2014, p 14 Senate Economics References Committee, Performance of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, June 2014, p xviii Senate Committee, Performance of the ASIC, p 123; Submission from Merilyn Swan, representing Robyn Blanch (Submission 395) Senate Committee, Performance of the ASIC, p 123 Senate Committee, Performance of the ASIC, pp xvii–xx Adele Ferguson and Ruth Williams, ‘Whistleblower’s NAB leak reveals persistent bad-behaviour culture’, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 February 2015 Senate Economics References Committee, Inquiry into the Post-GFC Banking Sector, November 2012 Senate Committee, Inquiry into the Post-GFC Banking Sector, p 100 Senate Committee, Performance of the ASIC, p 113 Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, Impairment of Customer Loans, May 2016, p xi Geoff Derrick, Finance Sector Union, Submission to Senate Committee, Inquiry into the Post-GFC Banking Sector Pat McGrath, ‘Bank staff paid bonuses to hard sell product to customers’, 7.30 Report, ABC TV, December 2016 Adele Ferguson, Ben Butler, ‘CBA tellers driven to despair by hard sell’, Sydney Morning Herald, July 2014 The Australia Institute, Media release, ‘Australian banks the most profitable in the world’, August 2016 The Australia Institute, ‘Australian banks the most profitable’ David Richardson, A Licence to Print Money: bank profits in Australia, Policy Brief No 10, The Australia Institute, March 2010 David Richardson, A Licence to Print Money, p David Richardson, The rise and rise of the big banks: concentration of ownership, Australia Institute Technical Brief, December 2012 p David Richardson, A licence to print money, p David Richardson and Richard Denniss, Submission to the Senate Economics Committee Inquiry into competition within the Australian Banking Sector, The Australia Institute, n.d pp 13–14 Clancy Yeates with Tom McIlroy, ‘Banks pocket $917m from latest rate cut’, Sydney Morning Herald, August 2016 The Australia Institute, Media release, ‘Big four banks earn $12 million per day by delaying interest rate cut’, May 2012 Clancy Yeates, Georgia Wilkins and Eric Johnston, ‘Banks accused of profiting by dragging their feet in passing on rate cuts’, Age, 14 June 2012 Joe Kelly, ‘Turnbull plays populist card on bank grilling’, Australian, August 2016 Ian Reinecke, The Money Masters: Banks, power and economic control, William Heinemann Australia, Richmond, 1988, p Ian Reinecke, The Money Masters, p Graham Hand, Naked Among Cannibals: What really happens inside Australian banks, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, 2001, pp 15–16 Inequality in Australia: A nation divided, Australian Council of Social Service, 2015, p 10 Stephen Bell, Australia’s Money Mandarins: The Reserve Bank and the politics of money, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2004, p 181 Evan Jones, ‘A failed financial regulatory regime’, Sydney Morning Herald, April 2016 Matt Wade, ‘Australians warned of risks of soaring household debt’, Sydney Morning Herald, October 2016 Mathew Dunckley, ‘RBA Governor Philip Lowe warns on house prices’, Sydney Morning Herald, May 2017 John Kenneth Galbraith, The Great Crash 1929, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1997 Chapter 8: Towards a progressive populism Encyclical Letter, On Care for Our Common Home, Vatican website, Chantal Mouffe, ‘In defence of left-wing populism’, Conversation, 30 April, 2016 Christine Lagarde, ‘Making globalisation work for all’, International Monetary Fund, Toronto, 13 September 2016, Deborah Snow, ‘Paul Keating says neoliberalism is at a dead end’, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 March 2017; Troy Bramston, ‘Last dance of liberal economics’, Australian, May 2017 Kevin Rudd, ‘Social democracy and the global financial crisis’, in Robert Manne and David McKnight (eds), Goodbye to All That? On th failure of neoliberalism and the urgency of change, Black Inc, Melbourne, 2010 (The essay was originally published in the Monthly in February 2009.) Margaret Thatcher, interviewed in Woman’s Own, 31 October 1987 ‘Has capitalism failed?’, Menzies Virtual Museum, Menzies Foundation, Encyclical Letter, On Care for Our Common Home John B Judis, The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession transformed American and European politics, Columbia Global Reports, New York, 2016, p 17 This argument is set out in more detail in Tim Soutphommasane, Reclaiming Patriotism: National building for progressive Australians Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, p Chantal Mouffe, ‘In defence of left-wing populism’, Conversation, 30 April 2016 For a usful discussion of these and other aspects of progressive populism, see Paolo Gerbaudo, ‘Leftwing populism: a primer’, Medium website, INDEX 7-Eleven 95–97 7.30 Report 148 21st Century Fox 131–32 457 visa 105–8 Abbott, Tony 12, 46–48, 51, 66 ABC Learning 92 ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 37, 42, 115 ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) 78–79 ACOSS (Australian Council of Social Service) 37 ACTU (Australian Council of Trade Unions) 116 Age 78, 136, 154 Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) 89–91 AIGN (Australian Industry Greenhouse Network) 52–53 airlines 81, 107, 151 Albanese, Tom 45 Allan, Col 46 ALP see Australian Labor Party Alphabet Inc 117–18 AMP Limited 131 Anglicare 43 Anglo American Australia 132 Ansett Airlines 151 ANU (Australian National University) 11–12 ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) 148, 153 Appeal to Reason Apple 25, 121–22 Arthur Andersen Co 129–30 ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) 144 asset inflation 156–57, 160 ASX (Australian Securities Exchange) 131 ATO (Australian Tax Office) 122, 124–26, 130, 132, 136–37 AUSTRAC (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) 139–40 Australia and New Zealand Banking Group 148, 153 Australia Institute 39, 83, 115, 139, 149–51 Australia Maritime Officers Union 107–8 The Australian 45 Australian Bureau of Statistics 37, 42, 115 Australian Coal Association 55 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission 78–79 Australian Constitution 110 Australian Council of Social Service 37 Australian Council of Trade Unions 116 Australian Federation of Air Pilots 107 Australian Financial Review on privatisation 90 on tax 56–57, 122 Rich List 30–32, 42, 98 Australian Greens 56 Australian Industry Greenhouse Network 52–53 Australian Institute of Professional Education 78–79 Australian Labor Party see also names of Labor MPs carbon tax 54–57 neoliberal aspects of 5, 76 populist aspects of 15, 35, 79, 154, 177 Australian National University 11–12 Australian Securities and Investments Commission 144 Australian Securities Exchange 131 Australian Senate 143 Australian Senate Committee on Corporate Tax Avoidance 122–23, 125, 127 Australian Senate Committee on Education and Employment 101, 105–9 Australian Senate Economics References Committee 144, 146 Australian Skills Quality Authority 78–79 Australian Tax Office 122, 124–26, 130, 132, 136–37 Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre 139–40 Australian Unity 89 Babcock & Brown 132 ‘backpackers’ visa’ 100–5 Banker 149 banking 32 ALP on 177 challenging 173 CommInsure 141–42 deregulated 6, 16, 25, 111, 155–61, 166 financial planning 142–47 home loans 152–54 money laundering through ATMs 139–41 profits and fees 149–52 publicly owned work environment 147–49 Bank of International Settlements 134 Barlow, Beverley 98 Bell, Stephen 157 Bergoglio, Jorge Mario 164, 171 Bermuda, tax avoidance via 119, 121, 128, 131 Besen, Daniel and Danielle 42 BHP Billiton 25, 45, 55, 123–24, 131 Big Four accounting firms 129–30 Big Four banks 139, 148, 150, 153 Blake, Nicholas 107 Blanch, Merv and Robyn 144 Bluescope Steel 132 Boggabri coal mine 108 Bolt, Andrew 12 Bradbury, David 118 Brexit 1, 8, 10–11, 165 Britain see also Brexit diverted profits tax 120 Jeremy Corbyn and 7, 19–20, 177 populism in 169 British Virgin Islands, tax avoidance via 131, 135 Brumby, John 76 Buffett, Warren 30 Bureau of Statistics 37, 42, 115 Bush, George W 3, 58 Cameron, Ian Donald (father of David) 136 Canovan, Margaret 13 capitalism 70, 168–69 see also neoliberalism carbon tax 54–57 Careers Australia 76 Careers Network 76 Carter, Leon 149 casual work 113–14, 116, 166 Cayman Islands, tax avoidance via 131 Chenoweth, Neil 122, 127 Chevron 125–27, 132–33 Chicago, US, work conditions in childcare privatisation 92 Chinese government 136 CityLink 85–86 Cleary, Paul 44–45 climate change carbon tax 54–57 experts on 59–62 Guy Pearse and the AIGN 51–54 neoliberalism and 167 Pope Francis on 164 populism and 6, 23, 63–72, 170–72 US response 57–59 coal 32, 51, 55–57, 70, 132 see also BHP Billiton; Glencore; Peabody Co.; Rio Tinto; Xstrata Coal Association 55–57 coalitions, populist 175 colleges 74–79 Commonwealth Bank 139–44, 148, 153–54 Constitution 110 contracting 95, 102–3, 114 Cooper & Lybrand 130 Corbyn, Jeremy 1, 7, 19–20, 172, 177 corporate tax transparency report 132 Cottonvale 103 Courier-Mail 47–48 CPRS (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) 55 credit unions 152, 160 Daily Telegraph 47 Dastyari, Sam 125 De Castro, Edwin 106 Delaware 125 Deloitte 129 democracy, populism and 27, 172–73, 175 democratic socialism 16, 27, 168–69 Democrats see also names of Democrats depressions 159 deregulation see also neoliberalism; privatisation of banks 151, 155–57, 159, 166 of employment 98–99, 110–16 responses to 168, 177 Dirt Cheap 112–13 diversity see gender; racial diversity; religious diversity; sexual orientation diverted profits tax 120 economic globalisation see globalisation economic populism 4, 9–10, 15–19, 116 education 74–79 egalitarianism see inequality Egan Associates 40 Eisenhower, Dwight 169 electricity privatisation 81–84 employment 7-Eleven controversy 95–98 diminishing work rights 5–6, 24, 110–16 populist views on 16–18, 165 temporary migrant workers 98–109 EnergyAustralia 132 energy companies see resource and energy companies environmental issues see climate change equality see inequality Ernst & Young 129–30 ethnic diversity see racial diversity European Commission 122 European populism 11 European Union see Brexit ExxonMobil 2, 58, 98, 126–27, 132–33 Fairfax 97, 141, 145 Fair Work Commission 39, 96 Fair Work Ombudsman 100, 102–4 Federal Court of Australia 125 Ferguson, Adele 95, 99, 145 Fiander, James 87 finance sector 32, 129–30 see also banking Finance Sector Union 147, 149 financialisation 157 Financial Review see Australian Financial Review Forbes 33–34, 117, 136 Ford Motor 132 Forrest, Andrew 30, 44 fossil fuels see climate change; resource and energy companies Foster, Gigi 32 Four Corners 2, 54, 97, 141–42 Fox, Lindsay 30 Fox Co 131–32 Francis, Pope 164, 171 Frank, Thomas 3–4 free market 176 see also neoliberalism French government 11, 120 Friedman, Milton 167 Frijters, Paul 32 Future Fund 132 Gallbraith, John Kenneth 159 gas companies 126–27 see also BHP Billiton; Chevron; ExxonMobil; Glencore; Xstrata gender 7–8, 26, 32, 49, 170 see also Women’s March General Motors 132 German, Victor 153 Germany, populism in 11 GetUp! movement 47 Gillard, Julia 54, 56 Gittins, Ross 74 Glencore 55, 132 global financial crisis 22, 143, 155, 158, 166–67 globalisation see also immigration effect on the economy 165 neoliberal 17–18, 20–22, 25–26, 98, 115–16, 167, 176 political positions on 9–10, 15 global warming see climate change Goodman Group 132 Google 117–20 Gorgon Co 126–27 Great Depression 159 Greece, populism in 21 Greens party 56 Griggs, Dave 59 Guardian 137 Hanson, Pauline 1, 12, 176 Harding, Luke 137 Hayek, Friedrich 167 Herald Sun 48 Hetherington, David 89–90 The Hidden Wealth of Nations 128, 134 High and Dry 54 The History of the Standard Oil Company home ownership 5–6, 41–42, 152–54, 156 Hong Kong, tax avoidance via 131, 137 hospital privatisation 91 Howard, John 53, 105 Huang, Sherry 101 ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) 135 identity politics 170 IMF (International Monetary Fund) 49, 151, 165 immigration 6, 8–11, 18, 26–27, 36 see also migrant workers inclusiveness 174–75 inequality Bernie Sanders on 7, 20–21 in Australian wealth distribution 6, 23, 33–43, 50, 111–12 in global wealth distribution 49, 165–66 in tax 137–38 in US wealth distribution 9, 14–17 progressive response to 174 right-wing populism and 35 Inequality in Australia: A nation divided 37–38 inflation 156–57, 160 infrastructure see public sector International Consortium of Investigative Journalists 135 International Monetary Fund 49, 151, 165 International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 58 International Transport Workers’ Federation 127 internships 115 investigative journalism 1–3 Ireland, tax avoidance via 119, 121– 22, 128 iTax 121–22 jobs see employment Johnston, Emma 51 Johnston, Hayley 148 Jones, Evan 157 Jordan, Chris 119 journalism, investigative 1–3 Judis, John 14, 172 The Jungle Kamenev, Leon 42 Kansas Keating, Paul 88, 165 ‘Keep Mining Strong’ 45 Kennett, Jeff 87 Klein, Naomi 62 Koh, Benjamin 142 KPMG 129 Krzywosinski, Roy 126 Kyoto Protocol 53, 58 Labor Party see Australian Labor Party labour hire 114–15 Labour Party (Britain) 19 labour politics 27 Lagarde, Christine 165 Latrobe Hospital 91 Lease, Mary Elizabeth left-wing populism 1, 4, 13–16, 19–21, 26–28 see also progressive populism Lehman Brothers 143 Leighton Holdings 131 Lend Lease 132 Lendlease Corporation 132 Lhota, Dawn 89 Liberal Party of Australia 5, 51–52, 76, 177 see also names of Liberals libertarianism 170 liquefied natural gas see gas companies Loeve, Ben 108 London real estate 135 Lowe, Philip 39, 141 Luxembourg, tax avoidance via 128, 131–32 Macmillan, Harold 169 Macquarie Bank 132, 153 Malaysia, tax avoidance via 131 manufacturers’ tax avoidance 132 Mares, Peter 101 market liberalism see neoliberalism Mauritius, tax avoidance via 131 McAllister, Ian 12 McClure’s Magazine McManus,Sally 95 Medcraft, Greg 141 media companies 132 see also names of media companies Menzies, Robert 169 Microsoft, tax avoidance by 25 migrant workers 24, 98–109, 114 Mildura Base Hospital 91 Millar, Royce 85 mining see resource and energy companies Mirvac 132 Modbury Hospital 91 modernisation 14 Monash University 59 Monbiot, George 62 Money and Power 139 Montecito 117 Morris, Jeff 139, 143–44 Morrison, Scott 90 Mossack Fonseca Co 136 Mouffe, Chantal 17, 27, 164, 175 muckrakers 2–3 Murdoch, Rupert 34, 46–48, 131, 133 NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) Narev, Ian 142 National Australia Bank (NAB) 145, 148, 153 National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) 81, 89 A National Disgrace: The exploitation of temporary work visa holders 101 nationalism 174 National Party of Australia 177 natural gas see gas companies negative gearing 41, 159 neoliberalism see also deregulation choice and 93–94 climate change and 171 in Australia 23–28 neoliberal capitalism 70 neoliberal globalisation 17–18, 20– 22, 25–26, 98, 115–16, 167, 176 political positions on 5–6, 20, 165–66, 177 results of 166–68 rise of 170 Neoliberalism: Oversold? 49 Netherlands 11, 119, 121, 128 Newcastle Herald 89 News Australia Holdings 132–33 New South Wales government 81, 89, 92 New York Times 58 Nine Entertainment Co 132 Nixon, Richard 169 ‘non-standard model of employment’ 111–16 see also temporary migrants North American Free Trade Agreement NSW government 81, 89, 92 Nurses and Midwives Federation 106–7 Occupy Wall Street 14, 33 OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) 49, 112 oil companies 125–27 see also BHP Billiton; Chevron; ExxonMobil; Glencore; Xstrata On Care for Our Common Home 164, 171 One Nation party 12, 176 One Per Cent 14, 33, 39, 49 see also inequality Oquist, Ben 150 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 49, 112 Origin Energy 132–33 overseas workers 24, 98–109, 114 Oxfam 33–34, 133 Packer, James 88 Panama Papers 25, 136–38 The Paradox of Choice: Why more is less 92 Paris Agreement 59, 72 patriotism 174 Peabody Co 55, 132 Pearse, Guy 51–54 People’s Climate March 71–72 People’s Inquiry into Privatisation 89–90 People’s Party 2–3, 14 Perkins-Kirkpatrick, Sarah 60 pilots 107 Podemos 21 populism see also economic populism; left-wing populism; progressive populism; right-wing populism defined 12–18 increase in 11–12, 84, 164–65 People’s Party 1–3 The Populist Explosion 172 Port Macquarie Base Hospital 91 ports 80–81 poverty see wealth distribution precariats 115 PricewaterhouseCoopers 129–30, 132 privatisation of education 74–79 of electricity 82–84 of human services 89–93 of transport infrastructure 80–81, 85–88 party policy on 5–6, 177 public sector vs 93–94, 166 Productivity Commission 39–40, 90–93 the Progressive Era progressive populism see also left-wing populism basis of 168, 170, 172–74 coalition on climate change 68–72 economic policies of 30, 120, 160–61 in the US and Britain 15–21 necessity of right-wing vs 1–4, 26–28, 116, 164 support for public sector 94 property ownership 32, 41–42 Public Private Partnerships 86 public sector education 74–79 electricity 82–84 human services 89–93 party policy on 5–6, 168–69 private vs 93–94, 166 transport infrastructure 80–81, 85–88 Putin, Vladimir, associates of 136 PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) 129– 30, 132 Qantas 151 Queensland, privatisation in 81 racial diversity see also immigration scapegoating 1, 5, 12–14, 18, 26–27, 36, 172 solidarity through 7, 170, 174, 176 railway ownership recessions see global financial crisis Reinecke, Ian 155 religious diversity 12, 27, 68, 71, 174 Rental Affordability Snapshot 43 Republicans see names of Republicans Reserve Bank of Australia 141, 153– 54, 158 resource and energy companies demand for deregulation 111 ExxonMobil 2, 98 privatisation of electricity 81–84 resource tax 44–45 response to climate change 55–58 tax avoidance 25, 123–27, 131–33 wealth of 32 Richardson, Dave 83–84, 150 Rich List 30–32, 98 right-wing populism climate change and 71 Donald Trump and 4–5, 17 increase in 10–12 inequality and 35 progressive populism vs 1, 12–14, 26, 116, 164, 170, 172, 174, 176 Rinehart, Gina 12, 30, 44–45 Rio Tinto 25, 44–45, 55, 123–24, 131 road privatisation 85–87 Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry 139 Rozvany, George 129–30 Rudd, Kevin 44–48, 54–56, 124, 158, 166 rural populism 13 Sanders, Bernie on the establishment progressive populism of 1, 4, 15–20, 172, 177 Santa Barbara, US, wealth of 117 Santos Ltd 132 Schmidt, Eric 117–18 Schneiders, Ben 85 Schwartz, Barry 93 seaports 80–81 secrecy jurisdictions see taxes Senate 143 Senate Committee on Corporate Tax Avoidance 122–23, 125, 127 Senate Committee on Education and Employment 101, 105–9 Senate Economics References Committee 144, 146 Seven Group Holdings 132 sexual orientation 7, 170 sham contracting 95, 103, 114 The Shame of the Cities Shell 126–27 Shorten, Bill 1, 35 Simmers, Heather 146 Sims, Rod 79–82 Sinclair, Upton Singapore, tax avoidance via 119, 123–24, 128, 131 small government see neoliberalism socialism 16, 27, 168–69, 172, 174–75 social media 9, 48, 176 social services see public sector solidarity 174–75 Soutphommasane, Tim 174 Spain, populism in 21 speculation 159–60 Standard Oil stapled securities 88 Starbucks 98 Steffens, Lincoln Stern, Nicholas 60–61 Sunday Mail 48 Sunday Telegraph 47 Swan, Wayne 45, 117 Switzerland, tax avoidance via 128 Sydney Airport 81, 88, 132 Sydney Morning Herald 74, 126 Syriza 21 Szoke, Helen 34 TAA (Trans Australia Airlines) 151 TAFE (Technical and Further Education) 75–76 Tarbell, Ida tax avoidance 6, 25, 117–38, 165–66 by Apple 121–22 by Google 117–20 by resource and energy companies 123–27 corporate 131–34 individual 134–38 losses to 128 taxes see also carbon tax ALP on 177 Big Four accounting firms 129–30 concessions fuelling speculation 41, 159 increasing 4, mining 44–45 Tax Office 122, 124–26, 130, 132, 136–37 Technical and Further Education 75–76 Telstra 131 temporary migrants 24, 98–109, 114 Thatcher, Margaret 167, 169 Third Way 177 Thodey, David 40 Tickler Magazine 74 Tillerson, Rex 58 Ting, Antony 121 Toll Holdings 131 tollway privatisation 85–87 trade unions Finance Sector Union 147, 149 history of 110–11 on migrant workers 106–8 on tax avoidance 127 treatment of 113 vs casualisation 116 Trans Australia Airlines 151 transfer pricing 119–32 Transurban 85–88 trial work 115 ‘trickle down’ economics 111 Trump, Donald energy production under 58 populist strategy of 1, 4, 8–11, 17–18 reduction of corporate tax 121 victory of 116 wealth of 33 Women’s March and 175–76 Turnbull, Malcolm 106, 120, 139, 154 unemployment 103, 105, 166 unification 174–75 Union of Concerned Scientists 58 unions see trade unions United Kingdom 149, 169 see also Britain United States of America economy of 40, 128, 149, 158 fossil fuel industry in 57–59 populism in 1–4, 7–9, 14–18, 20, 175–77 public sector in 169 Santa Barbara elite 117 tax avoidance and 125–26 universities 74–79 unpaid internships and trial work 115 Verrender, Ian 57 VET FEE-HELP 76 Victorian government 80, 85–86, 92 Virgin Australia 132 Virgin Islands, tax avoidance via 131, 135 visa workers 98–109, 114 vocational training 74–79 Vodafone 132 wage-fixing 110, 113 wage theft 95–98, 102–4 Wall Street 3, 14, 16, 33, 159 Washington 176 wealth distribution see inequality welfare state see public sector West, Michael 126 Westfield Group 131 Westpac Bank 146, 148, 153 What’s the Matter with Kansas? White Australia policy Why Are We Waiting? 60 Williams, John 146 Williams, Ruth 145 Withers, Russell 98 Women’s March 175–76 women’s rights see gender Working Holiday Maker scheme 100–5 Workplace Ombudsman 97 work rights see employment World Bank 61 World’s Billionaires List 33–34, 136 Wynhausen, Elisabeth 112–13 Xstrata 45 Yancoal 132 Zucman, Gabriel 128, 134–35 ... in the way Donald Trump and the pro-Brexit forces have done In fact, a progressive form of populism is the best way of defeating the racist backlash of rightwing populism because it addresses the. .. but to the failure of neoliberal policies And because progressive populism addresses the forces driving the rise of right-wing populism, it is the most effective antidote The political theorist... points behind the Conservatives From the start of the 2017 election campaign Corbyn framed the contest in the language of progressive populism He described the election as a battle of the establishment