EDITORIAL

In this issue

DR PAUL READ

Welcome to Issue 7 of the Australian Fabians Review, a place where the echo chambers of techno-driven feudalism gives way to something far more sinister than capitalism, a world in which inequality outstrips any time in human history, where the young confront poverty, homelessness and climate catastrophe, and the likes of Gina Rinehart (with exploitative impacts as far as villages on the outskirts of the Amazon) thinks she can dictate what the National Gallery exhibits by renowned Aboriginal artist Vincent Namatjira. 

Throughout this edition, our featured poet this issue is Dandenong Ranges activist Roger Chao, who writes with integrity on violence against women, war, inequality and oppression. For those who prefer their poetry classical and metered, Roger’s work offers some powerful contemporary observations reminiscent of William Ernest Henley. I’d like to invite him to write about Our Gina as well as the recently displaced CEO of Woolworths, Brad Banducci, perhaps also former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, along with a few vice chancellors around the nation. But I suspect his concern is more focused on their victims — the rest of Australia.

In this edition we start with a savvy, insightful and timely essay by David Reeves on the emerging landscape confronting the re-election of the Albanese government. We then explore some of the latest data on inequality and its cost to public health. After this, we run the first of our Fellow Travellers, a series suggested by Daniel Gerrard and Mark Bonanno in which Fabians members are invited to share their thoughts on their own struggles and victories in support of progressive policies. In this, we hear from members on The Voice, land rights, intergenerational cooperation on a range of policies, and a critique of public education as contrasted with Montessori schools. In this section we also introduce another new section which highlights the work of younger writers, starting here with a piece on the exploitative nexus of education and immigration under the LNP going back to the Howard years by master’s student Zulkee Rinzin. This is followed a report on the keynote address given at the WA AGM by analyst and journalist Michael Hilliard, Host of The Red Line Podcast and a prominent expert in the defense policies of Russia, Europe, and the former Soviet Union. 

Rising over the tides of inequality, democratic failure and war, Dr Sarah Howe and myself interview three women working in the space of gender, crime and domestic violence, taking a look at the intersection of Feminism and domestic violence policy. A sobering account of the statistics and their implications for policy examines tensions between and within dominant narratives, and how they play out on the frontline of supporting victims in practice.

Longtime Fabians member and tireless justice reformer Peter Norden AO reflects on almost 50 years of inertia and heavy-handed police brutality, explicating the possible future role of justice reinvestment. This is followed by a fascinating article by researcher Matthew Walkerdon calling for the decriminalisation of psychedelics for their therapeutic benefits, highlighting more recent empirical research suggesting very few such substances are as addictive as once thought. 

Dr Tony Webb stares into the abyss of RBA stupidity with incredulity, arguing for a fairer transition in economic policy that integrates human needs, modern monetary policy and universal basic income. This is followed by a considered response to Daniel Gerrard’s original article on the Job Guarantee, an article that offers some solid counterarguments and policy recommendations by self-taught economist Darren Quinn, who advocates for Modern Monetary Policy. 

A host of excellent book reviews are on offer in this edition. The first, an eloquent and critical account by Dr Sarah Howe of Wifedom, a postmodern retelling of George Orwell’s story from the perspective of his wife. Sarah and her editor, John Janusz-Ebel, weave a tapestry of cogent critique. Another book review exposes the dark underbelly of Australia’s university system, one I think could probably have gone much further to expose the level of corruption in the sector. This is ably reported by Dr Hans Baer on Michael Wesley’s Mind of the Nation (2023). Another book review is Bruce Wolpe’s Trump’s Australia (2023), by Prof Derek McDougall, a salutary warning of the implications for Australia should Trump emerge victorious this year for a second term. 

Similarly, a scathing attack on US democracy is then offered up by Dr John Tons, who says its devolution into what he calls ‘shamocracy’ is hurtling headlong into post-capitalist technofeudalism. This is followed by an exploration of a related phenomenon, Gruen 2.0, identified by Melissa McLay and myself, in which online customer service is being frustratingly outsourced to customers themselves, a form of institutionalized theft with rapidly growing costs to national productivity. 

In all this, as editor, I despair at the amount of consternation and heartache that rolls over my desk and simply don’t have the intellectual bandwidth to cover everything I want to, to reach out to those who care, and to find the time to bring it all together in a single issue. I welcome anyone who will lend their strength and intellect to a fight I think is likely to explode this year as almost half the world’s population goes to the polls in hopes of democracy. I hope we prevail.

Pistols at dawn.