By Wendy Robertson
SYDNEY — Five hundred people packed the Harold Park Hotel in Glebe to hear Labor leader Kim Beazley on March 13. Beazley acknowledged that Politics in the Pub was a "radical" forum and an "important sounding board". He urged those present to support Labor's re-election.
The evening began with a song from the Solidarity Choir about the British women who took to a Hawk fighter plane with a hammer. It was ironic, given that Beazley earned the nickname "Bomber" when he held the defence portfolio during the Labor government.
Every true believer's heart was warmed to see that Beazley still knew the words to "Solidarity Forever".
Beazley lamented that political commentators too often complain about the convergence of the politics of the two major parties. Although Labor had agreed with the Liberals on many things, there were and are important areas of difference, he stated — in particular, industrial relations, health, child-care and unemployment policies.
The common youth allowance was criticised for its effect on rural families. The Coalition's stance on industrial relations is wrong, according to Beazley, because individual contracts are based on the myth of equal power between employers and employees. With regard to taxation, the problem with the proposed GST is that it affects "consumer confidence".
During discussion, the question that most people wanted answered was what Labor would do to reverse the most damaging decisions taken by the Liberals.
On East Timor: It is an internal affair between the Indonesians and the East Timorese. Labor will continue to raise the issue informally and diplomatically when human rights abuses occur.
On the Jabiluka mine: Labor will not repudiate contractual arrangements made under the Liberals. An audience member raised the point that the damming of the Franklin River was prevented because the proposal contravened international treaties protecting World Heritage-listed areas. Beazley replied that, although logic dictates that the mine is in a World Heritage area, the mine is not formally part of the Kakadu World Heritage area.
On Aboriginal rights and Wik: Labor does not support an election being called on the Wik issue. Beazley stated that Aboriginal people (referring to the Indigenous Working Group) had compromised and so had Labor. Labor would live with the amendments. Anyway, he said, only a small number of Aboriginal people would be affected by the changes to the law.
Greens Senator Bob Brown pointed out that the Wik bill that Labor was voting for restricted Aboriginal people's rights to negotiate on mining. It gave away their rights to negotiate on dams, canals, offshore oil and fisheries. The Greens wanted real power to negotiate given to indigenous Australians.
On the Iraq war: Beazley's answer to questions about the Iraq war sounded like it came straight from a Pentagon briefing session. Saddam Hussein is an "evil" man who possesses weapons of mass destruction, enough weapons to destroy the world, and he needed to be stopped. The ALP supports "humane" military interventions against military facilities.
That the US blockade had already killed millions of Iraqi children was rejected as a reason to lift it. Beazley pledged a Labor government would crack down on "rogue" states and movements possessing weapons of mass destruction. Interjectors reminded him that the US was the biggest possessor of chemical and nuclear weapons.
On keeping election promises: Beazley stressed that the Liberals were trying to "trick" Labor into signing an honesty clause in the election campaign. Beazley stated that Labor was not going to fall into the Liberal "trap".
Summing up, Beazley said that faced with another term of the Coalition, people should campaign to re-elect Labor. He admitted Labor's program would not satisfy everyone.