Howard and Hanson gone but Bartlett continues their legacy in Tasmania

Stop the dog whistle politics in Tasmania!

It was revealed on Monday that Pauline Hanson will be leaving Australia for Britain but there has been a recent reminder that while the woman herself is gone, her legacy lives on in the practices of the major parties. The Hobart Mercury reported on February 16 that “northern suburbs focus groups showed that David Bartlett’s proverbial popularity gauge or “worm”, seriously turned when the Premier stood up to Aboriginal protest groups in January”, which “resonated wonderfully according to the Premier’s advisers, with Labor voters in Brighton, Bridgewater, Granton, Glenorchy and Claremont”.

Socialist Alliance candidate for Denison, Melanie Barnes said,” This is the worst type of dog whistle politics. It appears as if it was a deliberate election strategy of the government to attack Aboriginal campaigners and try to ram through the Brighton Bypass in order to curry favour with voters in the Northern Suburbs. This is a classic tactic of trying to divert real anger within the Northern suburbs around issues such as increased electricity and water prices and lack of decent public transport and focus that anger on another disadvantaged group, the Aboriginal community. This is exactly the type of tactics that Pauline Hanson and John Howard used, anger over various issues was diverted to a vile campaign against immigrants. It is disgusting that the Labor Party is willing to resort to these tactics in order to get re-elected.”

The Socialist Alliance rejects this approach to politics and instead argues that the working class and Aboriginal communities are stronger together.

“What working class voters and the Aboriginal community across the state have in common is that they are both under attack by the Labor Government. Just as trying to ram through Brighton Bypass reflects the arrogance of the government, so does ramming through the “water and sewerage reforms” or Tasmanian tomorrow education reforms, both of which have had a negative impact on the living and education standards of those in the northern suburbs. Attacks on the Aboriginal community do nothing at all to alleviate these problems, which stem from the Labor Government. The Union and Working Class movements have a proud history of supporting the Aboriginal struggle, an example of this is right now trade unionists in the Northern Territory are helping to construct houses for the Ampilatwatja community, who have set up a protest camp in response to the racist Northern Territory intervention. All those who oppose racism must take a firm stand against the type of tactics being employed by the Labor Party” Jenny Forward, Socialist Alliance candidate for Franklin

The Socialist Alliance supports the Tasmanian Aboriginal communities fight for justice and will use its campaign to try to increase this support throughout the state.