Episode 5 The winning strategy that built Australia’s safety net
Release Date: 07/21/2021
Episode 6 Building and Sustaining Power
Masterclass for Activists
History has been changed by building power, and there’s power in drawing upon the lessons of history. This podcast discusses power, what it is, why it’s important to analyse and understand it, and how to build it.
info_outline
Episode 3 Strategy for Success
Masterclass for Activists
Episode 3 Strategy for Success discusses how to design and execute a winning strategy.
info_outline
Episode 5 The winning strategy that built Australia’s safety net
Masterclass for Activists
Australia’s safety net is the envy of the world: the highest minimum wage; a world-class health system; the only compulsory universal superannuation system. These towering reforms are the legacy of a 1983 Accord between the ACTU and ALP that was globally unprecedented in its vision and scope, a philosophy that repudiated neoliberalism, and a strategy that overcame the economic crisis and changed capitalism forever. How was this possible and how was it done? A compelling episode about a remarkable story.
info_outline
Episode 4 Mindful Militancy
Masterclass for Activists
In this episode about Mindful Militants, our panel is Lisa Fitzpatrick, Doug Cameron and Tom McDonald discussing the role of militant tactics in pioneering social change.
info_outline
Bonus episode - Women Leading the ACTU
Masterclass for Activists
A bonus episode Women Leading the ACTU with more of our conversation from Ep 3 & hear about how equal representation for women on the ACTU Executive was won. Whilst as Sally McManus, ACTU Secretary says, there remains more to be done, the achievement of equal male and female representation on the ACTU Executive, won more than two decades ago, demonstrates the power of values, strategy & tactics in making change for the better.
info_outline
Episode 2 Neoliberalism and a New Deal
Masterclass for Activists
Episode 2 Neoliberalism and a New Deal unpacks the strategy of neoliberalism to wind back workers’ rights and living standards and weaken our democracy. It also discusses how the CoVid19 pandemic has dramatically exposed the failings of neoliberalism and looks to the future by discussing what a new deal for working people should look like.
info_outline
Episode 1 Hearts and Minds
Masterclass for Activists
Hearts and Minds discusses values, their place and role in driving change, how to counter right-wing populists and shock jocks, and how to win the support of working people for the cause of building a fairer Australia.
info_outlineIn the face of unprecedented global economic and political crisis in the 1980s, Australia was the only country on earth that radically built its social safety net. At a time when the world was gripped by the hitherto unknown phenomenon of rampant and simultaneously high unemployment, high inflation and high-interest rates, the very idea of the welfare state was under attack globally with the emergence of a new sinister ideology known as ‘neoliberalism’. Against the tide and despite the odds, Australian unions forged once-in-a-lifetime reforms to capitalism. How was this possible and how was it done? In this compelling episode, labour movement legends Bill Kelty, Anna Booth and Tom McDonald join Emeritus Professor Ed Davis to share this remarkable story – a story that is rich in lessons for activists today as they continue the fight to win the future for working people.
Australia’s social safety net is the envy of the world: the highest minimum wage rates in the world, the most efficient healthcare system in the world that delivers standards of care few countries can match, and the only compulsory employer-funded universal superannuation system in the world. These towering pillars of our safety net were won through an Accord between the ACTU and the ALP; the most comprehensive agreement ever negotiated anywhere in the world between trade unions and a political party. In this episode, the discussants explain the Accord’s strategy and reflect its great achievements and disappointments, its enduring legacy and its lessons for activists today. A copy of the Accord can be found here.
Listeners are in for another treat from Chloe and Jason Roweth, whose songs of struggle have inspired activists across the generations. In this episode, they perform ‘Which Side Are You On’ (Words by Florence Reece to a traditional tune). Find out more about the Roweths’ music here.
This podcast series has been produced by Deliberately Engaging in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to build the capabilities of civil society and give people a greater voice. Learn more about the UN Goals and our podcasts here.
The series has been made possible by the support of the Committee to Defend Trade Unions Rights, Tony and Nina Bleasdale, and our discussants and musicians.