In a speech to a gathering of bosses and union leaders at Kirribilli House on January 19, PM K-Rudd called for national unity in the face of capitalism's latest meltdown. "We are all in this together", he said.
It's such a simple proposition; we're all on the same team, fighting the same nasty opponent — the global financial crisis.
If only we can all, bosses and workers alike, pull together. If we can just look out for each other, like good mates are supposed to do, then we might be able to survive what will be a tough year.
Reading the news, you can get a picture of how "we are all" suffering together.
For example, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has released figures showing that more than 200,000 people are on waiting lists in Australia for public housing. Most families have to wait more than three months to be provided with housing and some wait for more than two years.
Imagine the stress and anxiety this causes as parents worry about finding a place to stay for their children.
Then there's the stress faced by the commercial property sector, which includes real battlers such as Westfield. Westfield is owned by Frank Lowy — Australia's richest man.
The possibility of overseas lenders restricting credit means the construction of new massive shopping centres might be delayed.
Imagine the stress this is causing the Westfield board of directors, as they think of entire suburbs of people unable to buy their useless crap!
I'm sure the people waiting for a roof over their head can really empathise with struggling billionaires like Lowy, given "we are all in this together".
Luckily, K-Rudd made a move last week to ease at least some of this stress and anxiety.
The housing crisis, it seems, will simply have to wait. But he's made the tough call to sooth the pain being felt by the property industry. His government has set up a $4 billion fund to be deployed if overseas lenders decide to withdraw loans.
In the absence of cheap credit, it means the construction of new office blocks and shopping centres is guaranteed.
Phew, thanks to K-Rudd, property industry tycoons will no longer have to worry about where their next meal will come from.
Green Left Weekly has a very different take on how we should respond to the crisis and where money should be spent. We believe there should be a massive increase in federal funding for the building of new public housing and for the maintenance of current housing.
Ensuring every person has a place to live should surely be a higher priority than guaranteeing the construction of new, mammoth shopping centres.
Imagine what $4 billion in public works could do, not just for housing but for schools, hospitals and public transport!
The bosses should take a cut in their profits to pay for the crisis, while taxpayers' money is used to assist the victims of the crisis, including those on public housing waiting lists.
While the government is busy guaranteeing the profits of big business, we can only guarantee to continue the struggle to put people before profits. No investment is more worthwhile than that!
Please help us continue to expose K-Rudd's "we are all in this together" lie.
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