By Allen Myers
SYDNEY — Well over 200 people crammed into Gleebooks on the evening of May 12 to hear John Pilger read from his new book, Hidden Agendas, and to answer questions posed by ABC journalist Quentin Dempster.
The discussion, like the book, centred on the role of the commercial media in maintaining the wealth and power of the powers that be.
In Australia, Pilger said, "lesser of two evilism ... should be finished" after the experience of 13 years of government by the "corporatised" Labor Party. We live in a state with a single ideology, in which two factions separated only by "cultural differences" compete to form government.
With the aid of the media, these two factions have "hijacked" the political agenda and political language, totally distorting the meaning of words such as "reform".
Asked whether the media were redeeming themselves partially in regard to Indonesia by exposing the corruption of the Suharto regime, Pilger responded that the exposures could have been written 20 years ago.
The more critical coverage now corresponds with the interests of the US government, which finds the Suhartos an embarrassment and is looking to replace the regime with a "democracy" with Megawati Sukarnoputri at its head.
Pilger said he was encouraged by the MUA's court win, though concerned at the possibility of it being cut short. Most inspiring was the way so many people had stood together and begun to "reclaim some of Australia's rich industrial history".
The lesson from the MUA's fight, he said, is that we can win.