Liberal and Labor: more shoulder-to-shoulder than neck-a-neck

June 28, 2004

"The ALP's vote for the Howard government's legislation to increase by 21% the cost to consumers of Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme scripts will quite rightly infuriate many Labor supporters", said Lisa Macdonald, a Socialist Alliance national convener and the Alliance’s candidate for Reid, in Labor's "heartland" in Sydney's west.

"Add to that Labor's support for the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement, its vote for the Coalition's anti-democratic `anti-terrorism' legislation and Latham's back-down on the number of troops he promises to pull out of Iraq if elected, and it is clear that this is shaping up as another disgraceful 'shoulder-to-shoulder' election campaign", she said.

"The PBS decision, which robs $1.1 billion from the poor and sick to give tax cuts to the rich, rubs salt into the wounds of the worst off in Australia. Billions of dollars have already been transferred to the rich through the GST and other tax changes, cuts in social services and anti-worker industrial laws", Macdonald said.

"Labor's back-down on the PBS is not really surprising - previous Labor governments raised PBS script fees by 320% in 13 years and included pensioners in the PBS fee-paying regime for the first time. But the so-called opposition's vote last week makes it crystal clear that Labor under Latham remains committed to the economic rationalist agenda of the Howard government", said Macdonald. “Howard has to go go, but the ALP’s actions over the last few days have considerably narrowed the choice in this election", she added.

The Socialist Alliance is standing candidates in all states and territories to present an alternative to the profits-before-people policies of the major parties.

For more information, phone Lisa Macdonald on (02) 9690 2508 or 0413 031 108.

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