LEFT RIGHT CENTRE

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TRIGGER WARNING: SExual Assualt and rape

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1. What should we make of Facebook’s news ban, including the removal of On Dit’s page among others and the Australian media bargaining code? 2. How has the person accused of raping Brittany Higgins nearly 2 years ago gone on to be accused of sexually assaulting another woman? How do you feel about the

Government’s handling of the case? 3. Given recent Cabinet reshuffles, factional conflict, poor polling projections (in New

South Wales in particular) and a generally low approval rating relative to Scott

Morrison, is Anthony Albanese really the right person to lead the Labor Party right now?

LEFT: Socialist Alternative

1. Facebook’s news ban is nothing more than a turf war between a tech giant and Australia’s corporate media. Both sides are equally reprehensible. Corporate media outlets like the Murdoch press and 7News are demanding more money to spout right-wing propaganda. Facebook, to avoid paying, is willing to shut down access to media content. It’s shocking that these corporations hold totally undemocratic and unaccountable monopolies over what should be public services. The implications for free speech on Facebook are scary. Media giants are willing and able to suppress content that doesn’t suit their corporate agenda.

2. At least four women have come forward accusing a high-ranking Liberal staffer of rape. The Government’s response has been effectively to cover up a serial rapist. It’s impossible to imagine that the Prime Minister’s office was unaware of this. All evidence indicates that they sat on the allegations and blackmailed victims into not coming forward, not wanting to lose a ‘rising star’ in their ranks or risk defeat in the upcoming Federal Election. Put simply, the rich and powerful protect their own. What a total indictment on the sexist culture permeating elite politics. It’s shameful that so many women workers face countless barriers to be safe at work.

3. There is no ‘right person’ to lead Labor, a party completely unwilling to provide genuine opposition to the Liberals. Labor has trailed behind the abhorrent Morrison Government, which is completely beholden to fossil fuel industries. Albanese, the leader of Labor’s supposed ‘Left’ faction, has shifted the party further to the right. Under his leadership, Labor has abandoned its already weak emissions targets and measures to reduce inequality. When asked about the Government’s JobKeeper scheme, his biggest criticism was that workers were receiving too much money. No leader of Labor, a party loyal to Australian capitalism, is going to advocate for the masses. We need a genuine socialist left to fight the Liberals.

CENTRE: Labor Club

1. This is essentially a proxy war between two billionaires: Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. Scott Morrison picked Murdoch, as he always does, and Zuckerberg’s retribution was swift and without mercy. In the battle between old and new media, it is disgraceful that On Dit’s page and other independent and dynamic media sources were removed. On Dit is based and long may it remain so. Also, read The Hilarian.

2. First thing’s first, I stand in solidarity with Brittany Higgins and the other survivors who have taken a stand against this abhorrent perpetrator of both sexual violence and abuse of power. Scott Morrison and the Liberal Government need to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the matter and into the culture of Parliament House in general.

3. Anthony Albanese has been a fighter all his life. Raised by a single mother in a Housing Commission house, he organised on campus to stand up against both Tories and Trots. I don’t think we’ve seen him at his full potential. Furthermore, New South Wales is only one state. Victoria has more seats. Dan Andrews is smashing it. McGowan is smashing it in WA. Labor is resurgent in Queensland. This is an Australian Federal Election, not a New South Wales State Election, and I would think Albo would run his campaign accordingly.

RIGHT: Liberal Club

1. Facebook putting a news ban on the entirety of Australia was completely the wrong thing to do. The Government is rightly ensuring that news organisations are fairly compensated for the content being shared on the Facebook platform. The reaction from Facebook was completely unjustified as well as dangerous, considering many pages completely unrelated to news providers (such as SA Health, fire information pages and politicians’ pages) were removed. This is particularly important during a pandemic and Australian summer respectively. A large number of people, especially younger people, rely on what Facebook shares from the news websites that they read to see the news of the day and thus it especially affected university students.

2. Sex crimes are among the most vile crimes any person can commit against another. It is incredibly concerning that Brittany Higgins was raped in Parliament House – the centre of our democracy. The Prime Minister was right to say that the culture in Parliament House is vile and certainly needs to be fixed so that all people feel safe at work. The AULC welcomes the fact the PM has launched an investigation into the culture of Parliament House. To the people in the comment sections of news articles about this who said things along the lines of “Well, she shouldn’t have been drunk in Parliament House,” that is despicable. The only person to blame for this disgusting act is the man in question, who should be prosecuted and sent to prison for his abhorrent crimes.

3. The Federal Labor Party is in absolute shambles as it has been for years. The Labor Party went into the 2019 Election with an off-putting air of arrogance which turned away voters and cost Bill Shorten the leadership of the party. Albeit, he did announce his own resignation as leader and wasn’t rolled. The problem here is that because the party was so sure that Shorten would be PM, they didn’t really have a plan for what to do if he lost. Is he the right person to lead the Labor Party? I don’t know – who are you going to replace him with? He’s just as useless as the next person, whoever that may be.