Australia elected someone pretty close to a socialist once. Not really a socialist, but far more left wing than anyone America or Britain has elected in living history, and far more left than anyone Australia has had since.
America organised a coup against his Government. And like, yes, we all know America loves doing coups in foreign countries. But usually it’s countries most Americans would perceive as “third world”. Either a political enemy or a neutral irrelevancy. (To be very clear, I’m not saying they are irrelevant, but that most Americans would think of them as not very significant.) But in 1975 they did it to one of their ostensible closest allies. Because he was too left wing for Ford, Kissinger, and William Colby. (Side note, in looking up who was the director of the CIA at the time, I discovered that Colby was succeeded in that role by…George Bush Sr. They elect literal spies for president??) And because he threatened to close down their spy base.
Australia elected someone pretty close to a socialist once. Not really a socialist, but far more left wing than anyone America or Britain has elected in living history, and far more left than anyone Australia has had since.
America organised a coup against his Government. And like, yes, we all know America loves doing coups in foreign countries. But usually it’s countries most Americans would perceive as “third world”. Either a political enemy or a neutral irrelevancy. (To be very clear, I’m not saying they are irrelevant, but that most Americans would think of them as not very significant.) But in 1975 they did it to one of their ostensible closest allies. Because he was too left wing for Ford, Kissinger, and William Colby. (Side note, in looking up who was the director of the CIA at the time, I discovered that Colby was succeeded in that role by…George Bush Sr. They elect literal spies for president??) And because he threatened to close down their spy base.
Bob Hawke. Allegedly called Thatcher a fucking bitch. While I’m sure he meant it, he was better than to say it out loud.
It sad to see how the right has captured Australia.
Hawke was good, but he also started (greatly accelerated under Keating) our slide towards a neoliberal UK-like “new Labor”.
I was talking about Whitlam.