Australia’s political coup leaders and their big business connections

The leaders of the political coup that last month removed Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and installed his former deputy, Julia Gillard, were not just “faceless numbers men”, as sections of the media have insisted... Rather, the critical point is the direct connection of these Labor “heavies” to big business, especially the mining industry. Their personal histories reveal a seamless movement between the Labor machine, including the unions, and the boardrooms of Australia’s largest companies.

In toppling Rudd so swiftly— the coup was executed within the space of just 15 hours— Labor’s faction bosses were simply taking action on behalf of the mining chiefs and other corporate executives...That the faction bosses felt no need to argue their case within the ranks of the party or the trade unions simply underscores the fact that the working class is not a factor in the machinations of the Labor bureaucracy.

As events unfolded on the night of June 23, television viewers were informed that Labor MP and parliamentary secretary Bill Shorten, former head of the Australian Workers Union (AWU), had been sighted in a Canberra restaurant with a mobile phone in each hand, making calls and ticking off names from a list of Labor parliamentarians. But who exactly is Shorten and on whose behalf was he making those calls?

Shorten was elected to parliament by residents of the working class electorate of Maribyrnong...he has carefully crafted an image as a working class hero. In fact, his impeccable connections...are altogether...ruling class...While national secretary of the AWU, a union with members in the mines, Shorten was embraced as friend and confidant of leading executives of the country’s largest mining and steel companies...Links between Gillard’s union backers and mining industry bosses are just the tip of the iceberg....The political coup against Rudd, orchestrated behind the backs of the population, is a warning of preparations being made, also behind closed doors, for far more repressive and authoritarian forms of rule.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jul2010/rcou-j10.shtml