CLASS WARFARE: Wayne Swan takes aim a 'wildly irresponsible' billionairesTREASURER Wayne Swan has dedicated himself to protecting Australia's middle class during Asia's economic explosion as he renewed attacks on "wildly irresponsible" billionaires.
Mr Swan said he feared Australia’s “proud egalitarian tradition” was in danger from the huge economic changes of the Asian Century.
He said manufacturing and tourism workers were concerned about their futures as the high Australian dollar battered their industries, but vested interests were opposing remedies such as the mining profits tax.
Mr Swan said he was against “the combination of deep pockets, conservative political support and the ranting of the shock jocks” which had promoted the interests of very narrow section of the economy.
“So the debate over the future of our country is at risk of being distorted and decided not by the strength of ideas, but the strength of influence,” Mr Swan told the National Press Club.
“This is a deeply disturbing development that we must understand properly so that we can resist it forcefully.
“We can't afford to let the market system or the political conversation be undermined by the greed of a wildly irresponsible few.
“It is a defining issue for our economy and our community. I believe it is also now the major dividing line in our politics.”
Labor figures hope his blunt criticisms of mining magnates Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest and Clive Palmer have the approval of the ALP base and will help the Government.
His speech is being presented as a display of “conviction politics of the Labor kind.”
Mr Swan used the NPC speech to dodge the charge that he was attacking big business generally.
He said: “The overwhelming majority of business people in this country are a force for good in our society
“For every Andrew Forrest who complains about high company taxes and then admits to not paying any, there are a hundred more that go about employing Australians and creating wealth in a constructive way,” he told the NPC.
The debate roused by Mr Swan’s earlier comments, published in his essay for the Monthly magazine, drew heavy fire from the Opposition, and from the miners themselves who paid for full-page advertisements in major newspapers today saying the Treasurer's attacks were “unfair, untrue and divisive”.
Mr Swan tweeted: “Today’s full page newspaper ads help prove the point I'm making about vested interests having a disproportionate say in debates.
And shortly after he tweeted: “The Libs rush out to defend Palmer in today’s papers but never to defend ‘Fair Go’ for workers, pensioners and small business says it all.”
But shadow treasurer Joe Hockey hit back on Twitter: “Swan belts up aspiration. He treats it all like a political game. All his taxes have targeted aspiration and ambition. He loves mediocrity.”
He further tweeted: “Liberals want to lift the tide for all boats. Swan wants to bring us back to lowest common denominator. Australia is better than that!”
Mr Swan added Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to his list of targets, accusing him of attempting to block benefits of the mining boom.
“Today, we are witnessing the Americanisation of the right in this country - obsessed with defending the advantages of the most-advantaged in our society,” he told the NPC.
“That has become their primary cause and all else is the search for a political strategy to sell that to the public at large.
“Mr Abbott’s opposition to spreading the benefits of the mining boom or preparing our economy for a clean energy future is about more than his reflex for negativity.
“He is of course singing for his supper. We can see that in the donations from the likes of Clive Palmer that have flooded into the Coalition’s coffers in recent years.”
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