Australian government under US control: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed political commentator Mimi al-Laham, from Australia, to discuss the latest developments in Australia’s political scene following the country’s change of leadership.

Following is a rough transcription.

Press TV: It was a surprise ouster attempt, don’t you think? After all Tony Abbott and his challenger Turnbull have very much in common; they are both Rhodes scholars, they are lawyers and journalists. So what do you think gave Turnbull, the Goldman Sachs man as he is being dubbed, the upper hand?

Laham: Well, the reason it was such a surprise is that Tony Abbott actually had a seat in Canning and the seat was held by an individual named Don Ronald who suddenly died and when the seat is lost to the Liberals, there has to be a re-election on that seat and even though the voters there are supporters of the Liberal Party, the vote actually turned against Tony Abbott and that resulted in the leadership of Tony Abbott being seen as week and being seen by the Liberal Party as potentially losing popularity for the Liberal.

In this situation they can, within the party itself, vote to remove the prime minister and change him and for whatever reason Malcolm Turnbull won, has nothing to do with the Australian public or what the Australian public perceive of him but what the Liberal Party perceive of him which is that he could possibly be a better leader to keep the party in power.

Press TV: Turnbull becomes the fifth prime minster for Australia in eight years. What does that tell us about Australian politics?

Laham: Well, it tells us two things. First of all, Australian politics is not a presidential system, it is a party system so people don’t vote for a personality, or a prime minister, they vote for a party and that party can then switch the prime minister no matter when, like if becomes unpopular or there is a problem they can switch; it is basically  changing of the chairs. That is one of the reasons.

The other reason is because the Australian economy and Australian people are so unhappy with the way things are run; that no matter who gets elected, their popularity quickly crumbles.  Perhaps not even because of their policy or perhaps including because of their policies, but also because of the climate that Australia is facing right now. It is such a dire economic situation, probably thanks to multiple failed policies in the past, and the situation for the US and its allies in the region is also dire.

Press TV: Well, the pro-US and pro-war policies of the Abbott administration were among the most unpopular characteristics of his government. Do you think Australians will have a meaningful change in  such policies in the future?

Laham: Unfortunately not. It is still a Liberal Party government and both of the main parties in Australia, it is a two-party system, the Liberals and the Labor Party pass the power to each other. Both of them are completely controlled by the US government and in fact whenever a leader is elected, they have to also pay a visit to Israel and pay their respects to the Israeli government.

So unfortunately, there is not going to be any change… just basically a change in seats, just changed seats, shuffled around in hope to trick people into believing that things are going to change.

But it is really out of the government’s hands to stop the economic collapse and it is also out of the government’s hands whether or not it chooses to follow the US into multiple wars because unfortunately the US has bases in the Australian government and has basically taken over this country.

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