Reading
Politics, Inequality and the Australian Welfare State After Liberalisation
Speaker: Ben Spies-Butcher
Thursday 7 November 2024, 12-1:30pm
Room 441, Social Sciences Building (A02), The University of Sydney
Neoliberalism has transformed work, welfare and democracy. However, its impacts, and its future, are more complex than we often imagine. Alongside growing inequality, social spending has been rising. This seminar draws on Ben’s recent book to ask how we understand this contradictory politics and what opportunities exist to create a more equal society. It argues an older welfare state politics, driven by the power of industrial labour, is giving way to political contests led by workers within the welfare state itself. Advancing more equal social policy, though, requires new forms of statecraft, or ways of doing policy, as well as new models of organising.
The recent wave of far-right fuelled rioting has hit our country’s most deprived area the hardest, but despite Salford sitting as one of the most deprived local authorities, we thankfully did not see any disorder. It’s debatable why rioting didn’t arrive here; in recent years, Tommy Robinson has held several rallies in Salford. But one […]

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Yeah, we love Pennsylvania. That’s our very special hello to Latrobe. Oh, I love Latrobe. You know why? The home of Arnold Palmer. This is the home of my friend Arnold Palmer. And he loved Latrobe. You know, he turned out to be one of the greatest golfers in the world. He started off very, very poor. He had no money, just had a lot of talent and a lot of muscle. He was a strong guy.
[Roughly ten minutes of “weaving” about Arnold Palmer’s youth, Arnold Palmer’s father, golf, “stiff shafted golf clubs,” the candidate’s golf courses, building villas, and the entertainment agency IGM.]
He was an incredible man, he was an incredible champion, and he came from Latrobe. And so when I said a couple of days, and I said, “Where are we going to be today?”
They said, “Sir, we’re going to be in Latrobe."
I said, “Do you know what that means?”
“No, sir, what does that mean?”
As one commenter noted, “Never thought I’d live in a world where I would be hyped for the Austrian army dropping a new video.”
