Wedge Politics and Welfare Reform in Australia

Abstract

The election of the Howard Government has marked a paradigm shift in welfare policy with the implementation of far reaching reforms around the concept of mutual obligation. At the same time, there has been media speculation about the Government's use of ‘wedge politics’ to sustain its political agenda with respect to welfare and other policies. Wedge politics, however, is yet to receive detailed analysis in Australian political science. We define wedge politics to be a calculated political tactic aimed at using divisive social issues to gain political support, weaken opponents and strengthen control over the political agenda. The purpose of this paper is thus twofold: to develop a definition of wedge politics and to investigate how the Howard Government's welfare reform agenda might be understood as an example of such politics, drawing out its longer‐term implications.

Patterns of Immigrant Political Behaviour in Australia: An Analysis of Immigrant Voting in Ethnic Context

“…In recent elections many accused former Liberal leader and Prime Minister (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007), John Howard, of using immigration and welfare as a wedge issue. Wilson and Turnbull (2001) stated that, 'Howard had started using the term ''Battlers'' before the 1993 election which he targeted as part of a broader ''forgotten majority'' (393). The Coalition's polling picked up a mood of anger in the electorate and how this was tied to the Labor government's association with ''minorities'''.…”

Surviving the Assault? The Australian Disability Movement and the Neoliberal Workfare State

“…Thus, as Galvin (2004, p. 343) suggests, such discursive representations by members of the disability movement fed directly into the Howard government's workfare agenda to make disability 'disappear' from the political sphere. The DPA struggle for respect, by pitching disability through discourses of 'sameness', reaffirmed the Howard government's 'wedge' politics of resentment to achieve hegemonic consensus within the polity for its workfare reforms (see Wilson & Turnbull, 2001). The DPA never contested or confronted the underlying neoliberal ideological assumptions of workfare, with work as the central evaluation for citizenship.…”

The Howard Government: The Extent to which Public Attitudes Influenced Australia's Federal Policy Mix

“…In relation to other more controversial social issues, such as social security, Aboriginals, immigration and multiculturalism, there is also a need to highlight the interaction that takes place between policy intentions and public attitudes. While there is indeed a right for analysis that illustrates the Howard government's willingness to be populist or opportunist rather than reflect moral leadership (Horne 2001, Kelly 2001; Wilson and Turnbull 2001; Manne 2004), political science analysis must also acknowledge the factors that allow certain policies to emerge.…”