Medibank: Monument or Mausoleum of the Whitlam Government?

In: Thesis eleven: critical theory and historical sociology, Band 7, S. 151-158

Abstract

The failure of & prospects for the Labor Party in Australia are discussed by analyzing its Medibank Health Insurance program, which was dismantled subsequent to the Labor Government's dismissal in 1975. The demise of the Medibank program is seen as a reflection of the overall failure of the government to adopt a sufficiently radical stance in mobilizing PO behind its policies. Instead, it pursued a consensus policy that vainly tried to unite broad sectors of the public & the medical profession behind the program. If Labor is to have a future in Australia, it must establish an agenda where participation is the first priority & the people are offered conditions of life & services that they themselves can administer locally. S. Karganovic.