Progressive culture since 1954
Ultimately, building common sense is a matter of constructing public authority, both as an idea and as material organisation. Only in this manner can common sense be removed from its privatised form as ‘individual responsibility’ under neoliberal ideology, to the kind that can support effective, democratic governance.
A core paradox of the memorialisation of the Holocaust is that its universal significance also makes it susceptible to being exploited for political ends. The political debates and considerations that have surrounded UNIHRD since its inception reflect a long history of political ‘framing’ of the Holocaust, that began even before the gates of the camps were sprung open. Ever since, public remembering has been fraught territory in any country that has attempted it.
Invasion Day is not a day to celebrate. It is not a day to profit from dispossession and genocide. It is not a day to debate the humanity of vulnerable and marginalised people.
Currently the Religious Freedoms Bill sits in inquiry, with plans to have it passed ahead of the upcoming Federal Election. No doubt it will be prominent on the agenda for the Liberal Party, a political football of sorts to whip their base. Such an attack on our community demands a suitable counter-response, and what better response than having our single biggest cultural organisation out in full force?
If the industrial action is successful, this moment in time will be the beginning of a revitalisation of the teaching profession and public education in NSW. Failure will accelerate the exodus of new and old teachers alike and the coming months will be remembered as the last resistance of unionised educators to a program of austerity that has dismantled public education in NSW over the last twenty years.