Australia's Capitalist Class And Its Relations With China

Nath O'Flanahee

Ever since China’s economic growth began to escalate sharply in the 1970s there has been a high demand in China for the energy, raw materials, and building materials required to support China’s growth in manufacturing, infrastructure, and vast urbanisation projects. Seeing China’s growth and demand for materials as an opportunity for exponential profits, the Australian capitalist class have been more than willing to engage in trade with China.

Over the decades Australian exports to China have expanded to include large agricultural exports as well as so called “services exports” which largely consist of Chinese international university students studying in Australia. According to recent articles published by the ABC and SBS, Chinese international university students make up 10% of all university students studying on campuses in Australia. These exports have become so profitable for Australia’s bourgeoisie that many members of Australia’s capitalist class now fear how reliant they have become upon them. This fear has only been exacerbated by Australia’s willingness to side with US imperialism in the South China Sea.

Although Australia’s capitalist class is more ideologically aligned with US imperialist interests, they have now split based on sectional economic interests. China with its large population of over 1.4 billion, almost a fifth of the world’s population, has presented to be too tempting for Australia’s bourgeoisie to resist trading with. Australia now relies on China as its largest buyer of iron ore, coal, and educational services, making it dependent on China’s economic success which ultimately contradicts its US imperialist loyalties. However this is not where the contradiction ends, many of Australia’s bourgeoisie have found their businesses struggling to compete with Chinese exports on the global market. Most petite bourgeoisie who have not embraced some level of trade with China, whether directly or indirectly, have continued to struggle, whereas capitalists with large businesses have been quick to take advantage of the cheap labour in China, outsourcing their factories to China not only to stay competitive but also to substantially increase their profit margin.

Whilst many of Australia’s bourgeoisie have turned to outsourcing jobs to China in order to stay competitive and to increase profits, it should also be noted that they have also done this to reduce the power workers hold in withdrawing their labour and to undermine the demands of the Australian labour movement for higher wages. Another way the Australian bourgeoisie have actively kept the price of wages down is by employing foreign workers on exploitative visas, many of which are Chinese workers and students. It was recently revealed that one-third of Australia’s foreign workers are paid less than half of the minimum wage in Australia.

It’s unsurprising then that Australia’s most reactionary elements have taken these mass instances of worker exploitation over the years and twisted them to suit their xenophobic agendas. Take for instance one of Australia’s most popular reactionary political parties, One Nation, and their petite bourgeoisie party leader, Pauline Hanson, who in 1996 declared in her maiden speech to Australian parliament that Australia was “in danger of being swamped by Asians”. It’s reactionary rhetoric like this that has gained traction in Australia due to the methods Australia’s bourgeoisie have used to undermine the Australian labour movement and to keep wages low. This kind of rhetoric is regularly given a centre stage platform in Australia’s capitalist press to shift the blame for Australia’s labour movement woes away from the bourgeoisie and onto Chinese and other foreign workers.

As communists, it is important for us to acknowledge that the Australian capitalist class benefit immensely from China whether it be through trade, or the exploitation of China's proletariat both here in Australia and in China. Australia's capitalist class have used China not only to dramatically increase their profits, but also to re-cement their control over the working class with the de-industrialisation of Australia, and the movement of factories offshore to China.