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France’s unrest shows Labor the cost of the handout state

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) •
October 23, 2026 • 07:29 AM
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Weaning voters off the public purse requires honesty about the trade-offs of fiscal repair and demands political courage rarely seen in Canberra.

France’s unrest shows Labor the cost of the handout state

Ever since revolutionaries stormed the Bastille demanding cheaper bread and freedom from tyranny, France has maintained a long and colourful history of protest.

Yet the scenes playing out across the country – flames engulfing the Hotel de Ville in Limoges, looters smashing storefronts and setting Renaults ablaze, and brutal clashes between police and demonstrators in Paris’s Place de la Republique – mark some of the worst and most violent unrest France has seen in years.

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