Socialist Alliance Victoria

ANF Respect Our Work rally, November 24

2011-11-26T00:29:00.001+11:00

Spontaneous smart-phone video and editing by Nick Fredman, stills by Martyna Posmyk, Sam Hollingway and the ANF, music by Tom Morello, 'Union Town'.

To download the Socialist Alliance petition calling for a statewide day of action for nurses, teachers and other public sector workers click here.

Film Screening: Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A love story"

2011-11-14T17:00:00.000+11:00

Socialist Ideas Conference

2011-08-24T21:20:00.000+10:00

Crisis and Resistance

Saturday, September 3, 9.30am.
RMIT University Function Room, Swanston St, City (next to CBA ATMs)

A chance to discuss some of the basic ideas of socialism and their application to the world today in workshops and plenaries.

Agenda:

9:30am. REGISTRATION

10-11:15am. FEATURE TALK. World in crisis: A socialist view. A looming environmental catastrophe, permanent war in the Third World, savage attacks on the remnants of the welfare state, deep popular cynicism about the system, a massive revolt against US-backed dictatorships in the Arab world … It all adds up to an unprecedented crisis of the world capitalist system. How can socialist and progressive forces orient themselves in this situation and help build popular resistance?
Speaker: Peter Boyle (Socialist Alliance national convenor)
11:30am-12:45pm: WORKSHOPS

(a) Marxist economics: A primer. The wealth of society comes from the labour of working people. Stolen by the bosses through their ownership of society’s means of production, it becomes capitalist profit. There may be debates among Marxists but this is the only approach that explains the basic workings of the system.

Speaker: Jeremy Smith (Sciology lecturer, Ballarat University)

(b) Racism: What it is and how to fight it. Racism has played a terrible role in modern history, justifying alike the Atlantic slave trade and the Nazi war drive. And today Islamophobia and hatred of refugees are one of the last lines of defence of the capitalist system against the struggle of the people. Racism is not going to go away any time soon.

Speaker: Sue Bull (Geelong Socialist Alliance convenor)

(c) Can socialism win mass support? Some progressive-minded people blame supposed popular apathy and stupidity for the dreadful governments we get saddled with. But is this really true? Can socialism win mass support for its radical agenda? While our rulers pump out all kinds of backward ideas, their efficacy is not guaranteed. Popular consciousness is highly variable and is also a product of the experience of struggle.

Speaker: Dave Holmes

12:45-1:45pm. LUNCH

1:45-3pm. WORKSHOPS

(a) Socialism or anarchism? At various times in modern history socialism and anarchism have contended for hegemony in the radical and working-class movement. What are the core differences? How important are they in the contemporary struggle and what are the prospects for common work?

Speaker: Sue Bolton (Socialist Alliance state convenor)

(b) National oppression, nationalism and internationalism. National oppression is endemic in the modern world. Likewise nationalism is everywhere and can mean vastly different things depending on the context. Our wretched Lib-Lab politicians drape themselves in the Australian flag; likewise the heroic Egyptian people demonstrating in Cairo’s Tahrir Square proudly display the Egyptian flag. Can socialists support nationalism and how does this square with our internationalist outlook?

Speaker: Sean Seymour-Jones

(c) Women’s oppression past and present. Women today are supposed to be equal partners in society with men. But even in First World Australia some stubborn realities give the lie to this myth, especially significant pay differentials, a still widespread sexism and endemic sexual violence. In other parts of the world, the situation is far worse. Have women always been the “second sex”? Can it ever be different?

Speaker: Bronwen Jennings (AEU activist)

3-4.15pm. FEATURE TALK. Class in Australia today. Pundits of all stripes have repeatedly announced the end of class. But despite significant economic and social change in recent decades, Australia remains a capitalist, class-divided society.

Speaker: Nick Fredman

Presented by Socialist Alliance and Resistance; sponsored by Green Left Weekly. Registration $15/$5. Meal available. For more info ph 9639 8622

Public discussion: Carbon Tax: Can it meet the climate challenge?

2011-08-10T15:52:00.000+10:00

Baillieu attempts to silence BDS protesters in Victoria

2011-08-10T15:49:00.000+10:00

Our right to demonstrate in support of Palestinian human rights must be protected

Socialist Alliance statement, 10 August 2011

Millions of people across the Middle East have been protesting for freedom of speech and freedom to protest, while in Victoria, the Baillieu government is proceeding to criminalise political protest, particularly protest in support of Palestinian human rights.

The government is trying to shut down Palestine solidarity protests by:

· the arrest of 19 protesters for protesting outside chocolate shop Max Brenner in the Queen Victoria shopping centre on July 1 and the imposition of bail conditions preventing protesters from going within 50 metres of the Max Brenner shops in the Queen Victoria and Melbourne Central shopping centres. Max Brenner is part of the Strauss group of companies which has strong ties with the Israeli military

· the re-arrest of four of these protesters on August 9 for allegedly breaking their bail conditions by going within 50 metres of the Max Brenner shop at another Palestine protest and the imposition of $18,000 in bail surety

· requesting that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigate whether organizations supporting the boycott of Max Brenner are in breach of 45D of the Trade Practices Act, the section which bans secondary boycotts. The Maritime Union Of Australia, Geelong Trades Hall Council, Green Left Weekly, Australians for Palestine and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign were named by the consumer affairs minister as organisations to be investigated as supporters of the campaign.

The Palestine solidarity protests outside Max Brenner shops are part of an international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel to draw attention to the ongoing genocidal policies being practiced by the Israeli apartheid regime against Palestinians.

There have been regular protests outside Israeli stores in the Melbourne CBD which profit from the oppression of Palestians and/or which have strong ties to the Israeli state.

The Victorian police have been increasingly repressive with each demonstration. At the July 1 demonstration where 19 protesters were arrested, more than 100 police were sent in to attack the protest wildly before targeting the protest leaders for arrest, then other demonstrators for sitting down with linked arms. There was no media at that protest.

At the subsequent protest on July 29, the police mobilized their riot squad but there were no arrests, no doubt because there was a big media presence. If the police had behaved as wildly as they had at the earlier demonstration in front of the media, the police would have lost all credibility.

The protests have been smeared by Victorian consumer affairs minister Michael O’Brien and federal foreign affairs minister Kevin Rudd as anti-Jewish.

“Such smears are designed to intimidate and silence Palestine solidarity activists from criticising Israel’s gross violation of international humanitarian law,” said Sue Bolton, one of the 19 protesters arrested at the July 1 protest and Socialist Alliance state convenor.

“There are many Jewish people, including within Israel, who support the BDS campaign. Max Brenner and other companies have been targeted for protest because of their strong ties to and support for the state of Israel and its violations of the human rights of Palestinians,” she added.

“Even the Victorian police were forced to concede in the Magistrate’s Court that there is no evidence of any anti-Jewish comments by the BDS campaign.

“The BDS campaign is part of a long tradition of using consumer boycotts to pursue justice. Such a campaign of boycotts and sanctions was critical to ending the apartheid regime in South Africa, which has inspired people around the world to seek to use similar measures to end Israel’s apartheid-like policies towards Palestinians.”

Bolton added that “consumer boycotts have been used in countless campaigns - animal rights, protection of native forests, fair trade, and human rights issues in a range of countries. In my 30 years of activism, I have never known a government to threaten a community boycott campaign with secondary boycott action.

“Why suddenly target a campaign the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign protests against Israeli-owned businesses that have strong ties to the state of Israel?

“The Victorian government is going to extraordinary lengths to silence any criticism of the state of Israel and its human rights abuses. It is effectively attempting to make Palestine solidarity protests illegal by its threat to use secondary boycott legislation and the police in the service of Israel.

“The right to protest is a fundamental human right and needs to be defended. Human rights activists will take our inspiration from the uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa. We will continue supporting the BDS campaign while the Palestinians are stripped of their human rights.

“We call on the ACCC to reject the Victorian government’s request to conduct a political vendetta against organisations supporting the BDS campaign and Baillieu government should drop all charges against the Palestine Solidarity protesters.

“Our right to demonstrate in support Palestinian human rights or any other issue must be protected.”

For media inquiries: Sue Bolton 0413 377 978 or 03 9639 8622

Public meeting: Is Victoria becoming a police state?

2011-07-03T10:05:00.000+10:00

Emergency Rally: Release the Malaysian activists

2011-07-03T09:58:00.000+10:00

RALLY

Drop the Charges

Free Malaysian labour activists

Defend the right to organize

Tuesday 5 July

12.30-1.30pm

Malaysian Airlines

Nauru House, cnr Russell & Collins St, Melbourne CBD

More than 100 pro-democracy activists, including 31 Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) members, including two juveniles and the PSM’s parliamentarian Dr Michael Jeyakumar, have been detained. Many of the PSM activists have been tortured as well as detained. The PSM is a registered political party.

The Malyasian government is whipping up a massive red-scare campaign in the lead-up to a pro-democracy rally (Bersih 2.0) planned for July 9 in Kuala Lumpur and is resorting to repression to try to prevent an expectd huge attendance. The Bersih 2.0 rally is supported by many organisations including the PSM.

PSM activists were the first to be arrested on June 25 while they were distributing leaflets. They have been charged under Section 122 of the Penal Code (waging war against the Monarch and trying to revive the communist ideology) and have been remanded for seven days.

Those found guilty under Section 122 can be jailed for 20 years to life imprisonment!

The Malaysian government is attempting to frighten pro-democracy activists, particularly labour activists from campaigning for wages and workers’ rights through the use of such draconian laws. It is trying to create an “Emergency” environment where it can justify the use of the indefinite detention legislation (Internal Security Act) to stop the Bersih 2.0 rally.

The PSM and Malaysian labour activists have asked for support and solidarity worldwide.

Organised by Socialist Alliance. Supported by Australia Asia Worker Links and Socialist Party.

For information: 9639 8622, Sue 0413 377 978 or Ali 9017 6070.

SAY NO TO THE ANTI-SWEARING LAW

2011-07-03T09:55:00.000+10:00

Statement by Socialist Alliance & Resistance

SAY NO TO THE ANTI-SWEARING LAW

SAY NO TO BAILLIEU’S LAW-AND-ORDER AGENDA

For something as simple as stubbing your toe and saying ‘Oh, fuck!’ in public, the Victorian police will now be able to fine you $238.90 for swearing or using offensive language. Does this mean that an entertainer or musician can also be fined for swearing or using offensive behavior in their act or song?

The anti-swearing legislation doesn’t define what a ‘swear-word’ actually is. This gives the police extraordinary power to use these laws in discriminatory way.

The police are unlikely to use this fine against everyone. They are more likely to use it against people who they deem to be social undesirables. These could be a homeless people, teenagers hanging out in a public space or even a group of activists.

With racism rife among the Victorian police, Indigenous people and particular migrant groups are likely to be targeted by the police with this new law.

The Victorian government is expected to make at least $50 million a year from this new law.

This new anti-swearing law is part of the Baillieu government’s law and order agenda. Since the Bailleu government was elected it has focused almost exclusively on law and order and done nothing to address issues that are really affecting people like overcrowding on public transport, under-funded health services and schools and the shortage of public housing.

It is important that people stand up and oppose the Bailleu government’s whole law and order agenda because this is moving Victoria towards becoming a police state.

The fact that crime is decreasing across the board in Victoria shows that these new repressive laws and increased police powers are not needed. The billions of dollars that the government is wasting on the law and order agenda could be used to solve the real issues like the funding crisis in our services.

As well as the anti-swearing law the Bailieu government is:

· Establishing a new armed riot squad (Public Order Response Team) which will be armed with guns, riot shields, helmets,

batons and capsicum spray to break up ‘troublesome crowds and diffuse chaos’ in Melbourne.

· Putting armed guards (Protective Service Officers) on train stations in the name of making stations safer. What is likely to happen is these armed guards will be more likely to shoot people because they will not be trained in how to de-escalate situations without resorting to using weapons.

· Introducing mandatory, minimum two-year sentences for 16-17 year old offenders who commit ‘gross acts of violence’ instead of putting them into rehabilitation programs.

· Planning to introduce laws that will ban motorcycle groups in Victoria.

· Continuing the previous governments plan to spend more than $3.5 billion on building new ‘Super’ jails. The reason why prisons are overcrowded is because governments have been increasing sentences and legislating for mandatory jail sentences.

The media should be condemned for giving the public the impression that crime is increasing because that has sown unwarranted fear among people, allowing the Victorian government to get away with this law and order agenda.

Socialist Alliance and Resistance call for the repeal of the anti-swearing law, the staffing of stations instead of introducing armed guards, no mandatory sentences, the de-criminalisation of drugs, the building of new, free detoxification centers, increasing the number of diversion programs to divert first-time offenders away from a prison sentence, no building of new

prisons and no riot squads.

Instead of spending billions on more police and new prisons, the Victorian government should be investing in public transport infrastructure, public housing, expanding health and childcare services and upgrading schools. It should also force electricity, gas and water companies to lower prices or take them back into public hands.

Public Meeting: The Decline of Political Debate - Populism, racism & shock-jock journalism

2011-06-18T14:55:00.000+10:00

Film screening: John Pilger's latest film ' The War you Don't See"

2011-06-06T13:50:00.000+10:00

The Decline of Political Debate in Australia

2011-05-28T17:29:00.005+10:00

"The decline of political debate in Australia - populism, racism and shock-jock journalism"

A forum examining the social impacts of the steady decline in political reporting and mainstream political discussion.

Speakers:
Jeff Sparrow, editor of Overland
Pamela Curr, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

Resistance Centre
401 Swanston Street Melbourne
Vegetarian meal from 6pm

Organised by Socialist Alliance.
www.socialist-alliance.org
For information 9639 8622

Green Left Weekly Annual Comedy Debate

2011-04-08T19:46:00.006+10:00

Carbon Tax: action for renewable energy or just higher prices?

2011-04-08T19:45:00.000+10:00

Film screening: Gasland

2011-03-23T11:25:00.001+11:00

Metros 'loopy' public transport plan

2011-03-18T17:37:00.019+11:00

Metro - the private operator of Melbourne's suburban railway network recently released their new timetable and the community here in the west is justifiably outraged at the proposal to cut Altona Loop services. This also happens to be the Prime Ministers electorate.
Metros plan includes cutting direct access to the city loop, cutting all express services, increasing waiting time between trains during peak hours.

250 people rocked up to the first meeting. One resident reported that her daughter who has a disability avoids peak time services. As a result of the new timetable she will need to catch 3 trains to get into the city.
Another resident at the meeting raised the example of the campaign to save the Williamstown Line. In 1993 the then Kennett government planned to close the Williamstown railway line from Newport to Williamstown. A public meeting in the Town Hall was attended by 1,500 people to protest against the closure. After an intense campaign the railway line was saved.

As contractor, the Baillieu state government has the ability to reject Metros new timetable. On March 2nd 2011, Greens Western Metro Region for the Upper House Colleen Hartland stood up in Parliament and called on the Minister to reject the proposed train service cuts and instead deliver public transport improvements.

The aim of the campaign is to send a clear message to the government that the community needs public transport improvements, not cuts.

The next meeting is 7:30pm 29th March at the Altona RSL Function Room, 31 Sargood Street Altona.
You can take action by going to the Altona Loop webpage set by the Greens where you can send an email to the Minister, MPs and Metro; download and print the petition; tell your friends about the campaign and share it on Facebook.

Socialist Alliance campaigned heavily for improved public transport during our three election campaigns last year in Altona and Maribyrnong.

Women of the Revolution: from Tunisia, to Egypt, Yemen and Iran

2011-03-08T16:48:00.001+11:00

Yarraville screening - "Our Generation"

2011-03-08T16:42:00.001+11:00

Socialist Alliance Melbourne district meeting

2011-02-15T22:19:00.001+11:00

Tuesday, March 1, 6pm
(for 6:30pm start; meal at 6pm).
Resistance Centre
Level 5, 407 Swanston St, City (opposite RMIT). All welcome.

Agenda

Can a carbon tax combat climate change and what should Socialist Alliance's position be on a carbon tax?

Political campaigning in Melbourne: what should Socialist Alliance's priorities be?

Proposal to change monthly district meetings to Wednesday nights. Several members have raised the possibility of changing our district meetings from Tuesday to Wednesday nights. We’d like to find out which night suits the most members. If you can’t get to the meeting but have a preference, contact Sue Bolton by email or phone on 9639 8622 or 0413 377 978 or comment here.

Outcome of 22 January Melbourne district conference

The meeting decided to:

Have a Melbourne district meeting on the first Tuesday of each month.

Hold a Melbourne district public meeting in the middle of each month.

Continue organising local branches in the northern and western suburbs.

Initiate Socialist Alliance activities in new suburban areas when volunteers to organize them are available.

Establish committees and working groups to organize Socialist Alliance activities.

Egyptian revolution celebration, Melbourne, February 12

2011-02-15T21:48:00.000+11:00

Photos by Sue Bolton, beats from Al Aqsa Intifada by Rootsman and Muslimgauze, edited by Nick Fredman. Long live the Arab revolution!

A GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION: IN SOLIDARITY WITH EGYPTIANS TO UPHOLD HUMAN RIGHTS

2011-02-09T17:18:00.004+11:00

GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION

Date: Saturday 12th February
Time: 2:30pm-3:30pm
Place: State Library of Victoria, 280 Swanson Street

The Facebook group 'Egyptian Solidarity Group - Melbourne' and Amnesty
International are joining forces with over 10 countries around the world to
hold a global Solidarity Action to pay respect to the martyrs of this
revolution and call attention to the many hundreds of innocently murdered
(like the ten year old boy who was shot twice in the back while running away
from the police at Rafaah in Siani) and the tens of thousands injured and
tortured by the tyrannical regime.

Come dressed in white to show solidarity with the people who were martyred
and injured.

A live link will be made with one of our activists in Egypt during the
Action so that we can get an update.

Photos will also be taken and of our rally and people are encouraged to also
record private video messages on their mobiles and post them to our fb Group
as Amnesty International will be creating tribute walls in protest sites in
Egypt so our picture will show up on a wall in Egypt somewhere.

So come to the State Library on Saturday 12th February 2011 at 2:30pm to
3:30pm. In front of Melbourne Central Train Satiation.

For any questions or media contact please speak to:

Mohamed Elmasri - moemanco@gmail.com - 0413 127 595, or

Haggar Mahmoud - hagoor73@gmail.com - 0450 908 264

Public meeting: Tunisia, Egypt, ... People's power shakes US-backed regimes

2011-02-08T19:57:00.001+11:00

Solidarity with Egypt rally, February 4

2011-02-06T09:59:00.001+11:00

Celebrate 100 years of the Firefighters Union

2011-01-05T22:01:00.004+11:00

Join thousands of firefighters on a march through the streets of Melbourne to celebrate 100 years of community protection. On Sunday the 30th of January 2011 the United Firefighters Union, in collaboration with the MFB and CFA, will hold a large community parade to mark 100 years since the formation of our union. The parade will invovle thousands of firefighters marching in uniform, marching bands and fire trucks and equipment dating back to the 1800s. We Welcome all members of the public to join our community parade and celebrate 100 years of protecting the community.

More details at the 100 Years of the Firefighters Union site.

End of year party

2010-12-15T19:22:00.003+11:00

Design thanks to Alexandr Rodchenko of the Soviet Constructivist School
(and no Franz Ferdinand didn't use it first)

PUblic Meeting: Wikileaks vs the U.S. Empire!

2010-12-14T15:23:00.000+11:00

Victoria's water crisis: Profiteering from an age of drought and climate change

2010-11-10T12:13:00.000+11:00

Socialist Alliance election launch

2010-11-09T20:47:00.000+11:00

Join Socialist Alliance for the launch of our Victorian election campaign

Saturday 13 November

7pm

Anatolian Cultural Centre
195 Sydney Rd, Coburg
(100m south of Reynard St)

Guest speakers:

Rob Stary (noted civil liberties lawyer)

Merryn Redenbach (Climate Action Moreland)

West Papuan music

Good food

Meet the candidates - Margarita Windisch for Footscray,
Trent Hawkins for Brunswick, Mitch Cherry for Bellarine,
Ron Guy for Melton

For more information 9639 8622 or 0413 377 978.

“Tell Brumby: Don’t let Gillard weaken OHS laws”

2010-11-09T18:03:00.001+11:00

The federal government proposes to weaken occupational health and safety laws in the states with the strongest laws – NSW and Victoria – in its plan to harmonise the OHS laws around the country.

The two sections of the NSW law that the bosses and the federal government want to get rid of are the “onus of proof” being on the employer and the right of third parties (eg unions) to prosecute for safety breaches.

“These two provisions should apply across the country,” said Margarita Windisch, TAFE teacher and Socialist Alliance candidate for the Footscray district in the state election.

“The NSW government opposes the OHS harmonisation proposal unless these two provisions are retained. The Brumby government should join with NSW and stop the Gillard government from weakening the OHS laws in Victoria and NSW,” said Windisch.

Petrochemical worker and Socialist Alliance candidate in the Melton district Ron Guy added “We want the best OHS laws, not something in between. More people die each year in workplace accidents than die on the roads. We need to do something about this death toll.”

“We call on all parties standing candidates in the Victorian election to come out and tell Gillard that they won’t accept any weakening of our occupational health and safety laws.

“With the Victorian elections on November 27, now is the time for the union movement to put pressure on the Brumby government to protect workers,” said Guy.

In a Victorian Trades Hall council survey (August 2009), 77% of respondents said that the global financial crisis had caused deterioration in OHS standards in their workplace. Companies took short cuts to reduce costs and skimped on health and safety. Some workers were too scared to raise safety problems because they were scared to lose their job

Sick of being ripped off? Vote 1 Socialist Alliance - Join the rebel alliance!

2010-11-06T10:13:00.000+11:00

Socialist Alliance candidate tells Archbishop Hart: “Get with it – or butt out!”

2010-10-30T22:18:00.007+11:00

Margarita Windisch, Socialist Alliance candidate for the seat of Footscray said that the Catholic Church hierarchies’ intervention into the state election is totally political and out of step with Catholic opinion itself.

“Archbishop Hart instructs his flock not to vote for the Greens because of their support for euthanasia and abortion, which apparently doesn’t reflect ‘community values and community expectations’, Windisch, who used to work as a Pregnancy counsellor at the Royal Women's Hospital, said.

“This is completely ridiculous because on these two issues Hart is way out of touch with his own congregation. An overwhelming majority of Catholics support assisted suicide (73%) and abortion (72%).”

“So Archbishop Hart – what is your real agenda? It certainly hasn’t got anything to do with reflecting the dominant view of Catholics!"

"What this intervention into the state election reflects is nothing more than the archaic and outdated views of Hart and the Church hierarchy when it comes to basic civil liberties and moral issues. “

“If the sanctity of life was really so important to the Church hierarchy's thinking, why don’t they call for an end to the brutal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and an end to racism and Indigenous oppression which has shorted the life expectancy of Australian Indigenous people by 20 years?”

“So my advice to Hart and his ilk is to either get with it – or butt out”, Windisch said.

West Footscray community needs a full time house.

2010-10-23T17:53:00.006+11:00

By Margarita Windisch

Yesterday I went to the launch of the "Full House" campaign by West Footscray Neighbourhood House for 40 hours of staff funding. It currently receives 25 hours of coordinating funding but needs more so it can stay open 5 days a week.

Despite being under-resourced it manages to run a toy library, childcare, kindergarten, English as a Second Language classes, health and wellbeing programs for starters. But this high level of community support can’t continue without staff burn out. As coordinator Helen Rodd said staff are facing burn out and such important community services should be run by paid staff and not rely on volunteers.

State MP Marsha Thompson was presented with over 1500 postcards from the community. She said she would present them to Dick Wynne Minister for Housing Local Government. But in a letter last month he wrote to Helen Rodd refusing the extra 15 hours stating there is no money available until after June 2013. There is no excuse for not fully funding this fantastic centre. When governments can't prioritise money for such grassroots community services we know it time to kick them out!

This is Helen Rodd again, quoted from their press release:

“Not only is the house straining under population growth pressures, but it is constantly needing to provide specialist services to meet the complex needs of its community. Thirty-five per cent of residents of Maribyrnong are from a non-English speaking background compared with the Melbourne average of around 20 per cent, many of whom are newly arrived to Australia and negotiating a range of complex settlement issues.”

Socialist Alliance fields four candidates in the Victorian elections

2010-10-19T13:52:00.001+11:00

Margarita Windisch for the seat of Footscray

Ron Guy for the seat of Melton

Trent Hawkins for the seat of Brunswick

Mitch Cherry for the seat of Bellarine

Socialist Alliance is calling for the energy industry, public transport and utilities – water, gas, water – to be brought back into public hands.

“Privatisation and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) have brought us secret contracts between the state government and the privatised owners of public transport and the owners of the desalination plant that is under construction,” said Windisch, candidate for Footscray

“Most Victorians don’t realise that their water bills will increase from about $2000 to $6000 a year over the next few years to pay for the desalination plant. The state government no longer sees water as a human right that it is obliged to provide,” she added.

Windisch pledged that Socialist Alliance will fight to stop the desalination plant going ahead.

Cost-of living pressures is a major issue that Socialist Alliance will be campaigning on in the election.
“People are hurting,” said Windisch. “They can’t afford these huge bills. Even if people do their best to save water and electricity, their bills still increase because the supply or service charge keeps increasing.

“The Socialist Alliance believes everyone should have a basic allowance for water, gas and electricity at very cheap rates, with allowances for people with special needs (such as pensioners, people who suffer chronic illness and large households) and then rising according to use thereafter.

Ron Guy is the candidate in the outer metropolitan and semi-rural electorate of Melton. He said the state election should be a referendum on public transport.

“Melbourne’s roads can’t cope with more cars and trucks”, he said. “The Brumby government must shift funding away from roads to public transport and rail freight.

“Areas like Melton in the outer western suburbs are very neglected for public transport. If you don’t live near a train station, you have no hope of getting around by public transport, and the train service is overcrowded at peak hour.

“The state government had an opportunity to take public transport back into public hands when Connex’s contract ran out. Instead, it gave the contract to another private company, Metro, which has run an even worse service than Connex.”

Trent Hawkins, candidate for Brunswick and renewable energy researcher, says that Socialist Alliance’s policy of bringing the energy industry back into public hands is necessary so that the state government takes responsibility for the transition to 100% renewable energy.

“Socialist Alliance calls for the closure of the dirty coal-fired power stations, especially Hazelwood and replacing them with renewablables

“But the Latrobe Valley workers need to be looked after. The government has to guarantee alternative jobs and training for workers by putting manufacturing for the renewable energy industry in the valley.”

The Brumby government is feeling public pressure over the disintegrating public transport system, an ambulance service in crisis, increasing hospital waiting lists and its closeness to the big developers.

Mitch Cherry, candidate for Bellarine, condemned the major parties’s competition over which one can be tougher on crime. Cherry said that the losers out of this are “young people and people who are especially vulnerable because of homelessness, poverty, mental illness.”

“Anyone looking at the media or listening to the police and the major parties would think that crime rates are increasing when statistics show that crime rates have decreased.

Cherry said that Socialist Alliance opposes the police having access to Tasers and capsicum spray.

“The Victorian police use of capsicum spray is increasing. In one week, the Victorian police used capsicum spray on a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old. They are trialling Tasers, which recently killed a man in New South Wales,” he said.

“Instead, what is needed is a specialist mental health unit that can be called by police and members of the public, 24-hours a day, when they are confronted by people who are in a distressed state.”

Socialists stand against the rottenness in the state of Victoria

2010-10-19T13:13:00.000+11:00

There is something rotten in the state of Victoria.

The legacy of secrecy in government reached a high point under Jeff Kennett’s Coalition state government in the 1990s. It continued under the Bracks Labor government and the current John Brumby Labor government.
The main reason for this was widespread privatisation and the policy of funding infrastructure projects through public-private partnerships (PPPs) — a policy begun by the Kennett government and continued by Labor.

Privatisation meant the government avoided responsibility for providing basic services such as public transport and electricity, while the private “public transport” companies pass the buck back to the government when they provide terrible service.

Privatisation and PPPs allow the government to keep information secret from the public, hiding behind commercial-in-confidence agreements.

An example is the Wonthaggi desalination plant. The government has refused to break down the figures and reveal the cost of the plant.

Most Victorians don’t realise that their water bills will increase from about $2000 to $6000 a year over the next few years to pay for the plant.

The state government no longer sees water as a human right that it is obliged to provide.

Other utility bills, such as gas and electricity, are set to increase at a similar rate.

The Socialist Alliance is running four candidates in the November 27 Victorian election.

It calls for public transport and utilities to be put back into public hands. Socialist Alliance candidate for Footscray Margarita Windisch said: “People are hurting. They can’t afford these huge bills. Even if people do their best to save water and electricity, their bills still increase because the supply or service charge keeps increasing.

“The Socialist Alliance believes everyone should have a basic allowance for water, gas and electricity at very cheap rates, with allowances for people with special needs (such as pensioners, people who are sick, large families) and then rising steeply according to use thereafter.

“This means rich people with big mansions who use a disproportionate amount of water and electricity would pay more than poor people who use very little.”

Socialist Alliance’s other candidates are Mitch Cherry for Bellarine, Trent Hawkins for Brunswick and Ron Guy for Melton.

The Socialist Party is standing Yarra councillor Steve Jolly for the seat of Richmond and the Revolutionary Socialist Party is standing Van Rudd in Derrimut.

Jolly’s campaign is backed by the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union, the Electrical Trades Union, and the United Firefighters Union.

Guy said the state election should be a referendum on public transport.
“Melbourne’s roads can’t cope with more cars and trucks”, he said. “The Brumby government must shift funding away from roads to public transport and rail freight.
“Areas like Melton in the outer western suburbs are a very neglected for public transport. If you don’t live near a train station, you have no hope of getting around by public transport, and the train service is overcrowded at peak hour.
“The state government had an opportunity to take public transport back into public hands when Connex’s contract ran out.
“Instead, it gave the contract to another private company, Metro, which has run an even worse service than Connex.”
The climate action movement is pressuring the state Labor government to close down the dirty coal-fired power stations, especially Hazelwood. Socialist Alliance supports closing the power stations and replacing them with renewable energy.

Hawkins, a renewable energy researcher, says renewables are already developed enough that Australia could shift to 100% renewable energy in 10 years.

“Socialist Alliance policy recognises it is not the fault of Latrobe Valley workers that they work in coal-fired power stations. The government should guarantee alternative employment and training for workers by putting manufacturing for the renewable energy industry in the valley.”

He said the Socialist Alliance also called for construction of the desalination plant at Wonthaggi to be stopped. “This project is not needed. It will add significantly to Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions, put a private company in control of the state’s water and will massively increase water bills.

“As work has already started on the plant, the workers there need to be guaranteed alternative jobs by the government.”
The Brumby government is feeling public pressure over the disintegrating public transport system, an ambulance service in crisis, increasing hospital waiting lists and its closeness to the big developers.

To divert public attention, it has begun competing with the Liberals over which party can be tougher on crime.
Cherry said: “Anyone looking at the media or listening to the police and the major parties would think that crime rates are increasing. Statistics show that crime rates have decreased.

“But the Victorian police use of capsicum spray is increasing. In one week, the Victorian police used capsicum spray on a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old. They are trialling Tasers, which recently killed a man in New South Wales. Socialist Alliance opposes Victorian police getting Tasers .”

Cherry said the government was “using the ‘law-and-order’ issue in a similar way to how the federal parties use the refugee issue — to distract attention from what they’re not doing”.

SOCIALIST ALLIANCE PICKS ITS WORKING CLASS GUY

2010-10-18T20:00:00.001+11:00

Bacchus Marsh born and bred Ron Guy has been pre-selected by the Socialist Alliance to run for the seat of Melton in next month’s state election.

Mr Guy, a long time union delegate with the Australian Workers Union, is passionate about his local area. “I’m running for parliament to take a stand for local families, to save what’s rightfully ours and build up the future for the next generation to enjoy,” said the father of one.

“Local people are passionate about saving the Avenue of Honour and opposing the construction of the Bacchus Marsh Avenue roundabout and freeway link.

“The money would be better spent on duplicating and electrifying our local rail line. The diesel V/Line service is outdated. Labor has given us second best for too long.

“We’re a growth area way out of town, full of young families that can’t afford to run two cars. Let’s get things right: look after the planet and give our families a break. Give us a suburban train service, make it fast and make it free. Build a new station at Ferris Road and let Melton people catch the train to work.

“Where’s the community consultation? Where’s the heated swimming pool that our young people need to stay fit and healthy? And what about a Cultural Arts Centre for Melton, Bacchus Marsh and Ballan?”

Mr Guy is also campaigning to return public transport, water and electricity companies to public hands, double the number of firefighters in Melton, stop the desalination plant, boost public housing, health and education and invest in renewable energy and clean green jobs. “Socialists are all about putting people’s needs ahead of private profit,” Mr Guy explained.

“We need a safe environment to guarantee our children’s future and we need to keep our bills down,” he said.

2010-10-18T09:53:00.004+11:00

SOCIALIST CANDIDATE TARGETS AQUARIUM'S "DISCRIMINATION"
The Socialist Alliance has hit out at leading entertainment venues that "wilfully and openly discriminate against single mothers and their children”.

Margarita Windisch, Socialist Alliance candidate for the seat of Footscray in the upcoming state election has named the Melbourne Aquarium as one of many State Government sponsored entertainment venues which refuse to grant concession admission prices to single mothers and their children.

"I've been approached by a single mother and her four children who were refused a family concession admission at the Aquarium because the deal was only available for family groups with two adults in attendance. This is nothing but State sanctioned and operated financial discrimination against single mother families," Ms Windisch, a social worker, said.

"The Brumby Government has left loopholes in Equal Opportunity legislation that subject single mothers to the moral judgement of both private and state entertainment venue operators who see two parent families as the norm. This comes on top of the failure of State anti-discrimination legislation to protect single mothers and gays from discrimination in employment and service provision by religious institutions."

The Socialist Alliance is also calling for the abolition of the assets test on Legal Aid services for single mothers going through Family Court. "Rip up the caveats that Legal Aid has placed on single mothers' family homes and properly fund women's legal services," Ms Windisch said. "These caveats are yet another Brumby Government rip off of single mothers."

Margarita for Footscray campaign leaflet

2010-10-15T17:55:00.009+11:00

Here's the mighty fine campaign leaflet for Margarita Windisch's campaign in the seat of Footscray for the state elections in November.

We like it. Let us know what you think.

Feel free to download it, print it, tweet it and just generally get it out there!

If you're lucky enough to live in Melbourne's West you may find a hardcopy waiting for you in your letterbox soon. Maybe you'd like to help us distribute it?
Contact Melbourne West Socialist Alliance

Westlink: Aqua option not Green says Red

2010-10-12T10:19:00.006+11:00

Westlink tunnel announcement:
aqua
not green
says red

Socialist Alliance media release

12 October 2010

Westlink: Aqua option is not Green says Red

“It’s better to have chosen the tunnel option that doesn’t destroy people’s homes but why are we wasting more money on roads?” wonders Margarita Windisch, Socialist Alliance candidate for Footscray.

“Public transport system in the West is at breaking point and the 5 billion dollars that taxpayers will shell out for the Westlink Tunnel could transform it from failing to fabulous.”

“They say that this tunnel will reduce pollution in residential areas, but really it’s just moving the problem onto a different group of residents. Road transport is the second fastest growing source of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, while public transport creates significantly less greenhouse emissions. Westlink will be a short sighted, expensive and polluting nightmare.”

“The tunnel project has been flawed from the start. The Government claims that there needs to be a replacement crossing for the Westgate when it’s closed by an accident but then wants to build a tunnel linking West Footscray to Dynon and Footscray Roads. Both Roads were identified by the Victorian Transport Plan as not being able cope with the increased demand when the Westgate is shut down”

“The residents of Dempster St will see every house on the western side demolished and the residents on the eastern side looking out onto four lanes of truck traffic. I would hate to think what will happen to the residents along Ashley Street once the trucks and all the city-bound commuters from Ballarat Road start using their street to get to or from the tunnel. They haven’t been warned at all that this is likely to happen when the tunnel opens!”

“What is needed is to get all the freight from the port onto rail and that containers are moved by rail to the long promised Intermodal Hubs in Industrial suburbs like North Laverton or along Kororoit Creek Road.

“Also the West deserves a massive increase in public transport capacity, a service that runs 24 hours, is fast, reliable and integrated. The West needs more train, tram and bus lines to service current ‘black spot areas’, such as tram lines along Footscray, Geelong and Ballarat Roads.”

“Instead of subsidising private operators like Metro, those subsidies should be used to make public transport free, as a further incentive to get cars off the roads and the money spent on the ridiculous Myki fiasco could have been put back into infrastructure.”

http://www.socialist-alliance.org

socialistalliancemelbourne.blog socialistalliancemelbourne.blogspot.com

Margarita Windisch: 0438 869 790

Campaign Manager: 0425 230 597

Getting Ripped Off

2010-10-08T20:54:00.009+11:00

Socialist Alliance candidate for Footscray:
People are sick and tired of being ripped off by big business

Labor in 2010 is no different to the notorious Kennett Coalition government in the 90's that governed with secrecy and prioritised big business over the needs of the community", said Margarita Windisch, the Socialist Alliance candidate for the seat of Footscray. Windisch, a TAFE teacher and long term Yarraville resident, will be campaigning heavily to get water, gas and electricity back into public hands, so soaring utilities costs to households can be reduced.

People are hurting and they are angry. The cost of living has sky rocketed, social services are a disgrace and pokies venues are causing havoc in our communities. At the same time Brumby is wasting billions of dollars on unnecessary infrastructure projects that benefit banks and private consortiums."

Margarita Windisch, “People are using less water, but the bills are doubling and this has nothing to do with the drought. We are made to pay billions of dollars for a secret sweetheart deal the Brumby government struck with a private consortium who are building the desalination plant in Wonthaggi. There is plenty of evidence showing that the plant is NOT needed and together with the water it will produce it will cost us over 5 times than what is world’s best practise! This smacks of corruption.”

Windisch also said that this is not a one off. “These secret but very expensive taxpayer funded business deals are a feature of the Brumby government. “

"The ALP has had it far too easy for too", Windisch said. "The fact that Footscray has been a safe Labor seat, has meant few services for locals and no proper consultation on major projects, such as the disastrous WestLink, which should be scrapped all together. “ We don’t need more roads; we need freight on rail and a first class public transport system.”

“People want expanded, more frequent and faster public transport that is run by the government.” Windisch said. “If you try to run a public transport service for profit, you get the mess we are in. Taxpayers are subsidizing private operators, such as Metro, to the tunes of hundreds of millions of dollars every year for a shocking service, “Windisch said.

This is outrageous. People in Europe would not put up with this. We need and deserve a service that runs 24 hours, is fast, reliable and integrated. The West also needs more train, tram and bus lines to service current ‘black spot areas’, eg tram lines along Geelong and Ballarat Roads. We also believe public transport to be free, as a further incentive to get cars off the roads in the age of climate change.“

“We also supports a strong public housing program for the West, with rent controls for the private real estate market and stronger tenancy rights, so people don't end up homeless or in massive debts just to pay their weekly rent," Windisch said.

"The Labor and Liberal parties govern for big business but with our money; this has to stop. Vote 1 Socialist Alliance and put people and planet first. "

For more information or an interview contact Margarita Windisch on0438 869 790 or 9639 8622; www.socialist-alliance.org

Melbourne CBD truck crash: switch to rail

2010-10-04T19:27:00.003+11:00

Road transport is dangerous - Switch to rail

“This is happening every couple of months now”, said Socialist Alliance candidate for Footscray Margarita Windisch on the overturned truck in Melbourne’s CBD this morning. "For a safe and environmentally friendly future we need to switch to rail."

“I am happy the driver was not injured. Road transport is the most dangerous job in Australia. 20% of workplace deaths occur in the trucking industry according to the Transport Workers Union. The 2009 Safe Rates Survey revealed the hyper competitive nature of the industry resulted in the reduction of vehicle maintenance, employers encouraging unsafe or illegal work practices and incentive based payment methods (such as per kilometre of per trip). Safety is a strong reason for the switch to rail – it’s twenty times safer than road transportation. Most freight is transported by road. This needs to be shifted to rail.”

“Road traffic is a major contributor greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile the longer it takes the government to switch to more environmentally friendly transport the more expensive its going to be in terms of infrastructure and environmental costs.”

“It’s so difficult to get around Melbourne now. But more freeways are not the answer. State government projects like the Westlink will not help traffic congestion. They move the problem elsewhere.“

“Public transport needs to be organised by a public transport agency – it needs an equivalent of Vicroads. It also needs to be expanded. Trains running every 10 minutes, and 5 minutes during peak times would carry as many commuters as a freeway.”

“Large numbers of intrastate rail fleet have been stored or scrapped due to the transfer of traffic to road following years of apathy of government. And we have the ridiculous situation where train lines are different sizes.”

“Victoria's freight rail network needs to be upgraded so it can reach major transport hubs. Importantly ports need to be connected with major cities in Victoria.”

http://www.socialist-alliance.org

socialistalliancemelbourne.blogspot.com

0438 869 790

0425 230 597

New speakers confirmed for state conference!

2010-09-23T16:17:00.005+10:00

State Conference: "Public interest vs private profits in Victoria"

9.30 – 10.00am Registration

10.00-11.20am Plenary: Population, urban sprawl and Melbourne’s infrastructure

Does Melbourne have too many people? Is this why our trains are overcrowded? Can Melbourne increase its population and still have green spaces?

Speakers: Alex Bhathal, Greens federal election candidate; Trent Hawkins, Socialist Alliance federal election candidate

Morning tea

11.30 –12.45pm: Concurrent Workshops

(a) Water, forests and climate change: How to meet Victoria’s challenges

Speakers: Steve Meacher, Climate Emergency Network; Mitch Cherry, climate activist and Geelong Socialist Alliance

(b) Beat the car: putting public transport back on track

Speakers: Tony Morton, Public Transport Users Association; Natalie Zirngast, No Freeway 4 West Footscray and Socialist Alliance

Speaker: Public housing activist; Sibylle Kaczorek, former housing worker and Socialist Alliance

12.45-1.30pm: Lunch

(Introduction to Socialist Alliance session during lunchbreak)

1.30—2.45pm- Feature session: Law and order – Where is the justice?

What is the motivation behind the Liberal and Labor parties’ campaigns to increase police powers? Should drugs be decriminalised?

Speakers: Rob Stary, civil liberties lawyer; Margarita Windisch, Socialist Alliance federal election candidate

2.45-3.00pm – Afternoon tea

3.00-3.10pm: Announcement of Socialist Alliance state election candidates

3.10-4.30pm: Voting on state election policies

Environment - climate change and green jobs, water, rivers, industrial pollution, toxic waste dumps; bushfire and fire protection; industrial relations & Work Cover; transport – public transport, rail freight, tollways/freeways; population, urban sprawl and Melbourne’s infrastructure; Indigenous; justice/drugs; housing; education; health;

4.45-5pm: Election of state executive

Don't miss it!

Saturday 2nd October, AMWU offices, 251 Queensberry St, Carlton South

Registration: $15/10 concession (full day) or $7/3 concession (half day)

Elections 2010: Shaking up Australian politics

2010-09-17T12:39:00.000+10:00

Socialist Alliance state conference: Public Interest vs Private Profits

2010-09-17T12:37:00.001+10:00

A Socialist view: Crime & punishment

2010-09-17T12:35:00.000+10:00

Forum: Election 2010: Australian politics re-cast?

2010-08-31T18:37:00.000+10:00

The post-war immigration program & the left

2010-08-24T16:52:00.000+10:00

Wednesday 25 August

7pm

Resistance Centre, Level 5, 407 Swanston St, city

The post-World War II mass immigration progaram transformed Australia from a predominantly Anglo-Saxon country to a multi-ethnic one. It posed a particular challenge for the labour movement given its long history of racism. It was also a mixed chapter in the history of the Communist Party of Australia.

Speaker: Doug Jordan, a long-time socialist activist and labour history researcher.

This meeting is part of the Socialist Ideas Seminar series that Socialist Alliance organises on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month.

For information: 9639 8622

Socialist Alliance candidates condemn AFP raids on Kurdish community

2010-08-20T15:17:00.002+10:00

Socialist Alliance Senate candidate Margarita Windisch strongly condemns the Australian Federal Police raids on the Kurdish Association of Victoria and community members as a cynical pre-election maneuver and yet another attempt to sow fear and suspicion in the broader community.

"There is no doubt that these raids were well orchestrated to coincide with the Federal election and to justify the existence of unjust anti–terror laws that are aimed to curb our civil liberties,” Socialist Alliance Senate candidate Margarita Windisch said.

“The Kurdish Association of Victoria has been around for more than 25 years promoting Kurdish culture and providing social support for the Kurdish immigrant community."

“Suddenly it is under suspicion for terrorist-related activity, even though police confirmed that the raids were not related to a terrorist threat. Muslim and Tamil community members have also been subject to this outrageous intimidation by the state, “Windisch said.

“The Kurdish people are one of the largest oppressed ethnic minority groups in the world, struggling for self-determination and to end brutal discrimination, particularly in Turkey and Iran. Why are they being targeted now? Maybe the Turkish government is putting pressure on Australia- just like the Sri Lankan government did- to stop community members from raising awareness about human rights violations taking place back home,” Windisch commented.

“It was a worrying sign when the anti-terrorism laws were used to target the Tamil community in Australia for organizing tsunami relief for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Now the laws are being applied to the Kurdish community? Who’s next? These laws could be used against any humanitarian organization, such as the Red Cross, that is raising money for disaster relief in countries where there is a civil war.”

“If we are so concerned about terrorist activity and the need to protect civilian life, Australia should immediately withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and end military engagement in Iraq. Australia should also cut ties with Israel and Sri Lanka, two governments infamous for their state-sanctioned terrorist activities and assassinations of opposition activists,” Windisch concluded.

Victorian Senate Candidates: Margarita Windisch, Sharon Firebrace, Ron Guy
Candidate for Wills – Trent Hawkins
Candidate for Gellibrand – Ben Courtice

Socialist Alliance election night party

2010-08-19T14:27:00.000+10:00

After polling day . . .

come to the Socialist Alliance election night party

Saturday, August 21
from 6.30pm

Anatolian Cultural Centre, 195 Sydney Road, Coburg

(100m south of Reynard St)

Cheer or groan as the results come in!

Speakers, food & drink, music.

For more info ph 9639 8622, 0413 377 978.

SA federal election 2010: Help get our socialist message out!

2010-08-19T12:54:00.000+10:00

With just 3 days to go, we need your help to get the socialist message out.

Dear Socialist Alliance members,

We are nearly at the end of the federal election campaign and I am writing to ask you to make one last effort to help us have a strong finish on August 21.

If you haven't already volunteered to do a stint at a polling booth or help in some other way this Saturday, please get in touch with the nearest Activist Centre or branch. If you have difficulty getting in touch with them, give us a call in the national office on 02 9690 2508.

Also if you have not yet made a donation towards the election campaign please do - every dollar counts. You can make a donation online here.

I have tried to sum up our approach to the elections in the Green Left Weekly article Vote Socialist & Greens - Put Abbott last, and our understanding of the struggle we will continue after the election in Beyond the Elections. (Pictured here is the Perth launch.)

But we plan to have a broader discussion of our election campaign and how we can build on it in a proposed special one-day meeting of the Socialist Alliance National Council on Sunday September 5. The National Executive will confirm this proposal tomorrow.

There is no national newsletter this week because of the pressures of the election campaign and Green Left Weekly won't come out next week either (though there will be election reports uploaded to Green Left Online - please check the website next week and send us your stories and pictures about election day and post-election comments).

But there are a few anecdotes I'd like to share that are useful in the last days of campaigning, as well as some pictures and videos sent in from branches about recent campaign activities.

First, a powerful antidote to the increasingly policy-free barrage of major party negative advertising is this very useful chart comparing the policies of Socialist Alliance with that of the Greens, ALP and Liberals: Policy comparison from Left to Right compiled by Dick Nichols. Please spread this far and wide.

Second, please pass around the Vote Climate survey which judged Socialist Alliance to have the best policy on climate change - even better than the Greens.

Third, challenge your friends and family to use the independently created Vote-o-matic to see which party they actually should support in this election. They may be surprised.

Fourth, enjoy viewing (and pass around) the Socialist Alliance Denison campaign election TV ad that Hobart branch has got on air and the Gellibrand election campaign video.

Fifth, in an election stained by the racist scapegoating of refugees, here are some pictures of the Sudanese community launch of the Socialist Alliance election campaign held last Sunday in Blacktown, in Sydney's western suburbs. Former Sudanese refugee and political prisoner, Soubhi Iskander (pictured here), is one of our Senate candidates. You hear a 5-minute SBS radio interview with him here and watch Soubhi's election video here.

Finally, I want to thank Sam Watson and Sharon Firebrace, our Indigenous Senate candidates in Queensland and Victoria, for setting a powerful moral lead amidst the ugly race-to-the-right by the major parties.

Townsville-based Aboriginal Radio 4K1G (broadcast throughout Queensland) will be interviewing Sam Watson today (Wednesday August 18) at 2.15 pm AEST. They will also interview me tomorrow Thursday 19 August at 1.15 pm AEST. You can hear these broadcasts live via the Radio 4K1G website.

All the best on the hustings on Saturday.

Peter Boyle
National Convener

Ben's climate change tour of Gellibrand

2010-08-19T09:36:00.005+10:00

Gellibrand election launch

2010-08-18T08:21:00.006+10:00

Refugees must be released from Broadmeadows detention centre

2010-08-16T13:34:00.001+10:00

Socialist Alliance calls for refugees to be released

from Broadmeadows detention centre

by Sue Bolton

Most Melbourne people wouldn’t know that there is a refugee detention centre, called the Melbourne Immigration Transit Centre in Broadmeadows. It is hidden away behind the Maygar army barracks on Camp Road, Broadmeadows. There is no sign on Camp Road to indicate that it is there.

Socialist Alliance organized a protest at the entrance to the detention centre on August 11 to publicise its existence. When the local media was notified about the protest, none of the local journalists knew of the existence of the detention centre.

The Melbourne Immigration Transit Centre contains approximately 42 unaccompanied Afghan teenagers between the ages of 15-18. They are all from the Hazara ethnic minority which is persecuted by the Taliban.

In many of the cases of the Afghan teenagers, their flight has been precipitated by the murder of their father by the Taliban and the mother urging the son to run away to prevent the son from getting murdered as well.

Protesters brought along a boat with “Not another Tampa election” inscribed on it. Protesters held placards encouraging motorists to ‘toot to close the camps’ and to ‘toot for refugee rights’.

The high proportion of toots of support contradicted the opinion polls on refugees.

Socialist Alliance Senate candidate and local resident Sharon Firebrace told the protesters that “It is shameful that our government is locking up children and unaccompanied teenagers in refugee detention centres such as the Transit Centre in Broadmeadows.”

“We know that teenagers require love and guidance. Putting them in detention, separated from their families, and where they have no access to their community is a recipe for suicide and serious mental illness and self-harm.”

The government has renamed refugee detention centres on the mainland ‘transit centres’ they are detention centres.

Firebrace said that while the young Afghan refugees in the Melbourne Immigration Transit Centre are not being held behind razor wire, “they have no freedom of movement, they are locked up, they have guards, they are monitored and all of their phone calls are monitored. This makes it a detention center. It is no place for vulnerable young people to be.”

“People who hoped that a federal ALP government would have a more humane attitude towards refugees and asylum seekers have been disappointed.”

“The two major parties must stop using asylum seekers and refugees - the most vulnerable people - as political footballs and start honoring Australia’s obligations under the UN convention for the rights of refugees.”

Socialist Alliance Federal Campaign Launch

2010-08-01T16:23:00.003+10:00

Also launching new Socialist Alliance Climate Charter

Meet the candidates Margarita Windisch, Sharon Firebrace & Ron Guy for the Senate; Sue Bull for Corio, Ben Courtice for Gellibrand and Trent Hawkins for Wills.

Guest speakers from Beyond Zero Emissions and Tamil community.

Music from Bart Willoughby, former member of indigenous band No Fixed Address, and Kurdish musician Fadil Suna.

Enjoy an evening of toasts and good food. Drinks at bar prices.

Saturday 7 August 7:30pm
Anglicare Hall
41 Somerville Road, Yarraville
For information: 9639 8622 or 0413 377 978

Socialist Alliance say: No Freeway!

2010-07-31T11:31:00.000+10:00

Leaflet for Ben Courtice's campaign in Gellibrand

Melbourne's west needs its transport fixed, but you won't hear any solutions from the Labor government. They don't care that no-one wants their quick-fix freeway.

Socialist Alliance wants Federal government to block funding for the WestLink freeway. Even if state government is determined to build this white elephant, it can be stopped.

Real solutions to road congestion and run-down public transport don't mean new freeways. One rail track can carry as many people as six lanes of freeway. It is energy efficient, quiet and non-polluting. It takes up a fraction of the land area, it costs less to maintain, and it reduces congestion on the roads.

If we are to have tunnels, it should be for the regional rail link so that it does not demolish homes.

Building more roads leads to more reliance on cars, more traffic, and soon the new roads get jammed up as well. Look at the West Gate and Ring Road. Melbourne has had no new railway lines since 1930, but the freeways just keep rolling out. They haven't fixed the problem.

Cleaner, effective transport is a federal priority for Socialist Alliance. Our policies include:
No new freeways, in Footscray or elsewhere;
Freight on rail, trucks off suburban roads;
Free, fast and frequent urban public transport extended to all urban areas.

Federal government can stop this freeway. Melbourne needs a world class train system for commuters like cities in Europe. Vote to send a message to Labor: don't let them get away with this anymore.

Protest: Kids and refugees out of detention

2010-07-30T21:48:00.000+10:00

Join the action and the Socialist Alliance policy launch at Maribyrnong Detention Centre

Bring banners and placards

Saturday 31 July

1pm

Outside Maribyrnong Detention Centre

53 Hampstead Rd, Maidstone

(catch #82 tram from Leeds St, Footscray towards Moonee Ponds, get off at Stop 50 Wests Rd/Williamstown Rd, Maribyrnong)

For more information call Ben Courtice on 0413 580 706 or Margarita Windisch on 0438 869 790

Climate, racism and the right-wing direction of Australian politics

2010-07-29T14:19:00.002+10:00

Socialist Alliance monthly meeting

Hear from Socialist Alliance candidates Margarita Windisch, Sharon Firebrace and
Trent Hawkins on issues in the federal election

Followed by a discussion of the Socialist Alliance election campaign

Tuesday 3 August
6.30pm (tasty meal from 6pm)

Resistance Centre, Level 5, 407 Swanston St, city
Phone 9639 8622 or 0413 377 978

Market greed or a planned economy for human need?

2010-07-29T14:10:00.004+10:00

By Dave Holmes

[This is the text of a talk given as part of Melbourne Socialist Alliance’s Socialist Ideas Seminar series on July 28, 2010.]

The starting point for a discussion of planned economy or the present market-based capitalist one has to be the situation we are facing today. Humanity faces some huge problems.

Global warming is an unprecedented crisis. If not tackled effectively and urgently it could lead to the decimation of the human race, leaving a small population of survivors living in desperate circumstances in a radically changed and inhospitable environment — if not to the very end of human life on the planet.

Then there is the global economic crisis and its attendant attacks by the capitalist class on the living conditions of the people; mass poverty and hunger in the Third World (and not only there); and finally there is the permanent imperialist war drive, aimed at subjugating the Third World and consuming vast resources which might otherwise be used to give a better life to all.

These problems are directly due to the operations of the capitalist system. They cannot be overcome — in the interests of working people — except by radical anticapitalist measures.

That is, we can't rely on the capitalist market to solve them: capitalism is the source of the problem, not the solution.

Capitalism driven solely by profit

Under capitalism, the economy is privately owned. In Australia, a small number of people — probably a few thousand at most — effectively own all the factories, communications media, banks, mines, supermarkets, freight systems, and so on.

The basic operating principle of capitalism is to maximise profits. The whole system is focused on this. Any talk about a "triple bottom line" — in which profit and social and ecological concerns rate equally — is pure fantasy. There is only one bottom line and that is profit. Look at BP: some years ago it painted all its service stations green but we now know just how much that was really worth.

Under capitalism social needs are only satisfied incidentally. If a person has a need and money, then to that extent their need will be met. Otherwise it is not.

Take housing, for example. In Australia there are an estimated 100,000 plus people without a home and probably a lot more living in truly dire conditions.

Objectively, we have the resources to easily give everyone decent accommodation. Federal and state governments could take over unoccupied dwellings, take over and convert empty office blocks, and embark on a crash program to build tens of thousands of quality public housing units. But the various Lib-Lab outfits at the helm simply refuse to take the measures necessary and as the homeless don't have the necessary purchasing power, they remain homeless.

No overall economy-wide planning

Socialists have long accused capitalist economy of being anarchic. What does that mean?

There is no overall plan for production and other economic activity. There is no overall plan to meet social needs. Each capitalist company operates to maximise its profit. Until they try to sell what they produce they have no idea what will happen. It may be they can't produce enough of what customers want — or they may produce way too much and be unable to sell it, which will lead to a crisis for that company (or even the whole economy).

That is, the verdict on what the company has done — was it "rational" or not — comes after the fact of production. The market then "corrects" the decisions previously taken. That is, the company is forced to adjust its production and/or its prices; in extreme cases it may even collapse or be taken over by a competitor. As Ernest Mandel puts it:

Production for the market is production for unknown customers, in unknown quantities, and with unknown financial results.[1].

This is why the whole economy must endure the boom and bust of the business cycle, an immensely wasteful and dislocating phenomenon repeated roughly every 7-10 years. In the boom period, profits rise, everyone wants to get in on the act, investment and production rises, eventually leading to saturation of the market and overproduction a given sector. Investment stalls, workers are laid off, there is a big consolidation as companies are taken over or merge. Eventually excess inventories are cleared, the surviving firms start investing and producing, workers are hired and so it all starts again.

Planning — irrespective of whether it is good or bad, dictatorial or democratic — is different. A goal is set in advance and then resources are allocated to try and realise it. Thus in the Soviet Union under Stalin there was the First Five Year plan from 1928 to 1932. A whole set of production targets were set down and various measures (factories, workforce, etc.) taken to achieve these objectives.

Planning within capitalism

However, we should be clear: capitalism does know planning — not on the level of the economy as a whole, but on the level of the corporation.

Think of the Ford Motor Company. It is a huge multinational corporation — US-owned but producing and selling across the globe. Parts and components are produced in various locations and then moved to where they are assembled. The "just-in-time" system, which radically reduces the inventories that are held, means planning of the production process must be intense and effective.

Airbus A380

Another example of the tremendous amount of planning that takes place in capitalist production is provided by the Airbus A380, a giant double-decker aircraft which can carry up to 850 passengers over long distances.

Airbus is a consortium of a number of European aviation companies. All the component parts for a given aircraft have to be made or obtained and delivered to the plant in which they are needed at precisely the right time. It is a vast international planned economy as the following description vividly makes clear.

Major structural sections of the A380 are built in France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Due to their size, they are brought to the assembly hall . . . in Toulouse in France by surface transportation, though some parts are moved by the A300-600ST Beluga aircraft used in the construction of other Airbus models.

Components of the A380 are provided by suppliers from around the world; the five largest contributors, by value, are Rolls-Royce, Safran, United Technologies, General Electric and Goodrich.

The front and rear sections of the fuselage are loaded on a roll-on/roll-off . . . ship leased to Airbus . . . in Hamburg in northern Germany, from where they are shipped to the United Kingdom. The wings, which are manufactured at Filton in Bristol and Broughton in North Wales, are transported by barge to Mostyn docks, where the ship adds them to its cargo.

In Saint-Nazaire in western France, the ship trades the fuselage sections from Hamburg for larger, assembled sections, some of which include the nose. The ship unloads in Bordeaux.

Afterwards, the ship picks up the belly and tail sections . . . in Cádiz in southern Spain, and delivers them to Bordeaux. From there, the A380 parts are transported by barge to Langon, and by oversize road convoys to the assembly hall in Toulouse.

Roads and canals were widened and replaced; and new barges were developed to deliver the A380 parts. After assembly, the aircraft are flown to Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport . . . to be furnished and painted . . . Airbus sized the production facilities and supply chain for a production rate of four A380s per month.[2]

Such aeroplanes are not produced and stacked on supermarket shelves; they are produced in response to definite orders by specific airlines. Nevertheless, when it embarks on a project like the A380, Airbus does not know if it will be a commercial success. That depends on whether it can gain sufficient orders in the teeth of competition from its main rival, the US giant Boeing. So here too we see an intense planning process within the corporation versus anarchy and struggle outside it in the marketplace.

Ernest Mandel has termed this contradiction of capitalism partial rationality and it is profoundly characteristic of the system.

Huge waste of precious human and natural resources

Capitalism wastes human and material resources on a prodigious scale. If the economy were in public hands and operating according to a conscious plan aimed at addressing climate change and the satisfaction of basic human needs, there are a lot of resources that could be mobilised.

Free up economic resources for useful activity

For a start, a large part of the economy is purely specific to capitalism and would be pointless without it: insurance, real estate, advertising (which accounts for a major part of the cost of goods), most of the financial sector, luxury goods and services for the rich.

We should also mention organised crime which is a very specific sector of the economy (characterised by a very high rate of profit and a propensity to settle disputes by killing people). In some countries the drug trade is the biggest single sector of the economy by profit. Globally, profits from drug trafficking are estimated at about $600 billion.[3]

In a rational system the resources and workforce currently committed to these sectors could be redeployed to socially useful areas.

Existing productive forces not fully utilised

Capitalist economies have very substantial excess capacity, i.e., they can produce much more without any new investment in plant or labour. In the developed capitalist countries in normal times this is typically around 20%. This is inherent in an economy made up of competing private interests, without overall economic planning. Every capitalist builds plant to get into the game and the products can’t be sold so production is cut back.

Capitalist recessions and depressions represent a massive waste of resources. For a greater or lesser period the economy partially shuts down. Too much production is the very cause of want and misery. (During the Great Depression of the 1930s coffee and oranges were dumped in the ocean and milk was poured down coal mines in an effort to keep prices up.)

Even in normal times (i.e., not during a recession) capitalist economy is marked by substantial unemployment and underemployment. Official unemployment in Australia today is 5.1% but the real figure is probably at least twice this. What a crazy situation! One section of the workforce is suffering from overwork — whatever happened to the eight-hour day? — while another section suffers from lack of work and yet we have so much that needs to be done.

In the Third World unemployment and underemployment is massive and large numbers of people are forced to try to survive in the so-called "informal economy".

Conserve precious resources

Capitalism is consuming resources as if there is no tomorrow, e.g., fish stocks, minerals and metals, fossil fuels. (If, for example, we are going to use fossil fuels — the heritage of immense geological ages — they should at least used conservatively and for a definite purpose, such as bridging technologies while sustainable alternatives are brought on-line.)

We should also mention the waste of precious material resources in industry. If the economy were guided by human need and conservation we would move to closed loop processes where the "waste" from one process would be the feedstock for another; absolutely everything possible would be recycled.

Climate change means we will have to look carefully at what we produce. If products are consuming large amounts of energy (aluminium) or water (rice, cotton, dairy products) we would have to consider how much of these we should produce and what we do with these products.

For instance, from the point of view of energy and water conservation, we should try to produce food near to where it is to be consumed. It is irrational to produce wine in Victoria, with its high embodied water content, and export it across the globe to wipe out the wine industry in France or Italy where they have produced wine for millennia.

In the supermarkets at the moment you can buy cans of Italian tomatoes for 75 cents and tins of South African peaches at $1.50. How can it make sense (from the social point of view) to export these things half-way around the world and sell them so cheaply? How are they produced? How much scarce water do they embody? How much energy is expended in transporting them? Get rid of the profit motive and we can make a rational assessment of what is going on here and what we should do.

Militarism

Capitalist militarism consumes vast resources worldwide. According to the figures of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2009 some $US1.5 trillion was spent on arms — 47% of this by US imperialism. This amounts to $225 for every person on the planet, 2.7% of world GDP.

A large proportion of the world's scientists and engineers work for the global "military-industrial complex".

It is also worth noting that the Pentagon is a major contributor to global warming. It is the world's largest institutional consumer of oil products. This plus the wars it wages (Iraq in particular) creates huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.[4]

A recent report revealed that some 850,000 people work for a myriad of US "security" agencies.

Consumerism, planned obsolescence

Capitalism must sell "stuff" — endless quantities of it. If the consumers don't realise they want it they must be conditioned to want it. This is where "consumerism" comes from. Of course, people's psychology is affected ("shop till you drop") but that is purely derivative — the driving force is capitalism and its imperative to sell commodities to realise profit.

Of course, people need to buy the necessities of life (today we might include computers and internet connections in this category). But so much stuff produced is crap which we do not rationally need and the production of which the planet cannot sustain.

A key part of capitalist consumerism is ensuring that products wear out prematurely so that you have to buy replacements (clothes, appliances, cars, etc.). Instead of "planned obsolescence" we should make things so that they last a lot longer. Capitalism has no real interest in this because it undercuts its essential need to keep selling stuff — year after year after year.

We should also mention here the waste represented in having numerous companies produce the same product. "Choice" is one thing but, really, how many different brands of toothpaste do we need? Surely a few dentally significant variations should be enough.

Can capitalism be reformed?

The key question we have to answer is whether capitalism can be improved or reformed. Can a mixture of government regulation and incentive bring about fundamental changes — for the better? The short answer, in my opinion, is that no, it can't.

Capitalism has certainly changed over its centuries-long existence. Even imperialism — what Lenin termed the highest stage of capitalism — has changed since its approximate inception around 1900. But has its rapacious, exploitative essence changed? I don’t think you can make any convincing case that it has.

Even the welfare state which developed in major western countries in the postwar period now seems to have been simply an episode, a product of working-class pressure in the context of the cold war and the postwar boom. Everywhere it is being dismantled as fast as the bosses can overcome popular resistance. The "global financial crisis" has simply provided an excuse for savage attacks on living standards (privatisation, layoffs, cutbacks, etc.).

And in a number of Third World countries (India, Iran, etc.) the "state capitalist" economies (i.e., capitalism with strong state sectors, often with subsidies on key necessities) are being dismantled and opened up to foreign firms.

When we consider the scale of what is happening, the idea that the private profit system can be tamed or humanised by regulation or somehow induced by bribes (more politely called "economic incentives") to radically change its behaviour, seems simply fantastic — an exercise in wishful thinking that has absolutely no basis in reality. Everywhere today we see ever more corporate rapacity and less and less real control.

Regulation a farce

In a whole number of areas real regulation, enforced by vigilant inspectors, has been replaced by the farce of "self-regulation". In Victoria and NSW, for instance, the state used to regularly inspect restaurants for breaches of the health code. That has fallen away drastically and today the only activity seems to take place after a food poisoning scare: there will be a rash of inspections to reassure the public and then it's back to business as usual.

The business pages of the Age are full of accounts of corporate scams and rackets — all detected by the so-called "regulators" only after the culprits have vaporised the life savings of hundreds and thousands of investors.

The massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has shown that the "regulators" were asleep at the wheel — or rather, they weren't ever expected to do anything else. Incredibly, the incident seems unlikely to lead to a halt in deep-sea drilling.

It would seem so much more rational to invest the huge sums expended in searching for the last remaining pockets of oil on building windfarms and solar power plants, on radical energy conservation measures, on public transport and so on. But the "rationality" that operates here is the unbridled thirst for profit by huge energy monopolies like BP and Exxon; the government does their bidding — that’s what it's there for.

The recent book Death by Rubber Duck deals with the alarming effects of the host of chemicals we are exposed to every day (in food, in plastics, and so on).[5] There are some 70-80,000 chemicals out there, the real effects of which on humans are largely unknown. The attitude is pretty much that if people don't straight away drop dead on contact, then it's safe for commercial exploitation. So much for "regulation".

Not in their class interest

The only realistic conclusion is that capitalism remains true to itself. The sort of changes we want to see are simply not in their class interest. The whole tide is going in the other direction, towards even more unbridled rapacity, towards a more exploitative system.

I'm reminded of some lines in Brecht’s play St Joan of the Stockyards. It's set in Chicago in the early 1920s during a desperate strike in the stockyards. In one scene the financial magnate Pierpont Mauler (after robber-baron J.P. Morgan) has had an apparent epiphany and declaims:

And as for the thing made of sweat and money
Which we have erected in these cities:
It already seems as though a man
Had made a building, the largest in the world and
The most expensive and practical, but —
By an oversight, and because it was cheap — he used dog-shit
As its material, so that it would have been very difficult
To live in and in the end his only glory was
That he had made the biggest stink in the world.[6]

'Commanding heights' of economy must be in public hands

The only way around out of the impasse to which capitalism has brought us is to take over bulk of the economy and put it in public hands (whether federal, state or municipal). This publicly owned economy would then be operated according to a rational nationwide plan.

If the greater part of the economy — if not almost all of it — were in public hands then crises such as we are experiencing today would be avoided because the bulk of production would be for other parts of the state-owned economy and would not be subject to the market.

In the 1921 debate in the Soviet Union on the New Economic Policy Lenin referred to the "commanding heights" of the economy — heavy industry, banking and foreign trade — and argued that if the Soviet state retained control of these its rule would be secure whatever compromises it had to make with capitalist forces at home and abroad.

Here too we say that the "commanding heights" of the economy must be in public hands.

Soviet example

The Great Depression of the 1930s was eventually "overcome" on a capitalist basis only by World War II. But there was another path of development and at the time it made a great impression on masses of people suffering under the anarchy and madness of the capitalist crisis. This counter-example was the Soviet Union. As the capitalist world was in a tremendous crisis due to an "overproduction" of goods, the USSR was surging forward in the mighty collective effort of the first Five-Year Plan.

At the beginning of his classic 1936 work, The Revolution Betrayed, Trotsky sums up what was achieved:

The vast scope of industrialisation in the Soviet Union, as against a background of stagnation and decline in almost the whole capitalist world, appears unanswerably in the following gross indices. Industrial production in Germany, thanks solely to feverish war preparations, is now returning to the level of 1929. Production in Great Britain, holding to the apron strings of protectionism, has raised itself 3 or 4% during these six years. Industrial production in the United States has declined approximately 25%; in France, more than 30%. First place among capitalist countries is occupied by Japan, who is furiously arming herself and robbing her neighbours. Her production has risen almost 40%! But even this exceptional index fades before the dynamic of development in the Soviet Union. Her industrial production has increased during this same period approximately 3½ times, or 250%. The heavy industries have increased their production during the last decade (1925 to 1935) more than 10 times . . ."

Gigantic achievement in industry, enormously promising beginnings in agriculture, an extraordinary growth of the old industrial cities and a building of new ones, a rapid increase of the numbers of workers, a rise in cultural level and cultural demands — such are the indubitable results of the October Revolution, in which the prophets of the old world tried to see the grave of human civilisation . . . Even if the Soviet Union, as a result of internal difficulties, external blows and the mistakes of leadership, were to collapse . . . there would remain as an earnest of the future this indestructible fact, that thanks solely to a proletarian revolution a backward country has achieved in less than 10 years successes unexampled in history.[7]

Problems of Soviet development

Of course, the Soviet experience was marked by some grave problems and in the eyes of many people this fatally compromises the whole project of planned economy. I think this view is mistaken but we have to be able to respond to it.

Soviet industrialisation was undertaken under Stalinist bureaucratic leadership. It was delayed for five years (the Left Opposition led by Trotsky argued for it from 1923) and then rushed with unsupportable targets. Light industry and the consumer goods sector was neglected in favour of heavy industry. The working class suffered a big decline in its living standards, which undermined productivity. There was tremendous waste of human and material resources. Extreme social inequality developed between a privileged bureaucracy and an impoverished working class and peasantry. There was no democracy, no corrective to bureaucratic mistakes and arbitrariness. The whole thing was overcentralised and relied on managers motivated by economic incentives.

As Trotsky explained at the time, great gains could be registered by these priority-shock methods as long as it was a question of extensive growth — taking up the slack of underdevelopment at whatever cost. But as soon as that phase ended and quality became an issue, problems would develop because that needed democracy, the active creative involvement of the workers, and rising living standards.

The Soviet industrialisation under Stalin and his successors was marked by extreme environmental degradation. But as John Bellamy Foster explains in his book Marx's Ecology, Lenin had a different approach and the early Soviet conservation movement prospered while he was at the helm. Under Stalin it was attacked and destroyed.[8]

Bureaucratisation, social inequality, lack of workers' democracy, the command-and-administer economy, and the disregard for the environment were not essential parts of what happened — these were due to the Stalinist counter-revolution which began in the mid-1920s.

What we should take from the Soviet experience of planned economy is the tremendous resources available when a whole country is mobilised behind an overriding goal. But it can all be done much so much better with genuine workers’ democracy.

Cuba

Revolutionary Cuba provides an alternative model of a planned economy. Cuba has had to contend with the US blockade. It has made some serious economic mistakes but it has been able to acknowledge them, make the necessary changes and is still moving forward.

Bureaucracy has so far been held in check, there is real workers' democracy and popular mobilisation and enthusiasm. There has been a great emphasis on developing a communist and revolutionary consciousness among the people and relying primarily on motivation and idealism rather than monetary incentives. The conduct of the leaders (especially Fidel and Che) has set an example which still resonates with tremendous force.

However, today the revolution faces arguably the biggest challenge in its history. The historic revolutionary leadership is passing from the scene; there are serious economic problems (especially food self-sufficiency); extreme weather events have battered the country setting back its economic development by years; the spread of bureaucracy and corruption appears quite alarming; social inequality has grown; and a section of the population (including many young people) is disengaged from the revolution.

We should certainly not write off the Cuban Revolution nor cease to publicise its remarkable and inspiring achievements but we should endeavour to have a realistic view about the dangers that it confronts.

The mechanism of economic planning in Cuba differs markedly from what took place in the Soviet Union. A draft central plan is elaborated and then discussed in workplaces across the island in a vast process of consultation and feedback. Changes are then made and the plan is adopted.

Cuba’s ongoing "energy revolution" shows what can be achieved when the key economic levers are in the hands of the state. There is an illuminating account on the Renewable Energy World website.[9] This is an example which should be studied by climate activists. These impressive results didn't require setting a "carbon price" or using other devious market mechanisms but came about as a result of political will, planning, and consciousness in a context where the economy was in the hands of the people.

Arguments

I would urge comrades interested in the idea of a socialist planned economy to read Ernest Mandel’s 1986-88 debate with Alec Nove in New Left Review. Mandel’s basic argument is that:

. . . I believe that it can be shown that there are objective tendencies in the most advanced countries which indicate the presence of the material, technical and human resources needed for planning, and at the same time these advanced societies also show the heavy cost that is paid for the absence of planning.

[10]

Modern economy too complex to plan?

One the arguments Alec Nove advanced against Mandel was that the modern economy was too complex to plan. In the case of the Soviet Union, Nove estimated there were about 12 million products. Only the market could ever allocate these rationally.

However, Mandel pointed out that many if not most of these were intermediary products and spare parts. These are generally not allocated by the market but are made to order. The same applies in capitalist economy today.

Within the Ford Motor Company or the Airbus consortium, for example, once the decision has been taken to produce so many units of a given model, the production of various intermediary products and components is determined. Planning takes place with the firm to make sure that every part arrives on time where it is supposed to in the requisite quantity. The key "political" decision is which primary products to produce and how many.

As for the remaining products, studies show that most people’s consumption patterns are relatively stable and little subject to change. As Mandel explains:

. . . what do studies of actual consumer behaviour, including of working-class consumption, in the advanced capitalist countries tell us . . . They show that the great majority of currently produced goods are bought in customary shops, or from customary service distributors, independently of price fluctuations. It is no exaggeration to say that this holds for at least 80% of the consumption of the average consumer.

"… Economic relations of this kind involve neither a real market economy, nor bureaucratically centralised planning. What they represent is elementary forms of spontaneous cooperation. They will often remain relatively stable for years, if not decades.

"… That is how most business is conducted today in capitalist — and "socialist" — countries: based on habit, custom, routine and the natural cooperation that grows from mutual knowledge and foreseeable results."[11]

What replaces the profit motive?

Capitalist economy operates according to the profit motive. Competition between the corporations drives innovation as each attempts to get an edge over its rivals by producing goods more cheaply or finding a new killer product. What would take the place of competition in a non-capitalist, publicly owned economy? What force would promote innovation?

The answer is simple: the boundless creativity of the masses of ordinary people. As Mandel points out, historically, most key discoveries and inventions have had little to do with the profit motive. Who wasn't affected by the deeply moving sequence in Michael Moore's movie Capitalism: A Love Story about Jonas Salk and the discovery of the polio vaccine in the mid-1950s. Salk refused to patent his life-saving discovery ("Could you patent the sun?" he asked an interviewer) and the vaccine remains in the public domain.

Competition under capitalism may drive some innovation but it also stifles it. If a company with a big investment in one technology discovers a completely different one it is unlikely to simply write off its existing plant and equipment — that would be irrational from the point of view of its economic self-interest. Many inventions have simply been suppressed or simply not taken up.

The other point to make here is that the innovation may be in socially retrograde areas. How much creative energy is sucked up by the "defence" sector (i.e., militarism) to work out new and more effective technologies of domination, destruction and killing people?

Freed from the constraining shackles of capitalism, massive amounts of creativity could be freed to concentrate on solving the problems facing humanity (medical, environmental, social). If ordinary people really did control their working environment what might they be motivated to do?

Bureaucracy and corruption

The Soviet bloc countries were bedevilled by bureaucracy, privilege and even outright corruption. On a different level Cuba is grappling with it too. Some years ago Fidel warned that the Cuban Revolution could not be overthrown by attack from without but could be fatally damaged from within. Lack of revolutionary idealism, corruption — these are the challenges.

Historically the Cuban Revolution has waged a tremendous struggle against bureaucracy, almost from the moment of taking power. The weapons have been democracy, the repeated mobilisation of the people, the great example of commitment and self-sacrifice of the leaders, the tremendous resources put into improving the life of the people, constant self-criticism and rectification, the very real egalitarianism practiced, and so on.

As I mentioned early, there seem to be some very serious challenges right now. There seems to be a real softening of revolutionary fibre in sections of the apparatus and some spectacular examples have come to light in the last year or so.

It is not foreordained that these things will always get the better of a revolutionary process. Cuba has so far lasted for over 50 years in the teeth of hostility from the US imperialist colossus across the Florida Straits and it would be defeatist and not a revolutionary attitude to say that it cannot surmount its current difficulties.

Workers' self-management

Real democracy in the country and the economy is vital to the socialist project. Self-management in a nationalised economy is the best framework to develop the revolutionary initiative and creativity of the working class. Control in the factories and workplaces is also the best corrective to bureaucracy and corruption. Managers should be elected by the workforce and should be accountable to them.

The national plan is decided by the elected bodies of popular power but it has to be implemented (and corrected) in the local production units.

How will we get there?

Of course, at the end of the day, the key question is how will we get from our current capitalist economy to a rationally planned one?

Obviously, this will only happen as a consequence of fundamental social change — a social revolution which replaces the rule of the capitalist class with that of the working people. And as we know there is no roadmap to that. We will have to find our own way, albeit bearing in mind the experiences and lessons of the past and standing on the shoulders of the generations who have struggled before us.

But right now we need to put forward certain ideas as part of our transitional program to address the multiple crises we face and mobilise the people.

Tackling climate change demands that we nationalise — at the very least — the entire energy and power generation and distribution sector, the transportation sector (including the vehicle makers), and the banks. We should have no faith in market mechanisms to play any positive role here, except an absolutely marginal one.

We have to push the idea of public ownership and a rational, nationwide plan. Nothing else will do. Eventually the idea of bringing the bulk of the economy into public hands and elaborating a plan for social need will gain more traction. More and more people will come to understand that the capitalist profit-driven economy is way, way past its use-by date and will kill us all if we don't replace it with a people-centred socialist one.

Notes

1. Socialist Planning and the Market, p. 55.
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380#Production.
3. See http://en.rian.ru/world/20100530/159275376.html.
4. See the December 16, 2009 article by Sara Flounders at http://www.workers.org/2009/world/pentagon_1224/.
5. Slow Death by Rubber Duck by Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie (University of Queensland Press: St Lucia, 2009).
6. Bertolt Brecht Plays, Vol. II (Methuen: London, 1965), p. 173.
7. Trotsky, The Revolution Betrayed (Pathfinder Press: New York, 1972), pp. 6-7.
8. Marx's Ecology (Monthly Review Press: New York, 2000), pp. 243-244.
9. See http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/04/la-revolucion-energetica-cubas-energy-revolution.
10. Socialist Planning and the Market, p. 8; it is also available online at http://tinyurl.com/mandel-planning.
11. Ibid., p. 25.

Market greed or a plan for social need?

2010-07-26T19:04:00.003+10:00

Socialist ideas seminar

Under capitalism, our economy is not planned. Its basic driver is the corporate thirst for profit, not meeting people's needs. Yet seriously tackling climate change and growing social disadvantage would seem to demand putting a conscious plan in place of the prevailing market anarchy. Is a publicly owned, democratically planned economy actually feasible

Speaker: Dave Holmes

Wednesday 4 August
7pm (tasty meal from 6.30pm)

Resistance Centre, Level 5, 407 Swanston St, city
Phone 9639 8622 or 0413 377 978

Suggested reading, Ernest Mandel, 'In Defence of Socialist Planning', available here

Socialist Ideas Seminars are held on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. Presented by Socialist Alliance. For further information ph 9639 8622.

Candidate leaflets

2010-07-26T13:53:00.004+10:00

Below are the leaflets, with options for fullscreen view, print and download, for our candidates in the three lower seats we are standing in Victoria and for our senate team here

Ben Courtice for Gellibrand

Trent Hawkins for Wills

Sue Bull for Corio

Senate candidates

Economic meltdown and workers fightback in Greece

2010-07-13T22:18:00.000+10:00

Cuba Solidarity Fiesta

2010-07-02T22:09:00.002+10:00

Click here for bookings
or phone 9639 8622

THE NEW WAY ABORIGINAL SUMMIT

2010-06-28T17:07:00.001+10:00

1-4 JULY, 2010

“ Why we must have a new way and what is it ? ”

Thursday 1 July @ Kangan Institute, Pearcedale Pde Broadmeadows
July 2ND – 4TH @ TRADES HALL, VICTORIA ST, CARLTON

THURSDAY – 1 JULY @ Kangan Institute, Pearcedale Pde Broadmeadows
1: OOPM – 5:00PM
OFFICIAL OPENING
TRADITIONAL, TEACHING DANCE AND SONG – Meaning & application of Aboriginal Sovereignty – MARK MCMURTRIE, VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL LAND JUSTICE GROUP,Prof WENDY BRABHAM Deakin university
TEACHING OF SOVEREIGNTY AND ABORGINAL LAW– Legal place & position in Australia, post Mabo – MARK MCMURTRIE,VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL LAND JUSTICE GROUP

FRIDAY JULY 2 2010 @ TRADES HALL CARLTON
10:00AM
WELCOME TO COUNTRY - Wurundjeri
INTRODUCTION – New Way Summit –Socio-economic and political implications and movement against broader factors – MICHAEL ANDERSON SUMMIT FOUNDER
SOVEREIGNTY – Importance and meaning of sovereignty – MICHAEL ANDERSON
Why a new way and why sovereignty and treaty are necessary – MARK MCMURTRIEeduactor
GENOCIDE –Past & Present socio-political, legal implications- PROF ROBERT MANNE - LA TROBE UNIVERSITY
TREATY – The importance of treaty and its relevance today and in the future- GEOFF CLARKE ex-chairman ATSIC – ROBBIE THORPE Activist
11:30AM
AUSTRALIA HAS A BLACK HISTORY –The whitewashing of black history and future –
PROF RICHARD BROOME La Trobe university
HISTORICAL CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND IT’S APPLICATION TODAY –Who’s dreaming what? –
THE ABORIGINAL MOVEMENT AND THE LEFT – An explanation – TERRY TOWNSEND - author
2:00PM
THE GAP - Why does it exist & how do we bring it to an end ?
PROF JOHN TAYLOR- ANU Canberra university
ABORGINAL COMMUNITY BASED & CONTROLLED ORGANISATIONS
Do they have a future ? ALAN BROWN
VAHS -Chairman
THE ILLUSION OF GOVERNMENT & ABORIGINAL ORGANIZATION PARTNERSHIP(S) –
A bad marriage? PROF MARK ROSE Deakin university
4:00pm
NORTHERN TERRITORY INTERVENTION
“The purpose and the design of the intervention and how to bring it to an end” – MAIC Panel
DEATHS IN CUSTODY
Why do Aboriginal deaths in custody continue and what must we do – Panel-MARRIANE MACKAY
WA –watch committee
CHILDREN TAKEN AWAY
Are they still being stolen and what can we do? – PROF ROBERT MANNE –La Trobe university
7:30PM – Keynote Address -Freedom of speech and racism in the media? CHRIS GRAHAM – FOUNDING - EDITOR National Indigenous Times
8:10pm DRINKS & REFRESHMENTS

SATURDAY JULY 3 2010
10:00AM
THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN ADVANCING ABORIGINAL RIGHTS
THE VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL GENOCIDE CENTER - What needs to be done and how do we do it? SHARON FIREBRACE – Founder ABORIGINAL GENOCIDE CENTRE
SOCIALIST MOVEMENTS – Advancing the cause – SANDRA BLOODWORTH
UNITED NATIONS - Comparisons, priorities, directions -MARK MCMURTRIE
11: 30AM
THE ROLE of AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL IN ADVANCING ABORIGINAL RIGHTS -International to local issues – Are there -commonalities and is there a way forward? MONICA MORGAN - AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
VENEZEULAN EXPERIENCE – Lessons, parallels and benefits to be gained for the Aboriginal movement – LARA PULLEN
MOARI AFFAIRS – Common issues and directions- Waitangi treaty – SINA BROWN-DAVIS - Maori activist
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES – USA NEW ZEALAND CANADA - Relevance, parallels and models for application – PANEL –GEOFF CLARKE, ROBBIE THORPE,MICHAEL ANDERSON
2:00PM
POLTICAL PARTIES –HOW CAN THEY ADVANCE AN ABORIGINAL FUTURE?
Socialist Alliance SAM WATSON green ADAM BANDT party - Labor Party –Liberal Party –Do they have solutions or are they pretending?
4:00PM
TRADE UNION MOVEMENT & DEFENDING ABORIGINAL RIGHTS
Panel Discussion – ETU MUA CMFEU AMWU– policies and Directions - Unions & the New Way
7:30PM UNIONS & ABORIGINAL MOVEMENT- SOLUTIONS & DIRECTIONS –Key note speaker – Union movement

SUNDAY JULY 4 2010
10:00AM
KEY ABORIGINAL INSTRUMENTALITIES ARE THEY STILL RELEVANT?
WHAT HAPPENED TO ATSIC & IT’S BILLIONS ? – An economic, socio-political evaluation –GEOFF CLARKE –Ex-chair ATSIC
ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCILS – Do they provide a future?
WHAT OF NATIVE TITLE? - manipulated outcomes or a mistake?
11:30
NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AUSTRALIA’S FIRST PEOPLE -Is this Appropriate and why? TERRY ARABENA – Chairperson
VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL LAND JUSTICE GROUP –
What is it and does it offer a solution? GARY MURRAY Traditional owner
ORIGINAL SOVEREIGN TRIBAL FEDERATION- Are we ready? MICHAEL ANDERSON / MARK MCMURTRIE
2:00 – 2:40PM DISCUSSION PANEL – CONCLUSION Combination of representatives - conclusive remarks
COSTS
HW - HIGH WAGE - $120 OR $40 PER DAY
W - WAGED - $50 OR $16 PER DAY
UW - UNWAGED - $20 OR $10 PER DAY
ST - STUDENT - $15 OR $2-50 PER DAY
Meals & drinks available – pay own
Conference material available @ various costs
BOOKINGS - CHERYL KAULFUSS 0401806331
CONVENOR – SHARON FIREBRACE 0401414967
BILLET BOOKINGS – CHRIS – 0431 311 520

http://www.treatyrepublic.net/content/melbourne-new-way-summit-july-1st-4th-2010

Socialist Ideas Seminar: Where is the left going?

2010-06-28T15:09:00.000+10:00

The Australian left remains heavily divided and fragmented. Will this situation ever change? Is there a road to greater unity of the socialist left?
Speaker: Tony Dewberry

Wednesday 14 July
7pm (cheap meal from 6.30pm)
Resistance Centre, Level 5, 407 Swanston St, city (opposite RMIT)

This is one of a regular series of seminars held on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month on key questions facing the socialist movement, each seminar features a talk followed by discussion.

Presented by Socialist Alliance. For information phone 9639 8622.

Next Socialist Alliance monthly city-wide meeting: Boycott Israel

2010-06-26T09:40:00.000+10:00

Free speech victory at Barkly Square

2010-06-10T21:41:00.002+10:00

By Dave Holmes

Green Left Weekly and Socialist Alliance have won a victory in our free speech struggle at Brunswick’s Barkly Square shopping centre. Our Saturday morning card table stalls can now continue as before.

Management stopped our stalls in late November and offered us a completely unacceptable deal. We began our campaign in late February and in the next three months it developed considerable momentum.

Each week we held protest stalls at the centre and had to deal with the cops when management called them. But the police were on their best behaviour: they realised we were hardly major crime and, moreover, had significant local support. The response from shoppers was warm and extremely heartening. Almost 1000 signed our petition and people were clearly outraged at the ban and concerned at the ongoing privatisation of public space.

A number of people (19 that we know of) sent protest emails to management; we letterboxed thousands of residents in a broad area around the shopping centre; and on May 8 we held a widely supported free speech protest which marched down Sydney Road, right through the shopping centre and rallied in the forecourt. We developed support in the CFMEU and AMWU and various officials made phone calls to the ISPT (Industry Super Property Trust — the actual owners) on our behalf.

ISPT and management clearly felt the pressure and wanted the big stink we were causing to go away. Some of their actions seemed rather ill-considered. In the beginning they obviously expected big things from the police but were quickly disappointed. At the end they issued an order banning Dave Holmes from the shopping centre — but then right away arranged to meet with us to discuss the issue!

The deal which we have accepted means we can go back to our regular Saturday morning stalls at the carpark entrance. However, we have had to agree to increase our public liability insurance cover from $10 million to $20 million.

In addition, we have had to apply to Moreland Council for a permit for our stall on MacDougall Street (a laneway that goes through the centre on the less busy side of the complex). This has been granted but will have to be renewed each month.

(In over a decade council has never taken the slightest interest in our activities on MacDougall Street and clearly only acted in response to management’s pressure. But while permit regimes are not good and Green Left Weekly has tried to avoid them around the country, we wanted to get this issue off the table so we could concentrate all our efforts on the dispute with the centre.)

A related issue which we raised in our campaign is access by progressive community groups to the centre. While we were not able to advance on this and there remains no independent right of access (management’s insurance demand is a big problem here and it also appears that they want to avoid an open slather), we will do what we can to accomodate progressive local actuion groups through our stalls.

All in all, we have won an important victory. We didn't want to be banned and this situation was unexpectedly forced on us. Nevertheless, our campaign has achieved some real gains: the forces of corporate darkness have been beaten back, at least for now; a number of comrades became involved on various levels; it has raised our profile in the area (and not only there); important links have been developed with other groups; and we have increased public awareness on a vital issue which will be with us as long as we live under corporate capitalism.

Now that we have won a victory, the challenge for us is to make sure that we take full advantage of it. That is, we need to have a stall at the carpark entrance every single week and, weather permitting, on MacDougall Street as well. If you are interested in helping out, please get in touch!

Thousands rally to condemn murder of aid workers

2010-06-06T10:16:00.003+10:00

Photos by Sue Bolton. Beats by Clotaire K.

From Green Left Weekly

Thousands rally to condemn murder of aid workers

Saturday, June 5, 2010
By Kerry Smith

On May 31, Israeli defence force commandos boarded an aid ship in international waters. The ship was trying to break the illegal military blockade of the Gaza strip and transport much-needed food and medical supplies. Nine aid activists were killed and several snap actions were held in Australia to condemn Israel’s actions and call for an end to the blockade.

On June 1, 250 people rallied in Brisbane to condemn Israel’s attacks on the Gaza aid fleet. ALP vice-president Wendy Turner, and socialist activist and lecturer in creative industries Gary MacLennan, spoke.
The rally voted to demand that the Australian government join the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, and to immediately break diplomatic ties. People marched through the streets of the CBD chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” and “Boycott Israel”.

MacLennan said: "Our task is to commit our time, to commit our effort, ensuring the people who died, did not do so in vain.”
Referring to the killing of nine activists on the aid vessel, he said: "This was not an own goal, as [Israel says], this was deliberate, they knew what they were doing.

"There is no way they could do this without American funding and American help. Without US money, the Israeli economy would collapse.”

There was a second rally in Brisbane on June 4 of 400 people, organised by Justice for Palestine and Students for Palestine. Speakers included David Ford from the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) and Ross Price from the Electrical Trades Union.

Other speakers from the Arabic community attacked Israeli state terrorism and called for increased solidarity with the Palestinian people.

On June 1 in Sydney, 4000 people were on the streets. The protesters called on the Australian government to condemn this latest war crime by Israel. They also demanded an end to Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza.

Among the many speakers were Mal Tulloch from the CFMEU, Sheik al-Hilaly, Greens representatives Lee Rhiannon and Sylvia Hale and Ophelia Haragli from the Gaza Defence Committee.

A second Sydney rally on June 5 attracted about 3000 people. Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon told the crowd gathered at Town Hall Square: “In coming here today, you are joining hundreds of thousands of people around the world in condemning Israel’s actions.”

On June 1 in Perth, 150 marched to foreign minister Stephen Smith’s office and heard from the Greens’ Alison Xamon, among other speakers. This was followed by a vigil on June 4 and a rally on June 6.

Around 1500 people mobilised in Melbourne on June, and another 2000 protested on June 5. Big contingents came from the Turkish and Malaysian communities.

In Newcastle, 30 people rallied in support of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. The protest was organised by the Newcastle NoWar Collective. Freelance photographer Conor Ashleigh, who visited Gaza in December 2009 and Socialist Alliance and Greens members, all spoke.

Newcastle Trades Hall endorsed the rally and later circulated the CFMEU resolution that condemned the Israeli attack and supported the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign.

Over 300 people rallied in Wollongong on May 31. The action was organised by the Illawarra NoWar Coalition and featured speakers from the local Turkish and Lebanese community, South Coast Labour Council and the Socialist Alliance.

Climate protest in Maribyrnong.

2010-06-04T17:05:00.002+10:00

SA members attended a protest in Maribyrnong at the Edgewater housing estate on June 3, much of which is along the Maribyrnong river.

The protest was next to the offices of Federal Labor MP for Gellibrand, Nicola Roxon, and protesters leafletted traffic as it stopped at the lights while holding up a banner that reads "Edgewater: Underwater? Labor's coal addiction fuels climate change."

The protest idea was initiated by SA member (and climate activist) Ben Courtice, who is going to be SA's candidate for the seat of Gellibrand in the upcoming Federal election. Future actions to raise awareness about climate change in the west will be discussed at the Western Community Action Network website, and people interested in joining in should join the discussion there.

Photo by Ben Courtice

Protest the blockade of Gaza!

2010-06-03T13:53:00.000+10:00

Saturday 5 June

2pm

State Library, Swanston St Melbourne

In response to Israel's cold-blooded massacre of up to 19 human rights volunteers delivering much needed aid to Gaza, pro-Palestinian activists have taken to the streets all around the world, including thousands in New York, Stockholm and London and across the Middle East; deploring Israel's utter disregard for human life and international law and calling on their governments to act.

On Tuesday the 1st of June 1,500 people right here in Melbourne joined this international movement, from groups such as the Maritime Union of Australia, Students for Palestine, FAMSY and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and many others.

Following the rally, a coalition of these groups united under the banner of the Free Gaza Movement have decided that further action is needed, so a demonstration will be happening SATURDAY JUNE 5 2PM, at the STATE LIBRARY.

Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we will not be silent. In the face of Israel's deadly raid on innocent, unarmed civilians trying to lift the siege that drives the Palestinian people into dire poverty, WE NEED TO ACT!

For more information, contact Omar Hassan on 0421 185 037

Media spokespeople are Asem Judeh (0415 802 780) for the Arabic press or Mick Armstrong (0413 932 435) for the English press.

Edgewater underwater? Climate protest on June 3

2010-06-01T12:53:00.001+10:00

Activists from the Western Climate Action Network are planning to demonstrate outside Federal Labor MP Nicola Roxon’s office on June 3, 2010 to protest her government’s inaction on climate change.

One of Melbourne’s newest suburbs, Edgewater, could end up partly underwater if climate change remains unchecked. Areas of Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay are also threatened by more frequent flooding and even permanent inundation as sea levels rise. According to local council data, 370 Maribyrnong homes were affected during the floods of 1974. Flooding has affected or threatened homes on five separate occasions since then.

Climate change is making this worse: if the Greenland and Antarctic icecaps keep melting, the sea level will rise, probably over 1 metre during this century alone. Serious flooding along the river will become frequent, and much of Altona would be washed away.

Even before this all happens, it will have huge effects on land values and on insurance premiums. Some councils are already stopping building permits along the coast. The effects will affect local residents dramatically, long before the first house is flooded.

The responsibility for climate change is no mystery. Australia is the world’s worst greenhouse gas polluter, per person. That’s not even counting our coal exports, the world’s largest.

This action will call for the Rudd Government’s to take action on climate change. World Environment Day is June 5th and it is time they announced action. Dropping all pretense at a climate policy (the CPRS) is a backflip on climate for a government that was elected with a promise to take action.

The protest demands that the science of climate change be taken seriously and demands real action including:

Phase out all fossil fuels - close Hazelwood power station to start with, Australia's dirtiest;
Move to 100% renewable energy supplies; and
Create thousands of new jobs in manufacturing renewable energy systems

Join us to deliver a letter to Nicola Roxon and hold a banner up for the peak hour traffic on Gordon St to raise awareness. The banner will read "Edgewater underwater? Labor's coal addiction fuels climate change" and we will have a leaflet with the information above to give to passers by.

Meet at the corner of Gordon St & Mitchell St, Maribyrnong (opposite Aldi) from 3:30 PM (for a 4PM start) on Thursday June 3.

For more information phone Ben Courtice on 0413 580 706

View Larger Map

Socialist Alliance candidates for federal election

2010-06-01T10:43:00.000+10:00

Victoria

Victorian Senate team:

Margarita Windisch: “I migrated to Australia in the late 80s and have lived in Melbourne's west for the last ten years. I am a social worker by profession and currently teach community welfare in Footscray. My active participation involvement in social justice and community campaigns started in the early nineties, when the then Labor government enthusiastically sent troops in support of the first US invasion of Iraq. It became clear to me quickly that the Labor and Liberal-National parties were two sides of the same coin; political machines prepared to sacrifice the needs of the environment and the rights and aspirations of ordinary people in order to serve the rich and powerful.
“Over the last 20 years I have campaigned for women's and worker's rights, environmental sustainability and community democracy. I was a founding member of the Melbourne Stop the War Coalition, organising opposition to the unjust wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and helped organize campaigns against Israel's attacks on Lebanon and occupation of Palestine. More recently I have helped mobilise community support for improved public transport and was part of the successful Melbourne Dump Connex campaign.
“I have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with other workers on union picket lines and in protests demanding better union rights and the abolition of the ABCC.
“I believe in working together to build strong and healthy communities, which means we must challenge racist policies and assumptions. That's why I stand in solidarity with Australia's indigenous people against the discriminatory Norther Territory Intervention and oppose the repressive laws against refugees, asylum seekers and their supporters.
“I also advocate the phasing out of coal and a transition to 100% renewable energy, which can deliver thousands of needed jobs for Victorians and provides a much needed alternative to Australia's destructive mining sector.
“Privatisation has cost working people and our environment dearly and needs to be stopped. We need a massive injection of funds into the social sector to bring our collapsing health, education and housing infrastructure back to a level of human decency.
“With the right political will this is entirely possible.”

Sharon Firebrace is a Yorta Yorta woman from Echuca. Growing up in country Victoria, she is familiar with racism in country areas as well as the lack of services in country towns. Sharon has been involved in campaigns for indigenous rights since the 1970s. In the 1980s, Sharon campaigned for public recognition of the indigenous people who had died in custody in Victoria. She was CEO of the Aboriginal Advancement League in the early 1980s, and later served with the Indigenous Land Corporation and the East Gippsland Aboriginal Corporation. In the 1990s, she was involved in campaigning against racism throughout Victoria through the reconciliation process. More recently, Sharon founded the Aboriginal Genocide Centre in Melbourne and is campaigning for a treaty for indigenous Australians.
Previously a member of the Labor party, Sharon set up the Labor Party Group for Aboriginal People in Shepparton.
“I am disgusted that the Rudd Labor government has retained so many of the Howard government’s policies towards indigenous people, refugees and unions. I'm campaigning to end the discriminatory Northern Territory intervention.
“I am opposed to all forms of racism whether it is directed at Aborigines, migrants or refugees. I am opposed to the exploitation of international students and the exploitation of migrant workers on temporary 457 visas which give them no rights.”
Other issues that Sharon is particularly concerned about is ending the exploitation of workers and reversal of the privatization of our basic utilities and telecommunications.
Sharon attended the United Nations World Women’s conference in Kenya in 1985 and China in 1995.
Ron Guy: “At the age of 18, I became a union representative with the Federated Ironworkers Association. This led to a life of involvement in the union movement. I am currently an Australian Workers Union delegate in the petrochemical industry.
“I was involved in the campaign for a 35-hour week in 1978 and in the campaign against WorkChoices in 2005-2007. One major dispute I was involved was the Hoechst dispute when the company got its workers to clean out a dyeing plant which had been banned in Germany. All eight workers got cancer as a result.
“I am disappointed that the Rudd Labor government has retained the draconian Howard-era Australian Building and Construction Commission which treats building industry workers as worse than criminals.
“Being a unionist awakened a consciousness in me about social justice. In the 1990s I was involved in the East Timor solidarity campaign. Currently I am involved in a similar campaign of solidarity with the people of Western Sahara. I participated in the first Australian delegation to the Western Saharan refugee camps and also in the trade union brigade to the Western Saharan refugee camps. I have been campaigning to stop Australia importing phosphorous from occupied Western Sahara.
“I participated in the campaign to free David Hicks from Guantanamo Bay and in February 2010, I participated in a trade union brigade to build a house in an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory – the Alyawarr protest camp, part of the Ampilatwatja community.
“As well as being active in the union movement, I am interested in sustainable energy and am an artist. I was one of the founding members of the Post-Goughists art group.
“I am also the father of a four-year-old son.”

Seat of Wills:

Trent Hawkins: “I am 27 years old and a proud member of the Socialist Alliance, a progressive community-oriented party seeking to building an alternative to Labor and the Liberals.
“I’m also a qualified mechanical engineer, working in the renewable energy sector. I am a contributor to the Zero Carbon Australia 2020 Project produced by climate change solutions organization Beyond Zero Emissions.
“Since 2006, I have been active in the climate action movement, including the campaign to shut down Hazelwood power station and for the government to commit to 100% renewable energy by 2020.
“I am also active in social justice campaigns for indigenous and refugee rights and against war and racism. My other area of major interest is building solidarity with the revolutionary movements of Latin America.”

Seat of Gellibrand:

Ben Courtice: “My first involvement in politics was in the Greens' historic 1989 election campaign in Tasmania, fought over campaigns to stop logging of old native forests and a proposed new pulp mill. Some things never seem to change! I joined the socialist movement and worked in campaigns to protect Tasmania's forests in the 1990s.
“I have spent much of the last 13 years as a union activist in Melbourne’s western suburbs, in the Australian Manufacturing Worker Union. This is the “rust belt” – the increasingly abandoned industrial heartland, and also one of the most ethnically diverse, immigrant areas of the country. Workplace rights, industrial decline, and racism against immigrants and refugees are issues that have all affected me one way or another.
“But world events have returned me to the first political interest of my life: protecting the environment. In particular, stopping climate change. I have been centrally involved in organising many of the activities of the climate movement. I am involved in the Climate Emergency Network, I was a central organiser of the 2008 and 2009 Climate Emergency rallies. I also was one of the organisers of the 2009 Switch Off Hazelwood protest at the state's most polluting power station.
“I recently had the privilege to attend the World People’s Conference on Climate Change in Bolivia. The outcomes of this important conference will be felt when world leaders meet again in Mexico later this year. I hope that the Australian people can take every opportunity to send a message to our government that it must join with countries like Bolivia in seeking a real solution to climate change.”

Seat of Corio:

Sue Bull: “I’m 53 years old, I teach health and safety and I am sick of federal governments which promise change but deliver nothing.
“I am a committed trade unionist who is very disappointed that the Rudd government has not lived up to the promises made when the Your Rights At Work Campaign helped bring Labor to power in 2007. I also oppose changes to OHS laws which will reduce protections for workers.
“I’ve helped build many campaigns for progressive causes over the years; whether against unjust wars, for refugee and Aboriginal rights or for the environment.
“As an activist, I’m as concerned about climate change as I am about workers’ jobs. In a city like Geelong which is so dependent on carbon intensive industries like the aluminum smelter and car manufacture, I think we must develop a green jobs transition plan based on our needs not the markets. I believe that the community and the environment must come before corporate profits, big polluting industries and developers.
“The resources exist to build a very different society. The big four Australian banks 2009 pre-tax profits $23 billion. We should nationalise the banks and run them in the community interest, beginning with the re-nationalisation of the Commonwealth Bank. This might seem an 'extreme' policy to some, but let’s remember that the US and UK governments have already conducted crisis nationalisations and that the ALP has supported this policy in the past.
“If banks can be nationalised to save the capitalist system, they can be nationalised to serve the community.”

PROTEST THE ATTACKS ON GAZA FLOTILLA!

2010-05-31T23:20:00.000+10:00

There will be a meeting to organise protests in Melbourne, Tuesday 7pm at the Community Health Centre on the cornder of Sydney Rd and Harding St. All groups and individuals welcome.  An initial action will be happening on June 1 - see below.   

EMERGENCY ACTION

FREE GAZA MOVEMENT AID FLOTILLA AND 700 HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ATTACKED BY ISRAELI MILITARY

ACTIVISTS KILLED AND INJURED.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign is calling an emergency action for Tuesday, June 1 at 4.30pm, Bourke St Mall, Melbourne to protest the Israeli military's illegal boarding and hijacking of boats from the Free Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

Reports from the Free Gaza Movement have indicated that Israeli commandos boarded at least two of the boats and opened fire immediately. Turkish media has reported at least 2 activists have been killed and many more injured. The Free Gaza Movement have reported via their twitter feed that their Israeli attorney has stated up to 10 activists have been killed and that the hijacked boats are being directed to Haifa not Ashdod to avoid media scrutiny.

Please join us to protest Israel's illegal hijacking, attack and murder of unarmed humanitarian activists,
as well as Israel's illegal siege of Gaza.

Please bring banners, noise makers and wear a black arm band.

EMERGENCY ACTION

4.30pm, Tuesday, June 1

Cnr of Bourke St Mall and Swanston St,
Melbourne City.

for more information: 0439 454 375 or 0417 210 528

2010-05-27T21:10:00.000+10:00

Military crackdown in Thailand:
the Red Shirt movement and prospects for democracy

What’s behind the Red Shirt and Yellow Shirt movements in Thailand? Are the Red Shirts just supporters of millionaire politician Thaksin Shinawatra or are they fighting for more fundamental democracy and an end to elite rule?

Speakers:
Suda Rattanametanon, Thai Red Australia representative
Vannessa Hearman, Asia Pacific solidarity activist and Socialist Alliance member

Tuesday, 1 June, 6.30pm
(cheap meal from 6pm)

Resistance Centre,
Level 5, 407 Swanston St, city (opposite RMIT)

9639-8622
Organised by Socialist Alliance. We meet on the 1st Tuesday of the month.
www.socialist-alliance.org

Viva Cuba Solidarity Fiesta

2010-05-27T20:55:00.000+10:00

Viva Cuba Solidarity Fiesta

Join Green Left Weekly to celebrate the Cuban revolution

Saturday 17 July

7pm til late

Brunswick Town Hall

corner Sydney Rd & Dawson St, Brunswick

Live 8-piece Latin band, Fuego

Solidarity toasts, Delicious Latin food and Cuban drinks

$45 solidarity/ $35 waged/ $20 concession

(food and music included)

Band only: $20 waged/ $12 concession

A Green Left Weekly fundraiser. Supported by Socialist Alliance.

For bookings: Phone 9639 8622

Film screening - Capitalism: A Love Story

2010-05-27T20:46:00.000+10:00

Capitalism: A Love Story
a film by Michael Moore

followed by discussion

From Michael Moore, the maker of Roger and Me, Sicko and Fahrenheit 9/11, comes a documentary examining how the recent economic crisis affected ordinary people in the United States. At the behest of the 'free market', people lost their homes and their jobs. Banks got bailed out, but people continued to suffer.

With the Greek economic crisis now threatening to bring down the European Union and workers being told they must accept pay cuts, welfare cuts and a new round of austerity measures, this documentary is still as timely as ever. It's time to ask, is the problem a few bad executives at Goldman Sachs or capitalism itself?

Thursday 10 June
6.30pm
Clarrie Wohlers Centre
51 Albert Street
Brunswick

(how to get there: catch the number 1 or 8 tram along Lygon Street, get off at Albert Street and walk 3 minutes eastwards)
Entry by donation

Information: 9639 8622 or 0407 023 672
Organised by Socialist Alliance (northern suburbs branch) and Green Left Weekly

Socialist Ideas Discussion Series

2010-05-27T20:36:00.000+10:00

This is a fortnightly seminar series on Wednesday nights on key questions facing the socialist movement. While prior reading is not necessary in each case we have suggested one or two short relevant background articles which may be of interest (all available from the Resistance Centre).

Venue: Resistance Centre, 5th Floor, 407 Swanston St, City (opposite RMIT).
Cheap meal from 6.30pm. Presented by Socialist Alliance.
For further information ph 9639 8622.

Women: Equal participants in society or oppressed sex? — Wednesday, June 9, 7pm
Women today have supposedly never had it so good but this claim rings rather hollow when one looks at the facts. Far from being equal participants in society with men, women face a series of formidable obstacles. Will
this ever change under capitalism? What can socialism offer?
Presenter: Anthea Stutter.
[Background reading: Pat Brewer, The Dispossession of Women (Resistance Books, 2000).]

Consumerism, population & climate change —Wednesday, June 23, 7pm
Too much stuff? Too many people? These are often put forward as the root causes of climate change. Is this true? Should the focus of our struggle be on these questions, to what extent, or elsewhere?
Presenter: Nick Fredman.
[Background reading: Simon Butler, ‘Ten reasons why population control is not an answer to climate change’, http://links.org.au/node/1076.]

Where is the left going? — Wednesday, July 7, 7pm
The Australian left remains heavily divided and fragmented. Will this situation ever change? Is there a road to greater unity of the socialist left?
Presenter: Tony Dewberry.
[Background reading: Socialist Alliance, ‘Time to get serious about left unity’,
http://www.socialist-alliance.org/page.php?page=921.]

World Refugee Day Rally

2010-05-05T18:48:00.000+10:00

Call to action - Protest dinner

2010-05-05T18:46:00.000+10:00

Rally for Same-Sex Marriage Rights

2010-05-05T18:39:00.000+10:00

National Day of Action

Saturday
15 May
1pm

State Library
cnr Swanston & La Trobe Streets, City.

Green Left Weekly 10th Annual Comedy Debate

2010-04-30T09:57:00.001+10:00

To book online click here

Or email us

May Day Toast

2010-04-28T19:18:00.003+10:00

Celebrate May Day with Socialist Alliance

Join us for our May Day Toast and brunch

Sunday 2 May
Resistance Centre, Level 5, 407 Swanston St, city (opposite RMIT)
From 10.30am: Brunch
11am: Speakers & Toast to May Day

Kurdish music from Fadil Suna and friends

Speakers:

Sharon Firebrace, indigenous activist from Black Rights Action Group
Joan Doyle, state secretary, Postal division of Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union
Representative of RISE refugees, survivors, ex-detainees

Following the May Day Toast, we will join the official May Day march which starts at 1pm from Trades Hall. For more information: 9639 8622 or 0413 377 978

Public Meeting: Eyewitness report: "Climate change World People's Summit"

2010-04-27T19:53:00.000+10:00

Cochabamba, Bolivia April 19-22

Eyewitness reporters:
Ben Courtice (Socialist Alliance candidate - Seat of Gellibrand)
Pablo Brait (Beyond Zero Emissions & Yarra Climate Action Now)

6.30pm, Tuesday 4 May
Resistance Centre, Level 5, 407 Swanston St, CBD (opp. RMIT)

Bolivia is one of the strongest critics of the Copenhagen accord which was drafted behind closed doors by only five countries the US, China, South Africa, India and Brazil.The US has suspended its climate change aid to Bolivia and Ecuador because both countries have refused to endorse the accord.

The conference attracted participants including scientist James Hansen; actor, director, and activist Danny Glover; journalist and activist Naomi Klein ; Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva; Egidio Brunetto, a leader of Brazil's Movement of Landless Rural Workers and Lumumba Di-Aping, who served as chief negotiator for the G77 group of developing nations at Copenhagen. Seventy governments were represented as well as numerous NGOs and community groups.

The event has been hailed as an historic step towards building a global movement for radical action on climate change. Melbourne climate activists Ben Courtice (Socialist Alliance) and Pablo Brait (Beyond Zero Emissions) attended the Summit.

www.socialist-alliance.org or Ph 9639 8622 or 0418 691 403

Defend free speech at Barkly Square!

2010-04-26T22:09:00.008+10:00

Rally

Support the right of community groups to have stalls

Saturday 8 May, 11am
Outside Free Speech Monument and Mechanic's Institute
Cnr Sydney and Glenlyon Rds, Brunswick

Speakers include:

Brian Walters, former Liberty Victoria president, former Free Speech Victoria vice president and Greens candidate. Brian is also author of Slapping on the Writs: Defamation, Developers and Community Activism.
Sharon Firebrace, indigenous activist from the northern suburbs and from Black Rights Action Group.
Cyndi Dawes, Greens candidate for the state seat of Brunswick
Trent Hawkins, Socialist Alliance candidate for the federal seat of Wills
High School for Coburg representative
Ellen Roberts, Climate Action Moreland
Wayne Klempel, AMWU northern district secretary
CFMEU representative
Peter Riley, Wednesday Action Group
Debbie Brennan, Campaign for Women's Reproductive Rights
David Glanz, Solidarity
Margarita Windisch, Socialist Alliance senate candidate

The protest is endorsed by: Mick Counihan (son of Brunswick artist and communist who was involved in the 1933 Brunswick Free Speech campaign) and Moreland councillors toby Archer and Enver Erdogan

Barkly Square Shopping Centre management have stopped Green Left Weekly from operating our regular Saturday morning card table stalls. They tried this before in 2005 but after a vigorous public campaign, they agreed that the stalls could continue. For the next four years everything proceeded smoothly. But now they want to restrict us to one stall in a dead area right on Sydney Road (!) and impose oppressive insurance conditions to boot.

On February 20 and subsequent Saturdays management called police, who shut our protest stalls and threatened to charge us. The action of Barkly Square management is an attack on freedom of speech. Their attack on us is an attack on the right of any community group to set up a stall and hand out material to shoppers. A campaign group turning up to hand out leaflets on climatechange or the closure of a school would quickly be shut down by security. This isn’t right.

Community stalls a part of Brunswick life

Green Left Weekly’s stalls distribute the alternative press and leaflets supporting a range of progressive causes. They are part of the varied community activities which make Brunswick such an interesting place in which to live.

From our stalls you can obtain material supporting rights for workers, women and refugees; real action on climate change; opposing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and so on. Obviously not everyone agrees with our political views but we hassle nobody and many shoppers
appreciate our presence.

Send protests to centre management

We ask that Barkly Square management return to our earlier agreement and allow our weekly card table stalls to continue as before on Saturdays at the front and back of the centre.

For further information or to help the campaign, call Green Left Weekly on 9639 8622.

Sample message of protest to centre management

While not necessarily agreeing with its political views, we support the right of the non-profit newspaper Green Left Weekly to conduct its regular Saturday morning stalls at Barkly Square Shopping Centre. These stalls have operated on a weekly basis for almost 10 years without incident and are a legitimate part of Brunswick’s diverse community culture. We deplore the attack on the basic right to free speech by the management of the Barkly Square Shopping Centre and call on you to allow these stalls to continue as before.

Send protests to: Maureen Vercoe, Centre Manager, Level 1, 90-106 Sydney Road,Brunswick 3056; call the centre office on 9387 8411 to register your opposition; or send an email to maureen.vercoe@ap.jll.com (please cc us at melbourne@greenleft.org.au).

Public space is being taken away from us

Barkly Square management’s attack on us is part of a disturbing pattern around the country. Public space is being shrunk and privatised.
Shopping centres are really social space

Today’s big shopping centres are really public spaces — we all have to go there but for many people the social experience is as important as the shopping. However, these complexes are owned by big business whose only concern is making a profit.

Car park handed over to Dodgy Brothers

A prime example of this attitude is the Barkly Square carpark. Once it was completely free but like many others around Melbourne it has been handed over to a gang of sharp operators who make their money by levying fake ‘fines’ against people for not displaying their parking tickets. They rely on intimidating people into paying but their ‘fines have no legal force.

Shopping centre pretended it owned public street

Another example is management’s original claim that it ‘owned’ the MacDougall Street walkway linking the two parts of the complex. They tried to accuse us of ‘trespass’ but the whole street is actually public space that comes under the jurisdiction of Moreland City Council. Management now seem to have backed off on this.

Alternative views being marginalised

More and more, the right to free speech is being restricted. Progressive views are marginalised. A non-profit newspaper like Green Left Weekly is not like the huge Fairfax and Murdoch corporate press. It is sold by volunteers on the streets, at shopping centres and markets, at demonstrations and other public places.

Don’t distract the shoppers

Recently mall owners have even said they want to ban handing out election material in shopping centres during the next federal elections — it distracts shoppers from spending money!

Barkly Square actually owned by super fund

While management is the instigator of the attacks on Green Left Weekly, the centre is actually owned by ISPT, an investment fund made up of a number of trade union- and church-based industry super funds. That is, a fund disposing of workers’ deferred wages owns a shopping centre whose management is attacking a staunchly pro-worker and pro-union newspaper. That’s not right.

77 years ago in Brunswick …

We tend to take our civil liberties for granted but in fact our rights only exist —whether legally or defacto — because at various times people have stood up and fought for them.

Fight for free speech

Opposite the Counihan Gallery and the Brunswick Town Hall, on the lawn in front of the Mechanic’s Institute, is a monument. It is easy to overlook but in fact it commemorates an extremely important free-speech struggle waged right here in 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression.

A state law banning ‘subversive’ gatherings was used by the police — under the command of the very right-wing police commissioner, General Thomas Blamey — to break up meetings of radicals and the unemployed. Dozens of members of the Unemployed Workers Movement and the Communist Party were arrested in repeated courageous protests during Friday late-night shopping.

The man in the cage

A celebrated incident took place on May 16 at the corner of Sydney Road and Phoenix Street in Brunswick. Young CPA member Noel Counihan (later a celebrated artist) locked himself inside an old steel mesh lift cage bolted onto the back of a horse-drawn cart which in turn was securely chained to a verandah post.

From the safety of his improvised fortress he spoke to a large and growing crowd — one estimate put it at 10,000 — for 15 or so minutes on the situation of the unemployed, the right to free speech, war and the rise of Hitler. The police were beside themselves. Earlier that evening in Brunswick a free-speech activist had been shot in the leg by the cops. With the police smashing at his cage with an improvised battering ram, Counihan eventually came out and was duly arrested.

After three months, the campaign was finally successful. The Nationalist state government backed off and brought in a new, less restrictive law and street meetings were generally allowed to proceed without police harrassment.

Authorised by Dave Holmes, Level 5, 407 Swanston St, Melbourne 3000.
9639-8622 or 0413-377-978

SA West branch conference

2010-04-19T15:08:00.002+10:00

Tuesday 11 May

7pm

West Footscray Neighbourhood House,

539 Barkly St West Footscray

(walk from West Footscray station or catch Bus 220 from Footscray).

For information contact: Stuart Martin ph 0401 990 964
or Anthea Stutter ph 0422 497 753
or email melbourne@socialist-alliance.org.au

Celebrate May Day in Geelong at the May Day dinner

2010-04-19T15:04:00.003+10:00

Join the 9th Annual Green Left Weekly May Day dinner

Workers Safety - are we going backwards?

Guest speaker: Martin Kingham, former CFMEU Victorian secretary and former national assistant secretary. Martin has a long history in leading campaigns to improve safety for workers.

Saturday 1 May, 7pm

downstairs @ Geelong Trades Hall
127 Myers St, Geelong

Tickets: $40 solidarity/ $30 waged / $20 concession

Phone 5222 6900 for bookings

Pakistani activist speaks out: US out of Pakistan and Afghanistan

2010-04-19T14:46:00.002+10:00

Wednesday 28 April,1pm

Medical Building Frederick Wood Jones Theatre Melbourne Uni

Ammar Ali Jan is Labour Party Pakistan's youth secretary. He is speaking at public meetings in Sydney, Wollongong and Melboure on resistance to the US war on Afghanistan and its extension into Pakistan.

Since 2001, the US military has occuppied Afghanistan and since then the US and its allies have expanded the war into Pakistan.

US drone attacks have killed hundreds of Pakistani civilians. When will all this madness stop?

Ammar Ali Jan will also be speaking at the national Resistance conference in Wollongong on 24-26 April. See www.resistance.org.au for details.

For more information, call 9639-8622 or 0431-311-520

Organised by Resistance.

Supported by Socialist Alliance.

Mourning the dead and fighting for the living

2010-04-19T14:34:00.000+10:00

Mourning the dead and fighting for the living

Wednesday 28 April
10am
Trades Hall

On Wednesday April 28 workers around Australia will be holding commemoration ceremonies, rallies and marches to mourn the dead and fight for the living. The theme of International Workers Memorial Day for 2010 is Unions and Health and Safety Reps Make Workplaces Safer. Australia is currently in the process of nationally harmonising its OHS legislation: Act, Regulations and Codes. The union movement continues to fight for the best model laws for all workers: laws that will maintain and strengthen the powers and rights of elected reps and ensure appropriate right of entry for union officials for OHS matters.

Joint VTHC and IDSA Commemoration Ceremony at Argyle Place, Lygon St, Carlton South
10.00am: Proceed to the Trades Hall, to join Building Industry Rally and March re ABCC interference in OHS
11.00am: Stop for one minute silence in to remember those killed as a result of work

Refugees are welcome - Indigenous elders welcome refugees

2010-04-19T14:24:00.000+10:00

Refugees are welcome

Indigenous elders welcome Merak asylum seekers with Original Nation passport-signing ceremnony

Saturday 1 May

12-3pm

Victorian Trades Hall

Victoria Streets, Carlton

Speakers include:
representatives from the Aboriginal community, Trades Hall, the Tamil community, Refugee Action Collective
Be there when the Aboriginal Tent Embassy presents Original Nation passports to the refugees in Merak!
Organised by Refugee Action Collective www.rac-vic.org

Protest racist law

2010-04-19T13:57:00.000+10:00

Protest against racist laws

Protest rally at Yarra Council meeting against the racist Local Law 8
Tuesday 20 April, 6PM

@ RICHMOND TOWNHALL 333 Bridge Road Richmond
Melway ref: 2H, B6

Local Law 8 bans public drinking in the City of Yarra. This law is racist because it is directed at the local Indigenous community in Fitzroy while allowing public drinking if you can afford to drink at a licensed outdoor cafe or restaurant. See http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/817/42012

This law:
Violates basic Human Rights tramples on Individual Freedom

Violates Australian values of "presumption of innocence"

breaches Victorian Charter for Human Rights

breaches Commonwealth Laws
Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Act 1986
Racial Discrimination Act 1975
Disability Discrimination Act 1992

Alcoholism is a wider social problem, requiring community input, services & programs not racist laws that victimise and bully

Organised by Black Rights Action Group (BRAG), Alliance for Aboriginal Rights (AfAR), & Aboriginal Genocide Centre c/- 184-186 Gertrude St
Fitzroy 3065
Sharon Firebrace 0401 414 967 sharonfirebr...@bigpond.com
Robbie Thorpe 0457 045 784

Film and Launch of Indigenous Rights Charter

2010-04-16T16:20:00.003+10:00

Film showing
The Intervention: Katherine, NT and Launch of Indigenous Rights Charter

This year, the Indigenous Doctors' Association and former Family Court judge Alastair Nicholson have condemned the Rudd government's continuation of Howard's policy of "intervening" into Aboriginal communities. This "intervention" has entailed the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act and introduction of 'welfare quarantining'.

The Intervention is a 2008 documentary about the impact, one year on, of this intervention in the Northern Territory. Find out more about Socialist Alliance's indigenous rights stance and activities.

Speakers will discuss recent developments in the campaign to stop the intervention:

Sharon Firebrace, Black Rights Action Group
Mick Bull, worked on the trade union brigade in solidarity with the Alyawarr people in Central Australia in February this year and an organiser with the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union

Hosted by Socialist Alliance candidate for Wills, Trent Hawkins.

Thursday 29 April, 6.30pm
Clarrie Wohlers Centre, 51 Albert Street, Brunswick

(How to get there: Tram no. 1 or 8 along Lygon Street, get off at Albert Street and walk eastwards, the centre is beside Fleming Park).

The World Can't Wait! Resistance National Conference 2010

2010-04-12T21:07:00.005+10:00

Find more general info about the conference here, and the full agenda is here.

There's a group of people heading to the Resistance Conference from Melbourne. Join the Melbourne contingent!

If you're interested in coming, but need help with accomodation or transport, please contact Chris on 0431 311 520 or email him.

Melbourne rally rejects racism

2010-04-09T21:34:00.004+10:00

By Chris Peterson, Melbourne

April 9

When word started spreading that the far right wanted to relive the 2005 racist Cronulla riot by organizing a “mass rally against migrants and Islam” in Melbourne, left and progressive groups started organizing a counter rally.

This event was aimed at inciting the kind of hatred that has led to an increase in violence towards migrants and international students in Melbourne. A similar racist rally was called in Sydney.

On April 9, around 300 people converged on Flinders St station to join the Unite Against Racism rally.

The racists were prevented from having their rally and march because the Unite Against Racism rally occupied the space beforehand. The racists abandoned any attempt to hold a rally and stayed in the pub across the road from the anti-racist rally.

Among the groups represented by rally participants were the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Melbourne Anti-Intervention Collective, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the United Firefighters Union, the meatworkers union the National Union of Workers, Refugee Action Collective and Australia Asia Worker Links as well as several socialist groups.

Sharon Firebrace, an Indigenous activist from Black Rights Action Group, linked the issue of injustice against indigenous people with that against migrants. Firebrace said, “No one is above the law. We are all equal! We need equality before the law!” Bishop Philip Huggins argued that “racism is a complete nonsense”.

Trades Hall Council secretary Brian Boyd argued that racism is a tool used to divide working people and that “fascism is not welcome in this city”.

Comedian Nazeem Hussain pointed to the racism of police in Melbourne, on the one hand denying attacks on Indians were racially motivated and on the other hand encouraging Indians not to speak too loudly in their own language.

Other speakers included Felicity Hill from the Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom, Socialist Party Yarra councilor Steve Jolly, Greens candidate for the federal seat of Melbourne Adam Bandt and comedian Rod Quantock.

There were also musical performances by the Brothahood and Musicians for Justice.

According to Trent Hawkins, Socialist Alliance candidate for the federal seat of Wills, “The far right has been emboldened to have these rallies because of the racist atmosphere created by Liberal and Labor's anti-refugee, anti-indigenous and anti-terrorism campaigns. Racism has been legitimised by the major parties.”

Rally against Racism

2010-04-01T16:00:00.003+11:00

Rally Against Racism
Friday 9 April at 12 noon
Flinders Street station, Melbourne

A fascist group has called a rally in Melbourne against immigrants and against Islam. We have endorsed a peaceful rally that is happening in the same day and place to stop the racists. Come to this rally.

Meeting with Indonesian socialist Mahendra - Sun 28 March 4pm

2010-03-26T15:31:00.007+11:00

Socialist Alliance invites members and supporters to come along and meet Mahendra this Sunday, 28 March from 4pm at the Resistance Centre, Level 5, 407 Swanston Street, Melbourne (after the Palm Sunday Peace March which is from State Library at 2pm).

Ignatius Mahendra from the Working People's Association (Perhimpunan Rakyat Pekerja, PRP) is visiting Australia and holding a range of meetings and forums with socialist groups and trade unions.

Mahendra is vice chairperson of the International Department of the PRP. He was previously involved in the National Students' League for Democracy (LMND). In his role as the regional head of LMND in Yogyakarta, Central Java, he was jailed between 2003 to 2005 for the ridiculous charge of insulting the president (at that time Megawati Sukarnoputri) when he protested against rising prices. Preparations to establish PRP began in 2004 when representatives from ten cities attended a meeting in Solo, Central Java. They agreed on the importance of rebuilding class politics in the face of intensifying capitalist attacks on workers. PRP publishes a newspaper called the People's Paper (Koran Rakyat)

More about Mahendra and the PRP: http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/cahr/defenders/Mahendra.htm PRP website (in Indonesian) http://www.prp-indonesia.org/ There will be an interview in a forthcoming issue of Green Left Weekly with Mahendra.

Joint Socalist Alliance statements with the PRP and other left groups in the Asia-Pacific region Here are the links:
Merak Refugees http://www.socialist-alliance.org/page.php?page=884
Cancel Haiti's Debt http://www.socialist-alliance.org/page.php?page=899
Obama Visit http://www.socialist-alliance.org/page.php?page=913

Trade unionists speak out against NT intervention

2010-03-15T18:44:00.017+11:00

RMIT Public meeting

Wednesday 17 March, 1.30pm

Resistance Centre, Druids House

Level 5, 407 Swanston St, city (opp RMIT)

Guest speaker Mick Bull, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union organiser, will talk about union solidarity brigade to build a house for the Alyawarr protest camp.

Not one government-funded new house has been built on an indigenous community since the NT intervention was introduced in 2007.

Working together, the Alyawarr people in Central Australia and trade unionists from Melbourne, Sydney and other cities are showing the way. In February, they built a "protest house" and other facilities at the Alyawarr people's protest camp.

Organised by Resistance
Phone 9639 8622 or Chris on 0431 311 520

Aboriginal leader from NT to speak at Melbourne University

2010-03-15T18:00:00.009+11:00

Melbourne University Public meeting

Trade unionists speak out:

Indigenous communities resisting the NT intervention

1pm Tuesday 16 March

Latham Theatre, Redmond Barry Building

Melbourne University

Guest speakers:

Richard Downs, spokesperson for the Alyawarr people, Ampilatwatja community, Northern Territory.

Ron Guy, Australian Workers Union delegate, will talk about union solidarity brigade to build a house for the Alyawarr protest camp.

Not one government-funded new house has been built on an indigenous community since the NT intervention was introduced in 2007.

Working together, the Alyawarr people in Central Australia and trade unionists from Melbourne, Sydney and other cities are showing the way. In February, they built a "protest house" and other facilities at the Alyawarr people's protest camp.

Organised by Resistance
Phone 9639-8622 or Chris on 0431-311-520

Next Socialist Alliance city-wide meeting

2010-03-14T15:30:00.028+11:00

WHEN WORKERS ARE IN CHARGE

A discussion of workers’ and community-run enterprises in Bangladesh, Venezuela, and Australia

Fahreen Alamgir is a researcher from Bangladesh. She will look at the implications of globalisation on the jute sector and the communities involved with it. Rampant privatization and closure of jute mills has led to massive retrenchments. However there is an emerging discussion among workers calling for workers’ democracy in the jute mills.

Dave Kerin is an organizer with the Mining Division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in the Latrobe Valley with a longstanding interest in workers’ cooperatives.
Based on his own experiences, he will look at both the difficulties and advantages of getting worker cooperatives up and going in Australia.

Tuesday 6 April 6.30pm
With a cheap, home-cooked meal from 6pm
Resistance Activist Centre Level 5, 407 Swanston St (opp RMIT)
Socialist Alliance holds discussion and organising meetings 1st Tues of each month

Rally for Same-Sex Marriage

2010-03-11T15:27:00.006+11:00

Rally for Same-Sex Marriage

Saturday 13 March, 1.00pm

State Library of Victoria, Cnr Swanston and La Trobe St

Two weeks ago the Australian Senate rejected an important bill to grant equal marriage rights to all Australians. The result goes to show just how out of touch our politicians are with public opinion. Polling indicates that at least 60% of Australians support same-sex marriage, and yet only 2% of our elected representatives are prepared to stand up for our rights.