Socialist Alliance Western Australia

Human Rights Day rally: Sat 5 Dec - Asylum is a Human Right

2009-11-13T20:41:00.000+08:00

On the eve of Human Rights Day, tell Kevin Rudd:

ASYLUM is a HUMAN RIGHT

* Let the refugees in

* End ties with repressive regimes: Sri Lanka & Israel

* Bring the troops home from Afghanistan

RALLY AND MARCH FOR JUSTICE, DEMOCRACY & HUMAN RIGHTS

Sat 5 Dec

Gather: 12:30pm, Wesley Church (cnr Hay & William Sts)

March: through the city

Phone:

Australian Tamil Congress: 0419 942 613

Alex Bainbridge: 0413 976 638

Phil Chilton: 0417 904 329

Victoria Martin-Iverson: 0410 589 064

Asylum is a human right - let the refugees in!

In August 2001, John Howard turned back the Tampa, with 453 rescued asylum seekers on board. Declaring them 'illegal', these asylum seekers - most of whom had fled persecution in Iraq and Afghanistan - were the first casualties of Howard's 'Pacific Solution'. Hundreds more asylum seekers languished in detention centres on the Australian mainland.

Re-enacting Howard's inhumane policy, Kevin Rudd last month turned back the Australian customs ship, the Oceanic Viking, with rescued 78 Tamil asylum seekers on board. Declaring that these asylum seekers too were 'illegal', Rudd announced that their applications for asylum should be processed in Indonesia, despite the fact that Indonesia has no obligation to do so, never having signed The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

In the first half of this year, Australia accepted only 1% of all global asylum seeker applications. Since the turning back of the Tampa, in 2001, the numbers of refugees being accepted by Australia has declined as a proportion of Australia's overall migration intake.

We demand that the Rudd government allow entry to Australia by all those seeking asylum, regardless of how they arrive, and that the policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers be ended once and for all.

End ties with repressive regimes: Israel & Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka today, some 300,000 Tamils are being kept in military-run internment camps with no access to the outside world. Killings, abductions, torture and rape are rife; but not a word of criticism has been uttered by the Australian government. In just four months this year, 20-50,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the Sri Lankan government's war against the Tamil people. Discrimination against Tamils and the 'disappearances' of journalists and human rights activists, including from among the majority Sinhalese community, are standard practice of the Sri Lankan regime.

Israel's recent bloody assault on Gaza resulted in the deaths of 1400 people. It maintains a crippling economic blockade. This is just the most recent episode in the Apartheid-like campaign of occupation and dispossession against the Palestinian people.

In place of self-interested commercial and geo-political considerations, Australia's foreign policy must be governed by a commitment to human rights and global justice. Australia must condemn the wars against the Tamils and Palestinians and end ties with the repressive regimes in Sri Lanka and Israel. Further we must support full self-determination for Sri Lanka's Tamils; and the complete withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories and the dismantling of all anti-Palestinian discriminatory policies within Israel itself.

Bring the troops home from Afghanistan

The recent fraudulent elections in Afghanistan expose the fact that the puppet regime of Hamid Karzai supported by the US, NATO and Australia has no legitimacy or popular support. Eight years of occupation have resulted in thousands of civilian casualties, expansion of the war into Pakistan, growth of support for the Taliban and continued rule by warlords. The occupation is the cause of the problem, not part of the solution. Kevin Rudd and Barack Obama want to expand the war. Demand an end to the war. Bring the troops home.

Green Left Weekly solidarity dinner

2009-11-09T18:08:00.000+08:00

Green Left Weekly

SOLIDARITY DINNER

with:
Dave Kerin

(CFMEU mining & energy division organiser; founder of Union Solidarity; and environmental activist)

Sam Wainwright

(newly elected Socialist Alliance member of the Fremantle Council; and MUA member)

7pm, Sat 28 Nov

State School Teachers Union Function Room

150-152 Adelaide Terrace, Perth

$20 unwaged/$30 waged/$50 solidarity

Proceeds to Green Left Weekly

Let the refugees in: Protest Mon 9 Nov

2009-11-08T10:19:00.002+08:00

Protest for Refugee Rights:
12:30pm, Mon 9 Nov
Office of Chris Evans (Immigration Minister)
51 Ord St, West Perth
(This action has been organised by the newly reformed Refugee Rights Action Network. Next meeting: 6.30pm, Mon 9 Nov, Moon Cafe, cnr William & Newcastle Sts, Northbridge.)

Another important rally for Refugee Rights will take place:
12:30pm, Sat 5 Dec
Wesley Church
cnr William & Hay Sts, Perth
(This action has been organised by a coalition of groups involving Perth Tamil community representatives. Next meeting: 6pm, Wed 11 Nov, Perth Activist Centre.)

See the statement on this issue by regional left groups below.

See also these related links

Regional left groups statement on Tamil refugees

Respect human rights - free the refugees!

Reject Australia's 'Indonesian solution'!
Australia should welcome the asylum seekers!

A joint statement of:

Socialist Alliance, Australia; Socialist Party, Australia; Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM); Network of the Oppressed People (JERIT), Malaysia; CWI Malaysia; Confederation Congress of Indonesian Union Alliance (KASBI); Working Peoples Association (PRP), Indonesia; National Liberation Party of Unity (PAPERNAS); Indonesian National Front for Labor Struggle (FNPBI); Socialist Worker - New Zealand

November 5, 2009
All respect for elementary human rights and dignity has been thrown overboard as the governments of Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia refuse to accept the latest wave of Tamil asylum seekers fleeing war and oppression in Sri Lanka and instead treat them like criminals.
The Australian government is the only of these three governments to have signed the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees but it is refusing to carry out its obligations to asylum seekers under that convention.
For weeks, more than 250 Tamil-speaking people, including children, remain in dire conditions on a boat in Merak, Indonesia. Another 78 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers, including children, remain on the Australian customs ship Oceanic Viking off Tanjung Pinang, Indonesia. Both groups are refusing to leave their boats for fear that Indonesia will lock them up in detention centres with a reputation for brutality and/or send them back to an uncertain future in Sri Lanka. On November 1, it was reported that a boat of asylum seekers had sunk near the Cocos Islands, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, and 12 are missing feared drowned.
Meanwhile, 207 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers are being held at the Immigration Detention Centre at Kuala Lumpar International Airport, and 108 Sri Lankan refugees are being detained at Pekan Nanas Immigration Detention Centre in Johor, Malaysia. Malaysia is both a transit point and a country of permanent asylum for tens of thousands of refugees from countries such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd claims its policy is "humane" but "tough". It is neither. The Rudd Labor government of Australia is bribing the Indonesian government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to intercept the boats of asylum seekers on their way to Australia. This "Indonesian solution" out-sources Australia's obligation to asylum seekers to Indonesia just as its predecessor did to Nauru and PNG in the name of a "Pacific solution".
Many of those seeking asylum in Australia come from Sri Lanka where the Tamils have suffered from decades of brutal oppression at the hands of various Sinhala national chauvinist governments. The government of Mahinda Rajapaksa unleashed an all-out terror campaign this year, killing some 20,000 Tamil people in the month of May. Since the end of the military offensive, more than 300,000 Tamil people have been imprisoned in concentration-style camps and denied the right to return to their homes. It is estimated that 31,000 children are among those incarcerated, without proper access to shelter, food and medicine.
The Australian government, like many governments in the West and across Asia, supported the Rajapaksa regime throughout its final onslaught, preferring to maintain trade links - including selling arms - rather than stop the Tamil minority from being massacred.

We condemn the Australian, Indonesian and Malaysian governments for their lack of commitment to the humanitarian problems faced by the refugees and we demand:

That the governments of our countries withdraw financial and diplomatic support from the Sri Lankan government until it closes the concentration camps, and allows the Tamils trapped in camps to go back to their homes without fear of persecution.
That no refugee fleeing war and persecution should be forced to return to the country they fled.
That Australia, as a wealthy and developed country which has exploited its poorer neighbours, should immediately develop a program to settle tens of thousands of asylum seekers and take a leading role in helping reduce the misery of the world’s millions of refugees, most of whom are trying to survive in desperate conditions in refugee camps in some of the world's poorest countries.
That Australia allow the asylum seekers trapped in Indonesia to come to Australia to have their claims heard and we condemn the Indonesian government for being a puppet for the Australian government in preventing refugees from going to Australia. This cooperation between these two governments is a threat not only to the Tamil refugees but to human rights in the region.
That Australia must immediately close the Christmas Island refugee prison, and allow those asylum seekers to live in freedom in Australia while their claims are processed.
That the Indonesian, Malaysian and Australian governments respect the human rights of the refugees, give protection, humanitarian aid and accommodation to the refugees as long as they are in Indonesian territory and place no limitation for their rights to seek asylum.
That the Malaysian and Indonesian governments sign the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, release the asylum seekers they have in detention and allow them full access to UNHCR and human rights groups.

We appeal to all democratic and progressive people in Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, trade unions, human rights organisations and women’s rights organisations to understand the plight of the asylum seekers and to support our demands.
[If your organisation would like to add its name to this statement, please write to Socialist Alliance at national_office@socialist-alliance.org.]

Download a copy of the petition to let the refugees in

Socialist Allilance 7th national conference January 2010

2009-11-07T10:20:00.002+08:00

Fighting for socialism in the 21^st Century:

Towards Sustainability, Justice and People’s Power

Socialist Alliance 7^th National Conference

Sydney, January 2-5, 2010

Women’s College, University of Sydney

Sponsored by Green Left Weekly

INITIAL AGENDA^*

SATURDAY, JANUARY 2

7.30pm Their Crises, Our Solutions. Public meeting to launch the conference

SUNDAY, JANUARY 3

9am Welcome to country

9.15am The Socialist Alliance’s perspectives for struggle in 2010 (panel of speakers and discussion)

10.30am Socialist election strategy and tactics: preparing for the next federal election (panel of speakers and discussion)

12.15pm Building the climate action movement (panel of speakers and discussion)

2.45pm The struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights (panel of speakers and discussion)

4pm Multiple workshops to plan campaigning on: climate change, Aboriginal rights, same-sex marriage rights, anti-war and Latin America solidarity

7.30pm Green Left Weekly Fighting Fund rally. An evening of speakers, music and multi-media presentations to launch the 2010 fighting fund for Australia’s # 1 alternative newspaper.

MONDAY, JANUARY 4

9am Rebuilding the trade unions for the fights ahead (panel of speakers and discussion)

10.15am Building the socialist movement among young people (panel of speakers and discussion)

11.30am Refugee rights and internationalism (panel of speakers and discussion)

12.15pm The Latin American revolutions and solidarity (panel of speakers and discussion)

2pm Campaigning for environmental sustainability (panel of speakers and discussion)

2-4pm Challenges of building a radical alternative to Labor 1 (concurrent educational workshop)

3pm Getting Australia out of Afghanistan and Iraq (panel of speakers and discussion)

4pm Multiple workshops on building the Socialist Alliance and strengthening left unity, covering Green Left Weekly, election campaigning, internet activism, etc.

4-6pm Understanding the financial and economic crisis (concurrent educational workshop)

7.30pm International Cultural Night: Performances from many lands and peoples

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5

9am Campaigning for women’s and queer rights today (panel of speakers and discussion)

9.45am Socialist Alliance policy session 1 (discussion and voting on a range of policy proposals from members)

11.30am Taking action in 2010: discussion and voting on Socialist Alliance building resolutions

11.30am-1pm Ecology, socialism and human survival (concurrent educational workshop)

2pm Taking action in 2010: discussion and voting on Socialist Alliance resolutions on the climate movement, Latin America solidarity, anti-war, women's rights and LGBTI rights

2-3.30pm Building the Left-Indigenous alliance (concurrent educational workshop)

3pm Socialist Alliance policy session 2 (discussion and voting on a range of policy proposals from members)

3-5pm Challenges of building a radical alternative to Labor 2 (concurrent educational workshop)

4pm Socialist Alliance elections

All welcome

Whole conference: $60 solidarity/$50 waged/$30 unwaged

Two days: $40 solidarity/$30 waged/$15 unwaged

One day/session: $20 solidarity/$15 waged/$5 unwaged

Childcare will be available for a small fee if booked by November 30, 2009

For more information, or to register for the conference, visit http://www.socialist-alliance.org, email national_office@socialist-alliance.org, or phone (02) 9690 2508, or contact your local branch of the Socialist Alliance.

* Some changes will likely be made to this agenda before the conference. For the latest agenda, visit http://www.socialist-alliance.org.

Perth Resistance in action - campaigning for refugee rights

2009-11-07T10:00:00.000+08:00

Eyewitness report on revolution in Nepal Thurs 19 Nov

2009-11-05T13:02:00.003+08:00

Eyewitness report on
Revolution in Nepal

Guest speaker:

Ben Peterson

Green Left Weekly correspondent who spent 4 months in Nepal in 2009

6.30pm, Thurs 19 November

Perth Activist Centre, 15 / 5 Aberdeen St, East Perth

Since the 2006 overthrow of the Nepalese monarchy, a struggle has ensued over the heart and soul of the new Nepal. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) held governmental power for nine months but – having been unconstitutionally forced out of office by pro-status quo forces – are regrouping for another progressive advance. This forum will discuss the dynamics and contours of a revolution in motion.

Capitalism: a love story

2009-11-04T21:55:00.000+08:00

Green Left Weekly presents:
Michael Moore's Capitalism: A love story

6.30pm, Thurs 5 November
Luna Cinema, Leederville
(155 Oxford Street)

Check out the preview trailer below.

Tickets: $15 or $20 solidarity
A fundraiser for Green Left Weekly

[Pre-purchase tickets essential. Phone Alex 9218 9608 or 0413 976 638 to secure your spot and to get tickets to your friends.]

Reclaim the Night 30 October 2009

2009-10-28T12:10:00.000+08:00

RECLAIM THE NIGHT

Reclaim the Night represents a claim for women’s basic human right to live in freedom from the fear of violence.

On Friday 30 October we protest for women to have the right to walk freely at night, free from the threat of rape and sexual violence. Gather at the Wellington St exit of Perth Train Station at 6.30pm. March starts at 7.00pm sharp, finishing at Stirling Gardens for speakers, performers and entertainers.

The oganising collective has determined that this march and rally are for women and children only. Their explanation is that "this policy was not made with the intention of excluding men, but rather to ensure the inclusion of ALL women."

To get involved contact Amanda on 0421 137 672 or email roarwomen@hotmail.com

Socialist Alliance member Sam Wainwright elected to Fremantle Council

2009-10-18T09:42:00.003+08:00

Socialist Alliance WA co-convenor Sam Wainwright was elected to the Fremantle Council in the October 17 poll. He is the first Socialist Alliance member to be elected to a local government position in Australia.

Wainwright polled over 33% (438 out of 1310 valid votes). His nearest competitor, an ALP member, polled 337 votes (25.7%). Under the new, undemocratic first-past-the-post local government electoral laws in WA, Wainwright was elected as the candidate with the most votes.

We believe that Wainwright is the first socialist elected to public office in WA for a long time, if not ever.

In a media statement, Wainwright said: "Most candidates for council try to appeal to the middle ground and keep their political affiliations quiet. I don’t believe in that approach. I think it’s better to be upfront about your beliefs. Throughout the campaign I emphasised that I was a staunch socialist, unionist and environmentalist."

He added, “I didn’t expect everyone to sign up to everything I stand for. But I did ask people to believe that I would be a hard working campaigner for their rights. I’m really grateful and humbled that so many people have shown their confidence in me and saw my background as a positive.”

Wainwright thanked the diverse range of people that supported his campaign, “Active support came from all sorts of places: members of Socialist Alliance, the Greens and the ALP all pitched in; many unionists and community activists helped out; and last but not least, everyday residents who don’t wear a political label but want to see the sort of change that we talked about in the campaign. The election result belongs to these people and I know that the hard work now begins.”

In the mayoral poll of six candidates, Greens member Brad Pettit triumphed with over 45% of the vote, well in front of two fellow Greens Michael Martin and Jon Strachan. Both Pettit and Strachan were endorsed by the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce.

Of the six new councillors elected there is one ALP member, two Greens, two independents and one Socialist Alliance. However under WA electoral law local government candidates can not formally run for political parties and Wainwright was the only candidate to declare his political affiliations in his campaign material.

Official election results are here.

Leave a message of congratulations:
http://samforhilton.blogspot.com/2009/10/victory-for-sam-by-100-votes.html

Initial Green Left Weekly report (more next week):
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/814/41896

Sam's media statement:
http://samforhilton.blogspot.com/2009/10/first-socialist-elected-to-fremantle.html

This election victory is an important milestone in the process of building a socialist alternative to capitalism. However, it is only one step. And to take more steps forward, we need more people to join up and become involved.

Join the Socialist Alliance:
http://www.socialist-alliance.org/page.php?page=267

Friends of Palestine: Israeli Apartheid vs International Law

2009-10-13T20:44:00.002+08:00

Israeli Apartheid v International Law

Public Forum

Tues Oct 27, 6.30pm
University of WA Social Science Lecture Theatre.

From teargas to arrest...

Perth local Sarah Haynes will share her story of defending Palestinian homes in the occupied territory. Sarah will share what she learned while working in Palestine with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions during her recent trip to the region.

For more info, contact Friends of Palestine WA:
Phone: 0407 850 962

Email: info@fopwa.org

See the Friends of Palestine Website: http://fopwa.org/

New booklets on Aboriginal rights

2009-10-13T20:35:00.004+08:00

The struggle for Aboriginal rights . . .

New from Resistance Books!

The Aboriginal Struggle and the Left by Terry Townsend. 104pp, $15. Over many years, some of Indigenous Australia’s best leaders cut their political teeth within, or in close collaboration with, the Communist Party, the only party (until the late 1960s) that seriously and unfailingly fought for the rights of Indigenous people and against racism, raising virtually all the demands of the modern movement, often decades earlier.

They and many other Indigenous activists gained their political and organising experience and confidence as activists within, or working closely alongside, the left-wing and militant trade unions, most of which were led or heavily influenced by members of the CPA, sometimes in alliance with ALP socialists. This very accessible book argues convincingly that each significant gain won by the Indigenous people's rights movement has been achieved through a powerful 'black-red alliance'. (To order online see Resistance Books.)

New from Socialist Alliance!

Charter of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rights. Socialist Alliance policy. 30pp, $3. Product of the Socialist Alliance's long-term involvement in Indigenous Australia's struggles for justice, this Charter of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rights is the Alliance's Indigenous policy (adopted at its Sixth National Conference in December 2008). The Charter is also a contribution from the Socialist Alliance to the vital job of building a more powerful movement for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, one that can root out injustice, discrimination, poverty and underdevelopment once and for all. (To order online see Resistance Books.)

Bludgers in Grass Castles Native Title and the Unpaid Debts of the Pastoral Industry by Martin Taylor. 36pp, $3.95

This powerful account shows how the pastoral industry in Queensland was built on the brutal dispossession of the Indigenous population. It is also enormously ecologically destructive, minimally productive, and is only economically viable because of large state subsidies. Essential background reading for understanding the struggle over native title today. (To order online see Resistance Books.)

Above items plus a wide range of left and progressive books, pamphlets, t-shirts, flags, badges, and stubby holders are available online at Resistance Books and at the Resistance Bookshop (see below).

Drop in to the Perth Activist Centre and talk to activists involved with Green Left Weekly, Socialist Alliance and Resistance: 15/5 Aberdeen St, East Perth (next to McIver station). Ph 9218 9608. Email: perth@greenleft.org.au

Film screening: Rethink Afghanistan Thurs 15 Oct

2009-10-06T09:24:00.003+08:00

Rethink Afghanistan
special preview film screening of the new film by Robert Greenwald (director of Outfoxed & Iraq for Sale)

6.30pm, Thurs 15 Oct
Perth Activist Centre
15 / 5 Aberdeen St, East Perth (next to McIver station)

Recommended donation: $8/$4

Ph 9218 9608, 0413 976 638.

REVIEW
What cost conquest?

Review by Mat Ward

22 August 2009

Rethink Afghanistan
Directed by Robert Greenwald
DVD for sale in October, visit www.rethinkafghanistan.com

Australia has 1550 soldiers in Afghanistan. It is likely to send more. Why? US director Robert Greenwald’s latest film, Rethink Afghanistan, does not say why. Instead it asks, why indeed?

With the fast-paced editing that has become Greenwald’s trademark — no shot seems to last more than 15 seconds — Rethink Afghanistan tackles aspects of the war in 10-minute segments.

Greenwald split the film into YouTube-sized chunks so people could get to see it online as soon as each segment was finished. As he told the New York Times, no distributor “moves at the speed of YouTube”.

The first 10-minute segment looks at how effective US president Barack Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan may be.

It is pointed out that half a million Soviet soldiers could not bring the country under control and Afghanistan is known as “the graveyard of empires”.

Dying To Win author Robert Pape tells the camera: “You need a ratio of something like one combat soldier for every 40 people in the country and what that equates to in Afghanistan is well over 250,000 Western combat forces.”

After Obama’s latest surge of 21,000 US soldiers, supposedly to enforce security during the August 20 election, the number of US soldiers in the country has almost doubled, to about 50,000.

The second segment looks at how Pakistan is involved in the war. Simple graphics show how nuclear-armed India, through its involvement as a US ally, has its nuclear-armed foe, Pakistan, surrounded in a pincer movement.

Overthrow author Stephen Kinzer tells the camera: “Right now Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world. Therefore it should be engraved on the minds of every American diplomat everywhere in the world: Do nothing that will further destabilise Pakistan.”

It seems we’re sitting on a nuclear time bomb.

A poll published on August 18 showed most Americans have already turned against the war. But ending the conflict may not come down to morals, motives or misgivings. It may come down only to money. That is the subject of Rethink Afghanistan’s third segment — the cost of war.

Linda J. Bilmes, co-author of The Three Trillion Dollar War, says the Afghanistan war will be far more costly than that in Iraq. “In Afghanistan you have a country which is mostly rural, which is mostly mountainous, which is not desert.”
CNN pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr says: “It now costs about $775,000 a year to put a soldier or a marine into the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. That’s about three times as expensive as any war the US has ever had.”

Then there’s the human cost. George W. Bush and Tony Blair wheeled out their wives to trumpet a victory for women when the Taliban were supposedly crushed by the US invasion after 9/11. But Rethink Afghanistan paints a different picture.

The Wall Street Journal’s Afghanistan correspondent, Anand Ghopal, tells the camera: “Many women say they wish the Taliban were back in power, because although they were also imprisoned in their houses then [as they still are now], they were at least kept safe from bombs and house raids. Most civilian casualties are women.”

Civilian casualties are the subject of Rethink Afghanistan’s fifth segment. Greenwald cut his teeth directing Hollywood stars in films with a social conscience (Martin Sheen in Shattered Spirits, about alcoholism; Farrah Fawcett in The Burning Bed, about wife-battering). He is at his most emotive when telling the stories of individuals. Here, he goes into a refugee camp in Kabul, whose mud huts and shabby tents are home to more than 235,000 Afghans.

A distraught farmer, who has been bombed off his land, points at his toddler standing shoeless in the cold, grey mud and says: “What can I do? There is no food I can put in her mouth. I have nothing. For God’s sake I am poor; otherwise I wouldn’t give her for one million. I know nobody wants to sell their daughter, but I have to.”

We learn that the child later died.

As Rethink Afghanistan unfolds on the web — segment six was released on August 18 — we may learn more about the motives for the war.

In the meantime, the theories have varied. Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, who features in the film, says in his book Taliban that Afghanistan is the ultimate strategic prize: it is a way to get oil and gas from the former Soviet states north of Afghanistan to the Arabian Sea, without having to go through Iran.

Adam Curtis, in his film The Power of Nightmares, says because politicians have realised they can no longer sell idealistic dreams, they instead sell the idea that they are protecting voters from nightmares. Afghanistan, with its supposed threat of terrorists, fits that bill.

Noam Chomsky has pointed out that the US spends about the same on defence as the rest of the world put together. When recently asked about the war in Afghanistan, he said: “It’s like the old joke — if you have a hammer, everything you see is a nail.”

From: Cultural Dissent, Green Left Weekly issue #808 26 August 2009.

Protest the war in Afghanistan

2009-10-05T15:49:00.003+08:00

Stop the War in Afghanistan

Protest speakout to mark the 8th anniversary of the invasion

Sat 10 Oct
12 noon, Wesley Church corner
(corner Hay & William Sts, Perth)

Afghanistan: Eight Years Of War — Bring The Troops Home

Socialist Alliance members will be participating in protest events - including rallies, speak-outs and marches - across the country to mark the eighth anniversary of the US-NATO war and occupation of Afghanistan. We will be joining the call on the Rudd government to withdraw the 1550 Australian troops.

The protests across Australia form part of an international month of action on Afghanistan, with rallies and protests being organised in the US, Britain and Europe.

There is consensus among the major parties - Labor and the Coalition - that Australia has to support this so-called "good war". But polls show that a majority of Australians disagree with the two parties of war. The recent election fiasco, in which the puppet president Hamid Karzai was "re-elected" by a minority, the huge number of civilian casualties, and the clear wish of democratic Afghan people, such as MP Malalai Joya, for the foreign troops to leave, have all contributed to a shift in public opinion.

There is also a growing concern that the White House will send up to 40,000 more troops to join the already 68,000 US-NATO troops already in Afghanistan. This will lead to more devastation and loss of life in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The White House’s quest for greater political and economic influence in the region has not wiped out al-Qaeda — the reason given for going to war. If anything it has assisted the cause of the fundamentalists, while inflicting devastating losses — both on Afghan civilians and the occupation forces.

Clearly too, the foreign troops have not curbed the influence of the Taliban. In fact the opposite has been the case, as poor farmers and others seek protection and struggle to sustain themselves and their families. The move to counter-insurgency tactics also allows the warmongers to spread by stealth into Pakistan.

The case against the war can also be made by scutinising the social indicators, all of which have worsened over the last eight years. Just 31% of households have access to water; adult literacy is just 24%, and 50% of children are malnourished. Nor have the invasion and occupation not liberated women.

The Rudd government’s commitment to the Australian-US alliance means that, if asked, it is likely to send more troops. Foreign minister Stephen Smith is studiously taking orders and avoiding a public discussion about Australia’s involvement in this war. Meanwhile, as a result of domestic pressure, several countries are talking of pulling their troops out (including Holland and Italy). The German left party, Die Linke, increased its support in recent elections after campaigning on the demand that troops be withdrawn.

The mood shift against Australia’s involvement in this war is reflected in the numbers of endorsees for the Melbourne and Sydney protest rallies. Significantly, in Melbourne, a number of unions and Victorian Trades Hall council and the Geelong Trades Hall Council have signed on, some after some debate. In NSW the Greens have also endorsed the protest.

Socialist Alliance is calling on all members and supporters to spread the word and attend these important rallies:

Sydney: October 8, 5.30pm, Sydney Town Hall;

Melbourne: October 10, 12 noon, City Square;

Perth: October 10, 12 noon Wesley Church corner;

Hobart: October 13, 5.15-6pm Newtown High School (outside Rudd community cabinet meeting).

In addition, the Socialist Alliance will continue to campaign for the Rudd government to:

Immediately and unconditionally withdraw all Australian troops, military personnel, bases, contractors and mercenaries from Afghanistan and Iraq;

End all Australian support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the ongoing siege of Gaza and the Palestinian people;

End Australian support for sanctions, threats of war and attacks against Iran, North Korea, Somalia or any other nation whose right to self-determination is under assault from the US. We also oppose interference in the internal affairs of these and other countries targeted by the US for political destabilisation. We condemn the Australian government for being one of only a handful not to speak out against the coup in Honduras.

Investigate allegations of Australian citizens being tortured in Egypt and Guantanamo. The government must repeal, not strengthen, the terror laws which unjustly target people of Middle Eastern background and rely on hearsay as evidence despite no terror acts having been committed.

The Socialist Alliance supports the right of all oppressed nations and peoples to self-determination, whether in the Middle East or in other parts of the world.

Socialist Alliance stands in solidarity with working people and demands that the billions spent on wars and the military be diverted into the shift to renewable sustainable energy, including retraining and the creation of masses of new green jobs, and maintaining and expanding urgently needed social programs.

For further information on rallies:

Melbourne: http://troopsoutofafghanistan.blogspot.com/2009/10/media-release.html

Sydney:

Contact: Pip Hinman, Socialist Alliance anti-war spokesperson: 0412 139 968

You can help elect socialist wharfie Sam Wainwright

2009-09-29T00:07:00.000+08:00

Voting begins this week for the local government elections.

Socialist Alliance member Sam Wainwright is campaigning for election to the Hilton ward of the Fremantle Council.

While it is too early to say who will win the position, we have certainly run an energetic and ambitious campaign including letterboxing the ward at least three times and Sam has personally doorknocked about 80% of the ward.

Now we'd like to ask your help in this final stage of the campaign:

1. If you know anybody in the Fremantle Council area (and especially in the Hilton Ward) please phone or email them today to encourage them to vote for Sam and to spread the word about Sam's campaign among their friends in Hilton ward. Voting is not compulsory, so even convincing people to get out and cast any vote will also make a difference.

2. Please consider making a donation towards the election costs. Donations can be sent to:
Sam Wainwright
c/- Socialist Alliance,
PO Box 204,
NORTHBRIDGE WA 6865.

3. If you want to give any other practical help: Contact Justine Kamprad 0418 906 316.

Please check out Sam's blog site:
http://samforhilton.blogspot.com/

Media reports on Sam's campaign:
http://samforhilton.blogspot.com/search/label/Media

Sam's election flyer:
http://samforhilton.blogspot.com/2009/08/download-sams-flyer.html

If you have any questions about the campaign, contact Sam Wainwright:
Sam 0412 751 508
Email: Samuel.Wainwright@yahoo.com.au

Forum on human rights in Sri Lanka

2009-09-28T10:42:00.002+08:00

The Centre for Human Rights Education
Curtin University
is pleased to be supporting a free public seminar on:

Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Catastrophe

What is the real situation in Sri Lanka?

How and why it is being hidden?

What can be done about it?

On May 19 2009, the Government of Sri Lanka declared it had won the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers). However, with the war’s end, evidence of human rights violations & war crimes is emerging. Independent media (Times- UK) recently reported deaths of 1400 civilians per week in military run camps where 300 000 war refugees (including 80 000 children) are currently being interned indefinitely. This is amidst widespread reports of mass torture (including rape & starvation) of civilians in the camps and the blockade of humanitarian relief and medical supplies by Sri Lankan Govt Forces.

Date: Tuesday 29 September 2009

Time: 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Venue: Lecture Theatre 101, Building 213, Curtin University (Bentley Campus)
RSVP: via email to ekumaran@gmail.com as seats are limited.

Guest Presentations By:

Dr. John Whitehall

Paediatrician & Associate Professor in Public Health at James Cook University, Queensland

Dr. Whitehall has done voluntary medical work in Sri Lanka in 2004 and 2005, and in 2006 was a finalist for Senior Australian of the Year for his work raising relief funds for victims of the Asian tsunami. He is the co-author of the book War and Medicine, a collection of short stories of the experiences of medical practitioners in North-East Sri Lanka.

Dr. Brian Senewiratne

Consultant Physician, Queensland

A Sinhalese Australian, Dr. Brian Senewiratne is a cousin of the former Sri Lankan president. Having witnessed the atrocities committed by members of his family, he has been an outspoken human rights activist and a key advocate for the protection of civilian rights in Sri Lanka for over the past two decades, having delivered numerous presentations at various forums including at the United Nations and also several conferences for the Prevention of Genocide. He has also been internationally recognised for his human rights work with an Educators Award from the Canadians for Genocide Education Organisation.

Honduras: the struggle against the coup

2009-09-24T23:42:00.007+08:00

Honduras:
The struggle against the coup

Public forum with Santiago Reyes, member of the Honduras United Left (via video link)

6.30pm, Mon 28 Sept
Perth Activist Centre, 15 / 5 Aberdeen St, East Perth (next to McIver station)

After 88 days of popular protest against the June 28 military coup in Honduras, the legitimate president Manuel Zelaya announced his return to the capital from refuge in the Brazilian embassy. This audacious act sparked another wave of popular mass action for democracy and against the coup regime.

The military responded with severe repression including a curfew (that effectively condemned 7 million people to house arrest). This repression (and the promise of Zelaya's return) only sparked the mass movement which succeeded in expelling police and soldiers from a number of parts of the country.

The situation is unresolved but immense political pressure is building on the coup regime from within the country and internationally.

Come and discuss the prospects of this struggle for democracy in Honduras and its implications for Latin America and the world.

ALSO:
Protest calling on the Australian government to immediately condemn the repressive actions of the coup regime and demand the reinstatement of the democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya.
SUPPORT THE PEOPLE OF HONDURAS

PROTEST Saturday September 26, 12 noon
Outside Wesley Church
Corner Hay & Williams Streets, Perth

Phone 0409 762 081, 0419 812 872, 0413 976 638

See Green Left article and other links below that:
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/811/41737

Honduras Updates: Street battles rage as military attacks pro-democracy uprising

Federico Fuentes, Caracas

September 24 — Street battles are continuing to rage late into the night of September 23 in the poor neighborhoods of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, after a day marked by a brutal military and police attack on a massive demonstration in support of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.

Zelaya, whose pro-poor policies outraged the Honduran elite and US corporations, was overthrown in a June 28 military coup and exiled to Costa Rica. On September 21, Zelaya stunned the world by announcing he had re-entered Honduras and was inside the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa.

This announcement — after 88 straight days of resistance to the coup with strikes, protests and road blockades by the poor majority —set off a renewed wave of mobilisations across the country to demand Zelaya’s reinstatement as the legitimate president.

As battles between unarmed protesters and heavily armed security forces raged on Honduran streets, world leaders condemned the coup regime at the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

However, while governments from across the world called for the immediate restitution of Zelaya, US President Barack Obama managed to go through his entire speech without mentioning the word Honduras once.

This is despite the fact that all officers in the Honduran military, which carried out the coup and was shooting live rounds at unarmed protesters as Obama spoke, are trained by the US military. This military training has not ceased since the coup.

The presentation of the public position of his government — which is desperately seeking a way to end the anti-coup insurrection that has broken out in the impoverished Central American nation —was left to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly.

Dirian Pereira, from the international commission of National Front of Resistance Against the Coup (FNRG) , spoke to Green Left Weekly again over the phone from Tegucigalpa, sounding clearly shaken by the brutality of the repression metered out earlier in the day. Her voice trembling, she said: “In all honesty, the repression was extreme. There was no contemplation nor respect nor anything for human rights.

”The repression was extremely strong.

“We still do not know what the coup regime aims to do with the opposition, because as each day passes, the situation becomes more and more intense. Each day is more and more intense.”

Called by the FNRG , the massive protest that began at 8am on September 23 was a strong demonstration of the people’s will to see Zelaya, their elected president, return to the presidential palace.

Due to a spate of lootings caused by the coup regime imposing a total curfew that led to shortages of food and medicine, the regime temporarily lifted between 10am and 5pm today.

Pereira said: “The mobilisation was extremely large, making use of the fact that the curfew had been lifted. The people spilled out onto the streets en masse .... The police tried to provoke the protestors in order to create chaos, but the resistance ignored them.”

The aim of the protest was to peacefully march to an area close by the Brazil embassy, where Zelaya remains despite the regime cutting off electricity, blocking food and firing tear gas into the compound.

Gilberto Rios, a leader of the FNRG, told GLW over the phone: “When we got to the zone, the police, without any prior provocation on behalf of the protestors, began launching tear gas canister.

“The march was quickly dispersed. Many had to be taken to hospital and a number of young people were arrested.”

Despite this, the battle on the streets of Tegucigalpa continues.

“Right now, throughout the night, there have been a number of shoot outs in the different colonias [poor neighbourhoods] of the capital”, Pereira said.

“There are parts that are practically in insurrection, there are colonias that have declared themselves liberated zones.

“They are well organised, they have set up three, fours layers of barricades to stop the police entering.”

Both explained that the repression by the regime, which has left an unknown number of people dead and hundreds arrested, had increased support for the resistance.

“Everything is possible”, Rios told GLW. “There is a strong feeling of rejection towards the Honduran Armed Forces that have been attacking its own people, similarly with the police….

“Where I live, the police came to repress peaceful protests and that caused even more people, who although against the coup had not joined the resistance, to join the street battles.”

However, as the intensity of the situation mounts, “sectors of the population are beginning to feel that some kind of foreign intervention can prevent a bloodbath”.

Rios insisted, however, that “for us, the problem must be resolved internally”.

Pereira said the talk of possible foreign intervention was coming mostly from right-wing forces who are feeling desperate, as they are losing control of the situation.

Rios said the coup leader Robert Micheletti “has explained it in the following terms: they consider themselves to be a ‘little Berlin’, they feel like the Nazis when they were completely surrounded at the end of the war.”

The coup regime has shifted from arguing it was invincible to “now talking about how they are willing to die in the government palace before handing over power”.

Rios had earlier in the night told GLW that the FNRG had not been able to meet due to the confusion and pace of events. However, Pereira later confirmed they had meet.

However, for strategically purposes the resistance has not yet announced what its next steps will be.

When ready, information would be conveyed via Radio Globo, Pereira said. Radio Globo has acted as a voice for the resistance and its broadcasts are often disrupted and sabotaged has by the military.

Pereira called for people around the world to “remain alert to what is occurring, denounce it, hold solidarity actions and remain up to date on news coming out of Honduras, because here the news is changing from hour to hour, it is changing every little while”.

Rios said: “All of this [international solidarity] is important for saving lives.”

Pereira said: “I want to say to the whole world that we continue to stand firm resisting. We are not going to allow this to slip through our hands, because just now, we have the people with us.”

Open letter to Stephen Smith on Honduras

2009-09-24T11:14:00.002+08:00

Australia must act for democracy in Honduras An open letter to the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs

To: Stephen Smith
Minister for Foreign Affairs
PO Box 6022, Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 6277 7500 Fax: (02) 6273 4112
Email: Stephen.Smith.MP@aph.gov.au

Cc: Electorate office
953A Beaufort St
Inglewood WA 6932
Tel: (08) 9272 3411 Fax: (08) 9272 3477

September 24, 2009

Dear Minister Smith,

The people and nation of Honduras urgently need the support of democratic governments and peoples around the world.

The current military dictatorship in Honduras, which on June 28 overthrew the elected government of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales in a coup d’etat, has unleashed a wave of repression against tens of thousands of people who have taken to the streets demanding Zelaya’s immediate restoration as president.

Zelaya re-entered Honduras on foot on September 21 and was given asylum by the Brazilian government in its embassy in Tegucigalpa. However, on September 22, as thousands of people assembled outside the embassy to welcome Zelaya home, the coup regime headed by Roberto Micheletti cut electricity and water to the embassy and tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed and fired on the president’s supporters, seriously injuring some.

With Zelaya’s return, the incessant violations of human rights and fundamental liberties perpetrated by the dictatorship over the last 85 days have significantly increased. Hundreds more civilians have been arrested and images have emerged of large numbers of protesters being rounded up and detained in a sports stadium in Tegucigalpa. The military has now imposed a total curfew in the country – an attempt to prevent the Honduran people from expressing their wish for the restoration of democracy in their country.

Speaking to international media on September 21, Zelaya called on Honduras’ armed forces to “respect the human rights of the Honduran people … To the commander general of the armed forces ... I peacefully make a call for sanity, so that there is no violence on the streets. The people here are unarmed, shouting for joy.”

It is a fundamental human right of all peoples to determine their own government and political future and during the last three months the people of Honduras have made very clear what they want with peaceful protests, strikes and road blockades, on a daily basis. On September 15, three million people rallied in more than 20 cities and towns across Honduras demanding an end to the coup.

We join with the nine governments of Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, the Organisation of American States, the UN General Assembly and the Rio Group in their call for Zelaya to be immediately reinstated as the legitimate president of Honduras and for the democratically elected government to be able to resume its duties. We note also that the European Union and almost every government in the world have officially condemned the coup, and call on the Australian government to urgently:
• Demand that the coup leaders respect the integrity of the Brazilian embassy and immediately stop the repression against civilians;
• Actively support the reinstatement of democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya, including supporting all calls for his reinstatement made at the 64th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly this week;
• Demand the immediate release of all political and social movement activists who have been detained by the military;
• Support President Zelaya’s and the Honduran people’s rejection of the terms of the “Arias agreement”, which would legitimise the coup leaders’ actions, and work for the reinstatement of Zelaya to the presidency without conditions of any kind, in accordance with the will of the people of Honduras.
• Not recognise the results of Honduran elections in November if those elections are carried out while the coup government remains in power, the position of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).
• Support the calls of the Honduran people for the coup leaders to be arrested and tried for their crimes.
• Pressure the United States administration to end its training of the Honduran military.

We applaud the millions of courageous Hondurans who have peacefully protested for three months to defend democracy, despite severe intimidation and assault by the military, and pledge our active solidarity with them until the coup is overturned and democratic rights are assured in Honduras.

Yours in support of the democratic rights of all peoples,

Bea Bleile, Margarita Windisch, Dick Nichols
National Conveners, Socialist Alliance

Good news: Zelaya returns to Honduras - coup regime faces defeat

2009-09-22T16:34:00.001+08:00

Some good news to report:

Elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya has returned to Honduras and has been under the protection of the Brazilian Embassy. This makes it very likely that the coup regime will fall quite soon. Zelaya's return is an important victory in itself - the fact that he has returned peacefully and unhindered undermines the arguments used to justify ongoing support for the coup. When the coup falls, this will be a dramatic victory for democracy in Latin America and a significant blow to US imperialism.

[It is worthy of note that to this day, the Australian government has refused to condemn the coup! Shame on Kevin Rudd! Shame Stephen Smith!]

Honduras: Zelaya returns — the people celebrate
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/811/41737

Regular updates about the situation can be found at:
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/

A Sydney Morning Herald report (http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/clinton-zelayas-return-could-help-honduras-crisis-20090922-fz9l.html) makes clear that the US will be pushing for Zelaya's return under "appropriate circumstances" - that is they will be seeking the greatest compromises out of Zelaya and the Honduran resistance against the coup. However, the key thing will be that Zelaya's return, regardless of the specifics will ensure that the November elections will not be controlled by the coup regime.

Clinton: Zelaya's return could help Honduras crisis

SMH: 22 Sept 2009
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said Monday that ousted leader Manuel Zelaya's surprise return to Honduras offers an opportunity to end the country's political crisis.

"Now that President Zelaya is back it would be opportune to restore him to his position under appropriate circumstances, get on with the election that is currently scheduled for November, have a peaceful transition of presidential authority and get Honduras back to constitutional and democratic order," Clinton told reporters as she met with Arias in New York. [MORE]

Venezuela’s Chavez Calls on Honduras Coup Government to Peacefully Hand over Power to Manuel Zelaya

Caracas, September 21, 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez today congratulated the democratically elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya on his "heroic" return to his homeland eighty-six days after he was ousted by a military coup on June 28. Chavez also called on the coup regime, headed by Roberto Micheletti, to peacefully hand over power to Zelaya. [MORE]

Excerpt from "The Field":

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/

2:04 p.m.: Connecting the dots... The return of Zelaya has all the markings of a very well coordinated operation by the Honduran civil resistance and the member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS). The choice of Brazil's embassy - the Latin American country with the largest Air Force - pretty much guarantees that the coup regime can't possibly think it can violate the sovereignty of that space. That the US State Department confirmed, this morning, that Zelaya is in Honduras while the coup regime denied it strongly suggests it had advance knowledge that this would happen today (if not active participation).

This is a textbook example of what we've referred to before as "dilemma actions." It puts the coup regime on the horns of a dilemma, in which it has no good options. It can leave Zelaya to put together his government again from the Brazilian embassy with the active support of so many sectors of Honduran civil society, or it can try to arrest the President, provoking a nonviolent insurrection from the people of the kind that has toppled many a regime throughout history. Minute by minute, hour by hour, and, soon, day by day, the coup regime is losing its grip. At some point it will have to choose either to unleash a terrible violent wave of state terrorism upon the country's own people - which will provoke all out insurrection in response (guaranteed by Article 3 of the Honduran Constitution) - or Micheletti and his Simian Council can start packing their bags and seeking asylum someplace like Panama. Meanwhile, the people are coming down from the hills to meet their elected president. This, kind readers, is immediate history.

2:24 p.m.: Some other consequences of today's breaking development: President Zelaya today erases any of the talk or speculation that he did not have the courage to put himself at risk in this struggle, which will also have an emboldening effect on every single individual among the hundreds of thousands in the civil resistance. The effect is causing all to think: If he's willing to risk all, then so am I.

This move also makes a laughing stock out of Micheletti and his security forces. Remember our reports about how airfields throughout the country were blocked by buses and other vehicles, so paranoid was the regime about Zelaya's potential return? That Zelaya slipped through the security net demonstrates that the coup regime does not have the control it claims to have. Micheletti - the usurper dictator - has also helped elevate his status as a national buffoon with his early claims today that Zelaya hadn't really returned. He accused the media that reported his return of lying and of "media terrorism." Well, now the same pro-coup newspapers that reported his tantrum have this photo, taken today, of President Zelaya and his cabinet members inside the Brazilian Embassy:

There you have it. Countdown to complete mental breakdown by Micheletti and his dwindling core of supporters (and, yes, that includes a grouplet of US expats that have been blogging constant disinformation from Honduras - their self-delusion and dishonesty to all is now crashing on the rocks of reality, too).

Photos from the Perth protest for freedom for the Cuban 5

2009-09-12T18:13:00.002+08:00

Truth in advertising (at last)

2009-09-11T09:56:00.002+08:00

Liverpool: “a city that dared to fight” Thurs 17 Sept

2009-09-10T17:14:00.004+08:00

Perth Socialist Alliance meeting

6.30pm, Thurs 17 September
Perth Activist Centre, 15 / 5 Aberdeen St, East Perth

Report from a participant:
Steve Jenkins
Former member, Liverpool City Council

In the 1980s, the Liverpool City Council (in Britain) took an heroic stand against the Thatcher government’s austerity drive - and won! 25 years ago (July 1984), the council won an increase in funding for its urban regeneration plan because of the mass resistance tactics promoted by the revolutionary socialists in the then Militant Tendency who were an influential part of the council.

Steve Jenkins, as part of the “Broad Left” of the Labour party (which included the Militant Tendency), was a member of the council at the time.

Ph Alex 9218 9608, 0413 976 638 ** www.socialist-alliance.org/perth

-------------
25 years ago: Liverpool - a city that dared to fight
[This article is by Tony Mulhearn - a member of the Socialist Party of England and Wales]

ON 9 July 1984 Liverpool City council, led by Militant (the Socialist Party's predecessor), won a sensational victory over the ruthless Tory government of Margaret Thatcher.
They secured extra funding for the council's urban regeneration programme. The principled stand by the 47 Liverpool Labour councillors, allied to a mass movement of the city's workers and wider working class, stands in stark contrast to today's sleazy and spineless Labour leaders.

"DANEGELD," THUNDERED the Times. Danegeld was the tribute in gold demanded from the English rulers in the thirteenth century by the invading Danes in exchange for not engaging in pillage and plunder.

"Two unlovely black eyes," declared the Daily Mail, when it condemned the Tory environment secretary Patrick Jenkin's retreat over additional funding for Liverpool City council in 1984. It wrote: "The Trotskyites and others of the hard left who run Liverpool have had the best of the fight with him in their threat to defy the law on that city's overspending."

"A cowardly deal" was the headline of the Daily Express which went on: "Patrick Jenkin seems to have bought himself some peace from the Militant-led Liverpool City council. This is a shoddy and cowardly deal... Mr Jenkin has shown that defiance pays."

These headlines were just some of the reactions to the Militant-led Liverpool City council's success in securing £30 million from the Thatcher government on 9 July 1984.

In contrast to the outrage expressed by the media were the scenes of exultation that greeted the councillors when they reported the outcome of the negotiations with Jenkin to a 600-strong meeting of the Liverpool District Labour Party.

Programme

Liverpool was the only council to secure extra funding from a Thatcher government wedded to the principles of monetarism espoused by the likes of economists Milton Friedman and Frederick Hayek, whose monetarist model was also embraced by Chile's bloodthirsty dictator Augusto Pinochet with murderous consequences for the Chilean working class.
This victory enabled the council to carry out its electoral programme, included the building of 5,000 houses, opening six new sports centres, creating 2,000 jobs and refusing to carry out £10 million worth of cuts which had been the legacy of the Liberal/Tory alliance which had ruled Liverpool for the previous 20 years, with a short interregnum of Labour rule.

This anniversary is particularly significant as it occurs at a time of national and global capitalist upheaval, and the mind-boggling revelations about the behaviour of MPs who have aped the actions of the greedy bankers by using every phoney device to stuff their pockets with gold.

The next thing to come under the spotlight should be the lucrative consultancies and directorships of MPs and ex-ministers who have become millionaires overnight having presided over the privatisation of publicly-owned companies.

Also, temporarily hidden from the public gaze, the private porkers in the financial sector continue to stack up personal wealth. A couple of examples show that, in spite of the near-criminal activity of the bankers, Peter Mandelson's philosophy of 'being relaxed about people being filthy rich' is alive and well and, in spite of Brown's bluster about 'responsible banking,' continues to shape the outlook of New Labour.

In 2008, in the midst of the economic crisis, bankers earned on average £255,000 more than their counterparts in other branches of private industry. Incredibly Northern Rock's non-executive directors' salaries rose by 33% after it was nationalised.

Recently, City sources revealed that RBS, bailed out by the taxpayer, and milch cow for Fred 'the Shred' Goodwin, made a deal with its head of global banking John Hourican which grants him a package which, given the rise in the RBS share price, doubles his stake on paper to £11 million in two months. And only last week the government approved a £10 million remuneration package to Goodwin's successor, Stephen Hester.

Against these figures, the frame-up against the 47 Liverpool Labour councillors by the District Auditor, who charged them with losing the Liverpool rate payers £106,000, is truly grotesque.

Terry Fields and Dave Nellist were two MPs who gave unconditional support to the Liverpool City council and who were expelled from Labour as a result of the witch-hunt unleashed by the then Labour Party leader (now Lord) Neil Kinnock.

His Lordship has been uncharacteristically silent about the 'grotesque chaos'* overwhelming a Parliamentary Labour Party that, as a consequence of his action in unleashing a pogrom to cleanse Labour of socialists, no longer remotely reflects the interests of the working class (* the scurrilous term used by Neil Kinnock in his infamous 1985 Labour Party conference speech to attack the Liverpool 47).

In contrast to the behaviour of the current crop of charlatans, Terry, Dave and later Pat Wall in Bradford, accepted only the average wage of the workers they represented who were working in industry.

It is a tribute to their dedication to socialism that their names are mentioned more and more over the airwaves and in the local press during public discussion on the current parliamentary revelations. For example, I was contacted by Radio Merseyside to explain the role of Terry Fields as a firefighters' rep and MP in the context of the present parliamentary bacchanalia.

The passage of time has not diminished the achievements of the 47, nor undermined the importance of the struggle. In spite of the distortions of establishment spokespersons, aided and abetted by the lies of right wing parliamentarians and trade union leaders, the record of the 47 remains stubbornly intact.

The 47 inherited a catastrophic financial situation when they took control in 1983. The outgoing Liberal-Tory alliance had deliberately underspent throughout the 1970s as a cynical ploy to maintain electoral support. In one year they actually cut the rates (a forerunner of today's council tax).

This was achieved by increasing rents, terminating the house-building programme and shedding thousands of jobs, in addition to cuts in other sectors. Thus Liberal council leader Trevor Jones was able to claim he presided over the lowest rate increases in Liverpool's history. He was knighted by a drooling Thatcher for services rendered.

Thatcherism

These events had as their background the Thatcher government's dislike of local government or, more precisely, Thatcher's hatred of local democracy which often then resulted in the election of Labour councils.

Part of the Tories' programme when they were elected in 1979 included decentralising state power and devolving decision-making to localities. In fact, the opposite took place. Using the device of the block grant system which penalised local authorities who exceeded the government's prescribed spending limits, the government succeeded in slashing local authority expenditure.

The percentage of local expenditure financed by central government fell drastically from 61% in 1979-80 to 48% in 1985-86. That 13% shortfall had to be funded by local councils if services were to be maintained.

However, such was the Tories' ruthless determination to drive down local expenditure, they introduced a policy of rate-capping with savage penalties for those councils who exceeded the limitations imposed by central government. For every £1 breach of expenditure, £2 would be lost in rate support grant.

Initially, all Labour-controlled local authorities had agreed to support a campaign against the policy of rate-capping. Amongst the leaders of this campaign, it is incredible to recall, were David Blunkett and Ken Livingstone, with Neil Kinnock as their parliamentary cheerleader.

However, the consequences for Liverpool were more severe than all other authorities. In 1984-85 the total target of expenditure set by the government for all English authorities was 6% lower than their expenditure in 1980-81, but Liverpool's target, as a consequence of the rating policy of the Liberal/Tory alliance, was 11% lower than its spending in 1980-81.

Liverpool's officials estimated that between 1978-79 and 1983-84, the city had lost between £26 million and £34 million in government grants as a result of the government lowering Liverpool's spending target. This was the £30 million (on average) that the council explained the government had stolen.
Thus, the years of rate-slashing policies by the Liberal-Tory alliance in Liverpool meant that the financial position of the city was in even greater dire straits than all other local authorities.

The government's policies meant that, in order to balance the books, a local authority would either have to increase the rates, sometimes massively to compensate for Tory cuts, or savagely cut back on jobs and services.

The Liverpool District Labour Party's policy was to reject both of these options and instead to carry out its electoral promises. In the elections of 1983 a key component of the Liverpool party's electoral programme was 'No rate or rent increases to compensate for Tory cuts.'

That campaign explained to the Liverpool electorate the consequences of Liberal/Tory rule. The campaign also explained the pernicious slashing policies of the Tory government and gave a commitment that a radical socialist programme would be implemented. This included house building, job creation, rent reductions and improvement of services, linked to a campaign to retrieve funding from central government. The result was the magnificent electoral victory in 1983 with Labour gaining 12 seats, giving Labour 51 seats against the Liberal/Tory total of 48.

The massive financial crisis already described, which Liverpool Labour inherited, was seen as a reason for the implementation of the electoral programme rather than, as is usually the case with all the pro-capitalist politicians, a reason to retreat.

If Liverpool's expenditure had increased at the same rate as other authorities and even within government guidelines through that period, then the city's target set by the government for 1984-85 would have been much higher. In addition to the problems caused by the Liberals' financial jiggery-pokery through the 1970s and early 1980s, in 1983 the incoming Labour council inherited a budget which included £8 million to £10 million of unallocated cuts.

Against this background it was a diabolical lie for the right wing to allege that the crisis in Liverpool was of the 47's own making. Jack Straw, for instance, who in 1984 advocated a rate rise of 60%, has to this day never retracted the lies spewed out by him and his colleagues.

His excuse over the scandal about his parliamentary claim for full council tax when he had already been allowed a 50% discount was that "accountancy does not appear to be my strongest suit." This admission serves to underline his ignorance about the real depth of Liverpool's financial crisis that even Patrick Jenkin was compelled to recognise.

Mass struggle

But the victory was not achieved merely by slick negotiation between the councillors and Patrick Jenkin. Jenkin's promise to 'do his very best' to ameliorate some of Liverpool's problems wasn't solely due to his compassion having seen, in his words, 'housing conditions the likes of which I've never seen.'

It was also prompted by the mass support enjoyed by the council evidenced by the 1,000-strong demonstration which followed him around the housing estates which he viewed on his visit to Liverpool.

He was also conscious of the magnificent electoral support as well as the physical support shown by the great demonstrations that marched through the city in support of the council's policies, particularly the demonstration on budget day the previous March when a one-day strike took place, supported by 30,000 local authority workers. 50,000 people marched through the city that day in support of the council's proposed 'deficit budget'. That support was the reason Thatcher had despatched Jenkin to the city to get a real flavour of the situation on the ground.

Celebration

The council meeting following the funding victory was greeted with scenes of jubilation more akin to welcoming a returning football team having won the FA cup. The lobby of the council saw local authority workers, striking miners, young people, unemployed and parents with their young children, all listening to the victory speeches. Labour speakers were greeted with cheers, while over the benches of the Liberals and Tories hung a mood of demoralisation.

The support for the council was based on concrete changes to better people's lives. For instance, before the local press joined the Rupert Murdoch/Robert Maxwell media axis in its demonisation of the councillors, the Daily Post carried a headline 'House-proud city has got it right.' It reported the comments of a housing expert, Alice Coleman, who had carried out extensive research into housing conditions nationally and internationally.

'Liverpool,' she declared at a meeting to assess the council's housing policy, 'has got it right.' She completely concurred with the main thrust of the Urban Regeneration Strategy and the council's conviction that the majority of people preferred to live in traditional houses.

Moreover, the spin-off effect of the city's housing programme on employment had been publicly recognised by building companies who are not usually friends of Labour. In the three years from April 1983 to May 1985 it was estimated that 6,489 jobs had been generated in the private sector as a result of the house-building programme.

Twenty-five years late, the chattering classes agonise over the disengagement of people in general from politics and their disillusionment with the mainstream parties. Chat shows on various agencies of the media usually draw the conclusion that the party leaders, particularly Gordon Brown, lack charisma, or they don't have the ability to crack a good gag.

The logic of this argument is that New Labour should persuade Ken Dodd to lead the party and they would romp home at the next election with a massive majority based on a 99% turnout!

The Liverpool 47 attracted the highest Labour vote in history, and higher than in any election since world war two even though the population of the city had declined from 700,000 in 1945 to 460,000 in 1983. While turnout for local elections in recent years has ranged from 11% to 20%, the turnout in 1983 and 1984 was 45% to 55%. A clear message that if policies which correspond to the needs and aspirations of the working class are implemented, then the support will be forthcoming.

It was this level of support that gave the ruling class and its allies at the tops of the Labour movement an enormous problem.

The council leaders warned the workers that the Tories would bide their time and wait for the opportunity to take their revenge, particularly with the vengeful Margaret Thatcher determined to crush any opposition. They explained the urgency of stepping up the national campaign to persuade other major councils to take the Liverpool road and to compel Thatcher to retreat.

Tragically, this strategy did not succeed. One by one, the other councils involved in the anti-rate capping campaign capitulated under Tory pressure, aided and abetted by the national Labour leadership, particularly by the treachery of Labour leader Neil Kinnock. Ken Livingstone in London and David Blunkett in Sheffield, sounded the retreat which turned into a rout, eventually leaving Liverpool in isolation. This retreat was accompanied by a hysterical media campaign designed to isolate Liverpool, with deputy Labour leader Roy Hattersley accusing the Liverpool councillors of 'literal corruption'.

In spite of their unparalleled record of achievement, the power of the state eventually prevailed. Thatcher's district auditor, supported by the House of Lords, removed the 47 councillors from office, cheered on by the Labour leaders. Kinnock and his lieutenant, witchfinder-general Peter Kilfolye, finished the job on behalf of the capitalist state by expelling the majority of the 47 from the Labour Party.

Since then many gallons of ink, acres of newsprint, and speeches by right wing charlatans have attempted to denigrate the 47's period of office. But the record has been written in concrete buildings and stands as a monument to the socialist achievements of the Liverpool City council of 1983-87. Achievements symbolised by the incredible victory over Patrick Jenkin 25 years ago.

republished from:
http://www.socialistparty.net/index.php/component/content/article/50-analysis/209-25-years-ago-liverpool-a-city-that-dared-to-fight.html

UN Rapporteur agrees Intervention is racist

2009-09-05T09:55:00.000+08:00

Aboriginal control of Aboriginal affairs!
By Bea Bleile

The Socialist Alliance was one of many signatories to a letter presented to Professor James Anaya, UN Human Rights Rapporteur, upon his arrival in Australia. The letter stated that "special measures" taken under the Northern Territory Emergency Response or Intervention are racist and that "consultations in their current form are manipulative and are aimed at maintaining racist legislation."

Michael Anderson, an Aboriginal leader from the northwest of NSW, wrote in his submission to Anaya, "The recent 'Closing of the Gap' initiative is designed to win the hearts and minds of the Australian public whilst assimilation proceeds."

Anaya arrived in Australia on August 15 and, during his 11 day visit, met Government authorities, representatives of Indigenous communities and organisations in Canberra, South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.

He received numerous submissions and traveled to Indigenous communities in both remote and urban areas to listen to people. And, having concluded his fact finding tour, Anaya agrees: the Northern Territory Intervention is racist.

According to his preliminary statement released on August 27, the Northern Territory Intervention is of particular concern because measures like compulsory income management, imposition of compulsory leases and community-wide bans on alcohol consumption and pornography "overtly discriminate against Aboriginal peoples, infringe their right of self-determination and stigmatize already stigmatized communities."

Anaya states explicitly that the Northern Territory Intervention is "incompatible with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to which Australia has affirmed its support," and urges the Government "to act swiftly to reinstate the protections of the Racial Discrimination Act in regard to the Indigenous peoples of the Northern Territory."

The Rapporteur reports finding numerous examples of successful Indigenous programs addressing for example alcoholism, domestic violence, health and education in ways which are culturally appropriate and adapted to local needs, and stresses the importance of continued funding for such programs.

But Anaya heard of many instances where government programs failed to take into consideration already existing local programs, thus duplicating or replacing these local programs and denying and undermining "local decision-making through Indigenous peoples' own institutions."

This contravenes international human rights norms which guarantee "the right of Indigenous peoples to participate fully at all levels of decision-making in matters which may affect their rights" and Anaya emphasises that "government programs must respect the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples to maintain their distinct cultural identities, languages and connections with traditional lands and to be in control of their affairs."

The Socialist Alliance has been calling for self-determination and Aboriginal control of Aboriginal affairs all along.

In contrast, Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin joined politicians from both sides of politics in rejecting Anaya's findings, although she lauded him as "one of the world's leading human rights advocates and legal scholars" and welcomed the "extraordinary opportunity for an honest and open exchange of views and experiences" when he arrived.

As Michael Anderson wrote in his submission to the Rapporteur "Australia is a colonial country that has mastered the art of deceiving the eye. The words and actions of government appear on the surface to be honorable but scratch the surface and you will see institutional racism personified."

Richard Downs, spokesperson for the Ampilatwatja community walk-off in protest at the Northern Territory Intervention, slammed Aboriginal leader and former ALP President Warren Mundine for rejecting Anaya's report and called on Mundine to "get out of his air-conditioned office" and "visit the people on the ground".

The Socialist Alliance calls on the Rudd government to accept Anaya's report, to immediately reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act, to put an end to the Northern Territory Intervention and any "land-for-housing deals", and to provide adequate funding and support services to all Aboriginal communities, in particular homelands and remote communities.

We will continue to stand in solidarity with our Aboriginal brothers and sisters and support their struggle for land, justice and liberation.

Bea Bleile is a National Co-convener of the Socialist Alliance and convenes its National Indigenous Rights Working Group

Cuban Ambassador in the Perth Activist Centre

2009-09-01T21:10:00.001+08:00

Cuban Ambassador, Abelardo Curbelo spoke to members and supporters of the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society on August 27. He spoke about the continuing blockade against Cuba and answered questions about the attitude of the new Obama administration which has toned down some of the diplomatic aggression towards Cuba but so far shows no sign of ending the blockade or freeing the Cuban Five.

A video was shown about the case of the Cuban Five and a birthday cake was brought out to mark Fidel Castro's birthday.

Perth Hills: Stopping uranium mining - why renewable energy is the answer

2009-09-01T10:49:00.002+08:00

Perth Hills Socialist Alliance forum

Stopping uranium mining:
Why renewable energy is the answer

Hear Jo Vallentine, lifelong opponent of uranium mining and nuclear power explain why ‘no nukes is good nukes’ – and how to build a movement to stop them.

Hear Paul Wilkes of Sustainable Energy Now explain why renewable energy solutions are available now to answer Australia’s energy needs.

St Cuthbert’s Good Shepherd Meeting Room
Corner Darlington Rd & Hillsden Rd, Darlington
3:30pm, Saturday October 3
Entry by donation

Contact:
www.socialist-alliance.org/perthhills
9299 6453

Free the Cuban Five - Rally Sat 12 Sept

2009-08-31T20:51:00.002+08:00

Rally for the Cuban Five - stop the injustice!

[The Socialist Alliance would like to encourage you to attend this rally on Sat 12 Sept organised by the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society.]

The "Cuban Five" have, between them, been sentenced to four live terms and 75 years in United States prisons. They were falsely charged with espionage conspiracy.

Their real "crime"? They were peacefully defending Cuba from US-backed terrorist groups based in Miami.

Rally
Sat 12 Sept
12 noon, Stirling Gardens

Info: acfsperth@gmail.com or phone 0421 113 341