1. The Socialist Alliance in Australia is working towards a truly fair and sustainable society. The transition to such a society will require fundamental social, political and cultural changes which will only be possible through the involvement of the clear majority of people.

We believe there is an alternative to the neo-liberal agenda of successive Labor and Liberal governments that has put profits before peoples' needs. Privatisation, user-pays and enterprise bargaining have cut living standards and government services, creating a growing gap between rich and poor while social provision and services are cut and the hopes and livelihoods of people are smashed.

Such an alternative will require a massive redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor.

2. This is an alliance of socialist parties and socialist individuals supporting a common action platform for the next federal elections and also around which we seek to build campaigns involving trade unions and communities to fight for the resources and services that workers, unemployed, women, pensioners, Aborigines and migrants really need.

3. The Socialist Alliance, however, is not neutral on the choice between a Liberal or Labor government. The primary thrust of the campaign must be anti-Liberal, with the aim of mobilising opposition to the Howard government's main attacks on the working class and other oppressed groups while making a positive case for a socialist alternative.

We are for the election of a Labor government, and for workers and their unions to take action to win their demands.

4. The Socialist Alliance will preference Labor candidates where we stand candidates and will call for supporters to “vote Labor” where there is not an Alliance or pro-working class green or progressive candidate (determined on a seat-by-seat basis). Where the Alliance preferences another candidate, it will urge that next preferences go to the ALP. We will put One Nation last.

5. Common election propaganda (leaflets, posters, how-to-votes) will be produced by the Socialist Alliance but all alliance partners are free to publish their own material, outside of Socialist Alliance propaganda.

6. This alliance will seek federal (and state) registration of the “Socialist Alliance”.

7. This alliance will seek to stand common candidates who are prepared and best able to advocate these aims in seats where its members are active, taking into account the political trends that represent substantial components of the Alliance, and candidates from working class and trade union backgrounds, for indigenous people, women, youth and other candidates representative of our constituency.

8. Socialist Alliance candidates need not be members of participating organisations.

9. The Socialist Alliance will operate on the basis of democratic decision-making, accountability of representatives and leading bodies but will promote a constructive atmosphere at all its meetings.

10. The Socialist Alliance is a membership organisation that seeks to reach out beyond the membership of participating parties. Any individual who broadly agrees with the aims and objectives of the Alliance and agrees to participate in the non-sectarian, co-operative spirit of the Alliance is eligible to join. Membership will be $50 high-waged, $20 waged, $10 unwaged.

11. We encourage the formation of local Socialist Alliance groups to build the most inclusive and united organisations possible. All local groups that accept the platform of the Alliance are invited to stand under the name of Socialist Alliance. We will encourage as many organisations as possible to affiliate with the Alliance.

12. Local Alliance groups will have responsibility for electing their own candidates. They will also be responsible for their own election campaign, including raising finance to nominate candidates and producing material (above whatever common election material that can be provided centrally) for their campaigns, for fulfilling any local legal requirements and for providing necessary information to the National Liaison Committee for the purposes of complying with the election legislation (records of membership, donations, etc). They should also take up extra-parliamentary joint campaigning, supporting workers' and other struggles, and organise local political discussions.

13. Providing their material does not contradict the core Alliance platform, local Socialist Alliance groups will be free to raise additional, specific demands within their material.

14. A National Liaison Committee should be appointed by the organisations that agree to form a Socialist Alliance at the formation meeting. Considering the relative weight and national spread of the parties expressing interest, the NLC will initially be composed of two national representatives each from the ISO and DSP and one each from the smaller groups. The NLC would promptly report, consult with and seek consensus with all the participating groups on any major matter. The NLC may be extended to include new participating organisations.

15. The tasks of the NLC should be to produce a statement on the broad scope of the Alliance, produce a draft platform for discussion, investigate federal electoral registration, appoint officers needed for federal registration, propose and circulate an interim national structure, and a draft constitution. The NLC should also encourage and promote pluralism in the Socialist Alliance's nationwide list of candidates (political pluralism within the framework of the Alliance; also representation on the candidates' list of workers, trade unionists, youth, women, indigenous people, etc.)

16. The interim structure is aimed at getting the Socialist Alliance off the ground. It seeks to allow the building of consensus between the key parties to the Alliance, recognising that as the Alliance begins to involve people outside the organisations initiating the Socialist Alliance, new democratic structures will have to be set up. This structure also takes into account the possibility of an early federal election (anytime from July though more likely in October/November).

17. Decisions should be made by majority vote but sensitivity should be exercised by all parties to preserve the basic unity of the alliance. Where sharp differences arise, the matter should be deferred for consideration and wider consultation within the alliance, before proceeding to a vote.

18. If there is sufficient agreement reached in exploratory talks on the national level, city-wide liaison committees comprising representatives of participating groups could be convened to organise Socialist Alliance launch mass meetings in various cities and begin a membership drive. If this process proves viable, local mass meetings could elect coordinating committees and working groups (publicity, fundraising, media) and begin taking decisions on local candidates and campaigns. Special state-wide meetings could be convened to select Senate candidates.

19. Further down the track, the NLC should convene a delegated national conference to finalise platform, structure, constitution, leadership bodies, etc.

20. The establishment of a broad, inclusive and united Socialist Alliance will mean members having to exercise self-discipline in promoting their distinctive political positions and identities within the Socialist Alliance. Only by putting what unites us in the Socialist Alliance first will we attract candidates and active supporters beyond the existing memberships of the initiating organisations in the Socialists Alliance. We are committed to an anti-sectarian, co-operative way of working, looking to build unity rather than discord, seeking to work positively, encouraging the notion of alliances and ensuring that any debates are conducted in a positive manner without personal attacks.

The Socialist Alliance stands on a platform of total opposition to the profit-driven economic rationalist agenda of social austerity, privatisation and deregulation. While tremendous wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few, millions of us face transport chaos, low pay, job insecurity, homelessness, racism, and environmental destruction. By empowering communities and redistributing the wealth of society we can create jobs, expand public services, and improve welfare and services.

The tremendous wealth of Australia is concentrated in the hands of a tiny minority. Only by ending the concentration of power in the hands of that minority can the wealth that exists be used for the benefit of working people. Every major industry should be re-organised on the lines of social provision for need and be publicly owned and democratically controlled by the workers and the community.

The Socialist Alliance will stand candidates in the next federal election to give a voice to working-class struggle, to the need for working-class political representation. We will stand to offer an alternative that Labor is not. We recognise that on issues such as th GST, health, education, Labor is offering far less than what traditional Labor voters want. The Socialist Alliance stands in complete opposition to the racist and right-wing Pauline Hanson's One Nation party.

If elected, a Socialist Alliance candidate would reject the perks and personal pay-outs of parliamentary office and take only an average workers wage. In parliament, Socialist Alliance candidates would use their position to give a voice to workers' struggles and social movements, fight reactionary policies and promote the mass campaigns that can defeat the attacks on jobs and living standards.

A movement for change must be built by developing policies, campaigns, industrial struggles and co-operation with all workers, environmental, anti-racist, and other social movements and to put forward an alternative to corporate control of society.

A sustained mass campaign of total opposition to the ruling-class offensive can bring together the forces to replace capitalism with a socialist society, based on co-operation, democracy and ecological sustainability.

Axe the GST, tax the rich:

• Tax the rich and slash the defence budget to fund free universal provision for health, education, and care of dependent people;

• Free tertiary education;

• Free quality childcare;

• Repeal the GST and introduce a highly progressive system of taxes on the incomes, profits and wealth of the rich — reverse drastic reductions in business taxation of recent years;

• Free quality aged care;

• Increase social security benefits, no work for the dole, no ``mutual obligation''.

• End government funding of private schools, hospitals and health insurance;

• No subsidies to wealthy schools;

• Fund Medicare, not private health funds;

• Expand public services.

• Every worker should have the right to join a union and oblige their employer to recognise and negotiate with the union;

• Every union should have the right to gain access to workplaces, to inspect company plans and books, to strike, to picket effectively, and to act in solidarity with other unions or social causes;

• Repeal anti-union laws — the Workplace Relations Act and sections 45D and E of the Trade Practices Act;

• No individual contracts.

• For international solidarity to gain union rights, basic public services and a living wage for workers around the world;

• Cancel Third World debt. The agents of global capitalism, the WTO, IMF and World Bank must be replaced with a global plan of economic reconstruction to end poverty;

• Stop Howard's military expansion; no military ties with repressive regimes;

• Promote peace and international co-operation.

• For a democratic republic with representatives receiving no more than a skilled worker's wage;

• End racist harassment of Aborigines and ethnic groups;

• Disarm the police to stop police killings;

• Decriminalise personal drug use; for safe injecting rooms.

• Full reproductive freedom; repeal abortion laws;

• Repeal all laws that discriminate against lesbians and gays; full equality for same sex couples;

• End all discrimination based on race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, disability and political ideology;

• Equal pay for equal or comparative work for all, including women, young people, Aboriginal workers and the disabled;

• Fully funded refuges for women and children who have been victims of sexual or physical abuse.

• Money for public transport;

• Effective action on greenhouse gas emissions; develop renewable energy sources;

• No uranium mining, no nuclear reactors; no logging of old growth forests;

• Worker-community-green alliances to counter profiteering developers.

• Repeal Howard's ten point plan and extend native title;

• Negotiate a Treaty recognising prior ownership and Indigenous land rights;

• Increase funding for and Aboriginal control of community services;

• Abolish mandatory sentencing;

• Full compensation for the Stolen Generations.

• Close the detention centres;

• Full rights for asylum seekers;

• Open the borders, funding for settlement.

• Shorter working week with no loss in pay; nationalise companies that threaten mass sackings and guarantee workers' entitlements;

• Stop casualisation;

• Stop competition policy massacring jobs;

• No enterprise bargaining.

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