Ken Fry: 'Be the conscience of the broad left'

Ken Fry was the Labor member for Fraser, one of Canberra's
two lower house seats, from 1974-1984 and is best known as one of the leading
parliamentary supporters of independence for East Timor, having visited
the country shortly before its 1975 invasion by Indonesia. He sent this
message to the May 24 launch of the Socialist Alliance in Canberra:

Thank you for inviting me to the launch of the alliance. I regret that
I cannot attend but I fully support the alliance and all that it stands
for and will become a member.

Congratulations on drawing up such a wide-ranging and inclusive platform.
I hope the alliance will come to be seen as representing the social conscience
of the broad left within the Australian community. We need such representation
to prevent the left from becoming swamped under the onslaught of economic
rationalism and globalisation.

There are two matters which I feel strongly about which you may see
fit to include in your platform in the future, to extend your impact beyond
Australian shores:

1. The Australian government should accept responsibility to see that
the East Timorese are treated fairly in the exploitation of the gas and
oil resources of the Timor Sea.

2. The Pine Gap surveillance base should always be seen as a threat
to our sovereignty which has the potential to involve us as unwilling partners
in the US missile defence program, a new worldwide arms race, in conflict
with China over Taiwan, and ultimately in Australia becoming a nuclear
target.

Thanks again and best wishes for a successful launch and a fruitful
input in local and national elections this year, when contributions from
voters outside the major parties could be very significant.

<http://www.socialist-alliance.org>.