The following piece is based on Jacob Andrewartha’s speech to an election launch on September 6. He is standing for Socialist Alliance in the Victorian seat of Pascoe Vale.
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At the beginning of Israel’s latest genocide in Gaza in October 2023, alongside many other comrades I helped initiate the first local protest in Coburg for Palestine, which drew more than 1000 people. It helped broaden the movement for Palestine at the local level.
It is inspiring to join people taking action and become more organised against the establishment.
That, after all, is the only way we can counter the rise of One Nation and the neoliberal politics of Labor and the Liberals.
We saw that power with the thousands of high school students, who walked out against Pauline Hanson and One Nation earlier last month.
We also saw it at the massive turn-out against the Israeli Prime Minister Isaac Herzog’s visit to Gadigal Country.
Our collective power is how we push back against capitalist politicians and their billionaire mates.
The rising support for One Nation can be demoralising, just as the Labor Party’s pursuit of right-wing policies.
The only way to combat this is to advance the self-organisation and collective power of working people.
The very conditions that have led to the rise in support for One Nation have to be changed. But that can only change with a fight-back.
The industrial action waged by teachers and education support staff is a recent inspiring example. Their campaign — on the streets — not only pushed the Australian Education Union leadership, it won teachers and support staff a better pay offer from Victorian Labor.
However, while Socialist Alliance is dedicated to building struggles in workplaces and in our communities for concrete demands, this is not enough. We also need to talk about what sort of society we want and how to get it.
The billionaire class is united around their vision — a society where they can continue to enrich themselves from exploiting workers and the Earth. The billionaires wont stop pushing for low or no taxes on the rich, subsidies and the total privatisation of public services. They also want to continue to drive down wages.
Our vision is one of solidarity. We believe in a society where everyone has the right to housing. We want essential services, like education and health care, to be fully funded and resourced. We want real action on the climate emergency. We want fully-funded public transport. We want to see a world free of conflict, genocide and oppression.
We want a world where everyone can live their lives to the full and the only way of doing that is if their basic needs are met.
But we have to fight against the ruling class’ marketisation of everything.
Victorian Labor is now considering privatising Melbourne Water. In Britain, such as move led to the return of cholera.
We have to stop Labor from demolishing all 44 high rise public housing estates, and demand it build more public housing. Everyone knows that by leaving housing to the market, the housing affordability crisis will intensify.
We have to fight laws that restrict our ability to protect the rights of working class people, including restrictions on the right to protest and the right of workers to take industrial action.
Victorian Labor’s plan to destroy the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU), after having tried to destroy the Construction Forestry Mining and Employees Union, shows up just how anti-worker it is.
But a society where people’s needs are met and where people can lead fulfilling lives, will only be achieved if there is broad support for socialist ideas and solutions. For that, we need a much greater level of self-organisation and preparedness to struggle.
Socialist Alliance has been contesting elections since we formed in 2001 because we see the electoral arena as one theatre of struggle to win more people to join the struggle for a fairer, more just society.
Even without many MPs, One Nation has pressured the establishment parties into adopting parts of its program. Labor has cut temporary visa programs and it continues to allow refugees to rot in Nauru.
With polls showing a growing alienation from the mainstream parties and many people only relating to politics at election time, Socialist Alliance has to be there to put our vision forward. The far-right, and their media supporters, is managing to con people into believing that migration the cause of the housing crisis, despite the evidence, because people are so removed from or that women cause domestic violence.
Socialist Alliance has been contesting elections since we formed in 2001, because we see the electoral arena as one theatre of struggle to win more people to join the movements for a fairer, more just society.
We want to popularise socialist solutions and social solidarity as an alternative to the pro-corporate policies of the major parties.
However, a society where people’s needs are met and where people can lead fulfilling lives, will only be achieved if there is broad support for socialist ideas and solutions. For that, we need a much greater level of self-organisation and preparedness to struggle.
A strong campaign to get our message out means more volunteers to help with letter boxing, door knocking, leafleting at train stations and suburban stalls, and helping out at early voting and election day.
[Get in touch with Socialist Alliance in Naarm if you can help out.]