BY VIRGINIA BROWN
PERTH — The variety of backgrounds of the 30 activists who gathered for Socialist Alliance's first "politics in the pub" forum on October 19 — refugee rights and anti-war campaigners, candidates from different left-wing parties, militant maritime unionists — certainly ensured a lively, and at times closely debated, discussion.
The two speakers were both left-wing candidates for the same seat, the seat of Perth: Alison Xamon, the WA Greens' candidate, is the women's officer of the State Secondary Teachers Union, and Phil Chilton, from the Socialist Alliance, is active in the Refugee Rights Action Network and the Community and Public Sector Union.
Xamon explained that she was "disappointed but not surprised by the lack of action by the state Labor government on [industrial relations] laws", and said that the Greens WA stood for universal membership of unions and complete freedom for workers to engage in secondary boycotts and similar tactics.
Noting that her personal position on union rights was "somewhat stronger" than her party's and that she believed the Greens had not done enough to gain workers' support, Xamon said there needed to be an active movement within the Greens to address the question of workers' rights.
For his part, Chilton spoke of the "war on terrorism", describing it as "one of the greatest misnomers I have heard for a long time".
While the attack on Afghanistan is held up as "protecting Australia's democracy", he said, it obviously doesn't protect Australians from the GST or the attacks on welfare and union rights.
Xamon observed during discussion that she hadn't disagreed with a single word from her Socialist Alliance rival for the seat of Perth — prompting some alliance members to encourage her to join.