Angry at the brutal occupation of Iraq and the inhumane treatment of David Hicks, university students are joining anti-war and radical groups such as Resistance at orientation weeks in bigger numbers this year. The first revolution of the 21st century, in Venezuela, is also attracting a lot of interest.
So far, more than 400 students have joined Resistance around the country, some 100 more than this time last year. Hundreds more want to join in activities — a reflection of the growing interest in socialist politics.
"After four years of occupation and 700,000 dead in Iraq, a lot of young people are saying it's time to end the war", Katherine Bradstreet, a Resistance member at La Trobe University, told Green Left Weekly. "And a growing minority is questioning the 'war on terror' and the irrational capitalist system that threatens to plunge the world into more wars."
In Sydney, Resistance members organised with other anti-war students to protest the visit of war criminal and US Vice-President Dick Cheney. The result was a youthful and militant demonstration that, despite police intimidation and repression, succeeded in defending the right to protest and march.
Simon Cunich from Sydney University Resistance, who addressed the February 22 protest against Cheney at Sydney Town Hall, told GLW that the protests showed that, increasingly, young people understand the root cause of the war — the imperial aims of the US — and want to boost the movement against war. Resistance is now building the protests marking the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, on March 17-18, as part of the global weekend of action.
"These protests should be big", Cunich said, "because Australians oppose the war in Iraq, and Afghanistan. We have to force Howard back and only people power can do that. These protests are an important step towards building the protests against the world's biggest terrorist, George Bush, when he visits Sydney for the APEC meeting in September."
Students are also angry that governments are refusing to take meaningful action to stop global warming. The growing inequality between the rich and poor, across the world and in Australia, is another key concern.
Many new Resistance members are inspired by the new socialist revolution in Venezuela. Pages of signatures were collected on a petition inviting Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chavez, to visit Australia in 2007.
"We are not just against the capitalist system; we are for building a global movement to get rid of capitalism and replace it with a democratic socialist society", Mel Barnes, a Resistance activist at the University of Tasmania who has recently returned from Venezuela, told GLW. "Today, that new form of society is being pioneered by the people and government of Venezuela, and it's a beacon of hope for the world's poor", she said. "In Venezuela, and across Latin America, the US empire is being beaten back, proving that a different, socialist, world is possible."
Barnes added that Resistance is "learning heaps from studying the political processes in Venezuela. We're doing our best to inform others about what is possible when ordinary people take power into their own hands and begin to construct a new type of society."
Resistance is organising introduction to socialism discussion circles, as well as forums to discuss the war and imperialism, and socialism in the 21st century. For details, or to join Resistance, visit