“The major parties, Labor and Liberal, have failed to highlight Indigenous issues, and have largely ignored problems important to my community in this election”, Sam Watson, Aboriginal activist and Socialist Alliance Senate candidate for Queensland, said at a rally to launch his campaign for the Queensland Senate on July 31.
The Support Sam! action took place on the streets of the inner-suburban West End. The Murri activist is a leader of the campaign for justice for Palm Island Aboriginal man Mulrunji Domadgee, who died in police custody in 2004. He is running on the SA ticket with Townsville-based union activist David Lowe.
“Socialist Alliance calls on the electors to vote for parties like Socialist Alliance, which have a vision for the future”, Watson told the gathering.
“The major parties serve the interests of the multinational corporations. Use the elections as a day to demand empowerment of the ordinary working people in this country.”
Also speaking at the rally were Ewan Saunders, SA candidate for the seat of Brisbane, and Hamish Chitts, Revolutionary Socialist Party candidate for the seat of Griffith.
Watson’s campaign has been endorsed by the Brisbane Aboriginal Rights Coalition. ARC was responding to a call from the Defending Indigenous Rights convergence, held in Alice Springs over July 6-9, for campaign groups to endorse Aboriginal candidates who support the convergence’s aims. These include ending the racist intervention into Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, which has made conditions for Aboriginal people worse.
[For more information on Watson's campaign, or offers of assistance, phone Jim on (07) 3831 2644]
Video: Sam Watson, Socialist Alliance Senate Candidate Queensland - Socialist Alliance.