Archive for November, 2016
Press Release: Protest at Parliament House – Bring the refugees here
Posted by John, November 30th, 2016 - under Parliament, Put a Socialist in the Senate.
Comments: 3
John Passant, well known Canberra based socialist and prospective ACT Senate candidate in 2019, welcomed the refugee protest at Parliament House. ‘It was a great display of democracy,’ Mr Passant said, ‘bringing the voice of voiceless refugees to the attention of the wider public.’ ‘It interrupted for a few minutes the daily posturing of the wafflers and trough sniffers in Parliament and highlighted the lives permanently interrupted on Manus and Nauru,’ he said.
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My recently released book of poetry available through Independent Australia
Posted by John, November 29th, 2016 - under Poems, Songs for the band unformed.
Comments: none
John Passant has just released his first book of poetry, Songs for the Band Unformed (Ginninderra Press 2016). The poems are a mix of the personal and the political. A signed copy costs $21.95 and can be purchased via the Independent Australia online shop here.
Fidel Castro has died
Posted by John, November 27th, 2016 - under Castro, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Socialism, Socialism from above, Socialism from below.
Comments: none
History must judge Castro both as the freedom fighter whose defiance humiliated US imperialism and as the ruler of a repressive, unequal society. It was right to support his resistance to the US attempts at revenge. But he cannot be absolved of abusing the idea of communism to rule over a capitalist society. The socialism he claimed to represent is as important as ever—but making it a reality means workers’ self-activity, not state control from above.
Strange fruit – Income tax in Australia and the Indigenocide State – very very rough talking notes
Posted by John, November 22nd, 2016 - under Genocide, Indigenocide, Indigenocide State, Indigenous Australians.
Comments: none
These are my very rough, to be edited, revised and added to before cutting in half, talking notes for a talk on income tax and Indigenocide in Australia to various PhD students I am giving in a few days time.
Turnbull talks tax rubbish
Posted by John, November 21st, 2016 - under Malcolm Turnbull, Tax, Tax the rich.
Comments: 1
Turnbull’s claim that rehashed “trickle down reforms” will not be “keenly felt” in the community during the lowest wage growth on record are farcical, says John Passant in Independent Australia. Click here to read the article. Turnbull talks tax trash
Why protest Trump?
Posted by John, November 16th, 2016 - under Donald Trump.
Comments: 6
Bill Shorten meets Donald Trump on highway 457
Posted by John, November 16th, 2016 - under ALP, Australia first, Australian Labor Party, Dogwhistling, Donald Trump, Othering, Racism.
Comments: 1
Labor thinks it is on a winner with its Australia First propaganda. Expect to see much more Aussie jobs rhetoric and dog whistling from the ALP. Of course, like Trump, most of this will be verbiage without action. Where was Labor for example when the car industry was shutting down?
Labor, rather than dog whistling about foreign workers, could make some real changes to industrial relations law in Australia. The first one would be to enshrine the right to strike at any time in legislation. The second would be to allow unions access to all workers to explain pay and conditions, and for building industry and other dangerous workplaces, to enforce safety standards
We must wear a poppy
Posted by John, November 13th, 2016 - under Armistice Day, Poems, Poems for a new world, Poppies.
Comments: none
President Trump
Posted by John, November 10th, 2016 - under Donald Trump, President Trump.
Comments: 3
How could such a monster win?
Posted by John, November 10th, 2016 - under Donald Trump.
Comments: 6
We have a lot of work to do, starting today, to build a real left alternative that recognizes the misery and suffering so many people endure; that confronts these conditions politically and practically; and that builds organization capable of turning the tide.