En Passant

This is me at Kim Carr’s launch at the ANU of his new book on why you should sell your soul to the devil and join the ALP.

We must build popular committees to defend ourselves against attacks by the Brotherhood and to protect our revolution which will not subside before it overthrows the regime, and before it wins bread, freedom and social justice, and retribution for all the killers of the martyrs.

On the back of the largest protests for refugee rights in years, more upcoming rallies have been called for the coming week! Share this list around and help build resistance to the disgraceful policies of the major parties!

I am proud of banners that say F**k Labor. This expresses the justified anger many have with Labor over its plans to deport asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea. It is part of the Left relating to that section of society disgusted with the ALP’s actions and which is an audience for ideas of not just anger and rage against Labor but understanding why Labor does this. The real hope is in the ten thousand people who demonstrated last weekend against Labor’s disgraceful action and who will continue to fight for refugees.

I have my regular Tuesday morning interview tomorrow morning at 7.30 am on 3 KND with Sharon Firebrace.

Under the present mainstream media duopoly the views of a large number of Australians are silenced.

Given that salary sacrificing for employees in the Not for Profit sector is widespread as a way of compensating for very low wages, many low paid NFP workers will have their real after tax wages cut by the Rudd Labor government’s proposed abolition of the Fringe Benefits Tax statutory method. I have a novel suggestion. Pay low paid workers much more.

The dominance of the two major parties of neoliberalism and the ongoing and inevitable shift further and further to the right on not just refugees but almost every issue imaginable can only be challenged by that minority of the minority understanding the systemic roots of racism and the need to smash the system to smash its various oppressions. That requires building a revolutionary socialist organisation to be the expression of the oppressed and the militant section of the working class. In our own small way, aiding the development of that understanding and helping build the resistance is what we in Socialist Alternative are trying to do.

If Canberra readers want to show the Labor Party how disgusted they are with the ALP’s disgraceful and racist PNG policy, I would urge you to join me and hundred of others at 12 pm on Saturday at Woden Square (end of Furzer St, next to PO & MLC /Lovett Tower) at a demonstration in defence of refugees called by the Canberra Refugee Action Committee.

We will be marching to a nearby ACT ALP conference to let Andrew Leigh and the other members of the Party know we strongly oppose this disgusting policy.