En Passant

Penalty rate cuts encapsulate the Turnbull Government’s war against the fair go for workers and must be defeated, I write in Independent Australia. To read the whole article click here. Turnbull’s war against the fair go

You can support the 55 sacked workers (CUB sacked them to cut their wages 65%) by:

1. Sending the company a message demanding the immediate reinstatement of the workers here: https://www.iufcampaigns.org/campaigns/show_campaign.cgi…

2. Signing the petition calling on SABMiller boss Ari Mervis to intervene and reinstate the workers here: https://www.megaphone.org.au/p…/reinstate-sacked-cub-workers

3. Boycotting C.U.B. products until the workers are reinstated. You can find a list of their brands here: https://www.etuvic.com.au/content/cub-workers

This is the youtube link to my 10 November interview with Sharon Firebrace on Razor Sharp. We discuss tax, including the GST, poverty and inequality, and the need to fight against neoliberalism and austerity.

The real extremists sit in Canberra and in the board rooms across the country. It is not Karen who invaded Iraq, or Afghanistan. It is not Karen who is bombing Syria. It is not Karen killing black men and women in custody. It is not Karen driving Aboriginal people off their land to open it up for big mining companies. It is not Karen killing women in relationships or doing very little about it. It is not Karen increasing inequality and poverty in Australia. It is not Karen attacking Medicare. It is not Karen attacking penalty rates and wages. It is not Karen who is stopping equal love. It is not Karen locking up and abusing thousands of innocent people on Manus Island and Nauru.

Many of my readers will be hoping for a Jeremy Corbyn in Australia to move the Labor Party here to the left. There is no Corbyn in the Parliamentary Labor Party. The Labor left, such as it is, is thoroughly imbued with the logic of neoliberalism. In the main it is a tribal allegiance rather than an ideological ferment of ideas to challenge capitalism. You never hear the S word from these very models of a modern major general of capital. None of the possible contenders for Corbyn down under have the same track record as Corbyn in opposing austerity or fighting against social and political injustice. Indeed people like Albanese and Plibersek have been Ministers in Labor governments that have implemented neoliberal policies and attacked public services and workers’ rights and conditions. They are part of the very problem Corbyn is fighting against.

The support for Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign is a very good sign but British Labour isn’t the answer, argues Charlie Kimber, national secretary of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in Socialist Worker UK

The decision by Labor’s National Conference on Saturday not to ban turning back asylum seeker boats has shocked, outraged and upset many members and supporters. And so it should. It puts Labor on the same moral dung heap as the Liberals. I want to work with all those good activists who are or were in or near or supportive of the Labor Party and who are now reviewing their membership or support. Let’s work together in fighting for a better Australia here and now and in doing that learn the lessons flowing from this latest Labor leadership betrayal, not as a one off but as a consistent pattern. I am a member of Solidarity, one of those small revolutionary socialist groups. At least check us out here. Consider coming along to our Keep left Conference in Sydney on the weekend of Saturday 22 August and Sunday 23 August. Click here for details.

Victoria Police should rightfully be condemned for the deployment of chemical weapons, the targeting of medical personnel, casualties and medical treatment spaces with such weapons and, most of all, doing this in order to facilitate a public rally of racists and overt fascists and neo-nazis. Any assessment of the actions of antifascist protesters will conclude that they were inherently defensive: against threats of violence and the use of weapons by fascists and nazis as part of the United Patriots Front, and against the violence of racism and systematic oppression on the parts of Reclaim Australia, the United Patriots Front and Victoria Police.

Lee Sustar writing in Socialist Worker US explains the background to the announcement of a July 5 referendum on austerity measures in Greece – and how it will affect the struggles to come.

The anger provoked by Freddie Gray’s death has been building for years – the result of entrenched racism and economic inequality, not to mention the long history of police brutality and killings, mainly of African American men.