2004 SP National Conference Report
Monday, August 23 @ 21:46:50 CDT

Our best ever Conference - in terms of its political analysis, attendence, recruitment, money raised and morale...
The Conference was held at Melbourne's Trades Hall and was opened by John Gowland from the Perth branch. International messages of support from Belgium, Sri Lanka, Canada, Austria. Germany and Belgium were read out by our Nigerian comrade Wale.

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Venezuela: The elite lose again
Tuesday, August 17 @ 21:38:55 CDT

By Robert Bechert, CWI
Across Venezuela hundreds of thousands have celebrated the defeat of the attempt to “recall” the radical President Hugo Chávez. The overwhelming referendum result is a huge blow against US President Bush’s policies and the Venezuelan ruling class. The opposition had hoped that they would be able to mobilise sections disappointed by Chávez and thereby secure a victory.

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Why I joined the Socialist Party
Sunday, August 15 @ 05:32:23 CDT

By Kylie McGregor, Melbourne
Although I was skeptical and cynical,
when I first came into contact with the Socialist Party,
expecting hypocrisy and shallow banners
What I found was progressive ideas,
A strong network,
Serious, dedicated and committed
No hierarchial barriers
But an opportunity to get active
And be supported.

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Sudan: Armed intervention must be opposed
Sunday, August 15 @ 03:22:03 CDT

The crisis gripping Darfur, in western Sudan, has been prominently in the news for weeks now.
By Robert Bechert, CWI

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WA's neo-nazis: A socialist analysis
Thursday, August 12 @ 22:34:10 CDT

On July 19th 2004 there were a series of racist attacks in Perth. Perth’s biggest synagogue and a Chinese restaurant were sprayed with swastikas and racist slogans. One of the Chinese restaurants was firebombed and totally gutted. A police station and a pharmacy were also sprayed with swastikas and graffiti.

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The case for a revolutionary party
Thursday, August 12 @ 22:20:59 CDT

The political organisation of workers is a lot weaker today than in the past. In the 1960s and 1970s, for example, many trade unionists and student activists were organised in the Labor Party, or one or other Communist Party, or some other left wing party.

Today, the shift to the Right in the Labor Party has led to its emptying out by workers and young people. The collapse of Stalinist Soviet Union and Eastern European regimes led to the virtual wiping out of the Communist Parties in Australia and worldwide. Left parties like the Socialist Party are still small, albeit very active and ‘punching above their weight’ in terms of their effectiveness.

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New Zealand: Are Kiwi Workers Really ''Better Off With Labour''?
Thursday, August 12 @ 22:14:26 CDT

By Tim Bowen
Time for the trade union movement and anti-capitalist left to stop bailing out capitalist politicians and fight for a real socialist alternative

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International Socialist Summer School Report
Thursday, August 12 @ 08:40:58 CDT

Australia was represented by Denise Dudley at the recent CWI Summer School in Belgium. The CWI (Committee for a Workers' International) is the international organsiation of 35 socialist organisations that the SP in Australia is affiliated to.
Read the first reports of the event which concentrates on the report on the exciting developments in Latin America

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Joe Higgins in Australia!
Tuesday, August 10 @ 22:45:49 CDT

This Friday 6.30pm August 13th -
Commonwealth Hotel, 35 Union St, Cooks Hill, Newcastle NSW

This Saturday 3pm August 14th - Gaelic Club, 64 Devonshire St, Sydney

Then Tuesday 7.30pm August 17th - Irish Club WA, 61 Townshend Rd, Subiaco, WA

and finally
Satuday 1pm August 21st - Trades Hall, cnr Lygon and Victoria Sts, Carlton South, Melbourne



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60 years on: The truth about D-Day
Sunday, August 08 @ 20:53:33 CDT

By Alan Woods
The story of D-Day has been told many times. It has made a powerful impression on the public through films such as The Longest Day and, more recently, Saving Private Ryan. The recent celebrations, accompanied by a steady stream of television documentaries, have revived the stories about the heroic invasion of France, the terrible cost in human lives, the sacrifice and the bravery. All of this is true. But it does not tell anything like the full story.
Click here for part 1 and click here for part 2

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McGuinness, Windschuttle and Quadrant
Sunday, August 08 @ 08:57:01 CDT

Aboriginal History
McGuinness, Windschuttle and Quadrant:
The attempt to revise the history of the massacre of Aborigines on the British colonial frontier in Australia
By Sydney Marxist bookseller Bob Gould


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1969 Penal Powers General Strike
Sunday, August 08 @ 03:20:24 CDT

This year is the 35th anniversary of one of the most important and victorious strike movements in modern Australian history - the General Strike movement in response to the jailing of Tram Workers' Union leader Clarrie O'Shea in 1969.
Ruben Montero analyses the events in an article first published in 1994 in the Militant - the predecessor to The Socialist.

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Workers need a new Party!
Friday, August 06 @ 21:51:54 CDT

Editorial from latest issue of The Socialist

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Craig Johnston expelled from the AMWU
Friday, August 06 @ 21:46:55 CDT

By Anthony Main, AMWU (metals division) shop steward

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Political Aerobics: A list of Latham's backflips
Friday, August 06 @ 21:45:30 CDT

By Gregory Bradshaw
Latham’s amendment to the Free Trade Agreement has slightly reinvigorated his support amongst working class people. He stumbled on this amendment by accident and if Howard hadn’t blinked first, Latham may well of done so soon after.
Because after eight years of attacks on unions, refugees, women, and the environment, few people would be able draw a hair’s breadth between the pro-big business policies of the Coalition and those pro-big business policies of the supposed Labor "opposition". It is precisely this lack of an alternative that has enabled Howard to win three consecutive terms. In response to such attacks, many are shouting for "anyone but Howard and the Libs!" to win the upcoming federal election. Some see Mark Latham as an alternative of sorts: a man who speaks his mind and sticks to his guns. But a quick look at his hitherto career as Labor leader reveals that nothing could be further from the truth. Latham’s stunning political backflips show a man more suited for the Australian Olympic gymnastics team, than one able to fix the crises in our society.

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Howard - Time to Go!
Friday, August 06 @ 21:41:44 CDT

By Anthony Main
At some stage in the coming months or even weeks we will have our chance to kick out the Coalition government. After a legacy of attacks on working people, Howard’s time may nearly be up.

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Mother of all Nights! FAHRENHEIT 9/11 plus John Cummins
Monday, August 02 @ 20:22:54 CDT

Unite public meeting this Tuesday, August 10th, 7pm Trades Hall, cnr Lygon + Victoria Sts, Carlton South followed by a showing of Michael Moore's new movie, FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (gold coin donation).
The public meeting on 'Casualisation: Let's stop the rip-off' has the following excellent speakers: John Cummins, President CFMEU; Joo-Cheong Tham, legal expert on casualisation and industrial law; Gemma Pennell, Organiser NTEU and Green candidate for Federal seat of Melbourne; Unite's Greg Bradshaw.
The night only gets better - at 8.30pm come and see Farenheit 9/11 with us at Trades Hall. Drinks on sale. All profits to UNiTE.
Don't forget UNiTE soccer match fundraiser this Sunday 2pm Edinburgh Gardens, St Georges Rd, North Fitzroy

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SP aims to win Council seat in November
Saturday, July 31 @ 03:01:05 CDT

By Stephen Jolly, SP National Secretary
The Socialist Party in Melbourne is preparing a serious campaign to win a seat in the Langridge Ward at the November 27th Yarra City Council elections. This would be a big electoral breakthrough for SP and would come after over a decade of campaigning with the local community over education, environmental and industrial issues.

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The Battle of Algiers
Thursday, July 29 @ 01:33:44 CDT

Reviewed by Jimi Cocking, SP supporter in Tasmania
Rereleased and now showing in selected cinemas throughout Australia

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Grocon set to take on Australia's strongest union
Tuesday, July 27 @ 18:17:10 CDT

The discovery last month of a listening devise in the shop stewards office at Grocon’s massive Eureka project in Southbank, Melbourne (it will be the tallest building in the southern hemisphere) shows that the construction giant has the Victorian CFMEU in its sights. Backed by the Federal Government, the Grollo family-run Grocon company has decided to take on the status quo in the building industry.

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Indonesian Presidential election
Monday, July 26 @ 19:12:32 CDT

By Yorran Pelekanakis, Socialist Party Melbourne City branch
Two months after the April 5th elections for the Indonesian legislature Indonesians again went to the polls to directly elect the President. Like the previous elections ordinary Indonesians were left with little choice.

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USA: 10 reasons why John Kerry doesn’t deserve your vote
Friday, July 23 @ 02:11:44 CDT

By Felicia Mello and Jessica Johnston, in Justice, the newspaper of our US party Socialist Alternative
Although President Bush's approval ratings have reached an all-time low, John Kerry has gained little, according to a CBS/New York Times poll released in late June.

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Why Fahrenheit 9/11 makes Bush fume
Wednesday, July 21 @ 18:49:16 CDT

Dave Carr reviews Fahrenheit 9/11
It's not surprising that Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 is storming the US. The film's release coincides with Americans' growing anger at George Bush and his right-wing regime.

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Joe Higgins tour details
Tuesday, July 13 @ 19:17:24 CDT

Here are the details of the four public meetings to be addressed by Irish Socialist Party TD (MP) Joe Higgins during his August tour of Australia. He will also be speaking at union delegate meetings and at social functions.
Joe was jailed last year for his active opposition to the anti-working class Bin Tax and is one of the most prominent TDs in the Republic.

The tour details are:
Friday 6.30pm August 13th - Commonwealth Hotel, 35 Union St, Cooks Hill, Newcastle NSW

Saturday 3pm August 14th - Gaelic Club, 64 Devonshire St, Sydney

Tuesday 7.30pm August 17th - Irish Club WA, 61 Townshend Rd, Subiaco, WA

Satuday 1pm August 21st - Trades Hall, cnr Lygon and Victoria Sts, Carlton South, Melbourne


to check out the Irish Socialist Party web site

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Papua New Guinea: A socialist analysis
Monday, July 12 @ 06:59:24 CDT

AUSTRALIA DEPLOYS TROOPS TO PNG
By David Murray, Socialist Party, Newcastle.
As early as August, Australian troops will be deployed to PNG. It represents the latest advance by Australia as an infant imperialist power, as foreign minister Alexander Downer said, ‘It is one of the most important single developments in Australian foreign policy in recent years’.

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UNITE LAUNCHES ITS NATIONAL PETITION CAMPAIGN: CAMPAIGN 10,000
Monday, July 12 @ 01:58:16 CDT

UNITE SUPPORTERS!
UNITE LAUNCHES ITS NATIONAL PETITION CAMPAIGN THIS MONDAY: CAMPAIGN 10, 000
UNiTE will launch its petition this Monday in Melbourne, Bourke Street Mall. Unite aims to gather a minimum of 10,000 signatures to present to federal parliament.
Lets make the politicians take note , and make casualisation an election issue!
Email Unite on (or ) for a pdf of the petition and send copies to PO Box 1015, Collingwood, Victoria 3066

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Win for Metal Workers' Union members!
Monday, July 12 @ 01:51:09 CDT

By SP National Treasurer and AMWU shop steward Anthony Main

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Iraq: White House tries its creature Saddam
Monday, July 12 @ 01:48:47 CDT

Saddam Hussein appeared in court on 1 July and was charged with a list of crimes

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Revolutionary socialists and the Venezuelan Revolution
Thursday, July 08 @ 23:18:11 CDT

Analyses the current critical conjuncture of the Venezuelan Revolution; takes up the uncritical analsis of President Chevas by some left groups; and offers a socialist programme for the Venezuelan working class.


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The Origins and Influences of Marxism
Friday, July 02 @ 00:57:47 CDT

THE REAL WORLD OF CHANGING IDEAS
By Gregory Bradshaw, Melbourne City branch SP

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