Rudd’s shine begins to wear off
SP Newsletter No.265
18 months since the heady days of the election victory and mired in a recession, the Rudd Labor government has lost its gloss.
The crisis of confidence is not as bad as in Britain, Japan, Ireland or Italy where the downturn is even deeper and the political corruption even worse, but that will come here sooner rather than later.
In words, Kevin Rudd has attacked “neo-liberalism” and even capitalism – or the ‘bad’ type of predatory finance capitalism as distinct from the ‘good’ manufacturing capitalism that both Labor and the Liberals ignored over the past two decades.
Yet in practice, the budget shows that government policies are a combination of mild Keynesian stimulus side-by-side with continuing and deepening (neo-liberal!) cuts to the public sector and to social conditions.
The new road and rail projects are a profits bonanza for big construction companies but will be paid for by workers through policies such as a longer wait for the pension. Rudd claims these new projects will create 15,000 jobs a year - yet 64,000 workers were thrown onto the dole queues in the past two months alone!
Those wanting to challenge these changes face fundamentally the same anti-union and so called ‘anti-terror’ laws that existed under Howard. In some cases we have Labor State governments introducing even more draconian legislation.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts the economy will contract by 1.9% this year – that is to say things will get worse not better.
What are the alternatives on offer? The Coalition offers a return to pure neo-liberalism, without even the mild Keynesian sops of the government. There is no alternative coming from the leaders of the trade unions. Some union leaders are in a defensive mode arguing for better or indeed any redundancy payments for their members. Others will be forced to fight by the ruthlessness of employers or by pressure from their members. Most have not prepared their members for a fight and have not offered any alternative vision to Rudd.
The Socialist Party is the only party in Australia that understands and predicted the current crisis and offers a solution for working people and their families.
We combine a militant fight to save every job through occupations and the nationalisation of failed companies and to fight to maintain every condition with a call to replace capitalism with democratic socialism. We want to make the bosses pay, not the workers!
Only by ordinary people running society and owning the main companies through elected committees organised locally and nationally can we reorientate the economy away from speculation, duplication and waste to one where resources are put into job-creating plans to massively boost health, education and public transport.
The electoral support for our ideas and work amongst ordinary people in one part of Melbourne shows the potential support for socialist ideas across Australia. Become part of building a mass alternative for ordinary people, join the Socialist Party now.
National climate emergency rally
The Socialist Party is supporting the national climate emergency rallies that will take place in major cities on Saturday June 13. The demonstrations will be calling for green jobs, more investment in renewables and for climate policies that make the big polluters pay.
We will have stalls in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne and will be distributing a new leaflet that outlines socialist solutions to the environmental crisis. For more information about what’s happening in your city visit: http://www.climaterally.org/
Upcoming SP meetings
The Melbourne Branch of SP meets every Wednesday at 7pm in Trades Hall on the corner of Lygon & Victoria Streets Carlton South. Upcoming meetings include:
10/6/09 – The Irish struggle
17/6/09 – The environment & jobs
24/6/09 – Education under capitalism
1/7/09 – The politics of George Orwell
For more information or for details of meetings in other parts of Australia contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111.
News links
Ireland: SP local and European election campaigns
http://socialistworld.net/eng/2009/06/0301.html
Germany: Speculation about Rosa Luxemburg’s corpse
http://socialistworld.net/eng/2009/06/0201.html
Spain: General strike in Basque country
http://socialistworld.net/eng/2009/06/0102.html
Join the Socialist Party
If you agree with what you have read in our newsletter or on our website you should consider joining SP. The Socialist Party has branches in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Perth as well as members and supporters in all other states.
We are involved in trade union work and student work. We also run community, anti-war and environmental campaigns. But most of all we want to build a party that will fight to get rid of the capitalist system, the system that is at the root of all of these problems. We fight for socialism - a system that will bring an end to wars, poverty and environmental destruction. To join SP contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111 and we will send you a membership application form.
Subscribe to ‘The Socialist’ newspaper!
Support the Socialist Party by subscribing to our monthly newspaper ‘The Socialist’. Subscription rates are only $10 per year or $20 solidarity price. You will receive 11 copies per year delivered to your door every month. You will also receive our email newsletter every week and you will know that you are supporting an organisation that is at the fore of fighting against the capitalist system. To subscribe to ‘The Socialist’ contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111 and we will send you a subscription form.
Socialist Party contact details
Melbourne: Phone Anthony on 0396399111.
Sydney: Phone Gary on 0297287727.
Newcastle: Phone Samantha on 0249681545.
Perth: Phone John on 0894020728.
Rest of Australia: Phone our National Office on 0396399111.
Rest of the world: Phone our International Office on ++ 44 20 8988 8760.
The Socialist Party is the Australian section of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI). The CWI is organised in over 40 countries across the world.
http://www.sp.org.au
http://www.socialistworld.net
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