Greens back right-wing ALP Councillor for Mayor
SP Newsletter No.384
Last night Yarra Council, in inner-city Melbourne, held a special ‘ceremonial’ Council meeting to elect the 2012 Mayor. The meeting’s proceedings put a spotlight on the true nature of the Greens. Despite having more Councillors than any other party on Council, the Greens refused to accept the Mayoral position and instead voted for the most right-wing ALP Councillor, Geoff Barbour.
The current make up of the Council is 3 Greens, 2 Socialists, 2 ALP and 2 right-wing Independents. Alison Clarke from the Greens had the Mayor’s position this year and the Socialist Party encouraged them on several occasions to retake the position in 2012. The combined votes of the Greens and Socialist Party could have easily made this happen.
While we have serious disagreements with the Green party, they are generally seen by people as more progressive than the ALP. On paper some of their policies are more progressive, the problem is that they rarely implement them. It seems from last night’s performance that they are not even serious about trying.
The truth is that people voted for the Greens hoping to get a progressive Council. Given that the Greens make up the biggest component of the Council they should take responsibility for leading it and putting their policies to the test. People did not vote Green to let the Labor Party in through the back door.
Only a decade or so ago Yarra was a wall to wall ALP Council. The party also ran the State government with many ALP members claiming that they ‘owned this part of town’. This however came crashing down in 2001-02 when the Greens began to make a breakthrough. The first Greens Councillors were thrust into their positions thanks to Socialist Party preferences. In 2004 the Socialist Party also won its first position.
Clearly people in Yarra have been turned off the right-wing policies of the ALP and are now voting for more progressive parties. Despite the huge set back for the ALP, the Greens seem hell bent on dragging the ALP out of the depths of despair and pushing them into power.
It has been reported that in 2008 the Greens and ALP did a secret power sharing deal. The two parties would rotate the Mayor’s position and the chairs of the Councils committees. Despite being in a weaker position the ALP clearly won out in this deal as they will hold the Mayor’s position in an election year. This is probably why the Greens refuse to make the document public.
It should have been the case that in 2011 this deal was abandoned as the make up of the council changed and the Council committees were abolished. Anthony Main from the Socialist Party was elected to the council via a count back after Jane Garrett from the ALP was elected to the State Parliament. The Committees have now been replaced by fortnightly full meetings of Council.
The Greens however have refused to take advantage of this shift to the left on Council. Clearly they consider that they have more in common with this right-wing neo-liberal party than with the views of the community.
Geoff Barbour is not only ineffective and uninspiring but right-wing even amongst his ALP colleagues. This year he put forward a budget that proposed to slash millions of dollars in funding for council services, he has consistently been the most pro-developer on the Council and is usually the first to defer to the conservative bureaucrats when wanting to avoid making political decisions.
Previously Barbour worked for the local ALP member and ex-Housing Minister Richard Wynne. During this time the ALP pushed through a whole range of right-wing policies not least public-private partnerships on the housing estates. No doubt Barbour will be pushing similar policies from the Mayoral office thanks to the Greens.
The Socialist Party Councillors were the only ones to vote against the appointment of an ALP Mayor. Despite the Greens capitulation we will continue to fight for a progressive Council that fulfils the aspirations of the majority of people in Yarra.
As we move into an election year we can expect the community to come into conflict with the ALP/Green coalition on a number of issues. The Socialist Party pledges to provide opposition both in the Council chamber and within the community itself.
Please note this will be the last SP Newsletter for 2011. Regular correspondence will resume in early 2012. The Socialist Party National Office will be closed from Friday December 23 to Tuesday January 3.
Socialist Party meetings
The first Melbourne aggregate meeting of 2012 will be held on Wednesday February 1st, 7pm @ Trades Hall, corner of Lygon & Victoria Streets Carlton South.
During January the Socialist Party in Melbourne will be holding an introduction to Marxism educational program. All sessions will start at 2pm and be held at our National Office in Trades Hall. The program is as follows:
Saturday January 7 – Introduction to Marxism
Saturday January 14 – Historical Materialism
Saturday January 21 – Dialectics
Saturday January 28 – Marxist Economics
The program is free and available to both members and supporters. The reading is available for $2 from our office. People are encouraged to attend the whole series or even just one session.
For more information or for details of meetings in other parts of Australia contact our National Office on 0396399111.
News links:
Italy: Monti government arouses huge anger of workers
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/5484
Brazil: Third Congress of PSOL
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/5483
Russia: “Putin is a thief! Putin is a thief!”
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/5480
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 all our 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.
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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.
Contact the Socialist Party
Socialist Party National Office
Phone: (03) 9639 9111
Post: PO Box 1015 Collingwood Victoria, Australia, 3066
Visit: Level 1, Victorian Trades Hall, 54 Victoria Street Carlton South, Victoria
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.
