100 days and counting…Time for Rudd to act!

As part of an international day of action, the Tamil community and a range of progressive groups will be holding a protest at 5.30pm Monday January 18th outside the State Library in Melbourne. (Corner of Swanston and Latrobe Streets in the City)

The protests are demanding that the 254 Tamil refugees, currently in Merak (Indonesia), be allowed to come to Australia.

As part of the government’s alleged ‘Indonesian Solution’, Kevin Rudd personally requested that the Indonesian Navy intercept the boat to stop the people from entering Australian waters. His aim was to sub contract the problem out to Indonesia.

(more…)

Is the worst post-war economic downturn coming to an end? Are the green shoots of recovery really visible, as many politicians would have us believe? Opinion is divided, with some commentators counting down to the next crisis. What is clear, is that this is a time of acute economic instability. Any growth is likely to be slow, with governments and big business out to offload the costs onto working-class people. LYNN WALSH reports.

World capitalism has been shaken to its foundations by the economic crisis that has unfolded since the end of 2007. Nobody disputes that it is the worst crisis since the 1930s. “The downturn has been global in scope”, comments the Organisation for Co-operation and Economic Development (OECD), a grouping of 30 advanced capitalist countries, “even though its financial epicentre was in the OECD area. Indeed, trade and financial linkages prompted a synchronised collapse in activity and trade after financial markets froze in the second half of 2008″. (OECD press release, 24 June 2009)

(more…)

A ‘dis-Service’ to Leon Trotsky
This book is very thick – running to 600 pages – but is very thin when it comes to an honest political examination and analysis of the ideas of Leon Trotsky, the subject of Service’s tome. His justification? That this book is, allegedly, the first “full-length biography of Trotsky written by someone outside Russia who is not a Trotskyist”.

By Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party

(more…)

SP Newsletter No.281
The Socialist Party will be holding its National Conference on October 2/3 at Trades Hall in Melbourne. At 7pm on Friday October 2 we will host a public meeting titled ‘The crisis facing world capitalism’.

(more…)

SP Newsletter No.280
UNITE’s year long campaign against convenience store giant 7-Eleven is literally starting to pay off! $112,000 in unpaid wages has been recovered for 7-Eleven workers in Melbourne and a further $55,000 has been recovered in Sydney.

(more…)

SP Newsletter No.268
The Melbourne Branch of the Socialist Party will be holding a day school on Saturday July 4. The school will be a good introduction to the basic ideas of Marxism and will be of interest to new members or to people who are keen to find out more about the politics of SP.

(more…)

SP Newsletter No.264
The Socialist Party will be holding a public meeting in Melbourne on Wednesday June 3 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Speaking on the night will be Stephen Jolly who witnessed the events first hand. We will also be relaunching our pamphlet ‘Eyewitness in China’.

(more…)

SP Newsletter No.254
The Socialist Party will once again be holding its annual educational event - Socialism 2009. This year the event will take the form of a day school which will be held on Saturday March 21 at Trades Hall in Melbourne. The theme of the school will be ‘Capitalism in crisis: Understanding the economic crisis.

(more…)

SP Newsletter No.253
Public Meeting in Melbourne: Bring public transport back into public hands!
Featuring: Greg Barber, Greens MP, Stephen Jolly, Socialist Party Councillor & Tony Morton, Public Transport Users Association.
7pm Wednesday March 18th at Trades Hall in Carlton South.

(more…)

The crisis facing world capitalism
SP will be holding our 2008 National Conference in Melbourne on Friday October 10 & Saturday October 11. On the opening night of the Conference we will host a public meeting featuring Kevin McLoughlin, the General Secretary of the Socialist Party in Ireland. The meeting will discuss the international situation and the crisis facing world capitalism. (more…)