As of November2020[update], the party is represented in local government on the Maribyrnong City Council by Socialist Alternative member Jorge Jorquera. Victorian Socialists was established in 2018 as an alliance of pseudo-left groups, but now functions as an electoral front for Socialist Alternative. The 1920 second congress of the Communist International, in a resolution drafted by Leon Trotsky, explained: Activity in parliament consists primarily of revolutionary agitation from the parliamentary rostrum, unmasking opponents, and ideological unification of the masses, who, particularly in areas that lag behind, are still prejudiced by democratic illusions and look to the parliamentary rostrum. Socialist Alternatives Red Flag declared in July: Imperialist [i.e., Russias] invasion cannot be defeated by pacifist methods. Turnbull and Peter Dutton predictable law and order comments are clearly meant to attack the Victorian Labor government in an election year. Above all, Victorian Socialists work to divert the rising opposition within the working class from developing into a politically conscious movement against Labor and the unions, and the capitalist order they defend. "So, how come the left is so divided?" we are routinely asked. The avowed purpose of the campaign is to get at least one Socialist Alternative member into the upper house of Victorias parliament, aided by second or third preference votes from other parties, all of which are horse-trading preferences with bourgeois parties to secure seats. Every significant issue confronting the working class demands an international solutionthe danger of US imperialism triggering a third world war, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, attacks on democratic rights and the danger of fascism. Build 150,000 new public housing units over 10 years. Stop deregulation and casualisation, and use every means to improve wages and conditions for workers. Originally formed as the Australian Socialist League in 1887, it had members such as George Black, New South Wales Premier William Holman and Prime Minister Billy Hughes. With an area of 2,570 km 2 (990 sq mi) and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in population apart from Bremen. The VSP faded away in the following years, finding that there was little political space between the Australian Labor Party and the Communist Party of Australia. Victorian Socialists, in particular, are the most zealous supporters of the trade union bureaucracy. 2016 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: The 2016 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton revealed much more than just a presidential winner, it exposed how the Marxist MAINSTREAM MEDIA mob -- and the LEFT-WING PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL followers of SOCIALISM and COMMUNISM that politically control the media, attempted to sway the election in favor of Clinton because she . I think revolutionaries and non-revolutionaries can work together in the same campaign (like VicSocs), but outside of those campaigns, revolutionaries need to organise separately because that's the only way revolutionaries can build their forces. Socialist Alliance councillor Sue Bolton will run with Steve Jolly and Colleen Bolger on the Victorian Socialists ticket in the November Victorian state election. The Ukrainian people have a right to resist the invasion. The Victorian Socialist Party established a variety of cultural activities and institutions to form a community of socialists. The Andrews government has presided over a state with the highest number of police in Australia, a hospital system in crisis, skyrocketing rents and mortgages, and inflation that is seeing profits grow even as the rest of us struggle to pay our bills. Even though Socialist Alliance aren't able to properly campaign for all of the council wards they're running in, they have put up candidates to compete with Victorian Socialists who could have actually won some of those. The Victorian Socialists office is located on the traditional lands of the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. define the dominant classes Victorian Socialists is now dominated by members of Socialist Alternative, which for many years was avowedly against participation in electoral politics. For many young people,the fact that modern Australia emerged from a colonial-settler society founded on the violent dispossession of First Nations peoples is a self-evident fact. Imagine a voice inside parliament that is accountable to the working class and marginalised communities? Socialist Alliance is running on the campaign theme, Community Need, Not Corporate Greed. The Liberal Democrats and the Derryn Hinch Justice Party did not win a seat. Victorian Socialists is a campaign to get a socialist elected. The Animal Justice Party and Fiona Patterns Reason Party (which did not stand in 2018) scored a combined 5.3%. [3] These included more mainstream activities such as "regular lectures on political topics, speakers classes, the writing and distribution of radical literature, and public protest" to more eccentric such as "dances, camps, bicycle riding clubs, choirs, a Sunday School for youth". The left should never forget how Pauline Hanson used her first term of office in 1996 to mobilise a right-wing base of support. A socialist in parliament gives the left access to resources, insider information and greater campaign opportunities. In Victoria and across the country, Labor and the unions are imposing continuing real wage cuts, as well as cuts to public hospital and health spending. Join us for a discussion of the Victorian Socialists manifesto and find out how you can help get the first socialists elected to an Australian parliament for almost a century. So, how come the left is so divided? we are routinely asked. In 2012, Corey Oakley declared backing for US imperialist interventions, writing: The time for knee-jerk anti-imperialism has passed. In Ukraine, Socialist Alternative openly supports the pouring of US weaponry into the hands of the right-wing Zelensky government in the war against Russia, just as it agitated for the US assault on Syria. Under these conditions, the Victorian Socialists is hoping to join the political establishment as its left flank, trying to prop up lingering illusions among workers and youth in the Labor Party and Greens, including by directing ballot preferences to these parties and promoting them as lesser evil alternatives to the Liberal Party. Both Victorian Socialists and Socialist Alliance are running candidates. What to expect The Victorian Labor government looks set to be re-elected in a landslide. Take the following, from the private official paper of this weird organisation, the "Socialist Record" (Feb. 1913) : "I [the writer of the article, Mr. F. Edwards] know one branch of the Party which will not sell 'Justice' or the 'Clarion' because they advocate piffling reforms. Support for the two capitalist ruling partiesLabor and the Liberal-Nationalshas fallen to historic lows. SA ran a smaller campaign, standing in the Geelong seats of Lara and Geelong and the Melbourne seats of Pascoe Vale and Broadmeadows. There is so much that can be done to fix this state, if only it were run in the interests of workers, migrants, Indigenous people and the poor. [2] Party members such as Tom Mann and John Curtin took the stance of anti-imperialism and internationalism, while members such as Maurice Blackburn argued that Australia required a strong army to enforce the White Australia Policy. Or demanding that public housing and public transport stay in public hands and not run down and privatised? Most recently this was on display after the transnational giant Knauf locked out workers at its plasterboard plant in Port Melbourne. Like most socialists, the party initially welcomed the revolution, but by 1920 democratic socialists such as Ross had become critical of the Bolshevik regime. Founded in February 2018, it is an electoral alliance of various socialist parties, organisations, community groups and trade unionists. Under business-as-usual politics, its divide and conquer. The Victorian Socialists is a state-based political party launched in February 2018 by an alliance of socialist organisations, trade union activists, left wing journalists and individuals. The Victorian Socialist Party ( VSP) was a socialist political party in the Australian state of Victoria during the early 20th century. But despite the whinging of the mainstream media, this will be no victory for the left. Growing working-class hostility toward Labor threatens an historic crisis of capitalist rule. The main reason the Alliance left Victorian Socialists is because their only real claim to fame is having a councillor elected and if they had stayed, they wouldn't be able to really justify their existence. A leading influence in the VSP's formation was the British trade unionist Tom Mann, who lived in Australia from 1903 to 1910. Socialist Alliance accepted this limitation at that time as we could see that the initial greater unity displayed by Victorian Socialists made it attractive to other new and independent left individuals and forces that might develop it beyond its limited electoralist focus. In return they have received some union financing, including, when the organisation was founded, $50,000 from the Labor Party-affiliated Electrical Trades Union. KERRYN PHELPS: Why Independents are the teal deal In 1907, the VSP, plus similar groups in the other Australian states, came together in a loose federal organisation calling itself the Socialist Federation of Australia, but this never became a functioning national party. I'd preference both above lab/lib/greens. [17][18] Endorsements were received from several prominent left-wing personalities, such as Tariq Ali, Noam Chomsky, Gary Foley, Tom Ballard, Corrine Grant, and Helen Razer. This corruption underscores the true character of the Labor Party as a state-financed and trade union-backed bureaucratic shell, operating on behalf of big business against the working class. Check out some of our events here. Indeed, the majority faction organised by Socialist Alternative has made clear that it will not accept anything which is not electorally oriented beyond the very limited Membership and Activity Committee decided upon at the Governing Council on May 9. While Stephen Jolly will head the campaign, the ticket will also include Colleen Bolger from Socialist Alternative, and Socialist Alliance Moreland councillor Sue Bolton. . Socialist Alliance needs your financial support, Robodebt fiasco reveals Centrelink workers opposed it, Jim Chalmers values-based capitalism magic trick wont fly, Voice to Parliament has to be more than a token gesture, Socialist Alliance opposes deepening military cooperation with Britain, The movement for refugee rights must continue, Blak Sovereign Movement given a boost by Senator Lidia Thorpe, Socialist Alliance makes ambitious plans at its 17th National Conference, Invasion Day 2023: The struggle for First Nations justice and sovereignty continues, Australian armys torture resistance course breaches human rights, United States ramps up threats against China, Russia, Macquaries statue must tell the truth, activist says, Miko Peled: Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir have all but guaranteed a new Intifada will soon erupt, Corrupt and fraudulent: Laying bare the Adani Group. ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref. Join the SEP campaign against anti-democratic electoral laws! The priorities of this system are wrong. However, although Chartism did not achieve a direct political victory, it altered "public discourse . Legalise Cannabis looks like winningthreeLC seats. Without a much stronger opposition, the racist backlash that the Trump era is trying to normalise appears to be gaining ground. The Greens increased its vote to retain Melbourne, Prahran and Brunswick and won a fourth lower house seat in Richmond. While Stephen Jolly will head the campaign, the ticket will also include Colleen Bolger from Socialist Alternative, and Socialist Alliance Moreland councillor Sue Bolton. Photo: Margarita Windisch, Socialist Alliance needs your financial support, Robodebt fiasco reveals Centrelink workers opposed it, Jim Chalmers values-based capitalism magic trick wont fly, Voice to Parliament has to be more than a token gesture, Socialist Alliance opposes deepening military cooperation with Britain, The movement for refugee rights must continue, Blak Sovereign Movement given a boost by Senator Lidia Thorpe, Socialist Alliance makes ambitious plans at its 17th National Conference, Invasion Day 2023: The struggle for First Nations justice and sovereignty continues, Australian armys torture resistance course breaches human rights, United States ramps up threats against China, Russia, Macquaries statue must tell the truth, activist says, Miko Peled: Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir have all but guaranteed a new Intifada will soon erupt, Corrupt and fraudulent: Laying bare the Adani Group. Decade after decade, under both major parties, the rich have grown richer while everyone else struggles. However,the lawswill divide workers and weaken the Better Off Overall Test. The Socialist Labor Party was a socialist political party of Australia that existed from 1901 to the 1970s. Our Policy Platform | Victorian Socialists Our Policy Platform The billionaires have had it too good for too long. 9 Even those such as MacDonald who dissented over the Fabian position on the Boer War did not depart from a vision of empire implicitly structured by racial hierarchies. The Victorian Socialists brings together socialist groups including Socialist Alternative and the Socialist Alliance, and individual activists, unionists and community organisers. The micro-party's volunteers have knocked on more than 10,000 doors in the inner-suburban seat of . Socialist Alliance needs your financial support, Robodebt fiasco reveals Centrelink workers opposed it, Jim Chalmers values-based capitalism magic trick wont fly, Voice to Parliament has to be more than a token gesture, Socialist Alliance opposes deepening military cooperation with Britain, The movement for refugee rights must continue, Blak Sovereign Movement given a boost by Senator Lidia Thorpe, Socialist Alliance makes ambitious plans at its 17th National Conference, Invasion Day 2023: The struggle for First Nations justice and sovereignty continues, Australian armys torture resistance course breaches human rights, United States ramps up threats against China, Russia, Macquaries statue must tell the truth, activist says, Miko Peled: Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir have all but guaranteed a new Intifada will soon erupt, Corrupt and fraudulent: Laying bare the Adani Group. Too good for too long founded in February 2018, it is an electoral Alliance of socialist! 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