BY ALISON DELLIT
As gut-wrenching as it will be, on November 10 either Prime "Menzies" John Howard or Labor's Kim "Bomber" Beazley will be prime minister and one of Australia's corporate political parties will control the federal government.
Whichever one succeeds, it will continue the Howard government's support for Washington's ruthless war on the people of Afghanistan. It will hound and persecute refugees, allow the further degradation of the environment to boost profits and attempt to keep workers' wages and conditions to a minimum.
However, the justified hatred of this country's major capitalist parties should lead working people to declare "a curse on both your houses". We have to kick the Liberal-National Coalition out on November 10.
Since the Howard government came to power, workers have been subjected to a sustained attack on their rights and living standards. From the introduction of the Workplace Relations Act and the attempt to break the Maritime Union of Australia, to the introduction of the goods and services tax, the federal government has taken money out of workers' pockets and made it harder for trade unions to legally fight back.
Indigenous Australians bore the brunt of Howard's first term, as he slashed funding to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, and all but abolished Abstudy, the income support scheme for indigenous students.
Women have not escaped unscathed. In the last six years, it has become more expensive for women to work full-time and raise children. Those dependent on the single parent pension have been forced to look for work.
The worst treatment has been reserved for those most in need — refugees fleeing persecution and desperation. Howard and his lap-dog immigration minister Philip Ruddock have used every trick in the book, and some too dirty to be included, to prevent refugees seeking political asylum from reaching Australia.
Those that have made it to Australia without drowning have been indefinitely detained in concentration camps in the remotest parts of the country. Places in the special humanitarian category intake have been cut. Imprisoned refugees' right to appeal asylum rejections have also been restricted.
The Coalition government has sought to fan racism and xenophobia within Australia. From blaming Aborigines for their own oppression, calling them "welfare dependent", to attacking refugees as "bludgers", "queue jumpers" and accusing them of attempting to drown their own children, Howard and Ruddock have vilified the most vulnerable sections of the community.
A big defeat for the Coalition in the federal election would be a justly deserved slap in the face for the racist and anti-working class politics trumpeted by this government.
Of course, the ALP offers a slightly watered-down version of Howard's policies. We simply cannot settle for another four years of attacks on working people, no matter how "disguised" or "blunted" a Labor government's attacks may be.
While directing preferences to Socialist Alliance, left-wing and Green candidates before Labor can make an important statement, that cannot prevent the attacks. This battle must be won on the streets. Only by organising to fight attacks on workers' living standards and rights, and building campaigns such as the anti-war movement or the refugees' rights campaign, can we begin to do that.
Those who want a better, fairer society need to begin to build a viable left-wing political alternative to challenge the ALP's domination of the trade unions and other organisations that are vital to conducting a serious working-class resistance.
Those in the ALP "left" argue that it is enough to get Labor politicians elected. They believe that if only progressive people join the ALP and fight for "good" policies, it will happen.
The truth is that the ALP implements policies that attack the rights and living standards of the working class because they are beholden to the super-rich capitalist class that really rules Australia behind the facade of parliaments and courts.
That's why it is better to have Labor in government than in opposition. It is much easier for ordinary workers and others to see that what socialists say is true. Labor in government cannot disguise its true politics, or keep its promises.
So on November 10, vote 1 for the Socialist Alliance for a world without war, and direct your preferences to the Greens and other socialist or left-wing candidates, before the ALP. Kick the Coalition out on November 10!