BY IAN JAMIESON
FREMANTLE — A new Resistance Centre has opened its doors in this Western Australian port city.
The office is the culmination of many months of concerted effort by members of the Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance. Although their presence has been felt for many years, the latest step was made possible by increased distribution of Green Left Weekly, the establishment of a vibrant Politics in the Pub, involvement in local campaigns such as efforts to save Leighton Beach and the Hope Valley/Wattleup areas and a key role in the successful Murdoch University student occupation in June.
"This is a significant extension of the work by both organisations in the Perth metropolitan region", said Ana Kailis, the Fremantle DSP secretary. "It demonstrates the scope and interest of socialist politics in the area, and we are planning much more".
Kailis explained that Fremantle has a strong radical tradition reaching back more than 100 years due to the industrial strength of seafarers and waterside workers. It has also become a strong base for environmental activists and organisations opposing the development-for-profit trends of successive state governments.
There have been many bitter disputes on the Fremantle wharves. Not a decade has passed without massive upheavals in Fremantle, from the early years when unions began forming to the Patrick dispute of 1998.
The hallmark of these disputes has been an effective leadership in the unions and their willingness to involve the Fremantle community. The largest protest in the port city is reputedly the funeral of Tom Edwards, a waterside worker killed in a mass picket in 1919.
The Patrick picket in 1998 again involved thousands who rallied to the defence of wharfies and their union.
"Although the visible signs of political awareness have waned in recent years, the establishment of the Fremantle Resistance Centre will tap into the deep-seated anger and distrust of state and federal governments. From Fremantle through the industrial belt of Kwinana to Mandurah and beyond, we're aiming to rebuild working-class politics and put a socialist perspective back on the map", Kailis explained.
Resistance organiser Grant Coleman agreed: "We have a strong presence on the Murdoch University campus, and all of our activists were heavily involved in the successful protest and occupation against course cuts last month".