Preferences do matter

When the people of Australia go to the polls on March 2 they will be deciding between a Labour or a Liberal government. Whether or not any "third force" wins sufficient votes to hold the balance of power, Australian parliaments, state and federal, are still dominated by two major parties. So even for those of us who refuse to give our first vote to either of them, the question is nevertheless posed: does it matter which of these parties holds government? Since their formation, the Australian Democrats have answered "no". Their policy has been to split their tickets, half of their preferences going to Labor and the other half to the Liberal-National Coalition. The Australian Greens have had a less clear position in practice. Most Green party campaigns to date have directed preferences to Labor before the Coalition, but some, for example in four of the seats the Greens contested in the 1995 Queensland election, have directed preferences to the Liberal Party before Labor. The arguments put by "leftists" for not differentiating between Labor and Liberal in elections vary. Some argue that it is a means to threaten or punish the ALP for not delivering on its fake left promises. This argument is based on the illusion that the ALP is willing to and can learn from its "mistakes", change its spots, and do better for social justice and the environment next time. Others assert that, with the Coalition in government, the trade unions, social movements and the community in general will be more willing to organise and fight back against that government's more vicious attacks. In the process, some even say, Labor will be forced to take up the fight, opening the door for the ALP Left to recapture the party. These are fantasies. The goals and policies of Labor and the Coalition parties are, it is true, fundamentally the same. They are both parties of and for the capitalist class, and both will consistently put the needs of big business before those of the majority of people. To this extent, the election of the Liberals on March 2 would not mean a basic change in government policy. But it would mean an escalation in the pace and depth of attacks on ordinary people. Whether it is the rapid dismantling of union awards or the immediate expansion of uranium mining in Australia, a Coalition government would mean harder, sharper attacks in the short term. In so far as the ALP's methods of attack are more cautious — slower and less direct — it is still a lesser evil in the two-party scene. It allows that little bit more time and space for ordinary people to organise and fight for their own interests. It is true that sharper attacks under a Coalition government will almost inevitably provoke more desire to struggle among larger numbers of people. However recent experiences in Victoria and WA under Liberal Party rule illustrate the severe limitations on this process as long as the trade unions are dominated by ALP leaderships. Until the grip of the ALP on the trade union movement is broken, a fight back which is sufficiently broad, organised and militant to stop the Liberals from carrying out its agenda, will not develop. The best way to break that grip is to re-elect Labor, not the Coalition. In government Labor is more easily exposed, to ever larger numbers of people, as the pro-capitalist party that it is. The fewer illusions there are in Labor as a more progressive alternative to the Coalition, the stronger the base to create a genuine alternative to all big-business parties. Campaigning and voting for minor parties to the left of Labor is crucial. It shows people that they don't have to accept the two-party system, and it registers the growing discontent with "politics as usual", strengthening others' consciousness and confidence that they do have a choice. But by itself, that's not enough. We also have to strengthen the groundwork for a stronger, mass-based challenge to the ALP's power — a challenge from the left. Directing or giving preferences to the Coalition before Labor does not contribute to that in any way. On the contrary, it helps strengthen the right-ward moving forces in this country which in turn will push Labor even further to the right.