Roberto Jorquera, Sydney
"Quit with all this 'I'm moving to New Zealand' stuff. The only thing regarding NZ that we should be talking about is the Maori proverb 'To cry with a dry face' ... They landed a flush blow to the temple but it didn't knock us out. Don't throw in the towel, don't give up politics. When that bell sounds — come out swinging. Now, more than ever — Australia needs dissent."
These words from Darp Hau, a left political blogger, prompted spontaneous applause when read out by Greens activist David Owens to an October 19 Socialist Alliance forum at the Parramatta Activist Centre discussing the federal election outcomes. The meeting was addressed by Owens from the Greens' Reid branch, SA candidate for Reid Lisa Macdonald, and Carlos Medina from the Parramatta Peace Group.
Macdonald kicked off the discussion by pointing out that although the re-election of the Coalition government with likely control of the Senate is a blow to the left and will mean more attacks on the living conditions of the majority of people, the Coalition's mandate is actually very weak. "Many people were scared into voting for the Coalition because of their vulnerability to interest-rate rises, and opinion polls continue to show that Howard is in a minority on important issues like the Iraq war, the imprisonment of refugees, Telstra privatisation, the dismantling of Medicare, and the erosion of public education.
"Labor's refusal to campaign strongly on Howard's political Achilles heel — the Iraq war — combined with the fact that Labor's relatively progressive promises on Medicare, education and forests were heavily qualified and didn't sound convincing anyway in light of people's actual experience of neoliberal ALP state governments, threw the possibility of a Labor victory away."
Owens added that the ALP and Australian Democrats' preference manoeuvres to prevent more Green senators from being elected in Victoria and NSW were decisive in giving Howard control of the Senate.
The forum was the first opportunity for many local activists in the anti-war, refugee-rights, environment and trade union campaigns to "debrief" after Howard's win, and some might have expected the mood to be glum. However, it became clear quite quickly that most people present had already come to the conclusion that, while the next period wouldn't be easy for the left, a Senate controlled by the Coalition meant that any resistance to Howard's attacks was likely to shift more to "grassroots campaigning", as Medina put it, and that could result in a much stronger left going into the next federal election.
The immediate crucial task, a number of participants commented in light of discussions with workmates, family and friends, is for those of us who are used to organising "on the streets" to convince as many people as possible who are right now choosing between "flight or fight" that if you don't fight you lose.
That means "keeping up contact with other groups and the population at large through the use of the internet, mailing lists and generic information about our groups and organisations", Owens said. He added: "We need to keep independent media strong, we need to ensure that our opinions still reach the letter pages in the papers and we need to ensure that the current outlets for dissenting opinion in Australia don't come under attack."
"It also means going all out to build the first post-election protest rally, the November 16 national convergence on Canberra for the first sitting day of parliament", Macdonald said, "and making sure we get Craig Johnston, the type of courageous and experienced leader of resistance to neoliberalism that we very much need right now, out of prison". Local Iraqi leftist Moshin made a passionate appeal for the Australian left to continue campaigning against Australia's participation in the war on Iraq.
The discussion emphasised the need for greater left unity in action in the new political context. Owens said: "In the current conservative, ignorant and fear-ridden climate in Australia, [our] goals are best achieved by all of us bonding together and sharing our ideas and activities — like we are doing tonight. Our differences, stacked up against our commonalities, don't amount to much, and even if people think they do — then, they are currently not important enough to override our common goals.
"The most effective thing we on the left can do over the next few years is throw up a united front against [the Coalition's] aggressive legislation ... reach some sort of consensus about how we are going to achieve our goals, both in unison with each other and through the different activities that each of our groups or parties undertakes independently."
The meeting noted the indispensable role of Green Left Weekly in such a period to build broader unity and a stronger fight-back. At a time when the assaults on democratic rights will undoubtedly escalate, Owens' concluding remark that, "In the spirit of any united front, we also all need to look out for each other" was well taken.
From Green Left Weekly, October 27, 2004.
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