BY JAMES VASSILOPOULOS
We are a nurse, illegally striking, to protect the health of patients. We are a student at the Australian National University, working two jobs to pay for uni. We are an S11 protester, beaten up by the cops. We are an ex-ALP voter, sickened by the ALP voting for six pieces of anti-refugee legislation. We are an Italian metalworker, a member of the FIOM union, at the anti-G8 protests in Genoa. We are unemployed and on work-for-the-dole.
Within Socialist Alliance we are all these and much more.
These elections on November 10 are highly politicised. Socialist Alliance is fighting against three wars. We fight against the war on the Afghan people. We fight against the war on refugees. And we fight against the war on workers.
But we fight for many good things also.
We want to throw the Liberals out. We want to build a left-wing alternative to the two-party system. We want to build an alternative to the McDonald's Big Mac and the slightly less awful-tasting Burger King's Whopper.
We put our efforts into street protests and strikes. We seek to build people's power movements that have the potential to change society fundamentally.
We want our election campaign to be bold, provocative and creative. I urge everyone to get involved.
Speaking at a number of peace rallies I get the feeling that we are beginning to get a hearing for our ideas. Let me give a few examples.
At the peace rally on October 20 I was speaking to a young Australian of Middle-Eastern descent, explaining to him why we are running in the elections. He said: "I've never voted before. I always crinkle up the ballot paper. But this time I'll vote for you."
Today, I did a 10-minute interview on radio 2CC with the shock-jock, Mike Jeffreys about the Australian troops being sent to Afghanistan. Afterwards, I thought I would listen to some of the talk back. I felt like a peasant rebel who was going to be cuffed to the stake in the town square and everyone would throw tomatoes at me.
But, no, to my surprise I got some support. Out of the seven calls taken, three supported me. An older women said: "That gentleman on the radio knows what it's like. My son went to Vietnam as a beautiful child; he came back as nervous wreck. Let's not send our boys."
Another older guy said: "That guy on radio is 100% right. I don't agree with the government. If we want to support our soldiers, let's get them to come home. I don't support them killing Afghans. It's like Aussies are little lapdogs."
I was very privileged to participate in the anti-G8 protests in Genoa. These protests were historic. They were the largest anti-corporate, anti-capitalist protests to date. Three hundred thousand people protested on the international march on July 21. The lead banner had the slogan: "Them G8, we 6,000,000,000".
A few days later, another quarter of a million demonstrated across Italy to protest the violence of the carabinieri police and the death of the protester Carlo Guiliani.
July 20 was the day of direct action. One of the blocs of protesters had 15,000 people in it. It was composed of Basques, Greeks, French communists, the tutte bianche wearing their white overalls, the Italian Young Communists, the Roman anti-globalisation committee and others.
We marched down the hill. Some of us had padding, we had cardboard sticky-taped to our arms, to protect us from the blows of the carabinieri. Some of us had eye goggles and air filters. We marched together towards the red zone, the forbidden part of Genoa, which the authorities had closed off to the people.
We considered this red zone illegitimate. What right did the powers have to close off all the centre of the city of Genoa? As we marched, still a kilometre from the red zone, music belted out from the loudspeakers we had.
The protestors played the Rage Against the Machine song, Killing in the Name of, then the one by Chumbawumba which goes: "I get knocked down, I get up again, they're never gonna keep me down".
The military, the carabinieri attacked. They confronted us with army-like personnel carriers. Tear gas skyrocketed into the air. Batons flew.
But the protesters did not run. No. We stood our ground. We fought, against all odds, against perhaps 3000 Darth Vaders. They were dark, sinister; they were arachnids. We took streets away from them for a while. But after five hours of street fighting they drove us back.
We need the same spirit in Socialist Alliance. We need the same spirit in this election campaign. Let's fight. Join. Get involved.
In Genoa, Carlo Giuliani was shot in the head and killed. In a solidarity protest after his death one protester wrote: "We honour our dead not with a moment's silence but with a lifetime of struggle".
[James Vassilopoulos is the the Socialist Alliance candidate for the ACT seat of Fraser. Abridged from a speech given at the October 18 launch of his campaign.]