By Jorge Andres
PERTH — When it comes to who will govern Western Australia, voters will get scarce choice at the December 14 poll. Some may hope that beneath the innocent Clarke Kent exterior, Labor's Geoff Gallop may prove to be a superman able to leap tall deficits without hurting a soul. That is unlikely.
Like Richard Court's Liberals, WA Labor is committed to austerity — with a "WA face". While in the past the relative strength of the state economy has allowed organised labour greater room to negotiate higher living standards, both Liberal and Labor are now moving to erode the power of the unions, by industrial relations legislation in the former case and by a drive against union militancy in the latter. Preparation is under way to launch "bigger and better" attacks on the living standards and rights of working people in this state.
No small aspect of this preparation is the subtle use of racist sentiment to divide working people. Richard Court's long and expensive High Court challenge of the Native Title Act is an obvious example. Aborigines, Asians and other migrants are getting the blame for taking jobs and government funding, while the only Western Australians really getting "special treatment" are the big corporations. Court this year saw fit to give millions of dollars in corporate handouts — like $1.15 million to ERG Engineering and $1.88 million to Orbital Engine Company.
The Western Australian media have found no shortage of opportunity to regret the lack of a Pauline Hanson-type candidate in the elections. Not that candidates have missed the opportunity to sing her praise. In the marginal seat of Ningaloo, the West Australian reports, voters like "footy, beer and Pauline Hanson". According to Liberal candidate Rod Sweetman, every second person he has visited on the campaign trail wanted to talk about immigration and Aboriginal funding as a result of Hanson. "They absolutely love her", he says.
In response to the racist Liberal, National and Labor parties, Aboriginal activist Yaluritja (Clarrie Isaacs) and Arun Pradhan, activist with Asian Australians Against Further Intimidation and the Democratic Socialist Party, have launched a campaign — Racism No! — in the South Metropolitan upper house electorate.
Yaluritja explained the motivation for the initiative: "The media report daily racist slurs from Pauline Hanson and others. Neither Court nor Gallop have shown the political will to tackle the issue. It is time that those affected by racism organise and call on the entire Australian community to unite against this ignorance."
The message in the campaign platform is: "Aborigines, migrants and ethnic communities have this to say to all other Australians: Do not blame us, join us! All working people in this state and country must unite and demand our right to a decent and dignified standard of living."
Pradhan says, "The primary point of the campaign is to give momentum to the community mobilisation and independent political organisation of the Aboriginal and ethnic communities, and a community-wide anti-racist movement". The campaign is aimed at exposing the political pragmatism of the "I am not a racist" politicians and tackling the government policies which generate racist sentiment.
The Racism No! platform has four basic points: justice for Aboriginal people; migrant and ethnic community rights; unity of all working people; a program for full employment.
The platform demands recognition of land rights, increased funding for Aboriginal health and education and an end to police harassment and Aboriginal deaths in custody. It also demands an end to the racist slander and harassment, an improvement in migrant and ethnic community resources and an end to human rights violations in the region, starting with the closure of the Port Hedland Detention Centre.
"We need to deal with the real life discrimination facing Aborigines and ethnic communities in work, education and social services. It's not just words that are hurting but discriminatory practices", says Pradhan.
In the opinion of campaign manager Ana Kailis, "You can't just put Pauline Hanson back in her box, as too many activists in the anti-racism campaign would like. The causes that have made many ears receptive to Hanson's views have to be responded to.
"Unemployment and the general decline in living standards are not due to divine intervention. Those to point the finger at are the corporate giants like Western Mining, which have profited from government subsidies, tax breaks and industrial relations law that weakens workers rights."
Kailis points to the Racism No! platform: "Our call is not for any 'special treatment' but equal rights. We don't ask that our lot be improved at the cost of fellow working people in Australia. Our demands are on government and big business, who have seen fit to point the blame away from themselves and onto Aborigines, migrants and ethnic communities.
"Instead of scapegoating Aborigines, Asian migrants and other ethnic communities for the unemployment problem, the state government should embark on a statewide program of public works to improve community services in education, health, environmental care and recreation in rural and city areas. This would create tens of thousands of jobs and could be paid for by increasing state taxes and levies on big business", states the platform.
Kailis says, "We don't want to be just another lobby group, confined to the scraps that other parties may throw our way. We are acutely aware that while some minor parties have taken stronger stances against racist government policy, all have major illusions in what is achievable through parliamentary debate.
"We are for community mobilisation and organisation in defence of our rights. The Aboriginal community especially know too well that their own collective strength is worth much more than the promises of even the best intentioned politicians."
Kailis continued, "A seat in parliament for Racism No! would be used for this very purpose: as a visual public platform from which to assist community organisation".
According to Kailis, Racism No! has organised its campaigning along these lines: getting out to the communities, speaking at rallies and other anti-racist street actions, community stalls, talking to local media, speaking with community organisations and at union meetings, and doorknocking.
"Of course we also sought support from other candidates and asked the Greens and Democrats for their preferences. Unfortunately, policies and community support did not count for much in our preference discussions, as the Greens and Democrats had already stitched up a deal based not on political agreement but on sharing their chances at holding the 'balance' in the upper house", said Kailis.
The Racism No! campaign is an example of using elections and parliamentary positions as levers for community mobilisation. Kailis says that there is no point forming yet another "minor party" that uses its parliamentarians to "keep the bastards (in this case) colour blind". The same bastards will initiate the same attacks that feed community racism, and there will always be a Pauline Hanson around to ignite it, according to Kailis.
"Our problem", says Kailis, "is that we have initiated a political vehicle that could lend itself as a focus for broad community opposition to racism, but the extent of community mobilisation, which is what makes a movement, is still narrow. The anti-racist movement needs to reach and be able to mobilise community sentiment beyond the old circles of ethnic organisations and anti-racist activists, who under Labor lost much of their community roots and support
" The future of Racism No! is tied to the anti-racist movement — if the movement develops momentum, or at least provides a spark for other community action against government austerity and attacks on democratic rights, then Racism No! may well prove more than just a short-lived organising focus."
Racism No! has clearly struck a chord among progressive circles in Western Australia. But its ambitions extend further, aiming to provide an opportunity to develop a dynamic anti-racist movement that draws on the leadership potential of activists from the Aboriginal and ethnic communities and others now coming into struggle against government racism.