PERTH — "Racism No!" fielded two candidates in the December Western Australian election — Aboriginal activist Clarrie Isaacs (Yaluritja) and Democratic Socialist Party member Arun Pradhan. ANTHONY BENBOW asked Racism No! campaign manager ANA KAILIS about the campaign.
Question: What were the aims of the Racism No! campaign?
The candidacy was a means of broadening the reach of the anti-racist campaign in WA. Ten thousand leaflets were distributed around the Perth metropolitan area, and the campaign's high media profile allowed us to publicly counter the racist ideas of John Howard, Pauline Hanson and the rest of them.
We wanted to dispel the myths that migrants take jobs or that Australia must cut immigration to save our environment. We wanted to show that migrants and Aboriginal people are being used as scapegoats and that the blame for such problems lies on big business and governments.
But we also wanted to put forward solutions to Australia's social and environmental problems. Racism No! called for a reduced working week with no loss in pay as a solution to unemployment. We called for increased taxes for business and the rich to fund job creation, social justice programs and environmental technologies.
Question: How would you measure the success of the campaign?
Our experiences while campaigning on the streets indicated a resonance for our platform that wasn't reflected in the vote of 1%. It was an extremely lacklustre election all round, and we were raising the racism issue in a bit of a vacuum.
The campaigns of the major parties had little content. In the South Metropolitan seat we contested, all booths reported low turnouts of young people. In contrast to the other parties, the Racism No! Campaign was vibrant and out there on the streets. The Racism No! banner led the large anti-racist demonstration on November 23, and Resistance and the Action Against Racism group came behind our campaign, which gave it extra impetus.
Question: Where will Racism No! go from here?
The election coincided with a wave of anti-racist protests around the country and attempts to build a mass campaign against racism. The Racism No! ticket was a response to that — an electoral vehicle to strengthen the broader campaign.
The ticket helped generate a bit more public support for the anti-racist movement, but obviously the issues haven't gone away, and the broader campaign must continue. On January 13, for example, Clarrie and other Aboriginal activists interrupted a celebration of the "discovery" of Rottnest Island by the Dutch to call on the Dutch government to take the issue of Aboriginal social justice and human rights into the international arena.
If the anti-racism campaign is to grow into a mass movement, it will need to be built on grassroots organising in the Aboriginal and migrant communities, and among anti-racist people from all sectors of society. Whether Racism No! contests another election, or whether it is replicated in other states, will be decided in that context.