The following Editorial was published by The Guardian, newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia, in its issue of February 4th, 2004.
Reproduction of articles, together with acknowledgement if appropriate, is welcome. The Guardian, 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills, Sydney 2010 Australia. Editor: Anna Pha Communist Party of Australia, 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 10 Australia. General Secretary: Peter Symon Phone (02) 9212 6855 Fax: (02) 9281 5795 Email CPA [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Guardian [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscription rates are available on requests. Editorial: Let's build a real alternative to Labor and Liberal The election of Mark Latham as the leader of the Labor Party, his personal performance last week at the ALP national conference along with the adoption of some fine sounding policies would appear to have improved Labor's electoral prospects. The emergence of a younger Party leader who is skilled in rhetoric has seen the expectations and hopes of the Party membership running hot. At least that is the perception arising from the ALP National Conference. It remains to be seen how this is reflected among the Australian people. The defeat of the Howard Government is imperative and would be a significant development. It would represent a defeat for the extremely conservative social and economic policies of the Howard Government and its role as US "deputy sheriff". It would signal the rejection of the Government's support for the Iraq war and US missile defence, Howard's lies about weapons of mass destruction and the attacks on public health, education and social welfare. Mark Latham's policy speech to the ALP National Conference and the policy resolutions have to be seen on the background of the mass movements against US wars, in defence of Medicare and public education, in support of refugee rights, for Aboriginal demands, for Australian independence and on other issues. Labor has not changed This does not mean that the ALP has significantly changed its policies or basic position. It has not. It will not implement genuine, alternative progressive policies, at best pursuing moderate reforms entirely within the scope of the capitalist system and economic rationalist policies. It should not be forgotten that the Labor Governments of Hawke and Keating started the process of privatising public enterprises and implemented a whole gamut of economic rationalist policies. Labor started the process of dismantling the award system and based its foreign policies on the US alliance. Hawke and Keating introduced university fees and failed to increase payment of rebates to doctors thereby undermining bulk-billing. The ALP remains an out and out parliamentary party, meaning that it focuses on winning government and concentrates its activity on winning votes. It does not encourage its members and supporters to demonstrate on the streets or go on strike in support of its policies when in opposition or in government. At this point in time the defeat of the Howard coalition government means the election of a Labor or Labor-led government with all its limitations. This does not rule out the important step of electing more people with consistent and progressive policies to both the House of Representatives and the Senate. There is already a "balance of power" in the Senate which has to some extent restrained the objectives of the Howard Government. The Senate, for example, refused to be brow-beaten on the complete sale of Telstra, took a strong stand on Medicare and on some aspects of industrial legislation. There is already one Green Member of the House of Representatives. If this could be enlarged by the election of other left and progressive MPs, it would be a step towards the break up of the cozy two-party system that has held back the development of Australia's political life for so long. More progressive candidates could also be elected to the Senate acting not only as a break on the right-wing excesses of either a Liberal or a Labor government but also using the Senate platform from which to put real alternative policies to the Australian people. These would be really significant steps towards the formation of a government made up of all the left and progressive forces in the community. Only then will we have a dependable government defending and implementing policies in the interests of the working people as a matter of principle. A mere change from Liberal to Labor will not meet the needs or hopes of the people of Australia. ************************************************************************* -- Visit the proposed Leftlink web site at http://www.leftlink.net/ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
