The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday,
August 28th, 2002. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. The "gang of five" assassins "Political assassination" is the only way to describe the moves which led to the forced resignation of Natasha Stott Despoja as leader of the Australian Democrats. But the press is wrong in writing about the "gang of four". It is a "gang of five" and includes Meg Lees. It is becoming increasingly clear that Natasha Stott Despoja faced a premeditated, carefully planned and determined "political assassination". Almost certainly the mastermind and co-ordinator of the attack is Andrew Murray who played the role of provocateur. He made the bullets that were ultimately fired by Queenslander, John Cherry. Murray stayed in the Democrats (while Meg Lees resigned) for the purpose of retaining his membership to do the maximum amount of damage -- not just to Natasha Stott Despoja but to the Democrats as a Party. Let's name the other assassins - Aden Ridgeway (NSW) and Lyn Allison (Victoria). It is certain that voters will not forget what has been done whenever they come up for election again. The sharp decline in voter support for the Democrats in recent years is a direct result of the support of the Democrats for the GST under Meg Lees' leadership and their support for the obnoxious industrial legislation of Peter Reith. As "The Guardian" stated previously, the issues are not ones of personality but of policy. Already some are contemplating a decisive shift in the policies to be followed and the role to be played by the Democrats without Stott Despoja in the leadership. "The Australian Financial Review" ("The AFR") speculates that the four Senators opposed to Stott Despoja in league with Lees "would be more likely to consider constructive engagement with the Coalition on a range of issues -- including Telstra -- if the price were right." Fred Hilmer, the chief executive of John Fairfax Holdings also speculates that the upheavals in the Democrats have "really made a lot of legislation that seemed to be off the agenda now potentially back on the agenda..." One of the charges levelled at Stott Despoja was her alleged "authoritarian style", yet those making such charges presented her with a 10-point list of "non-negotiable" demands. Such is the democracy of the Party assassins. One of the points in the 10-point plan was for an "annual performance appraisal" of staff. However, no appraisal of the performance of Democrat Senators was suggested. Another point concerned the "right of Senators to speak on policy during election campaigns and concerns over the formulation of party policy". Lurking behind these words is the desire of some Senators to disenfranchise the party membership and the elected Party committees so that the parliamentarians can make policy without reference to or even against the wishes of the party membership. Some of the elected parliamentarians want to do their own unprincipled deals with the Government and behind closed doors, ignoring the membership that is still able to influence Party policies. Another target of the Lees-Murray conspirators is the fact that the leader of the Party is elected by the rank and file. Stott Despoja was elected twice with the overwhelming support of the membership but that was of no concern to the assassins. The gang of five wants to change the Constitution of the Australian Democrats which inscribes membership rights and democratic procedures in the Party's organisational structures. To quote "The AFR" again: Stott Despoja was "not prepared to accept attempts by her colleagues to rewrite the rules to alter the balance between parliamentary representatives and the party rank and file." The Liberal and Labor Parties have already made this transition by separating the so-called "parliamentary wing" from the Party membership. Lip service is played to membership interests but there are many examples of conference decisions on policy issues being unceremoniously disregarded whenever the Parliamentarians decide that their interests are better served by legislating the demands of the real controllers of Australian society -- the big corporations which also fund the major political parties. It remains to be seen whether the membership of the Australian Democrats will insist on their will being carried out and reinstate Stott Despoja as Party leader (if she is prepared to stand). The election of Andrew Greig as interim leader over Aden Ridgeway, is a strong indication of the views of the Party membership. However, the policy stakes are very high and huge sums of money are involved in Telstra, cross-media ownership, foreign investment restrictions, new industrial legislation, and privatisation of Australia Post, to name but a few issues. Those behind the coup can be expected to seek "negotiations" with the Howard Government and make agreements "if the price is right". How to contact Democrat Senators Senator Lyn Allison, Victoria Tel: (02) 6277 3076 Fax: (02) 6277 3087 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electorate Office: Eastbourne House 62 Wellington Parade East Melbourne VIC 3002 Senator Andrew Bartlett, Queensland Tel: (02) 6277 3406 Fax: (02) 6277 3791 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electorate Office: Suite 14 B 1 7/421 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 Senator John Cherry, Queensland Tel: (02) 6277 3728 Fax: (02) 6277 3725 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electorate Office: Suite 14 B2 7/421 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 Senator Brian Greig, Western Australia Tel: (02) 6277 3338 Fax: (02) 6277 5703 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electorate Office: Unit 1, 151 Brisbane Street Perth WA 6000 Senator Meg Lees, South Australia Tel: (02) 6277 3991 Fax: (02) 6277 3996 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electorate Office: 322A The Parade KENSINGTON SA 5068 Senator Andrew Murray, Western Australia Tel: (02) 6277 3709 Fax: (02) 6277 3767 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electorate Office: 111 Colin Street West Perth WA 6005 Senator Aden Ridgeway, New South Wales Tel: (02) 6277 3848 Fax: (02) 6277 5727 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electorate Office: 10 Roberts Street Rozelle NSW 2039 Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, South Australia Tel: (02) 6277 3645 Fax: (02) 6277 3235 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electorate Office: 212 Grenfell Street Adelaide SA 5000 ******************************************************* . -- -- 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]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
