The following Editorial was published in "The Guardian", newspaper
of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday,
July 31st, 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.
******************************
Editorial Turncoats Lees and Murray must resign
The defection of Meg Lees and Andrew Murray from the ranks of the Democrats
is about policy with Lees and Murray wanting to push the party to the right.
It was for this reason that the membership of the Democrats removed Meg Lees
from the leadership of the Democrats about a year ago.
She had dragged the Democrats down following her highly unpopular deal with
the Howard Government that enabled the Government to introduce the GST.
The electoral decline of the Democrats can be traced to that decision. The
Democrats had also enabled the Government to push through the Senate the
equally unpopular and anti-trade union industrial legislation introduced by
Peter Reith. Their support for the part privatisation of Telstra was another
unpopular decision.
In the days before her defection from the Party, Meg Lees had indicated that
she was preparing to make yet another deal with the Howard Government for
the complete privatisation of Telstra.
The approach of the Democrats under her leadership was marked by a
philosophy of "negotiating" with the Government rather than making a clear
stand on fundamental policy issues such as the GST, the privatisation of
Telstra and industrial legislation. The Democrat slogan of "keeping the
bastards honest" begs the policy issues. What does the Party actually stand
for?
The lack of a clear or principled position under the umbrella of "having a
discussion" or using the so-called "right" of members of Parliament to say
what they like and do what they please, which appears to be the philosophy
of Meg Lees and Andrew Murray, has proved unacceptable.
Why should anyone support a party that does not have clear policies, which
may then be further confused by the whims or opportunist interests of this
or that leader or Parliamentarian?
The statements of Lees and Murray raise another question that is not limited
to the Democrats. It is the divorce of the Parliamentarians from the
membership of their respective parties. This goes for the Labor Party and
the Liberals just as much as the Democrats. Parliamentarians often claim
their "right" to act differently and often completely opposite to policy
decisions adopted by the Party membership at established Party conferences.
When Meg Lees was called to account by the elected and established Party
bodies for her statements she began talking about "thought police" and
"intolerance" and claimed her right to "freedom of opinion".
During the course of policy formation, opinion is one thing but once
decisions are made the act of pursuing minority opinions in disregard of the
views of the majority and the interests of the Party as a whole leads to
anarchy. It disregards a fundamental democratic principle -- that the
minority submits to the decision of the majority. No organisation can
survive if anarchy takes over.
In declaring her right to remain in Parliament as an "independent" she
claims that the electoral votes were for her and not for Meg Lees the leader
of the Democrats as she was at the time of the election.
Under the leadership of Natasha Stott-Despoja, who has the overwhelming
support of the membership of the Democrats, the Party was moving more and
more towards a principled and firm stand on important policy issues.
Neither Meg Lees nor Andrew Murray have any right to retain their Senate
seats. They must resign and allow the Democrats to appoint replacement
Senators. This is the established procedure for the replacement of Senators
who resign during the course of a parliamentary term. They should follow the
decision of Cheryl Kernot who resigned her Senate seat when she switched to
the ALP.
The call by Natasha Stott-Despoja that Meg Lees resign her Senate seat
should be strongly supported.
The announcement by both Lees and Murray that they will hold on to their
Senate seats is unprincipled and opportunist and could give the Howard
Government the numbers in the Senate to complete the full privatisation of
Telstra and who knows what other legislation. This is how important it is.
Write to Murray & Lees
You can express your views by contacting the Senators at the addresses
below.
Senator Meg Lees
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Electorate Office:
322A The Parade
KENSINGTON SA 5068
Tel: (08) 8331 8111
Fax: (08) 8331 8499
Senator Andrew Murray
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Electorate Office:
111 Colin Street
West Perth WA 6005
Tel: (08) 9481 1455
Fax: (08) 9481 1679
***********************************************
--
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
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
