Socialist Alliance

The Problem

The current drought, exacerbated by global warming, has shown that current levels of water use are completely

unsustainable in Australia, the world’s driest inhabited continent. Excessive water use, especially by heavy industry and water-intensive agribusiness, is causing irreparable damage to our fragile ecosystems and creating chronic watershortages.

Conventional free-market economics aims to solve this problem by putting a price on water and allowing it to be tradedby those who can afford to purchase it.

The second of five documents detailing correspondence and discussion between the Socialist Alliance and Socialist Alternative on unity.

Draft points for joint leadership discussion on the politics of a united socialist organisation (sent to Socialist Alternative on July 12, 2013)

The unity negotiations between the Socialist Alliance and Socialist Alternative ended after the latter's National Committee decided on October 26-27, 2013 that the unity process had “reached an impasse and consequently we are for ending the negotiations with the Alliance”.

The Socialist Alliance extends its unwavering support to the Yolngu Nations and all other clans and nations across the Northern Territory, as they mourn the passing of the Stronger Futures legislation.

Socialist Alliance supports the members of the National Union of Workers at the Coles warehouse in Somerton, who have been on strike strike since July 10. They are demanding the same pay and conditions as workers at other Coles warehouses.

Australian law has never provided for the unrestricted right to strike. The first Australian industrial law, the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1904, penalised Australian striking workers with fines and jail sentences.

Since the uprising against the government of Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011 the death toll in Syria is now estimated to have exceeded 10,000. As the violence escalates, Western government leaders are openly canvassing launching a military intervention. We oppose imperialist military intervention.

The 1968 My Lai massacre of at least 500 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam was a turning point in the US war on Vietnam. Most of the victims of the US platoon outrage were women, children (including babies) and elderly people.

Billions of dollars — desperately needed for public health, education, transport, closing the shameful gap between Aborigines and non-Aborigines and a real response to the climate change crisis -- will be wasted if the Gillard Labor government hands out another 1% cut in the corporate tax rate.

'The Socialist Alliance calls for the Newstart Allowance to be immediately raised to the level of the aged pension and then both benefits should be raised to the level of a living wage automatically indexed to real cost-of-living rises.'

The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) is running a campaign to raise by $50 a week the pittance that the unemployed are expected to live on through the $243/week Newstart Allowance.

Socialist Alliance supports, and expresses its full solidarity with, the Syrian people's democratic uprising against the tyrant Bashar al-Assad.