Once again the question of left unity is on the agenda in Australia. There have been exploratory talks between the Socialist Alliance and Socialist Alternative and also between the Socialist Alliance and the Communist Party of Australia (CPA).
Socialist Alliance news & updates
Keep up with all the latest news and updates from Socialist Alliance. Also check out Our Common Cause, our regular column in Green Left.
The Ninth National Conference of the Socialist Alliance will be held in Geelong (Victoria), from January 18-20, 2013. It is open to all Socialist Alliance members and invited guests.
Federal independent MPs, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, have put pressure on the Julia Gillard's government to raise the Goods and Services Tax and to slash so called “middle class welfare” entitlements.
The mining industry in Australia has boomed from about 4% of GDP in 2004 to about 9% today. Mining exports in the year to March last year were worth $155 billion, or 53% of Australia's total exports.
Reporting on the release of the mid-year budget update in the Canberra Times on October 22, Peter Martin wrote that “Tax collections from both wages and the GST are running ahead of projections. Dramatically lower company tax collections account for most of the $21 billion write-down.”
“Civilians were the overwhelming majority of the more than 1400 people Israel killed in it’s 2009 assault on Gaza. Today, Israel is beginning another assault. A quarter of the Palestinians killed so far are children, including babies,” Sue Bolton, newly elected Socialist Alliance member of the Moreland City Council said.
A meeting was held in Melbourne on November 4 between Peter Boyle, Sue Bolton and Susan Price (representing the leadership of Socialist Alliance) and Mick Armstrong, Sandra Bloodworth and Corey Oakley (representing the leadership of Socialist Alternative)
This International Women's Day falls at a time when the environmental and economic crises of global capitalism are making life even harder for most women and the communities they live and work in.
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander rights:Treaty now to respect sovereignty; repeal the Northern Territory intervention laws; abolish racist welfare quarantining; no uranium waste dumps; close the gap in Aboriginal health, education and housing.
The Big Four banks — the Commonwealth Bank, NAB, ANZ and Westpac — are together the most concentrated and profitable set of banks in the world. The Australian Big Four represent half of the eight most profitable banks on the entire globe.
The giant mining corporations make the biggest profits of all industries in Australia. BHP Billiton posted a profit of $14.7 billion last year, while Rio Tinto made a half-year profit of almost $5 billion.
Around the world, over the past 30 years or more, the ruling classes have launched an offensive against working people and the “welfare state,” under the theme of “Neoliberalism.”