The death of the Australian car manufacturing industry

Ford, Holden, Toyota. 

In the space of the last year, all of these foreign owned car manufacturers have announced their intention to cease manufacturing on Australian soil. 

Blind Freddy could have seen this coming from a mile away, even if the subsidies that have supposedly been keeping these jobs in Australia for the last couple of decades were put on the table again, there is a fair chance all three companies could have decided to leave anyhow.

On that note, it is an opportune time to reflect on the massive amount of material support these companies have gleaned off the Australian people over the years. Massive amounts of taxpayer subsidies have been pumped into these foreign auto conglomerates over the years, reaching a critical mass over the last ten years. All three of these companies were given huge tracts of land to build their factories on. 

The key thing to note here is that ever since cars have been manufactured on a large scale in Australia, beginning with the Chifley/General Motors agreement of the late 1940s, a system has been developed in which the losses of the industry and a huge lump of the costs have been burdened by the Australian people, whilst the profits have flowed overseas. 

The demise of the car industry presents a fork in the road and also a glimmering opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past and build a cornerstone for an independent future. Those massive tracts of land granted to Ford, GM and Toyota and the equipment within it? Let's nationalise it all. We paid for it, let's take it back. Let's retool them to manufacture the things we need, low emission cars, new trains and trams and the like.

The workers that currently look like they're going to tossed out on their arse by the foreign capitalists would retain their jobs, as well as thousands more being created. We'd be able to define the future of transport in this country, by building the things we need desperately, not simply building what some fat cat in Detroit thinks will stuff his back pocket. Most tellingly, any profit made would not only stay in the country, but be further re invested into creating a better Australia for us all.

The so called 'boat people'

Let us make no mistake about this, neither of the major parliamentary parties have an interest in a humane settlement to what is termed the 'asylum seeker crisis'. 

The so-called crisis is a crisis that the ruling class has invented. Post World War Two, Australia had no issues taking asylum seekers from places like Greece and Italy. Imagine our land without the great influence the Greek and Italian communities have had on our culture. Post the Vietnam War, we had no trouble whatsoever accepting a huge number of Vietnamese who arrived, shock horror, on what would now be termed boats run by people smugglers. Again, without Vietnamese influence, our society and culture would be a whole lot less rich.

So why, over the last twenty years, have refugees arriving by boat been generated as such a huge issue by the ruling class and their servile media? The issue has been identified by the imperialist ruling class as a key issue with which to both divide the working class and divert patriotic sentiment amongst the people into plain racism. There is a sense among the working class that their interests are placed firmly behind those of an overseas force, but the non-stop blanket coverage stating the 'boat people' are out to ruin our way of life has place a tiny number of disadvantaged people as a human shield in front of the real target, US imperialism.

The classic divide and conquer strategy used seeks to drive a wedge between sections of the working class based on factors such as ethnicity and religion. The current strategy centred around hatred of 'boat people' also seeks to sow divisions between those who are determined to have immigrated 'legitimately' and those who are determined to have arrived 'illegally'. There is no such thing as illegally seeking a better life. The proud Australian tradition begun at Eureka establishes the idea of Australia as a haven of the oppressed, from all parts of the world, of all different colours, speaking many different languages.

Our task as communists is to shatter the illusions spread by the imperialists amongst working class and seek to aid the establishment of working class unity against the real enemy; US imperialism.

Youth and Imperialism

It is clear that the young people of Australia have much to be mad about. The continual decimation of public education and TAFE, the fact that 'public' transport resides in private hands, private hands that charge ridiculous fees and the never ending steep incline of university fees to name a few.

But what can be done? Disillusionment with the two establishment bourgeois parties is through the roof. Young people know that these parties are nothing but puppets of interests that couldn't be further from their own. Unfortunately, however, these parties have succeeded in establishing a monopoly over the word and concept of 'politics'. The majority of young people have no interest in politics, as they see the talking shop of parliament as the be all and end all of politics. That there is no way out of their predicament, that it simply needs to be put up with. The small minority who do decide to tackle the issue either join the Greens, where they tend to find themselves railroaded in the same direction as the Libs and Labor, or alternatively join a Trotskyist party, where ineffectual sloganeering and rampant 'left blocism' lead to a quick burnout.

A bright start has been made in Melbourne by a campaign calling itself 'FightBack!', it is nominally led by the Trotskyist 'Socialist Party of Australia', which is attracting young people by offering simple explanations on aforementioned issues. For now, the SP isn't putting it's branding on 'FightBack' material and it will be interesting to see where that goes.

But such a campaign can only go so far, without the understanding and application of the mass line and mass work. The lack of linkage of issues to US imperialism is also a real barrier to understanding and providing solutions to these problems. Solutions to problems such as these that pit young students and workers in direct contradiction with imperialism and capitalism can only be found when a genuine people's front guided by young Marxist-Leninists applying the mass line and diligently engaging in mass work gets up running. Only then, when the realisation that the primary contradiction that affects the lives of young people is that between them and imperialism is reached, can solutions be found.

New blog for 'Vanguard'

Vanguard has launched a new blog, to provide another medium to circulate articles and ideas. Visit it at http://vanguard-cpaml.blogspot.com.au/

Good Speech

This is a great speech made by Dave Kerin from Enough! last month about offshoring, sham contracting and the detrimental effects privatization have had on jobs and services in Australia, all for the benefit of the bourgeois class and the imperialists.

Enjoy! 

QLD Election

On the face of things, the results from the Queensland state election on Saturday were nothing short of remarkable. The previously ruling Labor party were decimated, left with 7 seats in an 89 seat parliament, down from a total of 51 at the previous election. The conservative Liberal National Party picked up an unprecedented 78 seats, catapulting Campbell Newman into the premiership.

 The Labor Party had blown itself into oblivion shortly after the last election, announcing the privatization of vital state assets, most notably Queensland Rail. This left them completely and utterly indistinguishable from the LNP, and waiting for the eventual beating at the election. It was an interesting election for more reasons than one, foremost being the demonstration of the absolute bankruptcy of the ALP as a working class party, and subsequent punishment. Secondly, the fact that the majority of metropolitan working-class voters punished the ALP by voting LNP, demonstrates the stark disenfranchisement of the Australian working class. By the virtue of the LNP machine now having total dominance over the resource rich Queensland state, and the ALP having done their privatising dirty work for them, Queensland is now primed for even further imperialist penetration and domination. It would be unreasonable to expect the ALP to oppose this, which brings us to the next point of interest from the election.

Bob Katter's Australian Party managed 11% of the vote and took 2 seats in the parliament. While Katter and his party may hold some reactionary social positions, it stands in stark opposition to the neo-liberal agenda promoted by the ALP and the LNP. Their two MPs stand to be the real opposition within the Queensland parliament. It stands to oppose further imperialist penetration of the Australian economy, seeks to halt privatization and renationalise privatised assets and develop jobs and a sustainable economy through the development of a state-owned biofuel producing area in the canefields of Queensland. Significantly, Katter was the only MP apart from Adam Bandt to support the complete removal of political police targeting building workers. It is hard to agree with them on some points, but their success represents a genuine anti-imperialist sentiment amongst the electorate, and we must aim to work with this, educate and take this sentiment to a whole new level.

Enough!

When Hawke and Keating began to tell us about the wonderful opportunities that globalisation and economic
liberalisation would give us, one of the main selling points was the promise that we would become ‘the clever
country’ or ‘the knowledge nation’.That their economic programme would provide future generations with plentiful educational and training opportunities that would lead to equally plentiful highly skilled jobs. The way that the last twenty five years have unfolded has proven this to be a lie. Not only have our manufacturing and other kindred industries been stripped bare and our farmers sold out, but the very jobs we and our children were promised, the ‘clever country’ jobs, are now being cut.

Telstra recently announced that it is axing 255 highly skilled ‘clever country’ jobs and outsourcing them
to India. Adding insult to injury, the last act of these workers as Telstra employees would be to train the
new workforce. These sackings were seen as emblematic of the lies that we have been told about economic
liberalisation. In response to the wave of outrageous sackings, a community campaign called Enough! has been launched in defence of workers’ jobs, against casualisation, and to halt the march of privatisation and off-shoring of jobs.

A rally was held outside the Telstra building on Collins Street on the 25th of January. The lobby of the building was occupied by 25 union members and supporters relaying their position to the public and handing out leaflets in order to gain publicity before a two week vigil in Collins Square starting on the 6th of February.
The vigil was an unprecedented success, with the Enough! message receiving a great response from workers
who would normally not be exposed to such explanations of our current crisis.

The causes of the job losses at Telstra were linked to the 1000 jobs being cut at ANZ (right next door), and the 600 jobs in danger at Alcoa, amongst many other dire forecasts. Significantly, the problems being discussed were presented as a matter of national sovereignty and the need for Australians to have a much greater say in the way the country is run, rather than the current sham democracy we have in which many of the critical decisions are made in overseas boardrooms.

The only opposition to the campaign, tellingly, came from a small group within the left itself. These ‘super-
revolutionary’ groups commented that this was a campaign built on petit-bourgeois nationalism, and playing
to xenophobic sentiments. Such ideas are completely detached from reality, and the experiences on the ground during this part of the campaign proved that. Gradually the working people of Australia are learning that the issues that Enough! is raising are due to a complete lack of national sovereignty, and that there is no way these decisions are in the interests of the people. This was something that came across in conversations with working people during the two week vigil.

A further rally was organised outside the Telstra shop in the city on the 17th of February with speakers from
the CEPU and Enough! as well as Greens MP, Adam Bandt. The most heartening thing about the rally was the amount of Telstra and ANZ workers who found out about the rally during the earlier vigil and came along to make a stand. Different proposals for action were presented at the rally. There was strong support for taking the campaign to work places and communities where working people face the attacks on jobs and their livelihoods by the multi-nationals and imperialism. It is a material fact that most parliamentarians are lackeys of the imperialists and their agents in Australia. Parliament is there to administer imperialist rule in Australia. That’s why it will not look after the true interests of the people. Building a mass campaign on the ground is primary.

It was stated by Enough! that they would continue to build a movement to achieve greater sovereignty, greater
rights and a fairer, more democratic society for Australian workers, thus attempting to channel the voices of the voiceless. In the face of ever growing attacks on the working class by imperialism, emboldened by every job they manage to slash, every condition they cut and every promise they are allowed to renege on, the need for initiatives like this and the building of a stronger people’s movement just continues to grow.

Happy new year.

A big year is facing the working class and it's allies in Australia. As was seen in spotfires throughout 2011, such as the Qantas dispute (tied in directly with ambitions to shift Qantas into a foreign company), the big blue and eventual victory of the workers at the Baiada chicken plant in Laverton and finally to the lockout of workers at the Schweppes plant in Tullamarine, the imperial capitalist class is looking toward 2012 as the year in which they make even more open their intent to dominate the working class and indeed the majority of Australian society. So, in 2012, we must heed the words of the slogan of the old Builder's Labourers Federation: 'Dare to struggle, Dare to win!, if you don't fight you lose!'.

60 years since the defeat of the outlawing of the Communist Party.

It is now sixty years since the victory of the people against the most vicious attack on civil rights ever made by an Australian government. Menzies and his Liberal government proposed a referendum that would have banned membership of the Communist Party, made it a criminal offence. At first it appeared as if this referendum would get up easily, but fortunately, wide sectors of the community realised that this issue was about more than simply sticking it to the reds. This was an attack on everybody, this bill would have given Menzies (a man who had expressed sympathy for Hitler as late as 1938, some food for thought) the power to essentially outlaw any association or grouping he saw as subversive. Wide sections of the community mobilized into the broadest united front possibly ever seen in Australia, and in the end the bill was narrowly defeated. In the face of current attacks on fundamental democratic rights in Australia, through bodies such as the ABCC and with issues facing us such as the ever increasing imperialist domination of our 'democracy', there are many lessons to be learnt from the work of communists within this united front, and how it relates to our experience today. All Australian  Marxist-Leninists should take this opportunity to reflect upon the experiences of 1951, and think about what lessons can be gained from this. One of the ideas that flows out of this is that we need to establish the broadest unity we possibly can, beginning amongst ourselves. We nee to work closer on the issues that unite us, and focus on these, not the questions and issues that divide us.

Join the fight for a just, sovereign, democratic Australia

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ETU Elections

The results for the Victorian ETU election are not too far away and this will be a short and sharp analysis. Dean Mighell and the Full Charge team have over the years been proven to provide greater representation and victories for their constituents as compared to interstate, all within the scope of independence from the ALP, the ingredient which other state branches do not bring to the table. This proves that it is not only possible to survive life outside of the pocket of the ALP, but that it is indeed many times better for workers. The Reconnect team is using independent rhetoric in order to confuse workers, but make no mistake, they are being funded by ALP heavies and industrial fat cats to bring the ETU away from militancy and back into the party line. They are using bald faced lies and hypocrisy to accuse the Full Charge team of corruption. I call it hypocrisy as the Reconnect ticket is built bringing back to the Victorian ETU the gravest form of corruption that afflicts most of the union movement in Australia, that of handing over member's union fees to the ALP, a party that outright opposes their interests and pursues a blatant anti-worker, pro-imperialist, pro-capitalist agenda. A victory to the Full Charge ticket creates an opportunity to espouse the advantage of militant, independent leadership to the broader mass of workers and create a movement for workers to take back control of their unions from the ALP and their associated lackeys.

Education under Capitalism

While I’m typing this article doubtless many VCE students will be furiously pounding the pen and paper in an effort to ace their mid-year exams, and I wish you all well in your endeavour to pull as high an ATAR as you possibly all can, in order to land yourself a plum degree/’job ticket’ and land a job post university. I do, however, regret, that the whole educational process as ordained by Western society, including the integral role played by exams, has sapped the education system (in particular the universities) of what should be its fundamental and absolute function, that being the quest for knowledge, learning and advancement. In the place of everything the education system should be, we currently have the complete anti-thesis of this, a network of  ‘degree factories’, where from early on students are moulded into all the different pawns that this overtly competitive society requires.

Right from the beginning, in primary school, students are taught the basics that are needed to hold down the most menial of jobs, without the slightest bit of attention paid to their emotional, artistic and broader cultural development, as of course, these qualities are not required and independent thinking and learning would simply distract students from the tasks at hand. The sorry state of organized sport as part of the curriculum at primary schools only serves to compound this. The further developed students are identified as useful and are sifted through into accelerated programs, whilst less able students are embarrassed and chastised as a consequence of poor NAPLAN results, while kids with developmental issues or lack of ability to cope with emotional issues, perhaps compounded by the nature of their schooling are slapped with the tag ADHD and are medicated into submission, in part to cover up the inadequacies of such as system in relation to such children. 

Once the ordeal of primary school is through, the student is pushed on into the great societal sorting factory that is secondary school. Here is where, through the examination process, the future administrators of society are sorted out from the plebs, and everything in between. Our erstwhile protagonist is forced in choosing from what may appear to be a broad spectrum of subjects, which in fact allow no room at all for independent though or learning. This enables generation after generation to acquire the skills to keep things going as they currently are and practically nothing else. A common phenomena is that of being frowned upon if a career path is not decided upon very early in the piece, thus perpetuating this culture of sticking on the straight and narrow and not indulging in what interests you but is not relevant to your pre-ordained path. A common tactic employed nowadays are SRC style committees, which simply provide a similar diversion to the great ‘democratic’ institution of parliament, which cunningly perpetuates the grand illusion that the direction of society is actually moulded by the broad mass of people, and not in the high-powered boardrooms.

Back to exams, if you do get the score you require, you will head to university presumably, where you will be exposed to another 3-5 years of the same bullshit being regurgitated over and over again, still no room for independent thinking, a period of intellectual monotony that essentially equates to a lengthy application process for a ticket to whore your fertile mind out to a system and it’s benefactors that don’t care for you, the just want to suck out what you’ve got to give intellectually for their own gain. Sure, you may end up quite ‘well off’, but in terms of using that fertile mind of yours, nothing will go on. Your superior mind will be used to perpetuate this vicious cycle for years to come.  Others above you will gain far more from this bondage than you, those who effectively hold your mind to ransom will be in excess of twenty times better off . But the universities are independent entities some may argue! A simple look at the big business interests that reign supreme on university boards are all that are needed to refute this dead duck.

All this, and the prospect of NOT getting what you want hasn’t even arisen yet! In all likelihood you will slip into a dead end job, which involves no intellectual reward, but instead hours upon hours of monotony in service of capital. You could potentially end up working in a bank, for example. The boss will promise you that if you work hard, and be persistent, you too can rise to the top! The objective fact is that, in spite of effort, only a small percentage can rise above the rest of the subordinates. You will spend your working days in service of such an institution, an institution which is, in a sad irony, an integral part of the society that coldly rejected you at exam time.

The same applies no matter where you work, no matter what situation you are in. The same interests that dig out our minerals and expropriate what wealth belongs to us all, the same interests that are in charge of the parasitic banks, the same interests that directly influence all government policy are one and the same as the interests that set the educational agenda. They seek out suitably capable minds to act as the effective ‘human computers’ of capital, to keep it running smoothly, while the rest are tossed aside on a heap, and the mansions of the rich are kept clean on the back of the surplus value they generate.

Such a stifling and inhibiting system cannot and will not be allowed to last forever.

Organization

It would, to me, seem rather obvious that for a working class movement, claiming to represent the highest aspirations of the proletariat, as all self-proclaimed proletarian vanguard parties obviously would, would at the very least make their best efforts to have substantial links within the working class and organize in a manner that allows them to work most efficiently, effectively and naturally. But as with most things about the so-called 'revolutionary left' in Australia, and indeed most of the Western world, logic and facts simply do not apply. The theory of the Mass Line, and it's core principles of being connected with the masses, organizing amongst the masses and simultaneously teaching and learning from the masses are ignored. In addition to this, in order to preserve security of party members, maintain the organic nature of organization and enable the party to function effectively, small groups of cadre must maintain close links with each other and the working class, with a looser connection to other such 'branches. This form of organization is best as it ensures the focus of revolutionaries on their mass links, is a far more natural form of social relation than 30 or so people in a room and enables more robust and full formation of ideas. This model of organization stands in stark contrast to the organizational principles of our 'super-revolutionaries', which, from experience, is the definition of 'left-blocism'. That is, small groups of isolated cadre bereft of links with the proletariat simply congregating in groups as large as they can muster, with the 'leaders' preaching about how miserable the world is, while the others listen, nod in agreement and think about how they will attain their next paper sale. Discussion within the party essentially does not exist and ideas are thus not thrashed out and developed, leading to poorly formed strategies which are never in fact even carried out due to the lack of organization within the working class. The strict following of the principles of the Mass Line is thus vital for any revolutionary socialist programme to make any impact at the all with the masses.

The fruits of the land belong to the people

BHP, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and co. are all foreign controlled mining conglomerates. What do they have in common aside from being insidious agents of imperialism? They are taking what rightfully belongs to the people of Australia. The mining sector pays some of the lowest rates of tax in Australia, whilst the taxes of ordinary, hard-working Australians fund their roads, their machinery, ports and railways. Effectively we are subsidizing their 'investment, so they can ship mega-profits home! Their rates of profit have risen 900% over the last 9 years, and now they cry poor when a government tries to take a little back. These conglomerates steal our sovereign wealth, ruin our environment and push indigenous Australians off their native lands. It is the opinion of all progressive Australians that our resources must be nationalized in order for us to reap the full fruits of our sovereign resources, so we can provide a prosperous future for all Australians, not line the pockets of a few poms, yanks and their lackeys over here. But as a minimum, immediate demand, we must fight for the mega-profits of these imperial giants to be taxed heavily so that the Australian people can reap the rewards of their sovereign resources, and strengthen the democratic rights to a free education, free healthcare and other vital amenities. Australian resources in Australian hands!

Apologies comrades..

Apologies for my recent inactivity, and for the probable lack of activity in the near future, trying to nail year 12 is a rather time consuming task, and does prevent in depth political analysis to a degree..
You've got a guarantee however, that once this is all done, my hitherto brief and shallow musings on the state of class and anti-imperial issues shall be back, and more importantly, significantly beefed up.

Nuclear Power.

The current crisis in Japan illuminates the fact that the introduction of Nuclear Power in Australia must be opposed at all costs. Some might argue that an environmental tragedy of the likes that occurred in Japan will never occur here, but this has nothing to do with the issue at hand. It simply goes to show that if anything goes wrong, we are, to use a scientific term, fucked. With deadly problems on our harsh land including dreadful bushfires, floods and cyclones (not forgetting the Newcastle Earthquake) anything could go wrong, and ruin the lives of millions. Notwithstanding the fact that the waste dumped would degenerate, sit in, and potentially rot parts of the beautiful island we call home as well as any future government most likely attempting to dump it on land held under native title. We must support new, clean energy sources such as wind, hydro and geothermal on the way to a coal-free, green Australia.

Carbon Tax

While the idea of a tax on Carbon is a useful one in the fight to cut emissions and fight global warming, it is a total anachronism unless it is directed at the source of the pollution, big business. The current Carbon Tax tabled by the federal parliament is nothing but a sham. It is an attempt by the capitalist class to be seen to be making an effort to reverse global warming, whilst in reality it is all a facade. The bourgeoisie are blatantly slapping a tax on the working class in an attempt to be able to continue riding roughshod over the future of our planet and its people. The working people mustn't accept this. We must demand a Carbon Tax, but not the sham that has currently been put in front of us. We must demand that the capitalists pay to clean up the grave mess that they have created.

Lessons to be learned.

Whilst having the knowledge that parliament, whether state or federal, represent little more than a facade of democracy, put up for show by the imperialists, the fact that the working people of New South Wales are certainly going to turn to the ultra-capitalist Liberal Party after dumping the disastrous Labor government is an indication of the hold that parliamentarism and bourgeois ideology has over the Australian people. This is a justification of the fact that the current level of struggle requires communists to build links deep within the working class, sowing the seeds for a revolutionary proletariat. To paraphrase Mao, "The guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea". We mustn't seek to be the sea. We, as activists need to be deeply immersed in working class struggle, not seeking to take ownership of these struggles or be know alls, but observe the situation at hand, learn from the working class, their material reality, and how this should shape our strategy. We should aim to point out slowly, and educate the working class about the fact that almost all struggles they face are linked to the imperialist domination of Australia, and that true National Independence is the only way to eradicate these issues.

Egyptian Revolution

The courageous actions of the people of Egypt must be saluted by all freedom loving people. Their stand in the face of violent repression from the police and army has knocked off the U.S neo-liberal lackey Mubarak and his vice president Sulieman. However, the battle is not over yet, the people must continue to fight to ensure that the army doesn't reconstitute a similar regime minus the figureheads. We have faith in the ability of the people of Egypt to do so. They must, and will battle for an independent people's democracy that rejects U.S hegemony, and supports the right of the Palestinian people for self determination and an end to the Israeli apartheid.


Power to the people of Egypt!

Flood Crisis/Cyclone Yasi

This response is well late, apologies for that. The flood crisis that has ravaged the Eastern states, in particular Queensland was in no uncertain terms a natural disaster almost without precedent in terms of personal property damage in Australian history. What has truly shown through in the aftermath, is nothing less than glorious working class solidarity and spirit, with members of affected communities banding together to rebuild, and some coming from far flung areas to help out those in need. All of this is in spite of the pathetic, sickening greed of the Insurance giants, refusing to pay out to those who have lost everything, in spite of having insurance policies that claimed to be covering everything. What is needed to combat this, is a people's insurance fund as part of a national people's bank, which would be motivated by the genuine need to support the people in their times of greatest need, rather than ruthless, immoral profiteering.

While this post was being written, North and Central Queensland are currently bunkering down in preparation for tropical Cyclone Yasi, a category five storm, to hit the shores. We can only hope that this storm does not live up to the expectations, which suggest it could be as bad as 2006s Cyclone Larry, which decimated the banana industry up north, or even Cyclone Tracy, which destroyed Darwin. Our thoughts are with you over the next harrowing few days.