Australia

The Australian Labor Party won a landslide victory in the recent elections. At the centre of the election campaign was Howard’s hated anti-trade union legislation. The workers of Australia voted massively against this. But as the new Labor leader, Rudd, is no different from Blair, what are the tasks facing genuine socialists in Australia?

Piero Barrachi was a pioneering Australian Communist, who threw himself into the struggle for a revolutionary party in Australia after the Russian revolution. Initially he did not understand the Stalinist degeneration but eventually he saw through it and joined the Trotskyists. Simon Williams reviews a book about his life.

Australian Capital Reserve recently went bust leaving thousands of small investors at risk of impoverishment, among them pensioners who were convinced to sink their life savings into their various speculative schemes. It has already been made clear that the small investors will be the last to receive any compensation, an example of what we may see elsewhere.

One year since the massive mobilisations against the introduction of draconian anti-trade union laws, the workers of Australia today showed their determination to keep the struggle alive. Over 250,000 turned out across Australia in rallies to protest.

The recent Queensland election was called against a backdrop of crisis in the public health system and problems with water and electricity supply. The choice was between between a right-wing Labor party and the avowedly anti-worker policies of the Coalition.

Construction workers in Western Australia are in the front line of a vicious attack under the Coalition government's anti-union laws. This Tuesday, one hundred and seven workers will be in court where they face ruinous fines of up to AU$28,600. The fines are for a strike which was called to protect safety at work and to defend a sacked union representative.

On Tuesday over 500,000 Australian workers came out on demonstrations across the country to protest against the latest draconian anti-trade union laws, with 200,000 at the Melbourne rally. The mood on the rallies was very militant. The Australian working class is returning to its best traditions of struggle, and this is only the beginning.

There was a massive demonstration on the day the war started. The write-up in the Sydney Morning Herald made things clear...

Tomorrow, November 11, 2000, marks the 25th anniversary of the dramatic dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government in Australia. For the generation entering the ranks of the Labour movement today, 25 years on, the experience of the Whitlam Labor government holds many valuable lessons besides the clear demonstration of how the ruling establishment is prepared to act in defence of its interests against a properly elected Labor government.

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