Jan 18, 2013

In defence of the transitional method

[This was originally a talk given at the Socialist Alliance National Conference, Geelong, January 18, 2013. When it was run in Links online magazine it attracted a number of responses. I have included my rejoinders below. The four pieces form a more or less coherent whole. See the whole debate at Links.]

Socialist Alternative comrades take us to task

Socialist Alliance is currently engaged in a process of discussion and clarification with Socialist Alternative, with a view to exploring the possibilities of greater cooperation and unity. How this will ultimately develop is an open question. But I think it is fair to say that on both sides today there is a much greater interest in the political positions and approach of the other.

Mar 24, 2012

Marxist philosophy: A primer

[This is the slideshow for a talk given at the Socialist Ideas Conference in Melbourne on March 24, 2012. At this stage there is no accompanying text as I spoke from rough notes but I hope the slides are useful. For PDF of slideshow see here.]

Dec 6, 2011

Report on 'Towards a Socialist Australia'

[The following report was presented to the Socialist Alliance Melbourne district meeting on December 6, 2011 and later to Geelong branch. While it was speaking to the first draft of the resolution (see Towards a Socialist Australia), I think the main points made remain relevant.]

Purpose of the resolution

The basic purpose of the document is to make a clear, logical and succinct case for socialism and explain what we want. We have policy resolutions on a great range of questions but nothing that pulls it all together and explains what we are fighting for, the big picture — a fundamental change in the way our society and economy is organised and what some of the key elements of this are.

Nov 30, 2011

Towards a socialist Australia

[This was written as part of the process of preparing a draft resolution for the Socialist Alliance January 2012 National Conference.]

A world in turmoil

The 21st century is shaping up to be a pivotal one as human society faces a profound and deepening crisis.

Nov 13, 2011

Overcoming the power of the 1%

[Green Left Weekly, #903, November 16, 2011]

The global Occupy movement has focused the spotlight on the dichotomy of the 1% versus the 99%. Who are these 1%? In the United States the 400 richest individuals have as much wealth as the bottom 150 million. A similar picture would apply in all the major capitalist countries.

Oct 8, 2011

Hands over the city: Towards an urban nightmare


[This is an edited version of a workshop talk given on October 2, 2011 at the World at a Crossroads conference in Melbourne. For a PDF of slideshow see here.]

In this talk I want to give an overview of the crisis of our cities as I see it. The city I focus on is Melbourne, where I live. But I doubt that the broad situation is much different in the other states.

Sep 7, 2011

How we work to win mass support

[Talk given at the Socialist Ideas Conference organised by Socialist Alliance & Resistance, Melbourne, September 3, 2011.]

Will the level of popular and working-class struggle rise significantly in the coming years? How can we overcome or neutralise the deadly effect of ruling class propaganda on the minds of so many ordinary people? Can left-wing forces rally significant support and lead big struggles? How do we work towards this goal?

May 10, 2011

On Eritrea's national day, little to celebrate

[Green Left Weekly, #879, May 18, 2011]

On May 24 Eritreans around the world will mark the country's national day. After an epic three-decades-long liberation struggle, in 1991 the liberation forces wrested control of their capital, Asmara, from the occupying Ethiopian army. Two years later a new, independent Eritrea was formally established.

Oct 12, 2010

Cuba: challenges & changes

[The slide show and text of a talk given to the Geelong branch of Socialist Alliance on October 6, 2010. For a PDF of slideshow see here.]

Jul 28, 2010

Market greed or a planned economy for social need?


[The slide show and text of a talk given as part of Melbourne Socialist Alliance’s Socialist Ideas Seminar series on August 28, 2010. For a PDF of slideshow see here.]

The starting point for a discussion of planned economy or the present market-based capitalist one has to be the situation we are facing today. Humanity faces some huge problems.

Jun 12, 2010

Free speech victory in Brunswick

[An edited version of this article appeared in Green Left Weekly, #841, June 23, 2010]

Green Left Weekly and Socialist Alliance have won a victory in our free speech struggle at Brunswick's Barkly Square shopping centre. Our Saturday morning card table stalls can now continue as before.

May 23, 2010

Eritrea's national day

[Greetings given to May 22, 2010 meeting at the Melbourne Resistance Centre celebrating Eritrea's national day.]

Comrades, on behalf of Socialist Alliance I would like to extend warm solidarity greetings to this meeting celebrating Eritrea's national day.

May 17, 2010

Free speech? Sort of . . .

[Green Left Weekly, #838, May 26, 2010]

We supposely live in a free country. But do we actually have free speech in Australia? Well, sort of . . .

Obviously, the situation here is completely different to a military dictatorship where people live in fear of a knock on the door. In some countries there is no Green Left Weekly, no right to protest, and dissidents are jailed and tortured. In Australia we do have some real and important democratic rights. However, there are severe practical limitations on effectively exercising these rights — that is, exercising them in a way that anyone actually hears what you're saying.

Mar 31, 2010

'Socialism of the 21st century' and left unity

[I was assigned to draft the Socialist Alliance leaflet below. It was first distributed in Melbourne at the end of March 2010.]

The triumphalism spouted by capitalist apologists in the early 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet Union has long gone. Today the problems are so obvious: global warming and the world economic slump are shaking the capitalist world and casting a growing shadow over the future.

Mar 1, 2010

Free speech under attack in Brunswick

[Green Left Weekly, #828, March 3, 2010]

MELBOURNE — Green Left Weekly is currently involved in a free-speech fight in the inner-city suburb of Brunswick. At the end of November, the management of the busy Barkly Square Shopping Centre stopped GLW from operating our regular Saturday morning card table stalls.

Sep 26, 2009

Asylum seekers: No room at the inn

[Green Left Weekly, #812, September 26, 2009]

With seven boatloads of asylum seekers intercepted in September, Australia’s Christmas Island detention centre is fast filling up. It now holds 677 detainees. ALP Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor told a conference that people smuggling was one of the key threats facing the country. But even he had to admit that the primary reason people seek refuge is because of "push factors" such as "war, civil conflicts, famines".

Tens of millions on move

May 30, 2009

Communism in Australia

[The text of a talk delivered to the conference A Century of Struggle — Laborism and the Radical Alternative. Lessons for Today. The gathering was held in Melbourne on May 30, 2009; it was organised by Socialist Alliance and sponsored by Green Left Weekly.]

The original Communist Party of Australia ceased to exist in 1991. (The present CPA is the renamed Socialist Party of Australia, the result of a pro-Moscow split from the old CPA in 1971.) So it is a long while gone. Many comrades here would have had no experience of it.

Apr 1, 2009

The Great Depression: Lessons for Socialists

[This is an edited version of a talk delivered at the World at a Crossroads Conference in Sydney, Easter 2009. It was organised by the Democratic Socialist Perspective and Resistance and sponsored by Green Left Weekly.]

It is widely recognised that the current global economic crisis is not a normal recession of the kind which characterises the capitalist business cycle — that is, it is not one of the periodic downturns which inevitably follow a boom period. Rather, it is a fundamental slump.

Mar 19, 2009

Not a normal recession but a fundamental slump

[Speech at the Melbourne launch of the pamphlet Meltdown! A Socialist View of the Capitalist Crisis (Resistance Books: Sydney, 2009); March 19, 2009]

Our pamphlet tries to briefly sketch for the reader some the main features of the current economic crisis and its main social and political consequences.

The first point to grasp is that this is a not a normal recession of the kind which characterises the capitalist business cycle — that is, it is not one of the periodic downturns which inevitably follow a boom period.

Feb 28, 2009

Nylex succumbs to 'oversupply' of water tanks

[Green Left Weekly, #785, February 28, 2009]

Victorian plastics manufacturer Nylex as been placed in the hands of receivers. Nylex is a well-known name — the company produces the iconic Esky, water tanks, wheelie garbage bins, hose and garden fittings, and interior trimmings for car manufacturers.