8/9/2019 SA Federal Election Broadsheet 2010

1/4

The Socialist Alliance candidatesfor the coming federal election are notprofessional politicians. They aresocialist activists who fight for justice,democracy, peace and environmentalsustainability. If elected they wouldtake only an average workers wage.

We urgently need to build a power-ful movement for real change inAustralia. There are many more peo-ple like our candidates out therepeople who are already helping trans-form the unjust and unsustainablesociety we now are forced to live in.

The Socialist Alliance works to uniteall social activists in struggle. Thatunity is critical to building up the peo-ples power able to wrest control ofsociety from the hands of the corpo-rate rich.

The Socialist Alliance directs itspreferences first to the Greens (orother socialist candidates) and thenthough we dont think that the ALP ismuch betterto Labor ahead of theLiberal-National Coalition and otherright-wing parties.

QUEENSLAND

Sam Watson f or Senate:A referendum on t he Ruddgovernment

Sam Watson is one of the most promi-

nent Murri campaigners. He is a longtime Indigenous rights and socialist activist,

filmmaker and playwright. Sam is a

deputy director at the Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the

University of Queensland and teaches

courses in Black Australian Literature. He

has received honours for his 1990 novel

The Kadaitcha Sung and acclaim for his

1995 film Black Man Down.The Aboriginal people will make this

election a referendum on the Rudd gov-

ernment. It rode to power promising so

much, but has delivered so little.

Howards Northern Territory

Intervention has been continued. The NT

Lands Rights Act has been overridden.

The Anti-Discrimination Act has been

effectively overturned. Aboriginal unem-

ployment, lack of education and poor

housing are at record levels. Aboriginal

health is worse than Fourth World stan-

dard. Our people continue to suffer one of

the lowest life expectancy rates in theworld.

Aboriginal and other voters need to

punish Kevin Rudd, and remind the gov-

ernment that they rely on the ordinary

people for their survival.

David Low e for SenateLabor and Liberals are

discreditedDavid Lowe, an administration officer

and life-long union activist, has recentlyhelped establish the first Socialist Alliancebranch in Townsville. He served as branch

president in the Australian Services Union

We've witnessed the biggest publicbailout of the capitalist system in histo-ry! Trillions of public money has beenshelled out to bail out banks and agrowing list of bankrupt govern-

mentswith Greece the most recent.

In Australia, we have yet to suffer asmuch pain from the global economiccrisis, but already many workers havelost their jobs or suffered cut in hoursand conditions. Families are shoulder-ing historic mortgage debt or risingrents. Further, the crisis is not over andcould still ravage this country.

But the corporate rich are carryingon as before, with the same speculative,profit-gouging ways that brought on thecrisis in the first place.

FACT: The 11 Australians whomade the Forbes 1000 richest list for2010 have a total net wealth of $25.7

billionmore than the net wealth ofthe countrys 800,000 poorest house-holds. Source: Australian Bureau ofStatistics (ABS).

With commandeered working peo-ples savings (total Australian superan-nuation exceeds $800 billion), theycontinue their dangerous gambling atour expense. The corporations alsoinsist on their right to dodge taxes, eventhough they are now paying a lowereffective tax rate than most workers.

FACT: BHP Billiton and Rio Tintopay just 13%, while most workerspay 30% or more in effective tax rate.Source: Federal Treasury. Between

2005 and 2008, more than 40% of bigbusinesses paid no income tax.Source: Australian Tax Office.

Loyally served by Labor and Liberal-National governments, the billionairesdictate that oceans of money continueto be spent on corporate welfare, impe-rial wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and whoknows where next, even as 100,000people sleep in the street each night andIndigenous communities suffer shock-ing conditions and racism.

Climate science tells us that toaddress the climate emergency serious-ly we must shift to 100% renewable

energy by 2020, but the economic con-servative Rudd Labor governmentrefuses to make the urgently neededinvestment. Burning social needs inhousing, education, and child and agedcare are likewise neglected.

FACT: Globally, observed CO2emissions, temperature and sea levelsare rising faster than expected.Australia is likely to become warmer,with uncertain rainfall changes in thenorth, and less rainfall and moredroughts in the south. Heat wavesand heavy rain events are likely tobecome more frequent worldwide,

with less snow, more fires, moreheavy rainfall events and moreintense cyclones. Source: CSIRO.

A group of scientists, economists andengineers working voluntarily for the

Zero Carbon Australia 2020 project hascalculated that an investment of lessthan 3.5% of GDP, or approximately$39 billion, for the next ten years canfund the transition to 100% renewableenergy. The economy can afford thisinvestment, which would help makeAustralia a just, equitable and sustain-able society. For example, each year,the Australian government spends morethan 3.5% of GDP on waging andpreparing for war, subsidising pollutingindustry and funding privileged privateschools.

FACT: Profit share of total incomein Australia has increased from16.9% to 27.7% since 1974-75 while

wage share has decreased from62.7% to 54%. In today's dollars,$2.2 trillion dollars has been shiftedto profits! Source: ABS.

Venezuelas socialist President HugoChvez spoke the truth about the clashbetween corporate and social prioritiesat the failed Copenhagen ClimateSummit last year: If the environmentwere a bank, it would already have beensaved.

The Socialist Alliance campaigns fora complete change of priorities inAustralian politics: It's time to put peo-ple and planet before profit. Our com-mon future depends on it.

We w ill not survive if

our society runs on the

narrow values that have

been forced on us for

more than tw o centuries

in Australia. Learn from

the Indigenous traditions

of respect for the land,

community first and liv-

ing cooperatively.

Sam Watson, lead

Senate candidate for

Queensland

For the millions notthe BILLIONAIRES!

Federal election 2010

People and planetbefore profit!

Your Socialist Alliance candidates

www.socialist-alliance.org

8/9/2019 SA Federal Election Broadsheet 2010

2/4

North Queensland Clerical andAdministrative Branch from 1999to 2009 and has been aQueensland Council of Unions(QCU) provincial council dele-gate for several years.

Ive been involved in the QCUstolen wages campaign and theanti-privatisation campaign. Trade

unionists are appalled at theQueensland Labor governmentsprivatisation drive. Many have leftthe ALP because of it.

I was a founding member ofLabor for Refugees in Townsvilleand all the activists I worked within that campaign are shocked atthe ALPs betrayal on refugees.

Both Labor and Liberal partiesare increasingly discredited withthe Australian people.

Ewan Saunders forBrisbaneWorkers need a party ofour own

Ewan Saunders has been cam- paigning for social justice sinceleaving high school. A grassrootsclimate activist in Brisbane, Ewanhelped found the CommunityClimate Network Queensland,which links groups and communi-ties campaigning on climateaction.

Ewan has also campaigned forthe rights of young workers andthe lower paid.

This latest federal budget isanother swipe at the most vulner-able people: the unemployed, peo-ple on disability support, andfuture generations who are goingto suffer the consequences ofinaction on climate change.

Australian workers and theirunions need a party of our own,one thats in the business of stand-ing up, not caving in, to vestedinterests for cheap political gain.

NEW SOUTH WALES

Rachel Evans forSenateEqual marriage a basichuman right

Rachel Evans is an activist inCommunity Action Against

Homophobia, the Sydney-basedcampaign for equal marriage

rights for lesbians, gays, intersexand trans people. Rachel led theNo to Pope protests in Sydneythat highlighted the Vaticanshomophobic and anti-contracep-tion stances, which have cost mil-lions of lives in AIDS-ravaged

Africa. Rachel is also an activistin the campaign for refugee

rights.Equal marriage rights is a

human rights issue. It shouldntmatter what sex people are if theywish to legalise their relationship.

Adoption should also be basedon equality. It shouldnt matter ifcouples are gay, lesbian or hetero-sexual. Their right to adopt chil-dren should be judged on theirability to provide love and care forchildren.

Soubhi Iskander forSenateRespect UN ref ugeeconvention

Soubhi Iskander was born inSudan and has been a socialist formore than half a century. Despitebeing jailed and tortured in hiscountry of birth, Soubhi remainsan active socialist and now is theeditor of Green Left Weeklys

Arabic supplement, The Flame.I was studying at university in

Egypt in 1956 when there was arevolution, led by Gamal AbdelNasser. He nationalised the SuezCanal. France, England and Israelthen attacked Egypt.

I joined the Sudanese Com-munist Party and fought in sup-port of Nasser, but my politicalactivism got me thrown out ofEgypt.

I have experienced life as arefugee and the Australian gov-

ernment should not try to runaway from its obligations underthe UN Refugee Convention,which it has signed.

After I came to Australia in1995, I was taken to a Labor partypre-selection meeting. I rememberthinking, These people are likethieves dividing the loot!

The approach from the Laborcandidates was not What can I dofor the people? but instead Whatcan I get from the people? I neverwent back to another ALP meet-ing.

Jess M oore f orCunninghamNo waiting for the w orld

to change Jess Moore is a well-known

community activist and a leadingclimate and renewable energycampaigner in Wollongong. A part-time worker, Jess is active in thestruggle for marriage equality and

also helped found the IllawarraAboriginal Rights Group.

Jess was president of theWollongong UndergraduateStudents Association in 2006 andis the national co-ordinator of

Resistance, the socialist youthorganisation affiliated to theSocialist Alliance.

Climate change is the greatestthreat to humanity. Climate sci-ence tells us we have about a

decade to shift away from carbon-intensive practices if we are toavoid catastrophic runaway tem-perature rise.

Unfortunately, the Rudd gov-ernment seems to think it has timeto negotiate with the laws ofphysics and chemistry. Tied to theinterests of big carbon polluters itis incapable of taking action onthe scale needed.

Faced with this paralysis, wecant wait for the world to change we need to make criticalchange happen ourselves.

Pip Hinman f orGrayndlerSocialism a necessity

Pip Hinman trained as a restor-er of artifacts, but politicalactivism took precedence 27 years

ago when she was inspired by the Nicaraguan revolution. Pip hascampaigned for a free East Timor,in solidarity with democracystruggles in Indonesia and forwomens rights.

Pip helped found the SydneyStop the War Coalition, and wasan organiser of the Stop Bush

protest at the APEC summit inSydney in 2007 .

Pip has a 13-year-old daughterand is a strong supporter of publiceducation. She is a member of the

National Tertiary EducationUnion and has also been a writer,sub-editor and editor for GreenLeft Weekly.

When the worlds richest 1%

own 40% of its social wealth asa global study from the UN hasjust revealed you have to ques-tion the system that leads to thisobscene inequality.

Socialist Alliance stands forsocialismthe democratic owner-

ship and management of societysresources.

If we heed the warnings of thescientists, we have to replace cap-italism for human survival and thesurvival of many other species onour planet.

When the big decisions insociety are no longer made by a

parasitic elite, peoples instinctsfor solidarity will be liberated.

We can solve the challengeswe face through grassroots-basedand democratic institutions ofpopular power collectivelystudying the options, hearing thedebates, voting for the necessaryplans of work and overseeing theirimplementation.

A new culture of collectivecreativity and self-management ofsocial wealth can develop,expanding all of our potentials fordevelopment and fulfillment.

Capitalism will then bedumped where it already belongs in the dustbin of history.

Zane Alcorn forNewcastleNationalise mining t ofund renewables

Zane Alcorn is the emcee fromNewcastle hip hop group Dhopecand is the 2010 convener of the

Newcastle University Students Association environment collec-tive. Zane is also a member of

Newcastle Save Our Rail and is aclimate change activist.

I dont want to hear anotherword about refugees or graffitiartists or gay and lesbian peoplethreatening our society. Doublingcoal exports is what really threat-ens our society.

A different future is withinreach. Its a clean and vibrantfuture built on renewable energytechnologies like solar thermal

and wind, and with more empha-sis on quality of life instead of justworking long hours and consum-ing. Its a future that respects andlearns from the true owners ofthis land.

Coalmining needs to bephased out but in a just waythat protects the livelihoods ofcoal workers.

A critical industry like miningshould be in public hands, like theoil industry in Venezuela.

We could use mining incometo fund retraining in renewableindustries for coal-industry work-ers.

Duncan Roden for

ParramattaWelcome asylum seekersDuncan Roden is a member of

Resistance. He was born in Fijiand is active in the ParramattaClimate Action Network.

I have family living on aPacific Island, where climatechange is not just about the future these islands are going undernow.

A woman from Kiribati whoattended the Copenhagen ClimateSummit last year told me: We areshouting now but our voice is verysmall. When climate changetouches the lives of people in bigcountries like Australia, they willstand up and shout the loudest.But it may be too late then.

Im determined to help build a

peoples movement to turn aroundclimate change.

The far-right in this country isgetting organised letterboxinganti-immigrant, anti-Muslim andanti-African material, assaultingIndian students and organisingracist rallies so its crucial tocampaign against racism.

Racism is being fueled by theLabor and Liberal parties, whichare competing to introduce evermore inhumane policies towardsrefugees and migrants. It was aLabor government that introducedmandatory detention of asylumseekers.

Mandatory detention shouldbe abolished and the detention

camps should be closed.

VICTORIA

M argarita Windisch forSenateBuild strong, div ersecommunities

Margarita Windisch migratedto Australia from Austria in thelate 1980s and has lived in

Melbournes west for the past ten years. She is a social worker byprofession and teaches communitywelfare in Footscray.

I have campaigned for wom-ens and workers rights, environ-mental sustainability and commu-nity democracy. I was a founding

member of the Melbourne Stopthe War Coalition, organisingagainst the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan, and against Israelsattacks on Lebanon and occupa-tion of Palestine.

8/9/2019 SA Federal Election Broadsheet 2010

3/4

I have campaigned forimproved public transport andwas part of the successful DumpConnex campaign.

I believe in people workingtogether to build strong andhealthy communities.

Sharon Firebrace for

SenateStop racism, reverseprivatisations

Sharon Firebrace is a YortaYorta woman from Echuca.Growing up in country Victoria,she is familiar with racism incountry areas, as well as the lackof services in country towns.Sharon has been campaigning for

Indigenous rights since the 1970s.She was CEO of the Aboriginal

Advancement League in the early1980s, and later served with the

Indigenous Land Corporation andthe East Gippsland AboriginalCorporation. She founded the

Aboriginal Genocide Centre in Melbourne and is campaigning for a treaty for IndigenousAustralians.

Previously a member of the ALP, Sharon set up the LaborParty Group for AboriginalPeople in Shepparton. She attend-ed the United Nations WorldWomens conferences in Kenya in1985 and China in 1995.

I am disgusted that the RuddLabor government has retained somany of the Howard govern-ments policies towards Indige-nous people, refugees and unions.Im campaigning to end the dis-criminatory NT Intervention.

I am opposed to all forms ofracism whether it is directed atAborigines, migrants or refugees,like the exploitation of interna-tional students and migrant work-

ers on temporary 457 visas.I am also for reversing the pri-vatisation of our basic utilities andtelecommunications.

Ron Guy for SenateSolidarity first

At the age of 18, Ron Guybecame a union representativewith the Federated Ironworkers

Association, leading to a life of

involvement in the union move-ment. Ron is currently an

Australian Workers Union delegatein the petrochemical industry. He isan artist and a founding member ofthe Post-Goughists art group. Ronhas a four-year-old son.

I was involved in the cam-paign for a 35-hour week in 1978and in the campaign against WorkChoices in 2005-2007. I was also

involved in the notorious Hoechstdispute, when the company gotworkers to clean out a dyeingplant that had been banned inGermany. All eight workers gotcancer as a result.

Being a unionist awakened myconsciousness about social jus-tice. In the 1990s I was involvedin the East Timor solidarity cam-paign and today I am involved in asimilar campaign of solidaritywith the people of WesternSahara. I participated in the firstAustralian delegation to theWestern Saharan refugee campsand also in the trade union brigadeto the camps. I have been cam-paigning to stop Australia import-ing phosphorous from occupiedWestern Sahara.

I participated in the campaignto free David Hicks fromGuantanamo Bay and, in February2010, I participated in the tradeunion brigade to build a protesthouse against the NT Interventionin the Alyawarr peoples walk-offcamp, outside the Ampilatwatjacommunity.

The Socialist Alliance standsin solidarity with this courageousstand. The Alyawarr people sendan important message to the restof Australia if a small, remotecommunity can stand up, rejectgovernment policy and demand

their rights, so can we!

Trent Hawkins for Wills100% renew ables by 2020

Trent Hawkins is a qualifiedmechanical engineer working inthe renewable energy sector. Trent

is also a contributor to the ZeroCarbon Australia 2020 Project

produced by climate change solu-tions organisation Beyond Zero

Emissions.I have been active in the cli-

mate action movement, includingthe campaign to shut downHazelwood power station and forthe government to commit to100% renewable energy by 2020.

I am also active in social jus-tice campaigns for Indigenous andrefugee rights, and against warand racism. My other area ofmajor interest is building solidari-ty with the revolutionary move-

ments of Latin America.I am proud to be a member of

the Socialist Alliance, a progres-sive community-oriented partyworking to build an alternative toLabor and the Liberals.

Ben Courtice forGellibrandFollow Evo M oraleson climate

Ben Courtices first involve-ment in politics was in the Greenshistoric 1989 election campaign

in Tasmania, fought over stoppingthe logging of old native forestsand a proposed new pulp mill.

Ben has spent the last 13 yearsas a union activist in Melbourneswestern suburbs, in the Australian

Manufacturing Worker Union. Thisis the rust belt Melbournesincreasingly abandoned industrialheartland, and also one of themost ethnically diverse areas of

the country.World events have returned me

to the first political interest of mylife: protecting the environment.In particular, stopping climatechange.

I am involved in the ClimateEmergency Network, and helpedorganise the 2008 and 2009Climate Emergency rallies. I alsowas one of the organisers of the2009 Switch Off Hazelwoodprotest at Victorias most pollut-ing power station.

I recently had the privilege toattend the World Peoples Con-ference on Climate Change inBolivia, initiated by that country'sfirst Indigenous and socialist pres-

ident, Evo Morales. The outcomesof this important conference willbe felt when world leaders meetagain in Mexico later this year.Australia should join with coun-tries like Bolivia in seeking a realsolution to climate change.

Sue Bull f or CorioNationalise the banks

Sue Bull teaches OccupationalHealth and Safety. A trade union-ist, Sue is angry that the Ruddgovernment has broken its promis-

es to the Your Rights At WorkCampaign, which helped elect

Labor in 2007. She is also fight-ing federal changes to OHS lawsthat will reduce protections forworkers.

Ive helped build many cam-paigns for progressive causes overthe years; whether against unjust

wars, for refugee and Aboriginalrights or for the environment.

Im as concerned about cli-mate change as I am about work-ers jobs. In a city like Geelong,which is so dependent on carbonintensive industries like the alu-minum smelter and car manufac-ture, we must develop a green jobstransition plan based on ourneeds, not the markets.

The resources exist to build avery different society. The bigfour Australian banks 2009 pre-tax profits were $23 billion. Weshould nationalise the banks andrun them in the community inter-est, beginning with the re-nation-alisation of the Commonwealth

Bank. The US and UK govern-ments have already conducted cri-sis nationalisations.

If banks can be nationalised tosave the capitalist system, theycan be nationalised to serve thecommunity.

TASMANIA

M elanie Barnes forDenisonPublic, sustainabletimber industry

Melanie Barnes is a climatechange activist who has beenworking for an environmental

NGO. She has a Bachelor of Artsmajoring in Indonesian and polit-ical science from the University ofQueensland. Melanie is the

Hobart organiser of Resistance.She represented Tasmania in aneducational solidarity tour ofVenezuela.

Melanie has also been a leaderof Students Against the Pulp Mill

protests, Walk Against Warmingactions, as well as anti-war,refugee, education and womensrights campaigns.

The Socialist Alliance calls foran end to logging in old-growthforests and clear-felling in allother native forests, and calls for aban on the export of woodchipsfrom native forests.

We stand for a publicly ownedtimber industry based on sustain-able plantations with access to

specialty timbers ensured forcrafts people (subject to ecologi-cal considerations). We shouldreplant forests in dry-land andother salt-affected regions.

Climate change: immedi-ate and large-scale publicinvestment for 100% renew-able energy by 2020; fund by

taxing the corporate pollutersand billionaires; support aResource Super Profits Tax aspart of this process

Housing: tackle homeless-ness and the 200,000 housingshortfall with a social andcommunity housing program.Cap rent and mortgage repay-ments at 20% of income

Health: boost funding forpreventative care; free dentalcare; end subsidies to privateinsurers; expand community-based health care networks;boost funding on mentalhealth

Public transport: boostinvestment in suburban andhigh-speed intercity rail.Make public transport freeand frequent

Poverty and unemploy-ment: lift all welfare pay-ments above the poverty line,create useful jobs in housing,

public transport and renew-able energySocial services: boost

funding to community-basedaged and child care networks,expand disability services

Indigenous rights: repealthe Northern Territory Inter-vention laws; abolish racistwelfare quarantining; no ura-nium waste dumps; close thegap in Aboriginal health, edu-cation and housing by 2020

Anti-war: bring back alltroops from Iraq and Afghan-istan; isolate apartheid Israel;end ANZUS

Asylum seekers: honourAustralias UN refugee con-vention obligations; endmandatory detention; endexcisions of Australian ter-ritory; end deportations

Workers rights: abolishthe Howard-era ABCC andscrap all anti-union laws.Recognise workers rights in

lawDemocratic rights: Mar-

riage rights for same-sex cou-ples; full rights for trans andintersex people; scrap anti-terror laws; adopt a Bill ofRights

Womens rights: pay equi-ty now; remove abortionfrom the criminal code;strengthen laws against sexu-al harassment

Youth rights: right to voteat 16; scrap learn or earn;boost funding to youth serv-ices; end youth wage rates;make education free includ-

ing tertiary Detailed policies are on

our web site or can be post-ed on request

www.socialist-alliance.org

WHERE WE STAND

8/9/2019 SA Federal Election Broadsheet 2010

4/4

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Renfrey Clarke f orSenateConvert defence industryto renewables

Dr Renfrey Clarke was one ofthe founders of the Climate

Emergency Action Network in2008, and is a well-known activistand writer on environmental top-ics. He is a member of the Liquor,

Hospitality and MiscellaneousWorkers Union. A specialist on

Russia and Latin America, Clarke

worked for many years as a for-eign correspondent forGreen LeftWeekly and other progressivemedia. He is now one of its featurewriters on climate change.

On climate change, theres noroom for excuses or half-mea-sures. Unless determined actionstarts now, South Australia will bea dustbowl in coming decades.

Therell be no mid-north wheatlands and no Barossa grapes.Flows down the Murray River willbe a trickle. Sea-level rise will havebegun turning the Lower Lakesinto the states third gulf.

Meanwhile, South Australiahas stunning resources of renew-able energy wind, solar, geot-

hermal and wave power. In itsdefence industries, Adelaide has aworld-class science and engineer-ing base. This can and should beconverted to designing and manu-facturing renewable energy equip-ment. Many well-paid green jobswill result.

South Australia is where con-struction worker Ark Tribe is fac-ing six months jail under Howard-era anti-union ABCC laws kept inforce by the Labor government.These laws are like somethingfrom the McCarthy-era in the US.Theyve been condemned by the

International Labor Organisationand the Australian Council ofTrade Unions.

The fact that the Rudd Laborgovernment keeps these provi-sions shows that if it has to choosebetween workers rights and theinterests of big business, it willside with business.

Ruth Ratcliffe f orSenateEnd w elfare quarantining

Ruth Ratcliffe works in the com-munity sector in the southern sub-

urbs of Adelaide. She is also awell-known activist in the Ade-laide climate emergency move-ment and has been active in manyother campaigns, including thecampaign against the racist NT

Intervention.I work with kids in some of the

poorest areas of Adelaide. Whilethe Rudd government boasts abouthow well Australia has weatheredthe global financial crisis, the fam-ilies I work with tell a very differ-ent story. In the supposedly luckycountry access to basic humanrights such as medical care, qualityeducation and appropriate housingare denied to greater and greaternumbers of people.

Rather than adequately fundappropriate services and empowercommunities, Rudd plans toextend the paternalistic policy ofwelfare quarantining, whichHoward initiated in remoteAboriginal communities, to otherareas of disadvantage.

The NT Intervention is clearlyracist and is not motivated by con-cern for Aboriginal children but toenable government control ofAboriginal land. Many Aboriginalcommunities have been forced tosign over their land on five-yearleases to the federal government land which contains gold, iron ore,

uranium and areas of which havebeen slated as potential nuclearwaste dumps. The Intervention andthe policy of welfare quarantiningmust be ended, not extended toother communities.

Gemma Weedall forAdelaidePay Austral ias climat edebt

Gemma Weedall is a youthactivist and part-time worker. Sherecently completed a Bachelor ofSocial Sciences at the University of

Adelaide, where she was environ-ment officer on the 2009 Student

Representative Council. A passion-ate grassroots climate changeactivist, Gemma is active in theClimate Emergency Action Net-work and Resistance.

In April this year, I attendedthe World Peoples Conference onClimate Change and the Rights ofMother Earth in Cochabamba,Bolivia. My eyes were opened tothe perspectives of people fromthe countries of the Global South,who are the most vulnerable to theimpacts of climate change, despite

having contributed least to theproblem.Actions to combat climate

change in Australia and othermajor polluting countries must beaccompanied by recognition andrepayment of the climate debt thathas been accumulated by thewealthy countries.

I also participated in the 2010Australia-Venezuela SolidarityNetwork May Day Brigade.Venezuela is an inspiring exampleof participatory democracy inaction.

WESTERNAUSTRALIA

Ben Peterson forSenateYoung people will makechanges

Ben Peterson is doing aBachelor of the Arts at MurdochUniversity, majoring in politicsand international studies.

Ben got involved in activism asa year 11 student when he joineda high-school strike against thethen Howard governments WorkChoices legislation. He joined

Resistance which organised thestrike and then the Socialist

Alliance. He is now an organiserof Resistance in Perth.

Ben has campaigned around

anti-war and environmental issues. He was among the organisers ofthe Camp for Climate Action inCollie at the end of 2009.

Ben has been active in Stop theFilter (against the federal govern-ments internet censorship plans)

and Search for Your Rights (againstthe WA state governments plans

for stop and search laws.It is the new generation that

will bring the needed real changeon issues like global warming.Labor and Liberals have consis-tently let down the people throughtheir craven support for corporateAustralia. The Socialist Alliancestands for people before profitand thats the kind of change Idlike to see.

Julie Gray for SenateFight m ining bossesgreed

Julie Gray is a Red Cross labo-ratory technician and a union del-egate at her workplace.

Weve got a two-tier boomhappening in WA, with big corpo-rations, especially mining compa-nies, making huge profits out ofdestroying the Earth while the res-idents of these mining regions,and in Perth, are paying more forrent, food and transport.

Now these same mining com-panies are spending millions ofdollars on a propaganda campaignagainst being made to pay moretax on the super profits they aremaking. Their greed knows nobounds.They ripped out $80 bil-lion in super profits over the last

decade and the mining billionaireson the richest 200 Australians listincreased their wealth by $7.9 bil-lion in just the last year.

Meanwhile there is a huge risein the number of West Australiansliving below the poverty line andhomelessness is growing.

At election times, both Laborand Liberal make lovely promisesto repair all the damage their poli-cies have caused in the hospitalsand the schools. But no matterwhich party gets in, all we get ismore economic rationalism.

Sanna Andrew forFremantlePay equity, decent welfare

services now Sanna Andrew is a social work-

er in WAs community-based men-tal health service. She is a mem-ber of the Australian ServicesUnion (ASU), sitting on its execu-tive council as a representative of

the Social and CommunityServices Sector division.

I am active in the ASU's PayEquity campaign, agitating forincreased wages in social andcommunity services. The inade-quate pay structure of this sector ispartly because jobs traditionallyconsidered womens work arestill being undervalued.

The shifting of more socialservice provision to the non-gov-ernment sector, as the WA stategovernment is doing, translatesinto lower wages for many work-ers. Community service workers

are mostly tertiary qualified but arepaid up to 52% less than workerswith similar qualifications in simi-lar roles in the government sector.

Vulnerable community mem-bers deserve services that are fullyresourced, professionally staffedand supported as a right, not ascharity for the less fortunate.

Alex Bainbridge forPerthPeople power here andnow

Alex Bainbridge has been asocialist activist since 1990. Hewas also media spokesperson forthe Stop Bush protest at the APEC

summit in Sydney in 2007.There are two important mes-sages we want to get across as partof our campaign in the federalelections. The first is that workersdeserve better than Labor. Laborhas refused to rip up WorkChoices as it promised, and in awhole host of areas Labor is actu-ally continuing Howards agenda.

Further, Rudd was complicit inthe US scuttling of the Copen-hagen climate summit and for thatreason alone ordinary people inAustralia have every reason towithdraw their support from Labor.

The second message is thatpeople power can change theworld.

There is cause for hope that abetter world can be built because amass peoples movement can takepower from the big corporationsand the capitalist governmentsthey support. We can see this tak-ing place in Venezuela, Boliviaand other countries in LatinAmerica today.

Peoples power is not just adream. It is a living reality and andwe can build it here in Australia as

well.

Aut horised by P. Boyle 23 Ab ercrombie St, Chippendale 2008.

Printed by SpotPress 24-26 Lillian Fowler Pl. Marrickville 2204.