Author: Jan Bowman

Ever wondered what all those socialist groups stand for?

If you have had similar experiences to me, you have probably been offered pamphlets and newspapers by a range of socialist organisations at rallies and during election campaigns. Names such as Socialist Alliance (Green Left Weekly), Socialist Alternative (Red Flag; Marxist Left Review) and the Communist Party of Australia (formally the Socialist Party of Australia), may be familiar to some. The shifting alliances between these parties and differences in policy and approach can be difficult to fathom, and a quick scan of the internet may only add to the confusion.

In a nutshell however, (and I’m happy to be corrected if I’ve got this wrong), all of these parties would claim to be Marxist anti-capitalist organisations, fighting for the rights of workers and the poor. They would also all claim that a new form of government, for and by the people, is the only way forward. Not all agree however on the means for achieving these ends.

Socialist Alliance is a coalition of organisations which stands candidates in all Australian elections. All the same, it does not consider that parliament is the correct mechanism for social change; rather socialism will only be achieved by direct action by the working class. It is often critical of the ALP and the Greens, but prefers them as a “lesser evil” to the Liberal and National Party alternatives. In order to address issues of Indigenous rights, global warming and social justice, Socialist Alliance aims to see the big miners and banks come under public ownership and control.  Liam Flenady is the Socialist Alliance candidate for Griffith.

Socialist Alternative apparently has the largest membership of all far-left organisations in Australia. It merged with the Revolutionary Socialist Party in 2013 and it having talks on unity with Socialist Alliance. It believes a workers revolution by the people is the only genuine way forward. Like Socialist Alliance it has a broad far-left agenda but does not stand candidates for election, preferring direct action through unions and alliances with community and activist organisations. It does support Socialist Alliance and Socialist Party candidates in elections.

The Socialist Equity Party (SEP) claims that it is the only far-left party to truly carry the traditions of Marx, Engels and Trotsky. Socialist Alliance and Socialist Alternative and their like, they maintain, are mere pseudo socialists. The SEP contends that the Greens, the ALP and the LNP, and even unions, prop up the capitalist system and that there are no significant differences between them.

The SEP, known until 2010 as the Socialist Labour League, traces its socialist lineage to the International Committee of the Fourth International. You really need a dictionary of socialism to appreciate the significance of this, suffice it to say, it is a claim to legitimacy in the fractured world of the far-left.

Nationally 13,945 people voted for the SEP in the 2010 senate election but it did not field candidates in Queensland. In 2013 the SEP will field two candidates for the Queensland senate: Mike Head, a University of Western Sydney law lecturer and Gabriela Zabala, who tutors undergraduate students in English literature.

Griffith is an electorate to watch.

Reprinted with permission from No Fibs.

From the well-to-do apartment blocks of Kangaroo Point and the entertainment and culture hub of South Brisbane to the tin and timber Queenslanders of East Brisbane, Coorparoo and Greenslopes, Griffith is a diverse inner city electorate with a sitting member who may have the highest profile of any election candidate.

When I settled in the West End two years ago I fell in love with the vibrant culture – its street art, the wonderful Avid Reader bookshop and its great coffee and cafes. For an inner city suburb it has something of a country town appeal and a strong sense of community. Its population is a mix of young families, childless couples, students and established Greek Australian families. It is the home of the recently controversial and now disbanded Aboriginal tent embassy in Musgrave Park.

The suburbs of Griffith appeal to the young and upwardly mobile. A quick look at ABS 2011 census data for Griffith tells us that at 33 years, this electorate has a slightly younger median age compared with the Queensland and National averages. It also has a significantly higher level of attendance at University or tertiary institutions and higher median incomes.  Interestingly there is a higher percentage of renters in Griffith, and fewer of its families have two cars than the national average.

With the Princess Alexandra, Mater and Greenslopes hospitals located within this electorate, it is unsurprising that nearly 6% of its workforce is employed within the hospital sector.

Griffith is the safest Labor seat in Queensland and has been held by Kevin Rudd since 1998, when he defeated one term Liberal member, Graeme McDougall.  As the leader of the Labor Opposition in 2010 Rudd held his seat with a 4.31% swing to Labor.  In 2010, by then recently ousted as Prime Minister ,he still held the seat comfortably, but with a swing against him of 9%.

The State electorate of South Brisbane takes in much of Griffith and remained staunchly Labor during the LNP rout of Labor in 2012. It was the electoral home of ousted Premier Anna Bligh and was retained for Labor by Jackie Trad in the by-election following Bligh’s resignation.

South Brisbane was one of the first regions in Australia to receive fibre services directly to the home, not as part of the Federal Government’s NBN but as part of a Bligh government deal with Telstra when it demolished its South Brisbane exchange to enable the construction of a new children’s hospital.

Kevin Rudd will be one of the few sitting Queensland Labor MPs who will hold his seat.

There’s nothing that can be said about Kevin Rudd that hasn’t already been said. Complex, undoubtedly popular in the electorate and well beyond, Kevin Rudd seems to be everywhere and capable of talking on any subject. He had been accused by his LNP rival of neglecting the electorate, and yet he seems to be as present here as he is elsewhere.  After campaigning for Labor mates in Western Sydney on Friday, he was back in Griffith on the weekend to participate in the inaugural City2South fun run. He fielded media questions while sweaty and breathless from his run and a little later in the day fronted a rally in Musgrave Park protesting the proposed merger of two local high schools.

Given Newman government cuts to public services and speculation about school closures and privatisations it is likely that, in Griffith at least, Kevin Rudd will focus on local issues as much as possible.

In an attempt to mitigate the Rudd factor in Griffith, the Coalition has brought in its own high profile candidate, Dr Bill Glasson.Dr Glasson has been federal president of the Australian Medical Association, and is well known for his work as an ophthalmologist in rural and remote areas of Australia. He is seen as a serious contender, and as a man with a strong record of community service he brings a degree of gravitas to the campaign circus.

In a recent interview with the Today Show’s Karl Stefanovic, Dr Glasson claimed he can win the seat, saying that Kevin Rudd has ignored the electorate and that he senses a mood swing in Griffith.

“He’s just come back to re-find the electorate. I think he’s been using the electorate, in many respects, as a springboard for his own career and, as I said, as I move around and talk to the people of Griffith there is a significant mood for change.”

Mr Rudd has countered that the people of Griffith really don’t know what Dr Glasson stands for. He recently challenged Mr Glasson to a debate saying that, “Brisbane’s Southside has a right to know what both sides have to offer by way of action for local residents and plans for the future”.

To date Dr Glasson has refused to take up the challenge, dismissing Rudd’s talk of a debate as grandstanding.

The Courier Mail reported this response from Mr Rudd’s office on 11 June, “It is disappointing that Tony Abbott’s hand-picked candidate is too chicken to face the local community for an independent public debate…”

Greens candidate Geoff Ebbs has welcomed Kevin Rudd’s call for a debate on local issues and has indicated his wish to participate.

Ebbs stood in the NSW electorate of Richmond in 2010, gaining a small swing to the Greens. His Greens predecessor in Griffith, Emma-Kate Rose managed a +7.54% swing to the Greens in 2010 and secured a 14% of the vote in the South Brisbane booth.  Geoff Ebbs hopes to do better.

Ebbs is a former editor of IT publications with Australian Consolidated Press, author, blogger, and community radio presenter.

Through this election The Greens aim to strengthen its base in Queensland and get Adam Stone elected as its second Queensland senator.

Clive Palmer recently announced that Karin Hunter will be the Griffith candidate for his fledgling Palmer United Party. Apart from tapping into voter disaffection with the two mainstream parties, it is difficult to determine how exactly the Palmer United Party proposes to differentiate itself from the NLP, of which Mr Palmer had until recently been a life member.

Ms Hunter has said in a recent press release that she was prompted to join the Palmer United Partyafter becoming disillusioned with the major political parties.

“Both parties continue to raise taxes, foster the culture of welfare entitlement and the weakening of our borders,” she said.

This is a common theme of the minor parties on both ends of the political spectrum.

Liam Flenady will stand for the Socialist Alliance in Griffith. He has studied musical composition at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and describes himself as a “theorist and political activist”. He writes regularly for the Green Left Weekly. In the 2012 state elections he stood as a candidate in South Brisbane

Socialist Alliance, like the Palmer and Katter parties, and indeed the Greens, claim that the major parties no longer represent voters and argues that it is time for a new kind of politics. Flenady is campaigning on nationalising the mines and banks.

Given the national focus on Kevin Rudd and the constant speculation about the Labor leadership, Griffith will be an electorate to watch over the next few months.

Since publishing this story on 19 June 2013 much has changed: Kevin Rudd is now Prime Minister of Australia, Labor is polling well in a number of Queensland seats, and candidate debates are scheduled for 6 and 22 August.

 

“Murray says people are looking for a viable alternative to the major parties.”Republished with permission from No Fibs

Recently endorsed Katter Australia Party (KAP) candidate for Griffith Luke Murray, says he doesn’t lay any claim to being a politician.

Clearly, he is still in the early stages of preparing for the coming campaign. He assures me it’s coming, but at this stage he has no profile on the KAP website (a photo has now been provided), nor does he have a Facebook site (that too is on the way) and he does not use Twitter. He says he is wary of social media and wants to protect his family’s privacy. Murray’s campaign team is just himself and his wife.  “The amount of resources at the disposal of the Rudd public relations machine is something that as an everyday Aussie I can’t compete with.”

Murray is an aircraft engineer and member of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) and has worked in the aviation industry for many years. The Australian reported in May that the ALAEA was considering fielding candidates in key airport seats at the federal election. This has apparently now come to fruition. Murray told me that a number of his colleagues were also candidates for the KAP. He says that Bob Katter and Senator Nick Xenophon are the only politicians who have stood up for the aviation industry, and that the major parties have let the industry down.

Calls for a second runway at Brisbane Airport, airport noise, and flight delays have long been issues in Brisbane and the Griffith electorate.

ALAEA federal executive Steve Purvinas told The Australian in May: “As a small union, we are often overlooked by the major parties and we have learnt over the years that the smiles and handshakes in their offices mean nothing.”

It is not surprising then that the ALAEA has chosen to field candidate with the KAP. In April, Katter announced plans to create a new national workers’ union, and unions such as the ALAEA say they feel no allegiance to the Labor Party.

Murray told me that he was picking up a sense that distrust of the two major parties is common, and people were telling him they were “no longer fooled by hype and huge advertising campaigns”. People want “real substance, and believe neither of the major parties is offering genuine representation in their electorate”. This, he says, is where the KAP is able to differentiate itself from the mainstream parties.

His motivation he says lies in wanting to make “the best decisions for the good of the country – the whole country – not just the top couple of per cent of income earners, or a few of the larger trade unions, or some corporation that provides a gift or two”.  Murray says this election should be about “ensuring that we are able to feed, clothe, and defend ourselves in the future, not about the popularity of a few individuals”.

Like Greens candidate Geoff Ebbs, Luke Murray is no fan of Campbell Newman and thinks the state premier will definitely be a factor is the coming election. “Many of the people that I have been speaking to, feel that arguably one of the worst things to happen to Queensland in the last decade was the election of Campbell Newman as premier.”

He cites the recent controversial pay rise for state politicians, saying it was “a debacle” and “public perception appears to be that these guys are just solely intent on lining their own pockets at the expense of Australian families.”

Murray says the Newman government is also about, “the wholesale sell-off of Australian-owned assets and the loss of countless frontline jobs in essential services which are already under enormous pressure”.

Out shopping recently, Murray says he was “saddened and angered “ that the majority of items on the shelves came from overseas. He says the KAP intends to create a level playing field for all Australian producers. “We plan to implement policies designed to protect Australian manufacturing.”

He also says that the best way ensure a strong Australian economy is to ensure job security for Australians. “I am talking about full-time jobs, not the current trend towards part-time and casual jobs being created to make the jobless figures look more flattering to the government.” Keeping jobs in Australia is a key theme for the ALAEA, who have been fighting their own battle with Australian airlines.

Murray says people are looking for a viable alternative to the major parties. “I am seeing more support every day. It’s really quite overwhelming. Many people were disgusted by the performance of the ‘faceless men’ after the last election. Their decision to remove their leader simply because they didn’t like him, and then reinstate him to take advantage of his ‘popularity’ when it looked like they may lose their own seats, is what I consider to be one of the lowest acts in Australian politics, and totally un-Australian. A vote for either of the major parties is, I believe, a vote condoning this sort of behaviour. “

Murray claims KAP membership is definitely growing in South Brisbane.”Our members comprise a cross-section of Australia including people from all age demographics and walks of life; including tradesmen, management, small business owners, young professionals, and retirees.” He says these people are disillusioned with the current state of Australian politics and are looking to force a change for the good of the nation.

I asked him about the coming debates between Brisbane candidates being staged at the Power House on 22 August. Murray responded that he had no wish to take part in “something which I consider to be just another example of political grandstanding, often used by the incumbent candidate to deflect attention from their poor performance during their time in government”.

The appeal of KAP candidates, he says, is that they can provide representation for people in parliament by elected members “who will vote, consistent with their conscience, in the interests of their electorate, not their party”.

Update: Luke Murray is now on Facebook

“Greens are in the electoral process for the long haul”

Republished with permission from No Fibs

Like other minor party candidates, Geoff Ebbs admits it can be very hard for the Greens to get any mainstream media focus, particularly at the local level. This is compounded when standing against a high-profile candidate like Kevin Rudd.

Ebbs says he has met Rudd on the hustings and considers him to be a consummate media performer.  Rudd, he says, has his own media team, regularly uploading new Kevin videos on YouTube, “… and, as a small party, it’s hard to compete against that.”

Geoff Ebbs

Nevertheless, he is picking up a mood for change and disillusionment with the two major parties. Griffith, he says, “is an electorate of thinking people who are looking for leadership on some long-term issues affecting the state”.

“The people of Griffith are concerned about rising energy prices, the erosion of community services and public sector employment. They have a major coal route running through their suburbs that is a threat to their health and a reminder that the economy is being skewed by huge investments in resource extraction at the expense of manufacturing, public infrastructure and investment in innovation.”

Without access to the apparatus of mainstream media, Ebbs sees himself building a grassroots campaign linked to other activists groups. He says that it is important that the Greens convince other activist groups of the party’s credibility, so it can be supported by a coalition of interest groups in the same way that in the past the ALP built its support base through a coalition of union and labour organisations.

Ebbs says political parties are drawn to appeal to the mainstream and this is the antithesis of activism. “There is a natural tension,” he says, between the need for the Greens to appeal to a broader audience while at the same time building alliances with like-minded activist groups.

He claims the Greens membership in South Brisbane has grown considerably in the last three years, with many new members coming from union and other traditionally Labor backgrounds. “If current growth rates continue, we may consider splitting the branch into two, developing a new branch centred on Wynnum or Manly.

“We need to work booth by booth, to convince voters that the Greens do have a real plan for the future.”

The Greens, he says, have specific policies that have been developed from the grass roots of the party “… to build a robust economy on innovation, renewable energy and investment in public infrastructure and education”.

He also points to longstanding Greens support for marriage equality (an issue embraced much more recently by Kevin Rudd) and for “additional funding for single parents forced onto Newstart, and federal funding of community organisations deserted by the state government”.

Ebbs sees the major parties as having capitulated to the resources sector and this, he says, has had a negative impact on the community.

Campbell Newman, he says is like “Abbott on steroids”.

“The concerns raised by Newman’s attack on the public service, the arts sector and environmental regulation have made people aware of the ‘scorched earth’ approach the conservatives have developed and how far they have strayed from Menzies’ Liberal vision for Australia.” Ebbs says voters “desperately seek leadership that is not extreme and has some concern for the long term future of the country”.

Issues such as coal seam gas (CSG) mining have attracted some strange bedfellows in recent times, and I asked Geoff if this had in any way eroded the Greens’ base.  He says Katter’s rhetoric on CSG has not been matched by action, and the Greens were picking up some disappointment with Katter among farmers in particular.

On preference, Ebbs says it is unlikely Greens preferences will flow to the more conservative parties.  Nevertheless, he considers that the Katter Australia and Palmer United parties have been effective in capturing disaffected LNP voters.

Minor parties, he says “have the freedom to do some straight talking – that no-nonsense approach is their appeal, but it is also the appeal of the Greens”.

Ebbs says he is in the contest to win it, but he will be pleased to increase the Greens vote on the last election figures. The Greens, he says, “are in it for the long haul”.

My first attempt at citizen journalism was my June profile of the Griffith electorate.

Reprinted with permission from No Fibs.

Since then I have spoken with staff in both Kevin Rudd’s and Bill Glasson’s local electorate offices and sent emails with my details seeking interviews or response to questions.  Electorate staff have been polite and helpful and have promised to pass my details on to their candidates. I have learned that follow-up calls are important and I will keep trying.

As the PM, Mr Rudd has constant national and local coverage, and is supported by his own media team.  Dr Glasson likewise is getting considerable coverage in the Courier Mail and other local media and has staff and volunteers supporting his campaign. Both have Facebook sites and Kevin Rudd is also active on Twitter.

Minor party candidates are much less visible to the local electorate and have nothing like the resources of the major parties to get their messages out.  Whether on the left or the right of the political spectrum, however, the minor party candidates all claim to be attracting voters who have lost confidence and trust in the major parties.

Geoff Ebbs (Australian Greens) and Luke Murray (Katter Australia Party) have been happy to talk with me, and I provide my reports below.

I have been in touch with Palmer United Party (PUP) candidate for Griffith, Karin Hunter and I’m keen to talk with her in more detail soon.  Karin was brought up in PNG and says in her PUP profile that she was attracted to the party because of its “… sensible and practical approach to border protection and their refugee policy”.  She, like Luke Murray, has no support staff but has promised to give me some time when she can. Her profile appears on the PUP website, and while not a user of Twitter, she does have a Facebook site.

This process of seeking interviews is teaching me persistence and well as patience, and I hope to have more profiles over coming weeks.

I will definitely be attending the planned “meet the candidates” event in South Brisbane on 6 August at 7.00am – candidates will be interviewed live on ABC 612 by Steve Austin.

– See more at: http://nofibs.com.au/2013/07/28/the-greens-and-katter-party-candidates-in-rudds-griffith-kingdom-janbowqld/#sthash.6yoUfSF4.dpuf