[Marxism] Re Australian Socialist Alliance

[Peter Boyle <peterb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tom O'Lincoln wrote:

> I do, however, think like Jose that we need to draw some kind of balance of
> the whole experience. To that end I would be grateful if someone from the
> DSP would address two questions from their perspective:
>
> a. do you agree that the Alliance is largely dead (apart from maybe Perth
> and Geelong), as many people say (and a former leader of the Independents'
> caucus said so to me so just the other day)?
> b. and if so, what lessons arise.

If I agreed that the Alliance is dead then I would be arguing that it
should close down. But it is not. If the interested non-Aussies get
their atlases out and locate Australia, I'll rattle off the cities in
which Socialist Alliance branches have been operating continuously since
they were formed (mostly on a fortnightly cycle of meetings or forums).
Starting from the west coast, 2 out of 3 SA branches have been
functioning in Perth (the most active and broadest in composition being
Perth Hills whihc is furtherst from the mainly inner-city base of the
organised left) In Adelaide, there is a branch which has been operating
continously and is planning to contest an election in Adelaid Ports
soon. In Victoria, 3 out of 5 branches have continued to operate in
Melbourne, one in Ballarat, one in Geelong (where the Socialist Alliance
is widely recognised as leading the trades halll, where Comrade Tim
Gooden is secretary
<http://www.socialist-alliance.org/page.php?page=440> and Comrade Craig
Johnston is a leading delegate), in Tasmania there are branches in
Hobart and Launceston (composed entirely of people who don't belong to
any of the founding afiliate groups), in Canberra the branch continues
to operate pretty much as it always has, perhaps a little more
informally. In NSW, SA branches operate in Wollongong, Newcastle,
Lismore and Armidale (another active branch entirely composed of
comrades who don't belong to any of the founding affiliates) and there
is a lively proto-branch in the Blue Mountains. In Sydney, SA branches
still operate in the inner-city, in the eastern suburbs, in
Auburn-Parramatta and in Bankstown. In Queensland there are two branches
functioning in Brisbane, there is a lively branch on the Gold Coast
(again led and composed entirely of comrades not in any founding
affiliate) and there is a proto-branch with similar non-affiliate
composition on the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane. The SA branch in
Darwin has been less active since the middle of last year but it has a
loyal membership.

In addition, there are a couple of hundred loyal SA members outside
these cities. The financial membership of SA is still more than 1000.

Then there are special interest SA networks organised around a number of
nationa-wide e-lists. These include:

Join the Socialist Alliance campaign e-groups

All members of the Socialist Alliance are invited to join any of the
national campaign e-groups. These are email groups through which members
from anywhere in the country can exchange information and ideas about
their campaigning activities.

* Civil liberties & democratic rights campaign
* Refugee rights campaign
* Women's rights campaign
* Justice for Indigenous people
* Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights
* Anti-war campaigning
* Socialist Alliance Green Left Weekly copy group
* Social Justice Charter Group

There is a functioning national trade union committee (which has been
the source of significant initiatives in the current fight against new
anti-union laws) and Socialist Alliance trade unionists organise
caucuses in most cities from time to time. In adition there are a number
of ongoing union-specific caucuses in the National Tertiary Education
Union, Teachers/education workers, the Community & Public Sector Union
(where it supported and led a rank and file election team, Members
First, last year which scored a decent minority vote). SA caucuses are
being formed in other unions too. See
<http://www.socialist-alliance.org/page.php?page=413>

Then there are bodies of SA members involved in the Seeing Red
<http://www.seeing-red.org/> editorial board  and the Socialist
Alliance-Green Left Weekly editorial board. The majority of members of
both these boards do not belong to any of the founding affiliates.

This is just a rough organisational sketch and I do not want to
exaggerate the activity level or degreee of political development of any
of them. But, in extent, this is more than most of the organised far
left in Australia today (outside the DSP) has . Has it reached beyond
what the DSP has been able to or could organise independently? Well this
is one of the questions which DSP members have been debating*.  Another
debated question is whether SA gives the left a broader political reach.
I think it has unquestionably. Through SA, the radical left has a
broader political influence in the trade union movement than ever
before, and I'd say the same applies in the other social movements.
There are a quite few leaders in the militant unions who have joined or
are happy to be seen as close allies of the Socialist Alliance. This  is
based  on  respect won in  a  few struggles in the last  few years,
notable  trade union fights (including the defence of Craig Johnston
when he was jailed), leadership in the anti-war movement (especially
when some of the more conservative sections retreated after the  Iraq
invasion).

This significant political capital accumulated by this modest (and far
from unproblematic) start at a left regroupment through Socialist
Alliance is still there. Hence, I'd say there is a reluctance on the
part of most of the founding affiliates to leave it (apart from the FI
section Socialist Democracy which has dissolved/or ceased to organise I
don't think there has been a disaffiliation).

All the internal struggles in the Socialist Alliance over the last
couple of years have actually had relatively little impact on its
broader appeal so far, in my judgement. People keep joining and among
them are a few surprises, including a former ALP Whitlam government
minister, Clyde Cameron, who joined and paid up his membership fee late
last year. Socialist Alliance movement leaders like Craig Johnston and
indigenous activist Sam Watson command a wider respect than any
individual member of the founding affiliates.

This respect won by the Socialist Alliance took place in conditions wear
the main electoral space to the left of the Australian Labor Party was
taken up by the Greens (though the success of the CWI's Stephen Jolly in
a local council election in inner-city Melbourne last year indicates
that the Greens' dominance in he electoral sphere is not automatic or
for ever. See
<http://www.socialistpartyaustralia.org/council/serendipity/diary.php>).

There is a cautionary tale for the still largely isolated far left in
the imperialist countries (and I include the DSP in this). Broader
political authority is only won in real and patient struggle. It is
easier to blow than to accumulate.

A big queston for the Socialist Alliance is whether in the next period
it should be prepared to give way or merge with future new broader
regroupment projects. The DSP thinks so.We can see other real leaders of
working class struggles we would like to be part of a broad
class-struggle regroupment. Last year the Socialist Alliance initiated a
broader network of trade union militants called the Fightback Network
(see <http://www.socialist-alliance.org/page.php?page=430> ). It will
probably have a second national conference later this year.

Peter Boyle

* The biggest debate in the DSP (and it is a question for other
socialists) is whether it is possible (and desirable) for the small
numbers who have our revolutionary politics to work effectively in a
broader and looser (and no-instant-road-to-mega-success) Socialist
Alliance-type new party project without  liquidating  our politics
today. The large majority in the recent DSP congress decided the answer
is yes.







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