Monday, May 25, 2009

Public Forum: Genocide against the Tamils


Genocide against the Tamils
Where to from here?


Thousands of Tamil civilians have been killed in the last three months in the Sri Lankan state's ruthless, genocidal war. It now claims to have militarily defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Independent media and aid agencies are excluded while horrendous massacres take place. This forum will discuss: How could this happen? Why did world leaders stay silent? Where to next for the Tamil struggle for justice?

Speakers:
Raj Rajeswaran (former chair, Ilanki Tamil Sanga)
"Role of the Diaspora Tamils"
Chris Latham (Socialist Alliance)
"Understanding and supporting the Tamil struggle for justice"

3pm, Sat 30 May
Resistance Centre, 15 / 5 Aberdeen St, East Perth (just near McIver station)
Entry by donation. Ph 9218 9608, 0413 976 638.
www.socialist-alliance.org/perth

Greens’ Fremantle win: Can the Greens challenge Labor?


Sam Wainwright, Fremantle 23 May 2009


The victory for Greens candidate Adele Carles in the May 16 by-election for the WA state seat of Fremantle is a breakthrough for the progressive movement and a testament to the Greens’ consistent efforts to raise a left alternative to Labor.

Beyond the boundaries of that electorate, it is a reflection of the broader, growing popularity of the Greens.

As it becomes clearer to more people that PM Kevin Rudd is continuing many of the hated policies of the previous Coalition government, parties articulating progressive alternatives are getting more attention.

For the first time, the Greens won a higher primary vote than Labor.

With preferences from the Socialist Alliance and two independent candidates, the Australian Electoral Commission’s notional preference distribution gives Carles an emphatic 53.92%, while the ALP’s Peter Tagliaferri received 46.08%. This seat now gives the Greens party status in the WA parliament.

The result delivered a bloody nose to the ALP, which had held Fremantle for 85 years. In particular, it was a sharp rebuff for the party’s increasing tendency to parachute in “star candidates” over the objections of local branches.

Tagliaferri is a millionaire property owner and the mayor of Fremantle. He has no history in the Labor Party, joining only in April to facilitate his nomination.

The result has sparked a lot of commentary about the threat posed by the Greens to similar inner-city ALP seats. However, the by-election was also shaped by factors particular to Fremantle that seriously undermined Labor’s campaign.

1. Carles is highly respected for her leading role in a campaign against a beachfront housing project approved by the previous Labor government in breach of its own planning regulations.

2. The Greens were desperate to win their first ever WA lower house seat, probably outspending the ALP on advertising and certainly running a more creative and appealing campaign.

3. The ALP machine cynically manipulated its own rules and the timing of the sitting MP’s resignation to ensure that local members had no say in the selection of its candidate. To rub salt into the wound, it emerged that Tagliaferri was a member of the Liberals’ “500 Club” of capitalists who make big donations in return for special access to the top.

Some local ALP members abstained from the campaign or called on people to vote Green or socialist.

4. The ALP how-to-vote card preferenced Family First second and the Christian Democratic Party fourth, while placing the Greens and Socialist Alliance second last and last respectively. The deliberate courting of the right-wing religious parties fuelled disgust.

5. The Australian Services Union campaigned against Tagliaferri at the Fremantle May Day march because his council has been pushing non-union contracts paying 10% less than the union agreement.

The ALP’s attempts to get unionists to march with its contingent instead of their union backfired and inflamed the anger.

6. Some unions refused even token endorsement of the Labor candidate, while others felt obliged formally to give the nod but did not mobilise for the election.

7. The Liberals decided not to run, splintering the conservative vote between three “independent Liberal” pro-business type candidates and three right-wing Christian parties. Undoubtedly, some former Liberal voters also went to the Greens.

8. A consortium proposing an enormous Dubai-style playground for the rich on the beach next to Fremantle Port threw a lot of advertising dollars around, hoping to stave off a Greens victory. If built, this would create pressure to close the port, angering maritime workers and people appalled by yet another proposal to, in effect, privatise a section of the beach.

Tagliaferri sensed the sharply polarised views and tried to sit on the fence, only angering people opposed to the project.

While a lot of Labor’s internal debate about the loss has spilled into the open, embattled leader Eric Ripper insists that Tagliaferri represented its best chance of winning. He has predictably tried to blame the electorate for the party’s loss.

First, Labor claims that, as wharfies and other blue-collar workers have moved out of Fremantle, the seat has gentrified and become more conservative.

Certainly the social composition of inner-city Fremantle has changed. It now includes more white-collar workers, professionals and university students. But the charge that its voters have become more conservative doesn’t stack up. In the September, 2008 state election the Liberals scored 30.2% versus 38.7% for Labor and 27.6% for the Greens.

In the by-election, the ALP scored 38.56%, the Greens 44.05% and Socialist Alliance 2.29%. The electorate has in fact shifted to the left.

Second, Labor claims the Greens won only thanks to Liberal voters who could not bring themselves to vote Labor. Certainly some of the Greens’ vote must have come from former Liberal voters, and it may be that these votes got Carles over the line. However, what Labor can’t bring itself to admit in public is that there is a swathe of Labor voters who shifted to the Greens and Liberal voters who voted Labor.

In the past the Liberals have preferenced the Greens over Labor in the hope of profiting from a Labor humiliation. However, more hard-headed conservative commentators can see that this short term gain is self-defeating.

In an opinion piece in the May 19 West Australian, conservative columnist Gerard Henderson said: “on policy matters, the Coalition is closer to Labor than the Greens. So it makes little sense for the Liberals to bring about situations where the Greens win seats at Labor’s expense.”

It may be hard for the Greens to hang on to the seat if the Liberals run next time, especially if the Liberals finish third and take Henderson’s advice to preference Labor before the Greens.

The challenge for the Greens in this scenario would not be to try to keep fragile conservative voters, but to continue to carve out a space to the left of Labor, particularly establishing roots among blue-collar workers.

The Greens now plan to target safe Labor seats in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne. As the effects of the recession continue to bite working people, and Rudd’s dangerously weak stance on climate change angers many, it will be more important than ever that green, left, and socialist parties and activists continue to put forward pro-people, pro-environment solutions. People want to hear them.

[Sam Wainwright is co-convenor of the Fremantle branch of Socialist Alliance and was its candidate in the by-election].

From: Comment & Analysis, Green Left Weekly issue #796 27 May 2009.

Genocide in Sri Lanka while Australia looks on


OUR COMMON CAUSE, AUSTRALIA
By Brian Senewiratne

23 May 2009


I am a Sinhalese from the majority community in Sri Lanka, not from the brutalised Tamil community. I have campaigned for five decades for the right of the Tamils to live with equality, dignity and safety in the country of their birth.

I am releasing this statement as a concerned Australian (here for 32 years), and as a member of the Socialist Alliance — one of the few non-Tamil organisations to support the struggle of the Tamils for justice.

Last week the Sinhalese-dominated government of Sri Lanka succeeded in its immediate aim of ending the armed resistance of the Tamil people, who live in the north and east of the country.

The Sri Lankan government of president Mahendra Rajapaksa claims it has triumphed in a “war on terrorism”. What it has really been doing is fighting the Tamil people to force them to accept Sri Lanka as a Sinhala-Buddhist nation.

It is about the alliance between religious fundamentalists and state chauvinists who together — with the backing of key Western countries — have denied the Tamils their rights.

There had been progress on a negotiated settlement between the government and the Tamil Tigers, and even discussion about a federal structure for Sri Lanka. But Rajakapsa terminated the talks and resumed the fighting. Now the world is witness to the dreadful consequences.

UN Conventions define genocide as “an act committed with intent to destroy in whole, or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”. In Sri Lanka, this “part” is the Tamils.

Sri Lanka’s government is prepared to commit a genocide of the Tamils, similar to Hitler’s “final solution of the Jewish question”.

It is a genocide when a war against more than 10% of the population over three decades culminates in the death of 10,000 people in a few months, about 100,000 in the past 32 years.

It is genocide when governments try to wipe out a people’s political voice and drive half a population into the diaspora.

Sri Lanka’s Tamils are now facing genocide or internment in concentration camps that masquerade as “refugee camps”. The Tamil civilians were supposedly “liberated” from the Tamil Tigers by the Sri Lankan army.

But if they are liberated people, why keep them behind barbed-wire fences, and why are international observers, including the media and humanitarian workers, still prevented from visiting these camps?

There are 154,000 Tamil civilians, some in tents, others under trees, in 24 camps, behind barbed-wire fences. The tents are for five people, but house between seven and 21.

Living conditions are appalling, including deliberate starvation and the denial of adequate medical help.

The women and girls are raped by the armed forces, pregnant women are forced to abort and some are even sterilised. The Sri Lankan government would deny all this.

Can foreign observers check these allegations? No they may not. It is an “internal affair”. We beg to differ.

Even hospitals have not been spared. The defence secretary, the president’s brother, in an interview with British media, said that bombing of hospitals is “acceptable”.

More than 6000 Tamil civilians have been slaughtered in just the past four months.

Recently, the only obstetrician in the area was gunned down by the armed forces. Why? Genocide.

Kfir jets, bombers, multi-barrel rocket launchers and helicopter gunships have been used by the government. Along with a conventional arsenal, cluster bombs and white phosphorus bombs have been dropped.

The government will, of course, deny this. But the photographic evidence, including UN aerial photographs, recently leaked to the outside world, leave no doubt that these banned weapons are being used.

In May 2008, Sri Lanka was tossed out of the UN Human Rights Council on account of its outrageous human rights record. However, little or none of this gets mentioned in the Australian media. Australians have a right to ask why.

Indeed, in giving “aid” to the Rajapaksa government in the middle of its killing spree against the Tamils, the Rudd government has been in political solidarity with Rajapaka’s military mission.

This is simply not acceptable, and damages the image of Australia. Australia has failed to condemn a murderous regime and has failed to put sanctions on Sri Lanka until the killing stops.

The Australian government and the Australian media have a serious case to answer for their silence and indifference towards a horrendous genocide. This must stop.

The Australian government has a duty not only to Tamil Australians, but to all those with a conscience. They must make every effort to assist the Tamils now.

This must include:

•Demanding that the Sri Lankan government be tried before the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

•Pressuring the Rajapaksa government to allow Tamils the right to decide where they live, including settling in Australia if they wish.

•Ending all aid and support to the Rajapaksa government while it continues its genocidal policy against Sri Lanka’s Tamil people.

From: Comment & Analysis, Green Left Weekly issue #796 27 May 2009.

NEVER AGAIN! NO MORE DEATHS IN CUSTODY! PUBLIC PROTEST RALLY Sat 20th June @ 12:00pm Forrest Chase, Perth.


Dear Friends,

WA Coroner Alistair Hope's findings into the death in custody of respected Warburton Elder who died of heatstroke in horrific circumstances after being transported 380km in the back of a van in 42 degree heat with a pie, less than 600ml of water and no working air-conditioning will be made public on 12 June 2009. Please circulate this email NOW to your families, friends, work mates, organisations.... everyone.

"NEVER AGAIN!!"

"NO MORE DEATHS IN CUSTODY!!"


PUBLIC PROTEST

WHEN: Saturday 20th June 2009

WHERE: Forrest Chase, Perth

TIME: 12 Noon - 2pm

SPEAKERS: ‘To be announced’


"The justice system in WA is Broken. It needs to be fixed."


Join the public rally to protest Mr. Ward's death, and;

· Demand the State Government guarantee that people will be safe in custody,

· Take immediate action to reduce Indigenous imprisonment rates in WA which are the highest of any developed country and

· Do something real and substantial NOW to tackle racism in the WA Justice System.

Contacts: Marc Newhouse 0415-074-602 or

Craig Collins on 0428-810-445 / 9444-1930

Email: dicwc@iinet.net.au

Our website with all DICWC actions, information and ways to get involved will be on line soon!

AUTHORISED BY



THE DEATHS IN CUSTODY WATCH COMMITTEE WA INC
P. O Box 8196
Perth Business Centre
WA 6849
E: dicwc@iinet.net.au


Donations to the 'Ward Campaign' can be made via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) to National Australia Bank Account BSB: 086082 Account Number: 454941411 OR by cheque made out to 'DICWC Ward Campaign'.
Donors can identify themselves or remain anonymous. Please remember to send a copy of your deposit transaction so we can send you a reciept.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Socialist Alliance welcomes historic Greens win in Fremantle


Sunday 17 May 2009 - For immediate release
Socialist Alliance candidate Sam Wainwright has hailed the victory of Adele Carles in the Fremantle by-election as “A breakthrough for the entire progressive movement and a testament to the Greens’ consistent efforts to raise a progressive alternative to Labor.”

“We in the Socialist Alliance have long known that workers deserve better than Labor but the Greens’ victory in Fremantle has proven that this is possible to achieve,” said Wainwright.

“Labor’s choice of running millionaire investor Peter Tagliaferri as their candidate, against the wishes of the rank and file of their party, just goes to show how far removed Labor is from the concerns of ordinary workers,” said Wainwright.

“Today is a good day for working class people because it helps shift politics to the left. We congratulate the Green campaigners for their successful and inspiring campaign and note the historic nature of their win which gives the Greens a higher primary vote than Labor – the first time this has occurred in a state or federal election; their first lower house member in WA; and party status in the WA parliament,” said Wainwright.

“While still small, our tally is a significant increase on our previous scores. With the result going down to the wire we are proud that our preferences will make a small contribution to the Greens victory. This is a highlight of the strong collaboration between Greens and socialists in this election.”

“While we ran in order to highlight arguments and issues that we believe would have been left untouched without our campaign, we were always clear that we would preference the Greens ahead of Labor because they are stronger on workers rights, community democracy and the environment.”

“By contrast the Labor Party’s preference swap with right wing religious parties who supported WorkChoices and oppose equal rights for gays and lesbians was a dirty desperate deal that backfired on them.”

“Further victories in the campaigns that matter including the need to tear up Rudd and Gillard’s WorkChoices Lite, the push for 100% renewable energy by 2020 and our pledge to stop the grotesque North Port Quay proposal will require similar collaboration and solidarity across the whole progressive movement,” said Wainwright. We commit ourselves to this effort.”

For further comment:
Sam Wainwright 0412 751 508 or fremantle@socialist-alliance.org

Greens win Fremantle by-election


[This brief news article was written quickly for publication in the coming Green Left Weekly.]

Greens candidate Adele Carles is set to win a historic victory at the May 16 by-election – the first time the Greens have won a lower house seat in Western Australia. Carles polled 44% of primary votes and 54% of two-party preferred votes at the close of counting on election night.

This is the first time that the Greens have outpolled Labor on the primary votes at a state or federal election, according to ABC election analyst Antony Green.

Green also commented that ``this is a much more impressive victory [than the one previous lower house Green win at the Cunningham by-election of 2002]’’ because Labor’s vote did not increase even though the Liberals didn’t run.

``Unlike Organ, Adele Carles has a real chance of winning re-election in Fremantle,’’ Green commented on his ABC blog site.

Greens Senator Bob Brown told ABC online that ``Adele Carles' win for the Greens is a real breakthrough for West Australian politics.’’

Socialist Alliance candidate Sam Wainwright welcomed the Greens’ victory as a win for progressive politics. ``We look forward to deepening the collaboration between Socialist Alliance and Greens that was displayed in this election campaign.’’

Wainwright, who polled 2.3%, also hailed the step forward in practical unity on the left manifested during the election campaign when members of the Socialist Party and the Communisty Party supported Socialist Alliance on polling booths.

Published version at:
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/795/40962

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Socialist candidate calls for action to end war on Tamils


Socialist Alliance candidate Sam Wainwright, who is running in Saturday's by-election in Fremantle - pledged his support for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Wainwright also called on Labor’s candidate, Peter Tagliaferri, to take action to encourage Stephen Smith and the Rudd government to support the Tamil people and put diplomatic pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to halt the Sri Lankan Army’s offensive.

Wainwright said, “The Socialist Alliance has a long record of supporting struggles for justice around the world. The Tamil people in Sri Lanka having been engaged in a struggle for equal rights with the Sinhala majority, almost since Sri Lanka won independence from Britain in 1948. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were formed in wake of years of state supported violence and the refusal of successive Sri Lankan governments to acknowledge the democratic aspirations of the Tamil minority”.

The LTTE was formed in 1972 and has been engaged in an armed struggle to win a Tamil homeland in the North and East of Sri Lanka for 31 years.

Wainwright continued, “The current offensive follows the collapse of peace talks in 2006. The Sri Lankan Army hope this will be the final offensive that will not only military destroy the LTTE but also shatter the Tamil people’s aspirations. With 4000 civilians slaughtered and 150, 000 people displaced this year alone, the Sri Lankan government will only succeed in deepening the desire of Tamil people for separation .”

“In the present circumstances the Australian government should be demanding that the Sri Lankan government implement an immediate ceasefire. The Australian government should suspend all diplomatic, military, economic and cultural ties with the Sri Lankan administration if it does not meet this demand. The failure of the Rudd government to clearly condemn the Sri Lankan government’s assault on the Tamil makes it complicit in the Sri Lankan Army’s war crimes”.

“What the Tamil people need is support from the international community. This is difficult since anyone sending aid into the North or East of Sri Lanka risks being labeled a ‘terrorist’ by the Sri Lankan government. We should also be offering Tamils the opportunity to seek refuge outside of Sri Lanka, including here in Australia. I encourage Peter Tagliaferri to support the Tamil people and to call on his own party and in particular Stephen Smith and Kevin Rudd to take action to support the human rights of Tamils in Sri Lanka.”

For more comment contact Sam Wainwright 0412 751 508 or fremantle@socialist-alliance.org

Monday, May 11, 2009

A photo exhibition about the Tamil struggle for justice


The Unspeakable Truth
A disappearing nation


A photo exhibition
Depicting the history of Asia's longest running civil war

23-24 May 2009

Perth Town Hall

10am - 6pm

Free entry

Program for Saturday May 23

10.00am - Lighting of the Traditional Lamp
10.15am - A Minute silence
10.15am - Welcome Speech
10.30am - Address
10.45am - Sharing the Experience - 80s
11.00am - Sharing the Experience - 90s
11.15am - Sharing the Experience - Present
11.30am - Video Presentation
12.00am - Opening of the Exhibition


Friday, May 8, 2009

Fremantle Herald: "Socialist Shines in Debate"


The May 8 Fremantle Herald reported that "Socialist Alliance candidate Sam Wainwright had them eating out of his hand during Tuesday night's Fremantle by-election debate when he called for a roll-back of privatisation". This was the first sentence in the front page article that also featured a prominent picture of Wainwright along with other photos from the debate.

The page three article reported "Sam Wainwright was the name on people's lips as they tramped out of Notre Dame university's drill hall following Tuesday night's by-election debate.

"Quizzed on a range of topics by both political guru Peter Kennedy and a 300-strong audience the wharfie drew cheers with his call for a rollback of privatised utilities.

"His open hostility to the North Port Quay proposal also won loud approval

" 'I live in Australia and we don't need to privatise the ocean ... if NPQ want a sustainable village build it in Armadale or Midland where they need it,' he said to cheers and applause." (Fremantle Herald, May 8)

The same issue also features our second election advertisement as well.

Reporting on the same debate, Crikey.com reported that "The outstanding performer of the minor candidates was a very articulate Sam Wainwright of the Socialist Alliance."

At a time of capitalist crisis, the socialist message is being well received as long as we can get the word out there. Are you able to make a donation to help extend our reach? Even better join up and get actively involved. Together we can change the world.

Ph Alex 9218 9608 or 0413 976 638 or Sam 0412 751 508 for more info.

Fremantle election campaign gets interesting


IMPORTANT REMINDER: Fremantle election rally - Sat 9 May 12 noon
Kings Square (next to Fremantle Town Hall)



Other updates:
1. Leaflets are available (ph 9218 9608 or 0413 976 638)
2. Sam has won wide praise for his role at the meet the candidates forum last Tuesday ("The outstanding performer of the minor candidates was a very articulate Sam Wainwright of the Socialist Alliance." - Crikey)
3. We've had election advertisements in the last two issues of Fremantle Herald (see image)
4. We still need donations to support our campaign and people to help on polling booths next Saturday.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Fremantle Election Rally 9 May 2009



Fremantle Election Rally
Planet & People Before Profits!


* 100% renewables by 2020 * Abolish all anti-worker laws * Stop Black deaths in custody * Stop and reverse privatisation *F Nationalise the mining industry * Ban sackings by profitable companies

Speakers include:
Sam Wainwright
(Socialist Alliance for Fremantle)
Adele Carles (Greens candidate for Fremantle)
Paul Burlinson (Australian Services Union)


Sat 9 May
12 noon, Kings Square (near Freo Town Hall)

www.socialist-alliance.org


There are three mobilisations that are part of the Fremantle election campaign. We'd like to invite you to come from anywhere in Perth to show support:
1. March with Socialist Alliance at May Day
2. Come to the Fremantle Election speakout - Sat 9 May, 12 noon, Kings Square
3. Help on polling day

Other ways you can help the campaign include:
* Make a donation (will you join the $100 club to help fund our campaign)
* Help with letter boxing

Phone Alex 0413 976 638 or Sam 0412 751 508 if you want any help in any way of if you would like more info.

FOPWA - Al Naqba film night 15 May 09


Al Naqba

Palestine Film Night
Film and Television Institute
92 Adelaide Street, Fremantle
Friday, May 15th
6:30pm for a 7pm start
Drinks and nibbles provided
$15 full / $10 concession

La Terre Parle Arabe

At the end of the 19th century, Zionism, a minority political movement, appeared on the international stage.

As theorised by its leaders, it entailed the goal of creating a Jewish state somewhere in the world but preferably in Palestine - then populated by Arabs for thousands of years.

This film trains a historian and filmmaker’s eye on the explosive truth, one involving cleansing the land of Palestine of its inhabitants.

(61 min, Documentary, 2007)

Jerusalem: East Side Story

This is Alatar's second film about Palestine; the first 'The Iron Wall' (2006) was highly praised,

including by former US President Jimmy Carter who called it "the best description of the [Israeli] barrier, its routing and impact".

This film focuses on Israel's illegal annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967, the dispossession of Palestinian residents

and their daily struggle to survive in the face of the Israeli military machine and house demolitions.

The documentary journey exposes Israel's policies to gain supremacy over the city.

It also touches on the future of the city: Jerusalem is the key to peace; without Jerusalem, there is no peace for anyone.

(57 min, Documentary, 2008)


Organised by Friends of Palestine (WA)
“Al Naqba” is “the Catastrophe” of May 16th, 1948 –
the day Palestinians lost their historical homeland in the face of Israeli military aggression

Monday, May 4, 2009

Can the Greens snatch a win in Fremantle?


Alex Bainbridge, Perth 2 May 2009

For more than 100 years the WA seat of Fremantle has been safe Labor territory. Now, the May 16 state by-election for the seat is tipped to be a neck-and-neck race between ALP candidate Peter Tagliaferri and Adele Carles from the Greens.

The Liberals have declined to run to avoid the embarrassment of coming third.

Carles rose to prominence as a leading activist in the Save South Beach campaign. The campaign fought to stop a luxury housing development next to a popular swimming and picnic spot. The development was in breach of the then Labor government’s own coastal development policy.

The Greens gave Labor a scare when they won nearly 28% of the primary vote in the state election last September. The party hopes voter cynicism at the early resignation by sitting Labor member Jim McGinty will help swing the seat to the left.

To shore up its position, the ALP has chosen property investor and high profile Fremantle mayor Peter Tagliaferri as its candidate. However, he only joined the ALP in April. His pre-selection has caused plenty of rumblings in Labor ranks.

Senior officials of the Australian Services Union (ASU) have attacked Tagliaferri’s pre-selection. Former ASU Secretary Paul Burlinson told the April 25 West Australian he would campaign against Tagliaferri.

Burlinson claimed Tagliaferri allowed the council to put new employees on non-union agreements that pay 10% less than other workers covered by the collective agreement.

Meanwhile, activists from a number of unions have reacted angrily to an ALP email and SMS campaign asking them to march with the ALP rather than their union on May Day to “show your support for Peter”.

Tagliaferri’s strongest union support has come from the WA Police Union. Union president Mike Dean told the May 2 Fremantle Herald: “He’s stuck his neck out for us and we intend to do the same for him.”

In the same issue of the Herald, Maritime Union of Australia WA branch secretary Chris Cain also indicated support for Tagliaferri. “He’s been endorsed by the ALP and we support the ALP,” Cain said.

The Herald reported the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union does not oppose Tagliaferri, but would not comment on his nomination.

The ALP’s preference policy for the by-election has drawn criticism for helping far-right groups. The ALP’s how-to-vote card puts the Greens second-last and the Socialist Alliance last. However, conservative group Family First gets the ALP’s second preference and the far-right wing Christian Democratic Party, its fourth.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

May Day 2009


The May Day march is on this coming Sunday
3 May 2009


Most unions are meeting from 11am. Socialist Alliance will set up a stall from 11am. The march will begin promptly at 12 noon.

Venue: Esplanade Park, Fremantle

March with Socialist Alliance
(Look for Socialist Alliance stall and banners.)

Link: Unions WA May Day site
Link: May Day poster (PDF)
Link: Map of march route (PDF)

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Friends of the Sudanese Communist Party function


Friends of Communist Party of Sudan in WA
Come and Enjoy a Celebration of Solidarity Across the World To Honour the Fifth Congress of the Communist Party of Sudan

When: Saturday 2nd of May 2009, 6:30 –9:30 pm.
Where: Resistance Centre, 15/5, Aberdeen St, East Perth (right next to McIver station)

Guest Speakers:
Khalid Hassan: Why should we celebrate the Fifth Congress of the Communist Party of Sudan?
Abdalla Adam: About ICC warrant arrest for the Sudanese President
Vic Williams: State secretary of the Communist Party of Western-Australia
Sam Wainwright: Socialist Alliance candidate for Fremantle

Guest Singers and musician:
Alex Bainbridge, Don Blundell-Wignall, Mamon Shahien, Marwa Abdalla, Mohamed Din, Nazik Osman

Guest Poets:
Afeif Ismail, Abdalla Adam, Don Blundell-Wignall, Wadi Shamikh

Sales: Books, Fifth Congress of the Communist Party of Sudan CDs,
Enjoy Sudanese Snacks and Finger Food

Entry by gold coin donation


For more information, please call:

Afeif: 0423675479
Khalid: 0423382453
Alex: 9218 9608, 0413 976 638