August Darlington Review column

New Vision for Australia

Queensland Aboriginal leader and Socialist Alliance Senate candidate, Sam Watson, has issued a statement outlining his vision for Australia. Here is an edited version:

“We urgently need a new vision for this country’s future.

Traditional politics—Coalition and Labor—is increasingly hostile and irrelevant to that future.

There is no hope in a Labor “opposition” that stands beside John Howard in his latest racist attack, supports anti-terrorism legislation that destroys civil liberties, and retreats from its promises to tear up Howard’s hated anti-worker and anti-union laws?

It’s time to put shameful and disgusting politics into the rubbish bin.

It’s time to enshrine the principles of justice, democracy and sustainability in a Bill of Rights, at the core of which is reconciliation with Indigenous Australia.

It’s time to build a political alternative that rejects economic rationalist “competitiveness”, which threatens our planet with a permanent tragedy of war and environmental disaster.

The alternative must put people and our planet before the profits of the giant corporations. It must learn from Indigenous tradition and live in balance with the natural world.”

If you want to work with Sam towards this vision visit: http://www.socialist-alliance.org. Sam’s statement is available as a sign-on petition.

These values will be in evidence at our state conference on August 11 at the MUA Hall, 2-4 Kwong Alley, North Fremantle, from 1 - 6pm.

The plenary will discuss opposing WorkChoices with speakers Chris Cain (State Secretary MUA), Steve McCartney (State President AMWU), Joe McDonald (State Assistant Secretary CFMEU) and Sue Bolton (Socialist Alliance National Trade Union Convener). Workshops on Indigenous rights, Climate Change and rights of migrant workers will follow.

Our next local event is a re-showing (due to popular demand) of Unjust Genes, a film about genetically modified food, on Sun Aug 19 at 6:30pm at the Soul Tree Café.