Whether it be cricket, footy, lawn bowls, politics, whatever; when you are structurally weak, and getting weaker, and your opponent is structurally strong, and getting stronger, it is always very hard to win.
Labor can get stronger by becoming more open and democratic; by encouraging the development of democratic grass roots trade unionism especially among the unorganised; by repudiating Hawke and Keating through the adoption of policies contrary to neoliberal ideology; by linking up this reinvigorated form of working class political action with other social movements dedicated to social and environmental justice.
It is the Australian Labor Party, rather than the Australian Greens, with its organic links to the Australian working class, that can build an encompassing electoral structure firmly based on a strong social foundation.
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It is bringing this broader goal to fruition, rather than a collection of discrete campaigns, that should be the overriding concern of Left politics in Australia today.
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About the Author
Mark Beljac teaches at Swinburne University of Technology, is a board member of the New International Bookshop, and is involved with the Industrial Workers of the World, National Tertiary Education Union, National Union of Workers (community) and Friends of the Earth.
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