Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Proceedings of the National Conference, , April 6-7, 2013 © Copyright SEARCH Foundation 128 Chalmers St, Surry Hills NSW 2010, Ph: 02 9698 4918; Fax: 02 9699 3717 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.search.org.au

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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: National Left Renewal Conference. (April 6-7, 2013 : Sydney) Title: Secure jobs in a green future : proceedings of National Left Renewal Conference, Sydney, April 6-7, 2013. ISBN: 9781876300241 (paperback) Subjects: Right and left (Political science)--Congresses. Right and left (Political science)--Australia--Congresses. --Australia--Congresses. Political science--Congresses. Political development--Congresses. Occupations--Australia--Congresses. Australia--Politics and government--Congresses. Dewey Number: 324.237 Price: $5.00 Format: PB; Size: 270x195; No. of pages: 152 Publisher: SEARCH Foundation

Photos: Front cover from top - International Women’s Day, Sydney, March 9, 2013; Recognise school event, Darwin Botanical Gardens, September 27, 2013 - Leila Barreto; Public Sector Unions pay Sydney, June 15, 2011; Public Sector Unions rally, Sydney Domain, September 8, 2012; IWD Sydney 2013; People’s SONA protest, Manila July 22, 2013; 40th anniversary of Pinochet coup, Fairfield, September 11, 2013; Back cover from top - Ged Kearney, Brian Boyd, John Setka, first solar hot water installation by Eureka’s Future Worker Cooperative, April 22, 2013 - Earth- worker Cooperative; Compulsory Income Management protest, Bankstown, June 16, 2012; Public Sector Unions pay protest Sydney, June 15, 2011. All other photos Peter Murphy.

Text preparation: Troy Henderson, Leila Barreto, Peter Murphy Layout: Peter Murphy

Printer: Spotpress, 24-26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204 Distribution: Print & Mail Pty Ltd, 23-25 Meeks Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204 Left renewal The SEARCH Foundation conducted a series of ‘Roundtables’ on topics ranging from ‘Re-imagining the Good Society’, to the tension between ‘the market’, the state and the common good, to the challenge of an ecologically-sustainable economy, privatisation, the impact of the Great Recession of 2008-09, and democracy, national identity and . These Roundtables have been held in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, Launceston and , from 2007 to 2010, and culmi- nated in the first Australian Left Renewal Conference at UTS on 29-30 May 2010 at the University of Technology Sydney. The papers from this conference are at http://www.search.org.au/projects/ from-global-crisis-to-green-future-australian-left-renewal-conference. Following the 2010 federal election the SEARCH Foundation worked to implement the conference declaration, and held a further series of Roundtables, covering taxation, and job security issues, and also conducted a national speaking tour by UK economics campaigner, Ann Pettifor, on why we can really afford to build an ecologically sustainable economy. All presentations are available on the SEARCH website at www.search.org.au/projects/roundtables The 2013 National Left Renewal Conference was convened by an organising committee created by the participants in the 2010 conference, in November 2012. The presentations from the first Roundtable topic were published in hard copy: Shared Values, Shared Future: Re-imagining the Good Society, Collected papers 2007-08. 104pp. $10.00. Other SEARCH Foundation publications Enemies of a Fair Society, Mapping the Right in Australia, the USA and UK SEARCH Foundation, 2013, booklet, $2. Greed or Survival? By Max Bound, 2012, $15 Australian Communism in the 20th Century, a graphic history SEARCH Foundation 2011, $15 Project for a 21st Century Democratic Ecological Socialism SEARCH Foundation, 2010. $5.00 The Last Great Cause - Volunteers from Australia and Emilia-Romagna in defence of the Spanish Republic, 1936-1939 By V.G. Venturini, 2010. $45.00 Never Give In - Three Italian Anti-Fascist Exiles in Australia 1924-1956 By V. G. Venturini, 2008. $45.00 The CPA - Lessons for the 21st Century Proceedings of a seminar at UTS, October 22, 2000. 23pp. $5.00 Ecological in Australia, Achievements and Challenges By Vanessa Jackson, 1997. 118pp. $15.00 How Green has Australia Become? an assessment Vanessa Jackson, ed David Hudson, 1997, 36pp. $5.00 Community over Market Solutions, Report to Participants May 1996, 32pp. $10.00

Also on sale: ASIO: The Enemy Within By Michael Tubbs, 2008, 275pp. $30

SEARCH Foundation, 128 Chalmers St, SURRY HILLS NSW 2010. Ph: 02 9698 4918. Email: [email protected] Website: www.search.org.au

Table of Contents Conference Statement: Unite the left to defeat corporate power and win a better world 3 Forum I: Building a Stronger Left Mick Gooda 5 Maree O’Halloran 7 Andrew Dettmer 10 Wenny Theresia 13 Angelo Gavrielatos 16 Special Forum: SYRIZA, Greece and the European Left: challenges and opportunities in the crisis Costas Isychos 18 Forum II: Uniting to Fight the Abbott Sally McManus 25 Tad Tietze 28 Hall Greenland 32 Andrew Giles 34 Forum III: Strategic Priorities for the Left Rob Durbridge 37 Holly Creenaune 40 Keelia Fitzpatrick 42 Maurie Mulheron 45 48 Doug Cameron 51 Workshop 1: Understanding the Neoliberal Right and Australia’s Power Elite Frank Stilwell 54 David McKnight 55 Workshop 2: Empowering Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities - Constitutional Recognition vs the Intervention Nicole Major 58 Heidi Norman 60 Paddy Gibson 62 David Shoebridge MLC 65 Workshop 3: : Challenges and Strategies Eva Cox 68 Margaret Kirkby 72 Melanie Fernandez 74 Workshop 4: Equality, Race and Refugees in Australia Jock Collins 76 Dianne Hiles 78 Ian Rintoul 81

1 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 5: Learning from Elsewhere Peter Ross 84 Adam Rorris 87 Workshop 6: A Strong Public Sector and a Fair Tax System Christopher Stone 90 Jo-anne Schofield 92 John Kaye MLC 94 Troy Wright 96 Workshop 7: Free Trade Agreements vs Jobs and the Public Interest Andrew Dettmer 98 Patricia Ranald 101 Workshop 8: Food and Resource Scarcity in the Capitalist Crisis Kathy Ridge 103 Jacinta Green 106 Workshop 9: Progressive Futures Lucy Manne 109 Workshop 10: Sustainable Futures Nicky Ison 112 Anna Schlunke 114 Alejandro Rodriguez 116 Workshop 11: Campaigning for a Green Future Dave Kerin 118 Tim Thorne 123 Jess Moore 125 Workshop 13: Strategies for Stronger Trade Unions Jim Casey 128 Sally McManus 131 Rita Mallia 133 Workshop 14: Australia, the US-China Confrontation and the Asia-Pacific Peter Hayes 135 Peter Jennings 138 Jane Corpuz-Brock 140 Workshop 15: A Left Response to the Global Financial Crisis Graham Larcombe 143 Jean Parker 144 Summary of Workshops Reports 148-150

2010 Conference Declaration A Left Action Plan: From global crisis to green future … 151

2 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Conference Statement Unite the Left to defeat corporate power and win a better world

Austerity, union busting, disempowerment and university as the basis for a democratic, pros- accelerating climate change are the policies perous and ecologically sustainable Australia. coming from corporate capitalism in Europe • Campaign for renewable energy to replace and North America as the global capitalist crisis fossil fuel, with an expanded manufacturing continues. Democracy itself has been usurped in base in Australia, and with industry super Greece as technocrats impose these harsh policies funds and community investment in coop- on behalf of the big financial corporations who eratives like the Earthworker Cooperative as created the crisis in the first place. The fascist important mechanisms. There must be a fo- right is emerging as a political force and as a vio- cus on just transitions to good jobs in carbon- lent threat as social conflict deepens. intensive regions such as the Latrobe Valley. Neo-liberalism has survived as the dominant • Change Constitution to rec- ideology since the global capitalist crisis broke in ognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 2008. We have to unite to defeat it. peoples as the First Peoples of Australia and In Australia we face the spectre of a Murdoch me- remove discriminatory sections, continue dia-backed Abbott Coalition government which our support for a genuine Treaty or Trea- would impose a very harsh austerity program on ties; build a movement to roll back the new behalf of the giant corporations. paternalism of the NT Intervention with more empowered communities. The poor, the unemployed and homeless, the newest immigrants and refugees, the people in • Confront the racism used to vilify asylum insecure work on low pay, a majority of them seekers and campaign to end mandatory de- women, and their children, are those who suffer tention whether off-shore or on-shore. most from austerity policies. • Assert Australian engagement in our region The left, with its internationalism and social- as a people’s for sustainable devel- ism, its roots in organised labour, the anti-war, opment and vigorously oppose the US-led environment and social liberation movements, drive toward military confrontation with can challenge the harsh ideas and programs now China, with all its threat of nuclear war. confronting the people everywhere. We have • Build global campaigns for an effective agree- to answer authoritarian austerity with greater ment to rapidly cut carbon emissions to keep democracy, solidarity, secure jobs, and more global warming at less than 2 degrees Celsius. equality. • Build a movement to defend gains in paid pa- This left renewal conference - secure jobs in a rental leave and women’s reproductive rights, green future... - encourages all the movements and to remove all forms of discrimination for democracy, social justice and ecological sus- based on gender and sexuality. tainability in Australia to expand their campaigns in the adverse conditions we have faced since our • Challenge corporate domination of state last conference in 2010. policies and public thinking by attacking the failure of neoliberalism and its global free To engage with the threats faced by the Australian trade agenda, and promoting worker and people as part of our global community, we make community controlled industry development, our priorities in the next three years: job opportunities, income guarantees, and tax • Secure work for all through direct employ- and other policies that encourage meaning- ment and the elimination of labour hire, ful innovation and reduce wealth and income casual and fake contracting work. Unity of the disparities. workers by opposing all racism and , • Build links with workers’ organisations inter- and fighting for equal rights. nationally and seek to emphasize the global • Reassert a free secular universal public edu- dimensions of the climate and economic cation system from kindergarten to TAFE and crisis.

3 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Our campaigns will expose the 1% who have regular meetings after the 2013 federal election, hijacked our democracy and are wrecking our to coordinate campaigns and education on the planet. priorities we are adopting, and to publish a short ‘vision for the future’ to project the conference We urge greater democratic participation in basic workshop outcomes. institutions such as the trade unions, student, women’s and pensioner organisations and pro- To deepen our capacity, the network will organ- gressive electoral parties, such as the ALP, the ise joint training initiatives for union, political, Greens and emerging left formations. student, ecology and community activists, spon- sored and funded by organisations which join this In the 2013 Federal Election we urge Labor and network. Training will include understanding of the Greens to work cooperatively against the Ab- the global economic and ecological crisis and how bott Coalition, and for the left to campaign all-out a steady state economy might be developed. to expose Abbott as the candidate of the 1% and to build a more progressive and humane political By working together we can defeat neoliberalism culture. The Left should work with broad pro- and push back privatisation, deregulation, auster- gressive forces, such as the anti-Coal Seam Gas ity and exploitation of people and the environ- movement and new campaign groups like GetUp! ment. By working together we can build a society on specific issues in the federal elections. based on justice, equal opportunity, and deeper democracy, with a strong public sector supporting To do all this we must have a better organised and an ecologically sustainable economy. bigger left, by organising more people into our movements. Adopted by acclamation at 2.30pm, Sunday April 7, 2013 The left groups which organised this confer- ence are urged to become a formal network with

Aunty Alice Golding performs a dance for Aunty Joan Tranter acknowledges the the Welcome to Country. Gadigal and Guringai Peoples of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners of the lands on which UTS is located.

4 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum I Building a Stronger Left Mick Gooda I also acknowledge we sit on the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation here today. I am a Gangulu man from central . My people come from a mission called Woorabinda. My Mum was born there, my Grandfather was shifted there; he walked 250 kilometres in the 1920s to establish the place. We do things in Queensland like move Aboriginal people around to build things. In this case they Mick Gooda is the Aboriginal and Torres wanted to build a dam which would have flooded Strait Islander Social Justice Commis- the old Taroom Mission, but they never did it. sioner since February 2010 and a de- scendent of the Gangulu people of central It is a similar story at Mapoon in the bauxite Queensland. He advocates for the rec- country of Cape York, where they shifted the ognition of the rights of Aboriginal and Mapoon people to build a port, but never built Torres Strait Islander peoples in Aus- it. We have this history in Queensland of shifting tralia and seeks to promote respect and Aboriginal people around to satisfy some need, understanding of these rights among the someone’s folly of building things but never quite broader Australian community. getting around to build it, but Aboriginal people still get shifted everywhere. I’m lucky because heart: constitutional recognition – and I’ll be at Woorabinda, where my Grandfather walked to, the workshop this afternoon – and racism. was my Grandmother’s Country. So while there are a lot of people at Woorabinda who don’t come In my last job as CEO of the Cooperative Research from there, we are traditional owners, so I am Centre for Aboriginal Health, our first two Indig- lucky that I can work that out. I came into this job enous scholars, Ian Paridies and Gilbert Gallagh- really not knowing what I was going to do. You er, did their thesis on racism. We worked out that have to have a plan and I didn’t have one. I was racism just isn’t a factor in our health, it actually worried. To the point that Katie Kiss, who heads makes us sick, it makes the perpetrator sick. Ian up the social justice team, had to ring me on the Anderson, a great friend and colleague, said that Sunday night to see if I was still in Sydney to start anything that makes your heart beat faster is not work the next day. good for you and will eventually kill you. I told him there were some good things that made my I found out fairly quickly that it would have been heart beat faster, but we won’t go into that today. arrogant of me to walk into a job like this with a well-defined plan for the five years. It took me a The other level of relationship is between govern- long time travelling around Australia, talking and ment and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listening to people, about what’s happening. I people, and that is as bad as it has ever been. worked out that I couldn’t pick an issue like hous- And you can trace that back to that event in ing, or the criminal justice system – you know the 2007 when the Northern Territory Intervention over-incarceration, particularly of young people, imposed solutions on 73 of the most vulnerable particularly of women, which is soaring out of communities. We suspended the Racial Discrimi- control. I couldn’t pick one of those things and nation Act for those 73 communities to allow figure in five years it will be fixed. them to do things like income management, to control their lives. What confronts us in the Aboriginal community is a nation-building exercise that will go across Before the GST came along, the ATSIC Act and generations. So I decided to talk about relation- the Native Title Act were the most debated and ships so that people who do work in those areas amended pieces of legislation in Australia’s his- can get the job done. tory. Those debates went on for months, if not for years. It is an indictment of all governments, I framed it around three things: the relationship and the Opposition, that the debate that imple- between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mented the legislation for the Intervention took people and the rest of the community. That allows five and half hours. Added it up, we did. That is me to talk about two things that are close to my across both Houses of Parliament and included 5 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Building a Stronger Left an inquiry – five and half hours to take rights are exercising it, how I talk about away, a year of debate to give us something like the most vulnerable – ATSIC and the Native Title Act. When you are an the women, the chil- measuring self- Aboriginal person and sit down and look at that, dren, the Elders – are determination you start wondering: what is it about us? being heard. Not the by how the most strongest. That’s what It will be stain on Australia’s soul for a long time vulnerable are we’ve done in the past. that we suspended the Act which was developed exercising it, The government has to protect the most vulnerable in our community how the most worked like the pris- from things like racism, against 73 of the most ons – find the biggest vulnerable – the vulnerable communities I know. A stain on all and baddest prisoner, women, the politicians, Labor and the Coalition – I discount and get them to run the children, the Elders the Greens because people like Rachel Siewart prison. That’s what’s fought long and hard, but being a lone voice had – are being heard. happened in Aboriginal no effect at all. This relationship with government Not the strongest. affairs, and we’ve got to is just wrong, and we’ve got to get it right. stop it. Our women and The last level of relationship is between Aborigi- children and the Elders have got to be heard. nal people ourselves. We all wear scars from the The second principle is the right to participate in politics in Aboriginal affairs. If you think it’s hard decisions. That is a fundamental right we all have in the ALP, come and sit in my chair for a while. – to participate in decisions that affect our rights, I talk about the concept of lateral violence, where underpinned by the concepts of good faith and people turn against each other. And lateral vio- the right to give or not to give our free, prior and lence – harassment, bullying, gossiping, back- informed consent. So we’ve got to be involved, stabbing, name-calling – happens in every soci- and I’ll fight to the death about our involvement. ety, every organisation, every family, every work- The third principle is one of protection of and place. But it is particularly hard for oppressed respect for culture. It is the oldest living culture in people, because we take on the behaviours of the the world. When I spoke to the Elders at Mutijulu oppressors, and we internalize oppression. It is about the Constitution, they said that they want happening in our communities as we speak, it is people to understand that we have a constitu- happening in my own family. tion of our own, it is called our culture. It is not It was the government who started defining who written down anywhere, but we live it, and we was Aboriginal and who wasn’t. That song we just want all people in Australia to understand it. And heard, Archie’s song, that was about people who not only understand it, we want them to share weren’t quite Aboriginal enough, and so they were it. If you’re going to live in this country, you’ve taken away. The biggest insult we can have in the got to share in the Aboriginal culture. It’s your Aboriginal community is to call someone a coco- culture, the Elders told me. So the next time you nut – brown on the outside, white on the inside. see someone like Aunty Joan give a welcome to We’ve taken on those behaviours, and we’ve really country, or a dance group get up, or you hear a got to step up and fix it. didj playing, I challenge you not to think of it as an exotic people who have come to entertain us, How can we fix it? I’ve said in this job that my but to think of it as your culture on display there. work will be guided by the UN Declaration on the It also comes out of the concept of cultural secu- Rights of Indigenous Peoples. That is the most rity and cultural safety, so it has a practical edge. important document we have to guide us. Not only does it guide us in our relationship with gov- The final principle is one of non-discrimination. ernment and other third parties, but it also guides What we hope to do here with government is to our internal relationships. Between our office and look at every piece of legislation in the country the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples that discriminates against Aboriginal and Tor- we have developed four principles that come out res Strait Islander people and fix it. And there’s of the Declaration. plenty of it, let me tell you. Self-determination – if we are going to control You hear people argue that we can’t have a rights- things, if things are going to get better, it has to be based approach, we want practical reconciliation. on our terms, we have to own the solutions as well Actually you’re not going to get practical or any as owning problems. We need to re-define self- form of reconciliation unless you do respect our determination, reframe it. I talk about measuring rights. We need more rights, not less rights. self-determination by how the most vulnerable Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. 6 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum I Maree O’Halloran The good society: security and income stability I acknowledge the Gadigal People of the Eora Na- tion and pay my respect to Commissioner Gooda and Aboriginal People present here today. I will offer some thoughts about the way forward in terms of social security, income support and a good society, based on my experience working at the Welfare Rights Centre over the last four and a half years. We deal with social security law on a rights-based approach with advocacy for people living on very low incomes, sometimes in extreme poverty, but basically reliant on social security. One of the things I’ve experienced in my time with the Welfare Rights Centre and as spokes- person for the national Welfare Rights Network is the incongruence that people feel between the word ‘welfare’ and the word ‘rights’. It’s almost as if they can’t have the two words together, and Maree O’Halloran is spokesperson for they find the title of our organisation confronting National Welfare Rights and is a former and that we might have something to say that is President of the NSW Teachers Federa- not legitimate. It is as though people who need tion. income support and social security in Australia by correlation don’t have any rights. The level of subjugation of people reliant on social example, if you get tax concessions through the security, and therefore their lives are completely superannuation system, or you can set up private surveilled, was shocking to me. People feel that trusts and disperse money without having to pay they have absolutely no power in their lives. as much income tax, you are receiving a form of social security. The fact that we have to talk about My thoughts about how to rebuild the left, renew the tax system separately from the social security the left, where we go in the future, are about the system is a problem that we have to talk about issues of income support, social security, the collectively. tax and transfer system. How do we collect and distribute, how do we Thinking about the issue of the name of the Welfare Rights Centre, I wondered whether we ... how do we redistribute, how do we say to the people needed to reclaim the word ‘welfare’ as a good say to the people that there is a collective term – I acknowledge it hasn’t always been a good that there is a amount of money that term for Aboriginal people – the idea of social collective amount we have that needs to be welfare as looking after others is good. But I came of money that redistributed, without to the conclusion that there was a bigger issue un- being slammed down derlying that, that we need to reclaim the notion we have that of what government is in a democracy. The role of needs to be either before audiences or in the media? government itself is under attack, and this is the redistributed, higher level, bigger picture we need to work on. These are quite con- without being You will all have heard of the notion of the ‘Big slammed down fronting ideas. Even the notion that social Society’ coming out of the UK, the notion that we either before security is part of the will have smaller and smaller government and audiences or in taxation system is con- that somehow those gaps will be filled through the media? fronting to people. For the community sector, families, individuals and 7 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Building a Stronger Left volunteerism. It is a rightwing notion of smaller have to pay off. They government, and the distribution of govern- are expected to have We can see that ment money to private enterprise. I think of ‘Big lived on that before in many battles, Society’ in terms of big tobacco, big mining, big they can get onto the the battle over the pharma. It is the same type of notion. unemployment benefit. mining tax, the And this government We’ve seen a similar thing from the Centre for in fact doubled the recent battle over Independent Studies in Australia who recently amount that you can the very minor put forward a paper called Target 30, Towards have in savings before changes to the Smaller Government and Future Prosperity, as you can go onto the though the notions of smaller government and superannuation unemployment pay- prosperity necessarily go hand-in-hand. system that ment. So there have brought forward Thinking about the role of government you can been some changes at see what a struggle that this current Labor gov- the edges. the most vigorous, ernment has had to maintain space for govern- vociferous of But the screams of the ment at all. We can see that in many battles, the screams from the wealthy are always battle over the mining tax, the recent battle over heard so much more wealthy. the very minor changes to the superannuation than the screams of the system that brought forward the most vigorous, poor. vociferous of screams from the wealthy. You can see it in the accommodation that we’ve seen One issue I want to draw to your attention is that when John Brogden, former NSW Liberal Leader at the very time the Prime Minister was making and now head of the Financial Services Council, her speech about in parliament, the speaking for the retail superannuation funds, parliament was passing that very day the bill that acknowledged that he was quite happy with those reduced payments for people on the Single Par- changes, and so they won’t run their major ad- enting Payment when their youngest child turned vertising campaign. It has become more difficult eight. What we saw was a form of institutional for governments to make decisions in the public misogyny where 95% of those people are women interest. and 60% of them were already working. So it was not about getting them into the workforce, it was Having said that, this government has made some about cutting the budget. And the savings made very good decisions in the area of the tax and on the backs of the single parents, $750 million transfer system. For example, the historic in- over the four year period, they made about half of crease in pension. That didn’t happen for that by the small superannuation tax concession people on the unemployment benefit, I know, but changes. Those superannuation changes are only people in the social welfare area talk of years of affecting 16,000 people, the ‘fabulously wealthy’ going to government to get a $1 per week increase as Craig Emerson described them, so half of that for age pensioners. So a $35 per week increase in came from 16,000 people and we have 60,000 – the age pension is historic and important. There 80,000 single parents, one group of whom were is the freezing of the private health insurance hurt in the 2005 changes under the Howard gov- rebate and some changes to freeze indexation of ernment, and the second group now hurt under family benefits which are distributed to people the changes of the Labor government. with incomes of $150,000 or more. So the issues of the deserving and the undeserv- So there have been some changes by this govern- ing poor haven’t gone away for us. In terms of ment to attempt to rein back in the distribution to the work we are doing, that is the most difficult those who are already privileged. struggle. Another welcome change relates to the assets you To bring it down to its main points, in terms of can have before you receive unemployment ben- my work dealing with social security, we have efits. To get onto the unemployment payment in to concentrate on, at the bigger level the role of Australia, you need to have spent almost all your government, democracy and what a government income. A single person could only have liquid does, and at the smaller level, the Newstart Allow- assets of $2,500. Usually someone is retrenched ance for unemployed people, and the Minimum and may get a modest retrenchment package of Wage – we have to lift those payments. Those perhaps $40,000, and if they have a mortgage, who are already earning and already privileged their immediate instinct is to use it to pay off will always look after themselves, but if we can lift some of the mortgage, or they have debts they the Newstart Allowance and the Minimum Wage 8 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum I

we can make a difference across the whole of the do, which is to take away their decision-making nation. capacity entirely and micro-manage their money. What we have done is set up a mini-bureaucracy I want to draw your attention to one slide, to micro-manage people’s money, some of whom prepared by Matt Cowgill from the ACTU. It are Aboriginal, and now it is extended to people shows you a flat line at the bottom just above living on low incomes in a number of communi- the $10,000, and that is the Newstart Allowance ties across Australia. for unemployed people. Where people who are unemployed are kept in extreme poverty that be- If we have a new incoming government, where comes a discipline to the workers who are on the Tony Abbott has been talking about limiting lowest wages. One of the reasons for such a low social security payments, we must fear that we are Newstart Allowance is about disciplining unions moving into a world where food stamps might be and also workers. Look at the flat lining of the the next step. Newstart Allowance, where the last real increase To back track – what is the actual role of govern- was under the Keating government, a few dollars. ment? The debate is not about whether it is small The next line is the Henderson Poverty Line, and or large, but what is government set up to do, and above that is the 60% of Median Wages Poverty what is its proper terrain. And within that I would Line – this is the one used by the United Nations. target the lifting of Newstart Allowance and the And above that is the Minimum Wage which is Minimum Wage. r also pretty much flat lining. So in terms of our energies, I am targetting the increase in the Newstart Allowance and the Mini- mum Wage, both of which are very important. Then we come to the use of language in the public domain. These words about ‘welfare dependency’ and the ‘entitlement mentality’ delegitimise social secu- rity rights. We need to challenge them. Then there is the conditionality – and Commis- sioner Gooda has already talked about income management – where we say that we want people to engage, to participate, to work, and then we do the most counterproductive thing we can 9 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Building a Stronger Left

Andrew Dettmer What happened? Progressive policies post-GFC and how the right pretend that all is rosy in the garden

Comrades, whether we like it or not, all of us are afflicted by the crisis in capitalism, and that is so profound that we are either to analyse, strive and act, or almost inevitably accept that which has oc- curred as our lot, on which basis there would be no place for events such as this, except perhaps to make a noise something like a trapped animal. The time is right for a renovation of the move- ment. It is clear that capitalism is winning. One might argue that it always wins, but at the same time capitalism is falling to new lows. Amidst Andrew Dettmer is National President plenty, misery. I refer to the current recovery and former Queensland State Secretary in the US stock market, fundamentally at the of the AMWU, and a former Queensland expense of labour. In the great contradiction that State President of the ALP. is capitalism, the US stock market is increasing the value of its shares, simply by taking income from labour. We need go no further than that as brilliantly researched and analysed by Brian well-known socialist Allan Kohler who made this Howe and his colleagues in the ACTU-sponsored analysis on the ABC News on Thursday, March survey and report, Lives on Hold. 28. How did we come to this? What is amazing is that capital believed that it The response of the growing labour movement was facing an earth-shattering crisis as a result of the 1890s and 1930s was to determine ‘never of the global financial crisis of 2008. You may again’ and the end result was the formation of recall that former magazine Newsweek whose Labor, Socialist and Communist Parties. Where front cover declared “We are all socialists now”. do we see the examples of the great refusal, saying Despite the collapse and near-collapse of many NO to the logic of capitalism? There is no great banks and companies, and the discrediting of social movement on any horizon, and with the the capitalist regulatory apparatus, what has greatest respect, the movement does not occurred? No robber barons have been brought fit the bill. to account, and this is notorious. Not one crimi- nal prosecution has arisen from the collapse of In the absence of such a prophylactic to capital- Bear Stearns or other major banks, nor from the ist excess, I believe that unless there is change we exploitation of the so-called sub-prime mortgage are heading towards a prolonged period of decay. market. Business as usual is their cry. Vico, admired by Marx, professed the view that society worked through cycles of growth, decay But in response we have seen the return of and barbarism. It is clear that this analogy is a voodoo economics. By way of contrast with the useful way of looking at the current situation. If original version promulgated by Ronald Reagan, we look at our situation it is clear that decay is a this time bankers and their government clients literal description of our environment as we find are imposing austerity, cutbacks, termination of it today. It is up to us to ensure that the decay social programs, and with some exceptions, the does not turn into barbarism. election or re-election of conservative govern- ments, and the continued and accentuated trans- Likewise it is clear that in political terms, the fer of the blame and the risk to workers. This can problems of the Left are massive. In the Labor be seen in the boom in precarious employment, Party, without trying to analyse the situation in 10 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum I terms of whether the ALP is a petit-bourgeois burst forth in the propaganda of the deed when party or not, the internecine policies of mutually- the crunch of the jackboot or the clang of the jail- assured destruction have led federal Labor into house door is supposedly to awaken the nascent the situation of virtually certain defeat in Sep- proletarian to rage. Workers today have a lot tember with a very long period in the wilderness more to lose than their chains, and if analysts are to follow. In my view, unless urgent and decisive to be believed, identification as working class or action is taken, the situation is so grave that we any class for that matter, is problematic. are looking at a problem of 1949-like dimensions. Indeed, we need to emulate the old socialists and In 1949 the ALP believed itself to be condemned union activists who have passed their legacies to a brief period of opposition, but the internal on to us. We need to work and argue for a demo- problems of Labor were so great that it was 23 cratic and participative society, and this can only years – a whole generation – before a social be done, however imperfectly in my view, through democratic government was returned federally. trade unions and the structures of workplace and And I fear a similar situation is upon us today. community participation which they afford. As for The Greens, again with respect, they are These are the only institutions which are open to simply not a disciplined party. While they develop an activist version of social democracy. We don’t policies, it appears to be a matter of taste whether need to be officials to do this either. Too many those policies are implemented. How else would people of the left think that union activism is not you explain the Greens support in the NSW Up- for them – the activ- per House for the political affiliation and disclo- ity in the workplace, Where is the anger sure laws that prevent unions from affiliating to the talking union, the over the near Labor in NSW? barbecues, and the leaf- 40% of Australian leting. The great Joe Hill wrote as he was facing the workers who firing squad that murdered him on behalf of the And at the same time suffer precarious copper bosses and the government of Utah, ‘Don’t there are many people employment, or mourn for me, organise’. And indeed I argue that involved in unions are we too cowed the time is right to organise. who believe it is about as a people to power rather than em- We seem to have lost the capacity to organise in respond? powering, empowering Australia. What is organising? Unions have been through the involve- organising for centuries. My union celebrated its ment in union activism in the workplace as well 160th year in 2012. The best of unions organise as working for unions in many different capaci- using the secular holy trinity: educate, agitate, ties. organise, or these days: anger, hope, action. The ideal I have in mind is the Your rights At There is plenty of anger in Australian public life, Work campaign which is again being used by much of it directed at politicians. Yet how much the new ACTU leadership. Your Rights At Work is directed at the capitalist class which is having a is a fine example of an activist campaign which very fine time, thankyou very much? Where is the activated many labour and community activists anger over the near 40% of Australian workers to the importance of the labour movement. It was who suffer precarious employment, or are we too significant that it is the one campaign singled out cowed as a people to respond? Are our ipads and by the Liberal and National Parties for attack to celebrity reality shows too important to us to be ensure they are never again suffer a well-coordi- concerned about others? nated assault on their privileges. We can no longer look to large millenarian move- And despite his obvious debt to the ments to join and show the way. Neither should movement, Kevin Rudd did not once thank the we try to invest our political and emotional trust labour movement, the trade unions or the many in yet another god with clay feet. The flame of thousands of activists who campaigned for him in socialism cannot be found atop the mausoleums his victory speech in 2007. of the embalmed remains of the failed leaders of communism. Yet socialism, social democracy, the So if we enraged or attracted the indifference of fair go smoulder in people’s hearts, and it needs such a group of people, surely we must have been us to work to get it to burst into flame. doing something right. We can’t go around expecting that will happen I recognise that trade unions are only capable of a from fine speeches or clever tweets. Nor will it partial response to the needs of a fully formed all-

11 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Building a Stronger Left publication. Laurie Carmichael, now 88 years old, and one of its principal authors, sends his best wishes to this conference, and would be here except for his health. I continue to look up to him, one of the great figures of the union movement. I don’t believe that trade unions hold all of the answers. Instead, it is simply that workers are the base of any decent society, as I hope most of us agree. The skills and sweat of working people are the basis of capitalism, not the mystical entrepreneurial spirit which will supposedly lead us to the nirvana of neo-liberal capitalism. Just to encompassing movement. While I and many oth- say it shows the futility of such a notion. ers will remain committed to the Labor Party, it is And if workers are the basis of a decent, egalitar- clear to me that at least for the moment its organ- ian and productive society, then the movement ising capacity is limited, as is its transformative which organises working people and is of the capacity. And again with respect, I don’t believe people, such as the trade union movement, is the that any other party has the capacity to win. only institution which we can say with certainty There is a broader example of using existing has as its aim the wealth and well-being of this modes of organisation to achieve benefits for low society and the environment we live in. paid workers. I refer to the presentation made by You cannot change society without an institution- Maree. One of those is the Pay Equity case. Modes al base to do it from. You can either create one or of organisation and advocacy can go hand in hand work within an existing one. Given the chances to achieve for the most vulnerable. The work of of a mass left wing party dedicated to socialism the ACTU, the Australian Services Union, United appearing any time soon are pretty slim, then the Voice and ACOSS is a good model of marrying up trade union movement, with all its imperfections, the work of those who advocate for the vulnerable is the vehicle of choice. with those who organise for vulnerable workers. Trade unions will no doubt also be involved in the It may not be a Lamborghini, perhaps being more NDIS as will disability and community organisa- akin to a Commodore or a Falcon – all made by tions, and are already involved in the Aged Care AMWU members – but it can with some tinker- reforms. ing under the hood, become the basis of a mass movement. And a strong labour movement leads Each of these are examples of a broader public to a strong Labor Party. And that is what I want. purpose being addressed through civil society and led by unions and union activities. I also acknowl- Socialism is a creed and hope, a cry for justice edge the fine work being done by our comrades and freedom, a plea for decency. It is not some in the Australian Education Union on the Gonski sinister attempt to seek state power for its own campaign. Organising needs to be the watchword sake, but a way of life, of honouring the social of our activity and when we organise it need not above the economic, and of dealing with the be to overtly fan the flames of socialism. Instead needs of actually existing human beings rather we are simply seeking to make life better for the than some theory. millions, rather than the millionaires. A broader We are not a movement for socialism. We are transformative movement would build off these not even a particularly effective political move- successes. ment. But I know that the workers I deal with, the As for policy, I suggest we not reinvent the wheel workers that you deal with, every day, don’t just and part of this process should be a study of live to work. Those days are, for most people in what went before. In the 1980s the union move- Australia at least, long gone. We work to live, we ment produced a blueprint for Australian society, work for a better life for ourselves and our planet. Australia Reconstructed. As a social democratic And we can and must start somewhere. Here it is. blueprint of a productive decent society, it should Thank you. be reviewed for its continued relevance. It is no accident that this is the 25th year since its

12 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum I Wenny Theresia Occupy Sydney - Visions of Participatory Democracy

I acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Gur- ingai and Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. It is on their ancestral lands that UTS stands and I’d like to pay respect to their Elders, both past and present. Thanks to the conference organisers for this opportunity to share my reflections on Occupy Sydney with the aim of contributing to the con- ference theme of exploring ideas for left renewal. Wenny Theresia has a decade-long I was actively involved in Occupy Sydney which background in grassroots environ- began on the Occupy international day of action mental justice activism and was an on October 15, 2011. I was particularly involved active participant and organiser in in coordinating legal support for people who Occupy Sydney. were arrested, fined and charged because of their involvement in Occupy Sydney. I participated in the physical for about the first four People saw and were inspired by what hap- months, and was involved in media work, facili- pened in , and we can’t forget tating General Assemblies and community out- the masses of people gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir reach. I draw on those experiences to share what Square, the so-called Arab Spring movements, I can, not as a spokesperson for Occupy. and the Indignados movement in Spain. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on the details Broadly the is summed up by of Occupy, and I believe that people here have the slogan of the 99% versus the 1%: the public a good understanding of what that was about. majority versus the elite minority who exploit What I want to do is reflect on what I saw as what and profit from the current economic and politi- was strong, what was weak, and discuss what cal systems – big banks, global multinationals, I see as a few key aspects and lessons that can mining magnates, politicians etc. Anyone who contribute towards developing a stronger under- participated in Occupy would have quickly found standing of the type of actions that inspire people out a huge diversity about the specifics of that to be involved in change and renewal; and ideas framework. People spanned the spectrum of disil- for building a stronger left in Sydney and more lusioned liberal social democrats, Marxist Lenin- broadly, in our current political environment. I ist comrades, staunch anarchists, self-confessed also share some thoughts on a comparison be- conspiracy theorists, and so-called neo-romanti- tween Occupy Sydney and Occupy Wall Street. cists who talked about ‘Occupy the Love’ a lot. I’ll get straight to my first point about what Here in the streets of Sydney, there was equally brought people onto the streets on that first day a huge diversity in the types of people involved, in Sydney, and in 3,000 other locations world- from your “typical activist”, to parents and their wide. The primary concerns of the people who kids, people who live on the streets, travellers, gathered under the Occupy banner were the and yes, many workers from the banks and other greed and gambles of Wall Street; big banks and institutions in the city. People were clearly sur- derivatives traders that made billions on the way prised by the numbers there on the first day. to creating a global financial crisis that is ongo- ing, even though Wall St posted its largest profits I want to acknowledge a valid criticism of the 99% last year; and the corruption and self-interest of slogan: that it subsumes class, gender and other governments. very real power differences amongst the majority, 13 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Building a Stronger Left which were very much reflected on the ground through art, and discussing political issues from in terms of participation and power within the capitalism to Indigenous sovereignty. There was protest. collective decision-making on a mass scale with hundreds sitting through general assemblies that However, generally I would say that the slogan ran for hours. And direct action from the occupa- was a catchcry about class, political and social tion itself, to squatting actions about housing, differences, and that it did mean something to the to sit-ins at Westpac against hundreds of staff “ordinary person”. cuts while the company continued to post record The strength of Occupy as a political movement profits. is that it talked about the big concerns which as However, there were key weaknesses. Certainly the breadth of Occupy showed, the “ordinary the numbers involved in Occupy are not the only person” gets: that traders should not be allowed gauge of the strength of a movement. In my view to get away with what There are lots of there was a lack of depth to support what the they do; that politicians movement was trying to do. There was a lack of positive, powerful lie; and that companies resources to sustain a 24 hour long occupation, aspects of Occupy profit on the backs of from skill-sharing about the skills involved in or- – the numbers workers and the envi- der to participate in that activity, to dealing with ronment. involved, the grievances, and to make decisions collectively on initial occupation On the left, I believe such a mass scale. in the first week that we can often worry There were not the resources for proper cam- about talking about that saw hundreds paigns to develop out of the Occupy space. There these systemic prob- of people were people who were very enthused about Oc- lems and seeming over- cupy who quickly became disillusioned about the occupying in front whelming or too radical ability to create change, or who were unsupported of the Reserve and wanting to break and fell away. There was a lack of clear campaign Bank, eating down our campaign goals from Occupy – and part of that was be- together, talking goals into smaller tasks cause there was a very real rejection of the idea of that we can ask people politics, running demands, due to the disillusionment in current to do. workshops, political systems. As a campaigner I agree creating gardens. However in the end, as I think most people in- with this approach as volved would themselves agree, the Occupy move- an organising method ment tried to maintain the occupation as an end to involve people to learn from action. But can in itself, rather than as a means to something else. I say that I and many other people involved in Occupy were inspired to feel a part of a collective Another key weakness was the lack of ability to movement that was not afraid to talk about the survive the police repression. But I do need to root causes of problems, and to connect how a point out that Occupy is still there after more person’s smaller actions is related to confronting than a year and half, and it is the world’s longest these bigger problems. running Occupy movement as far as I know! Peo- ple may be aware that after a week in front of the At the very least Occupy cannot be criticised for Reserve Bank, the police came at 5am on a Sun- not being ambitious enough! It intentionally day morning and forcefully evicted hundreds of sought to create a space for people to talk about people, with about 50 people being arrested. The these problems; to talk about what is going on police continued to harass and intimidate people in our lives. In my mind there is something to be who came back, coming to the site up to six times learnt for a left that continues to silo our par- a day. It was very exhausting, and very annoy- ticular issues, that continues to approach things ing. There were over 90 arrests all up, about 50 in the way we normally do, and not connecting people charged, and another 50 people fined, them to involve people in building a broader and mainly for ‘camping or staying overnight’. We are deeper movement of solidarity. still in the process of about 15 of those cases, and There are lots of positive, powerful aspects of Oc- both Occupy Sydney and Melbourne have cases cupy – the numbers involved, the initial occupa- in the Federal Court which are a constitutional tion in the first week that saw hundreds of people challenge to those arrests on the basis that the occupying in front of the Reserve Bank, eating laws under which those arrests were made were together, talking politics, running workshops, in breach of the implied right to the freedom of creating gardens. It was certainly a learning space political communication in the Constitution. 14 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum I I want to reflect on what I see as a deeper prob- foreclosures. Another example was the inspiring lem in the left of the failure to build a politics of uprising in which saw union workers solidarity. Occupy was a movement moment, one occupy the state capitol and reject the govern- of those moments that took everyone by sur- ment corruption there, which received a lot of prise. Many thousands of people turned up and general support across the States. it was amazing. However I believe that the sign During Occupy Wall Street, we saw the Oakland of a strong left is to support and resource people; General Strike which involved up to 100,000 peo- show solidarity against the inevitable police re- ple. As I understand it was the first general strike pression; and generally to enable and develop the in the United States in 60 years. conditions that can build strong movements. In lieu of those strong roots, Occupy clearly wasn’t Post-Occupy Wall Street, those roots have con- able to be more than what it was. tinued to show themselves, through initiatives like where people from the Occupy Indeed there was some good engagement with movement participated in assistance to the recov- some groups more broadly, including SEARCH, ery in New York after Hurricane Sandy. And also which held a forum on Economics 101, and the the Strike Debt movement, a new, still developing Maritime Union of Australia coming to one of our movement of people who aim to build solidarity rallies which was amazing. to have an economy where our debts are to our I want to reflect on Occupy Wall Street, which I friends, families, and communities — and not to see as one of those movement moments. However the 1%. it built on the back of various strong grassroots I hope I have been able to share some of what movements in the States. For example, move- I have seen as the strengths and also the weak- ments like the Take Back the Land movement, nesses of the Occupy movement with a view to which is a national network of organisations continuing to build a stronger Left with all of you. that talk about the human right to have hous- ing, and securing community control over land. Thank you. That movement was primarily about supporting people who tried to stop and survive housing

Sydney Trade Union Choir performing at the conference opening.

15 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Building a Stronger Left Angelo Gavrielatos

Equity and quality in education. The failure of neo-liberalism

I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet and pay my respect to their Elders past and present, and to any Indig- enous people present here today. Many issues have already been canvassed by this panel. I will use my time to talk about the failures of neo-liberalism in the provision of quality edu- cation and what needs to be done to progress this discussion into an action phase. We are very good on the left at analysing prob- lems but what we fail to do is articulate those strategic responses to take advantage of the conditions in which we find ourselves to make Angelo Gavrielatos is the Federal Presi- progress on achieving our goals. dent of the Australian Education Union. For example, in 2008, with the global financial crisis, I recall clearly a group of us saying that with neo-liberalism now exposed we would see Millennium Development Goal of every child in the dawning of a new paradigm, where there will the world having access to a basic education. be greater respect and decency for working people That illustrates their capacity to reinvent them- and the community. But it didn’t happen. Capital- selves and reinstall the fundamentals of capital- ism was able to reinvent itself so fast and in a way ism to continue the profits that they accrue to that very few of us could predict. In many ways themselves at the expense of the many. we are further behind than where we may have been in 2008. Last week I was at an international forum put on by the United Nations, one of many around the To illustrate that I will use one statistic from glob- world, as the UN consults about the post-Millen- al data. In 2000 the UN adopted the Millennium nium Development Goals. I was there as part of a Development Goals, and set themselves a number delegation of our global education union, Educa- of goals, including providing quality basic educa- tion International, and the International Trade tion to the world’s children by 2015. While we Union Confederation, where we sought to achieve have made significant gains with respect to that a representation of some of our demands in the goal, with 1000 days to go before 2015, we still post-2015 development goals. have 61 million children around the world denied access to basic education. It’s been calculated that So far the UN has given no commitment to the resources needed to achieve that goal are $16- include references to education as a priority for $20 billion. post-2015, nor references to the fundamentals of a genuine participatory society which apart from Now let me relate that statistic to the global education, must include decent employment and financial crisis. The year after those prophets of living conditions. neo-liberalism brought the global financial crisis on us all – and let’s remind ourselves that many Unless we can achieve globally and domesti- ordinary people around the world are still paying cally an acknowledgement that there are certain the price for their actions - the very same Wall St fundamental pillars of democracy – namely high bankers gave themselves bonuses to the tune of quality education for all, decent working and $16 billion, which would be enough to achieve the decent living conditions – we are not going to 16 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum I achieve what we consider as absolutely necessary a bit more space and Neo-liberalism for a thriving democracy. opportunity to organ- has prevailed as ise and implement a Which brings me back to Australia. What we ten-year plan aimed to the overriding have seen over the last 25 years in Australia is the reasserting the pri- orthodoxy in the embrace of education policies which are under- macy of quality public development of pinned by market principles. Neo-liberalism education for all kids, has prevailed as the overriding orthodoxy in the education policies to start to break down development of education policies in Australia. in Australia. the segregation that’s Such that, in a combination of flawed and fail- all too apparent. ing funding policies, what we see in Australia is one of the most segregated schooling systems in So, where to from here? I’m looking forward to the world, and one which is therefore contribut- hearing from the comrade from SYRIZA in Greece ing to inequality in the provision of education to learn how they transformed a movement that and therefore a growing segregation of educa- was polling 3% in one election to one which tional opportunity and a deepening inequality of gained 27% of the vote in a later election. This educational attainment. We stand at the forefront is a movement which consists of organisations of the world in terms of this most disappointing embracing Marxism, environmental politics and statistic. gender politics. We have something to learn here. Clearly objective conditions vary from country to This is where we have come as a result of 25 years country, but it is one of the rare examples globally of policies by successive state and federal gov- of success that has been evading us for decades. ernments. It took an inquiry called the Gonski Meanwhile in Australia what we need to do is to Review – Gonski has become a noun, a verb, an recognise the absolute need to build coalitions, adjective, a state of mind for some of us – it took engagement and alliances across our communi- this review to focus the attention of a broader ties. section of society to understand that something has gone wrong. Gonski found that the current Andrew Dettmer is right about the central place funding arrangements were failing our kids and of the union movement in building this. Whilst the nation as a whole. The current funding ar- it is not the union movement it was some dec- rangements contribute to deepening inequality in ades ago, it nonetheless represents the organised provision and in educational attainment, and as I voice of two million workers in Australia. As a said, manifesting itself in widening achievement union movement we have to become much better gaps. at building community alliances – deeper and broader community alliances – to articulate a There is a two-to-three year achievement gap be- new vision for Australia. tween advantaged and disadvantaged kids in this country, between indigenous and non-indigenous We made a big mistake at the end of the Your kids, between kids in rural and urban settings. If Rights At Work campaign. It was the union you look at the stats by Year 9, you find a five- movement itself which brought down that move- and-a-half year achievement gap between the top ment. Dave Oliver has rightly acknowledged this 20% of the Year 9 cohort, and the bottom 20% of recently. We have to reinvent and re-embrace the Year 9 cohort. We are failing our kids dis- an absolute commitment to social movement mally. unionism across the ACTU affiliates. Only when we engage more broadly beyond the immediate We’ve made some great gains over the last two economistic views of some more conservative un- years in the public discourse on education, but ions, only when we embrace that social movement in the past few months leading up to the criti- unionism and reach out beyond our immediate cal Council of Australian Governments meeting interests, only then can we as a union movement on April 19, there has been an incredible private contribute to a broader community in order to school push-back. This COAG, I believe, will de- tackle the fundamentals that continue to under- fine our future for education for years to come. mine decency in provision of quality education, However, the achievement of the Gonski recom- living standards and employment conditions. mendations for school funding reform is not an Thank you. end in itself, but a means to an end. With Gonski style school funding reform we will see resources flow back where they are needed most. With ad- ditional, much needed resources, we will have

17 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... SYRIZA, Greece and the European Left: challenges and opportunities in the crisis

Costa Isychos

Costa Isychos is a member of SYRIZA’s Sec- retariat and head of External and Defence Policy

Well, thank you very much for the very warm wel- us come from. We have deep roots in that party; come. I would like to say thanks for the invitation deep historical memories. We’re a very big family and the hospitality here in Sydney. I feel at home. in the Left. To the SEARCH Foundation, to the President, We’re in SYRIZA now but some of our grandpar- to all the members of the board, to all of you ents still vote for the Party. So, we are family, we dear comrades, dear friends, the Left is very big have disagreements, but we are family. We must around the planet believe me. not forget that. And I’m here just to share an experience, noth- And when we had this split in 1991, the coalition ing else. We’re not here to give lessons or to teach of the Left (Synapsismos) was created. Half of the history to other social movements and Left pro- rank and file membership and the Central Com- gressive movements, ecological movements. mittee of the Communist Party left. We created a We’re just here to tell you that this experience space of the Left that kept its traditions of critical we have had in Greece can be your experience Marxism, historical Marxism, and all other tradi- in Australia in your own way. In your own way tions of the Left that we thought could be part of a of thought, your traditions, your history, your broader alliance. struggles in the trade union movements and the These were very difficult years in the early 90s. progressive and Leftwing movement. I’m sure you can remember that era back in Aus- So, our experience is unique in some ways which tralia too. We were a little bit lost – lost in time, I will try to explain to you. Just to let you know lost in space. And we didn’t have a compass to see we’re sort of a result of many coincidences that where we were going to go. took place at a certain time, in a certain place and So, we struggled for a couple of years trying to see in a very fierce attack where history seems to be what we could do. A handful of comrades kept changing for the worse for humanity. Even where dreaming, and we have to say many thanks to we have these changes (for the worse) sometimes them because some of them are not alive today, candles light up in a reaction that the enemy is and we’re happy that they led us up to here. not predicting. This is what happened in Greece. In the late 90s, neoliberalism seemed to appear We were a very big surprise to ourselves, but a again in our lives after the Great Britain experi- very negative surprise to our enemies. ence with Thatcherism and those types of ideas SYRIZA’s story started in 1991 when we had a started expanding around Europe and around the split over our very heroic and very proud history world. Neoliberalism was not just an economic of the Communist party of Greece, which a lot of school of thought; it was a philosophy. A philoso-

18 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Special Forum phy of the laws of the jungle: only the fittest can this?’, we had a notion ... not forgetting for survive. Only the smartest can survive. Only the we didn’t do it. But we one moment that ones who have the big money can survive: that’s knew that people were the bottom line of it. very enthusiastic, and we have tried many we were serious about times in the past, And as for the rest? Well, you’ll just have to see this, and this gave us but this time, at what you can do by yourself, not with others. You fuel and the incentive have to think and act as an individual. Not as part this critical time of to carry on and see of a collective of society, whether you belong to history we have what our next chal- the working class or academic groups who have an obligation lenge would be. progressive thinking. No, no, you just have to deal not to fail. with this problem yourself. And we agreed later that we would try to These were years when we talked to ourselves and have common lists of trade union leaders to vote we had congresses, and had problems, and we for regional councils, and mayors. Of course, the had differences of opinion. political alliance was still a bit far away from us, And then in 2001-2002, we decided that a coali- but we started on that. On the basis of daily prob- tion of the Left was not enough. The Left was lems of people, in the towns and cities, in coop- dismantling itself, fragmenting itself, not only in eratives and farms, small trade unions, big trade our country but in Europe also, and we seemed unions, in small business, in academic schools, to be very ineffective. We were just little circles universities, students councils, and so on. and drops of water in a big sea where everything And we did very well. In the 2004 election we seemed to be against us. became the third largest regional power in the And we decided to form a space of dialogue for councils of towns and cities in the provinces. We the Left. We sat around the table and we invited said, ‘this is working’. Maoists, Trotskyists, radical Greens, Marxist But still we had problems. We talked about the Lenninists, Communists, Social Democrats of past sometimes, if Trotsky was right or Mao was the Leftwing, and they were even betting on the even righter than him, or Stalin did some mis- internet that we would not last a week. But we did takes, and what were his mistakes. But you know last, more than ten years and we’re still going on, the youth that was coming and flooding us, they and even becoming broader and broader. put an agenda to us, and they said to us, ‘talk Keeping our DNA, our tradition of the Left, not about us, talk about the future’. forgetting for one moment that we have tried You can have your history teachers talk about many times in the past, but this time, at this what you did, and what you didn’t do, but these critical time of history we have an obligation not young people who were losing hope in the politi- to fail. Because this failure would mean not only cal system – they were very, very critical of the a backwards process for us but for many people political system, against all the political par- around the world who have placed hopes in us. ties from the Left to the Right – and we said to And we are very, very fervent believers in the ourselves okay we have to grow, become more domino theory, and we want to expand that domi- politically mature and see what we can say in no theory in Europe, and around the world. our agenda and our proposals in order for these So, this space of dialogue had to find some kind young people to become not just voters, we don’t of an agenda to agree on. And it happened to be want voters, we don’t want to be a traditional during the ‘shock and awe’ in Iraq. political party of the system, we want the people to join, to participate in all social movements, in All around the table everyone was against it, we the trade unions, in the universities, and of course raised our hands, and we said let’s have a protest in our party. And they played a very big role; they against the war in our neighbourhood, against the had a very big weight. bombardments of Iraq and the invasion of Iraq. But let’s agree that we’re not going to carry our We had a European Social Forum in 2005. We own party flags, and we’re going to march just had about 150,000 people visiting the four day with the trade unions and the teachers, this was a social forum, and we had another protest, mas- start for us. sive in Athens and Thessaloniki. But at the same time we invited to the European Social Forum First thing we did, we had a half a million peo- people from around the world. Australia was very ple on the streets, and we were amazed, and we far away at that time. It still is, but I’m sure you were saying to ourselves the next days, ‘did we do 19 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... SYRIZA, Greece and the European Left You have to will not be absent the next Left - what comes to mind is Salvador Allende, build bridges time, and the next time and his government, and at that time they used after that because during tanks and bullets. Today they use the media. with all of the my four or five day stay, They use other types of weapons that are just as people here one of the jobs I have to effective. And if we are to survive as a Leftwing who think the do here is, and I was told government we have to survive the same way that same way, or by the party, is to build Vietnam did in the 60s and Cuba did in the 70s. bridges. have the same We have to become a living example, not of what dreams, or You have to build bridges we are doing very well, but that we can try. We hope for the with all of the people here can do it, we can get support all around the world same things. who think the same way, on three levels: people, ordinary people, public or have the same dreams, opinion, alternative media; trade unions, social or hope for the same movements, political parties of the Left in the things. With the trade union leaders, with the broadest sense; and of course, countries, govern- SEARCH Foundation, with political parties, with ments, which are not very many around the world MPs who feel they belong to the Left but they’re that will agree with us and our program. in the wrong family. And this is what we’re doing But we have to try. And this is the only way to do here in Australia. it. And you know some of them were amazed, they I was listening to a previous workshop and there said ‘Costa you’re going to Australia and we have was a very good question raised that I have to an- a meeting of the Central Committee next weekend swer because I know you will ask it, but I will try on the 13th and 14th. You have to be there and to answer it as best as I can. you have to tell us about what is happening in So, we have to Gaza and the Middle East, and so on’. I said I’m In Latin America things were go to a simple going to take a risk and go there, I talked with the a little bit easier when things President, Alexis Tsipras, and he said ‘okay go, go started changing because historical, and see what we can do, and see what we have to they had one another. Ven- already do, around the world’. And this is one of the next ezuela was relying on Brazil, proven, recipe things I want to talk to you about. Brazil was relying on Ecua- - international dor, Argentina was relying We became the official party of the Opposition in solidarity on Venezuela, Uruguay on the last elections. We grew from 4% to 27% in less in the 21st Paraguay (which of course than two-and-a-half months. It’s like a science fic- now lost its elected president century. tion movie: if you have a four year-old you have to in the last coup d’etat that make him think like a twenty-seven year-old. took place in the parliament there), and so on. We’re trying to adapt to this new role. It’s a diffi- But altogether now they’re trying to open new cult role; it’s not easy. But we try every day to see roads in their history. how we can be better and better and better. And In Europe it’s not the same. If we become a the only recipe – political and ideological – I have leftwing government, a progressive democratic for you is one word: unity. Unity. Unity. government, we know we’re going to face an This is a recipe, this is what has worked for us, immediate war: a media war, an economic war, with our differences, our differences of opinion, especially from the German ruling class, the po- but trying every time to have a common denomi- litical class, the economic and financial systems. nator and build on that. Grow more and more and So, we have to go to a simple historical, already more. And every time, have a better challenge, proven, recipe - international solidarity in the whether it’s on the political scene, on the social 21st century. scene, on the educational scene, on the artistic scene – everything. We try to get involved in eve- It’s much more rapid through the internet, rything in our country. through the media, the alternative media, through delegations that will come to our country. And we And in the last year or so we have embarked after are here to invite all of you to come, whether you the election – 9 months to be exact – we have belong to trade unions or you’re MPs, or political embarked on as many trips abroad as possible. parties – please come. Please see what is hap- Because if one thing is taught to us by the great pening - this humanitarian crisis which is taking historical challenges, victories and defeats of the place in Greece, and it’s not the only place in the world of course. 20 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Special Forum We are accustomed to feel at ease watching on do that again’, and he took his own life. He did it the TV what is happening in the so-called Third in plain daylight at 9 o’clock in the morning with World countries in Africa, Latin America and people flooding out of the metro where a lot of Asia. But now it’s happening in their own field, people are going to their jobs every day. what they call First World countries. And this is We have a recession which is about 5.6% now, it’s going to spread in Europe. in the fifth consecutive year, and a reduction in Some of the I will just give you some our GDP of about 23% in the last five years. numbers to give you an grandmothers There are no chances under the austerity meas- idea of what a humani- ures, under the troika policies, under the current have taken their tarian crisis is like in system of taxation where the poor are taxed, the own lives because Greece which is still the unemployed are taxed in Greece today. And I’m they see their 28th biggest economy not talking about an unemployed person who has according to UN statis- grandchildren not four houses, three condominiums, three cars and tics. getting a second two ships in London. I’m talking about people plate of food ... But it’s not a rich who cannot survive; they’re taxed. And when they country. It has the cannot pay their taxes, their electricity is cut off. richest ship owners and And we have 600,000 homes without electricity bankers, and so on, nothing to do with the people. today in Greece. And we have today, after two-and-a-half years More than 250,000 of memorandum policies, and the third auster- How can you businesses have closed ity package that was passed less than six weeks in the last two-and-a- have neo-Nazism ago, we have 30% unemployment, 60% unem- half years, family busi- growing in a ployment for youth under thirty years old, mass nesses, small kiosks, country with such emigration of youth going to every corner of the small grocery shops, world you can imagine to try to live in dignity and a strong anti- small shops that sell not putting out their hands to their parents. Fascist tradition? shoes or clothing. Historical memory Kids that cannot fall in love, they cannot marry, And let me tell you a they cannot make families, they cannot dream. has been lost. little bit more of the This is probably the biggest social crisis we have blacker side of things. lived in Greece in the last century. Even in the At this time of the crisis there are opportunities war they had a choice - they went up into the for all, for the Left, historical opportunities for the mountains and they fought the Nazi enemy with people to find a way out, to think about what is a gun, and they felt liberty in their soil. Today we happening, and how to solve problems. But after cannot do that, it’s a different kind of world and 25 years of neoliberal hegemony, we have the a different historical context. I’m not making a Golden Dawn, the neo-Nazi ideas growing at the parallel of course. same time. We have 250,000 children that go to school hun- And neo-Nazism in Greece is irrational after what gry every day now not having breakfast or a glass has happened in the Second World War where we of milk. We have four or five children fainting had half a million Greeks dying of hunger, and every day in schools. another 300,000 emigrating after the civil war, We have had 5,200 suicides in the last three and 80,000 being killed during the civil war. years, the highest in Europe. How can you have neo-Nazism growing in a Some of the grandmothers have taken their own country with such a strong anti-Fascist tradition? lives because they see their grandchildren not get- Historical memory has been lost. It has only been ting a second plate of food, and they don’t want preserved in the families today, not in the schools. to deprive their grandchildren, so they say ‘let me We have never taught in our schools the anti-Fas- get out of the family in this way’, and just writing cist struggle of our country, of our people. a letter to say why they did it. In one of the photos you just saw in the slide Or the case of the well-known 82 year old man show, there is an old man being gassed in the who committed suicide in Syntagma Square two face, and somebody holding him in the back. That years ago, and he left a note, and he said, ‘when is our MP Manolis Glezos. He is 92 years old and I was a 15 year old kid I saw people eating out of he is the partisan of Europe. the garbage when the Nazis were here, I cannot 21 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... SYRIZA, Greece and the European Left He took part in the first partisan, anti-Fascist act see them. Because this is what is happening to on the 8th of April 1941 when the Nazi flag was our country today. raised on the Acropolis. That same night he went Just to go to the rainbow now, because the rain- up to the Acropolis with his friend, they were 17 bow is a sign of hope, and Australia is a country years old, and they pulled down the Nazi flag and of the rainbow because you have so many colours they raised the Greek flag again. That was the first and so many immigrants, and this is what is act against the Nazis in Europe. beautiful about Australia. More than 70 years Manolis Glezos said So I was very surprised, when I was talking to a later the authorities to us, ‘I want to be comrade before, and I was told a small portion did not even show of the diaspora who lives here believes in Golden elected’. ... Now he respect to this man Dawn. In a country where they have to coex- volounteered himself when the brutality ist with all these colours, how can they believe and said “I want to was taking place in a white race, and a Greek white race? This is outside the parlia- spend the last days inexplicable. But ment. They were of my life battling the Fascism is inexpli- gassing an MP, a But it’s time for us to Nazis again in the cable anyway, so man who has been be on the offensive. we leave that to the Greek Parliament”. decorated in the It’s time for us to scientists to discover Soviet Union, in what goes wrong in have a program that Cuba, in France, in Germany, in England, all over the chemistry of the people can believe the world. brain when some- in. And our program And, in the last elections, when the Golden Dawn body turns to that. will be presented, party was growing, Manolis Glezos said to us, ‘I But this is a real we try to articulate want to be elected’. We were always pushing for danger in Greece. our program every him to be a candidate in the harshest years of our And maybe in Spain existence because he’s a well-known figure, but he month, try to bring the system will not had declined. Now he volounteered himself and something new. use neo-Fascists, said “I want to spend the last days of my life bat- maybe they will tling the Nazis again in the Greek Parliament”. use the Catalans and the Andalusians and other I saw Manolis Glezos a week ago, and he had been peoples in Spain who want to separate themselves hospitalised with pneumonia. But he’s such a from the Spanish Federal state. In every country, strong man, he has lived through more than two the system will try to create obstacles, in any way decades in exile, and he has been in jail, and he they can, in order for the Left to be on the defen- has been condemned to be executed three times sive. in his life (his case went to the United Nations). But it’s time for us to be on the offensive. He is a survivor and he will make it. It’s time for us to have a program that people can I asked to him before I left, “do you want me believe in. And our program will be presented, we to say anything to the people in Australia?” He try to articulate our program every month, try to just simply said one phrase, an ancient Spartan bring something new. We try to learn something phrase of defiance when they were outnumbered new, going around the world, Latin America we and the enemy insisted on their surrender – ‘mo- have been there many times. Ιn Europe, Alexis lon lave’. It means ‘come and take our arms’ and Tsipras will be visiting Iceland at the end of April is a defiant signal of resistance and solidarity. because Iceland shows us something. This was coming from his heart, and he said this I met somebody from Iceland and he said ‘it’s because he believes that in every corner of the very nice to meet someone from the Iceland of world there is the light and the hope of demo- the South’, and I told him ‘it’s very nice to meet cratic ideas, of anti-capitalist and anti-neoliberal someone from the Greece of the North, because policies. Their importance may not be depicted we have a lot of things in common’. in newsreels and articles in Australia as vividly as you can feel them now when you go outside of The banks are on us. The financial system is on your house, and you see, before 7 o’clock in the us. Of course, there are differences, such as they morning, people who are very well-dressed, old are outside the Eurozone while we are inside the pensioners, looking for food in the garbage, and Eurozone. We are a little bit strangled there and they go very early in the morning so nobody will we have to see how we are going to overcome this problem. 22 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Special Forum ... we have But our program is very we have to talk about the world. But Europe is to battle this simple. the epicentre of neoliberal storms coming to the world. Europe of the First, break with auster- past - the Europe ity. Break completely The other thing We will not be absorbed that tries to with austerity. Austerity that I wanted to cannot exist in a country mention about by the system - this is sacrifice itself where we want to rebuild our program is something we have cannibalistically a nation, rebuild society, that we try to in the core of our by going to war. rebuild jobs. They have convince people program. We have destroyed 2 million jobs that we’re not a learned from the centre in three years. traditional party left governments in that looks for a It’s not going to be easy to create two million jobs clientele of vot- Italy before, in Spain, in a month, or in a year. It’s very easy to destroy ers to get a big in France. We cannot jobs, and it’s very difficult to create them. To bunch of voters repeat history as a farce create jobs with a content of dignity, of social se- in our ballot. curity, of security in the future - this will be a very and a tragedy. difficult job but we have to talk about rebuilding This will just the nation with jobs. make us a copy of the others. And we will fail at the end, even if And jobs means nationalisation of your resources, we get 60%, if we don’t have people participating of your great resources, whether they’re financial, within our decisions that we take in the party, in whether they are strategic - you cannot have wa- the trade unions, in the social movements where ter or energy in private hands. You cannot. they will become the fuel and the motor of radical Look what happened in Latin America. Neoliber- change. alism has shown us that it is a complete failure. It’s not us. They will lead the way. They will take And they’re doing it in Europe, and they’re doing their own positions in their confrontations and it around the world, they will try to expand this the government will have to vote in the parlia- virus because if Europe chooses to be the cen- ment and they will have to support all these peo- tre of world recession just because the German ple that will be going out in the streets struggling economic hegemony and the ruling class want to and fighting. expand their economic and social power within Europe, they know they will contaminate the rest Of course, we will have our own program. But of the world, this will be a domino on their side. even our program is not so bold in some areas - they will have to show us the way. And we’re aware of that, and that’s why when we talk about a program we say this is not only We will not be ab- a program for Greece, this is also a program for sorbed by the system ... this is always in Europe. - this is something our mind: ‘What is we have in the core our adversary within And in Southern Europe we know that, but our of our program. comrades in Germany and our comrades in Greece, and outside We have learned Greece going to do?’ France, and in other Northern countries and from the centre left in Central Europe, they look to us and say ‘you governments in Italy have to help us too’, and we do. They come to before, in Spain, in our country, and we go to their country, we take France. We cannot repeat history as a farce and part in their rallies and their , Tsipras has a tragedy. This time the Left has to be victorious been there many times, and he will continue to in Greece for the rest of Europe because they’re do so, because we have to battle this Europe of looking to us, and they say to us, ‘you have no the past - the Europe that tries to sacrifice itself right to fail. You cannot fail’. cannibalistically by going to war. Now we have an economic war of course. And this is so important to us, every time we put out an example of what we have to do and how But this Europe cannot be the future for the Euro- to do it, this is always in our mind: ‘What is our pean peoples. So our program is always Europe- adversary within Greece, and outside Greece go- an-oriented. It’s not only for Greece, it’s also for ing to do?’ Europe. And of course for the rest of the world. If we talk about a globalised capitalist economy And youth. Youth is one important fuel. I can see two kids right in front of me, and I’m look- 23 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... SYRIZA, Greece and the European Left You’re not isolated. ing at them while I Understand each other more. We have gone Shock and awe speak because this is through difficult times. We have fought a lot one of the criticisms between us. But this storm is not a joke. These will come if you let we make when we policies are not just an abnormality of capital- them. Prepare your have party meet- ism. This is one of the highest stages that prepare people. Prepare ings. We start, and humanity for the most terrorist and most fright- your organisations. somebody says ‘how ful ideas you can imagine. We are living it in our Prepare your social many young people neighbourhood. are here under 30?’, movements, your We are living it. We see civil wars. We see hun- and some of them dreds of thousands of immigrants flooding into trade unions, your put their hands up, Greece - Afghans, Syrians, Kurds, and so on. And political objectives but it’s not enough, we have about a million people there with no pa- and your political it’s never enough. pers most of them, and they’re the first victims of There will have to be alliances. the neo-Nazis because they are the weakest. They a majority in these are the first victims. They are knifed at night. The auditoriums, in the neo-Nazis go out to philanthropic meetings giving streets, in the protests because this is a fight for out food and say ‘only for Greeks’ and you pre- them. The main thing, the main slogan that trig- sent your ID. Let the others starve. This is Golden gers a revolution in a young person’s conscience Dawn. and heart in Greece is when we tell them that they cannot and should not live worse than their And we have to tell people what Golden Dawn parents. is, because these things will spring up in a crisis, they will spring up, and you have to have a front And this is a shock to them because they see it, for their defence and to go on the offensive. they’re living it, and it’s abnormal for the next generation to live worse than the generation be- And the recipe is hope, smiles, collective con- fore. So this is why anger needs to be transformed sciousness, and dreams, because you can make into a constructive hope of collective participa- it, we can all make it. We can change the world. tion. We have to believe in this. When we have a 92 year-old man thinking like a 17 year-old, how can Being angry is not enough. Anger starts some- we fail? thing, triggers something, but it can trigger something dangerous too, as we said for the neo- fascists. And the recipe So, it is an ideological battle. It’s not only a battle is hope, smiles, of votes, of slogans, or programs, it’s a battle of collective ideologies, and historical memory plays a very big consciousness, and part in that. dreams, because you I will leave it to the questions and answers now, can make it, we can and I will try to answer some of your questions. But, I will say again, - what we bring is just hope. all make it. We can Hope for you, hope for everybody. We believe change the world. that we can do it. We need your solidarity and you need our solidarity also. It’s a two-way street for the Left all over the world. I was given a very quick lesson by Adam Rorris and other comrades. I said ‘what is happening in Australia? I don’t live here, I don’t know.’ The first question I asked is ‘why do they call it Down Under?’ I never understood that because I was born in a ‘down under’ country in Argentina. So, I got the message. You’re not isolated. Shock and awe will come if you let them. Prepare your people. Prepare your organisations. Prepare your social movements, your trade unions, your politi- cal objectives and your political alliances. 24 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum II Uniting to Fight the Abbott Coalition

Sally McManus

I pay my respects to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. Uniting to fight the Abbott Coalition – I find it so ironic that I’ve got to give this speech to this group, because it really should be addressed to the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party. I’ve thought a lot about this, and it is just so hard to put a gloss on the current situation, and try to pretend that it is anything other than quite hor- Sally McManus is the Secretary of the rible at the moment. I have to admit that I do feel Australian Services Union NSW / ACT quite depressed. I’m not going to try to hide that Services Branch. in this speech. Perhaps, I see it more acutely because I am secre- tary of a union and because I am from the NSW far in Sydney Water, and there will be thousands ALP, which I will talk about. I’ll start there. by the end of it in the public transport area. I sus- I am a member of the NSW ALP Socialist Left. pect in the longer term that O’Farrell has got ‘Big We’ve had to fight for years and years against Society’ type ideas in terms of the non-govern- the disgusting characters who are now before the ment community sector area, but I worry much Independent Commission Against Corruption. Of more about the longer term plans and damage course all of us knew they were disgusting charac- that right-wing government in NSW will do. They ters but didn’t just know exactly how bad they are very much thinking about being there for a were. Having said that, even I have been shocked very long time, and their second-term agenda, at the depth of naked self-interest and the ma- which I think will be a big fight over privatisation, nipulation for personal gain that these people from my perspective very much focused on water have engaged in. It has been gut-wrenching to and public transport. have to watch that because you know that the Sometimes it seems like such a massive mountain message that’s being sent to the public is that the to face. We’ve got that, but in order to fight it as Labor Party is corrupt and self-interested. The a union, what needs to be changed in the Labor consequences of that are huge and devastating. Party is so huge as well – fundamental changes. It is particularly disgusting because you know But that is a speech for a different audience. that really it is a group of people who worked out how to play the game, worked out how you can Secondly, the situation for unions is as hard as within a political party get the numbers – set up it’s been for several generations. Of course it was a sub-faction, get the numbers in it, then control harder before then, but the generations alive the largest faction, then control everything. The today are those when membership was at its peak fact that it was possible to play this game is what of 60 per cent. Now we are at 17-18 per cent, and has to be changed and smashed within the Labor a lot lower in the private sector. Sometimes I get Party if we are to change in a real way. the feeling that those from the generation 60 per cent don’t quite appreciate the rapid change, the My members work at Sydney Water and Hunter pressures, how hard it is for union leaderships. Water, and in the public transport system and in the non-government community sector. The real When I say union leaderships, I am talking about life consequences of a right-wing government in rank-and-file leaderships, the delegates right NSW are real. There have been 200 jobs lost so through to the union secretary. The way this im- 25 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Uniting to Fight the Abbott Coalition pacts is the amount of resources you have, when tralia’s 1 per cent And the corporate you are much, much smaller. The fact that we are getting more elites are more don’t have centralized wage fixing, which we had and more powerful. when we were at 60 per cent. So everyone is off Look at what the militant and more fighting enterprise by enterprise bargaining. And mining companies, organised than they the corporate elites are more militant and more the big polluters have been for a organised than they have been for a very long and the media have very long time. They time. They have got a plan, and they are marching done. I suppose have got a plan, and forward with it, to try to de-unionise via insecure this is the case for they are marching work. That is the number one way they do it, ob- any government in viously. There is off-shoring and privatising, pres- Australia that tries forward with it, to suring and buying off governments for anti-union progressive change, try to de-unionise via laws. A very aggressive management culture that and there has been insecure work. is well-organised. a lot of it that this Federal Labor gov- Despite this, our union has grown by eight per ernment has achieved. But it doesn’t take away cent over the last five years, but that is for a few from the shocking disunity that we have seen reasons. It has taken our total energy and total from Federal Labor, and many of the problems focus, and it isn’t something you can say everyone are our own. So there is no point entirely blaming can do. If you are the Australian Manufacturing forces outside of us. Workers Union or the Finance Sector Union, and your industries are shrinking, even if you put the More than this, and at the heart of it, is a reflec- same energy and focus in, it isn’t possible to do tion of where we are on the left in general. The that. media talks about the lack of an overriding nar- rative for the Labor Party and it is true. At the I am so aware of what an Abbott government heart of it, there is no unifying sense of what we would do to us. They’ve learnt the mistakes of last believe in as a Labor Party. There’s differences time, where they fully took on working people and about that, but even the differences are not sharp went straight after their wages and conditions. I enough to cause the type of dialectic that we need. think they’ve learnt that is not the smartest thing In the end we are left to the whims of spinsters to do. Instead they are going to exploit what has and focus groups, you are susceptible to pressure, come out about the Health Services Union, and you can’t stand your ground and fight for the poli- are probably going to have a Royal Commission cies that you try to implement, because you are into unions. They will send people from the Royal on shaky ideological ground. You don’t even know Commission into all of our offices, go through all what ideological ground you are on. our receipts, everything spent on coffee or what- ever, for years and years. The whole point will be So this weakness with the Labor Party, and the to tie up our resources, to tie up our money. Our lack of clarity of ideology, is all of our responsibil- comrades in the Construction Union have been ities. Everyone here who is not in the Labor Party through this before – it is horrible. will think, well, that’s not right, but it is right because it is a reflection of what has happened to Whatever they find they will use to dirty-up us on the left. It is our job as leaders in the left, unions as much as possible, to cause a break as the people who are motivated and thinking, between working people and their organisations. and believe so much in what we do believe in, They will probably then make it illegal to affili- to be the ones carrying the vision, articulating it ate to the ALP, they’ll try that on too. But when in a clear way. That affects the Labor Party, that the institutions are weakened, that’s when they’ll affects the Greens, that affects unions where that go after the working conditions of Australians. happens. So not trying to outsource the problems They’ll do it once we are drained of resources and of the Labor Party, it is part of all our problems. time. Where we’ve got a weak Labor Party it affects us So this weakness Finally, the situa- all. tion of the Federal I want to finish with some positive things. In the with the Labor Labor government is face of all this, and what would happen if Abbott Party, and the depressing. We have gets elected, what can we on the left do to unite? lack of clarity of been under a massive Knowing that we are going to be fighting each sustained attack by a ideology, is all of other in inner-city seats, knowing that all this mobilized and highly our responsibilities. activist energy will be wasted that way, accept- motivated right. Aus- 26 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum II ing it but knowing it, I think there are two really What is socialism? ... we are saying practical things we can do. There is no point we want more just using the term First of all – it is a bit about the launch of the socialism because democracy, we booklet about the Right – we really need to define what that means need to say more who our oppressors are in a way that means for working class than that, we need something to the working class. Probably not even people in Australia describing it as left and right – which of course to have a basic today is not a good it is - but it is more like: you’ve got a choice, you program of the thing necessarily, could be a right-winger in your ideology or a left- things we want and not only that, winger, more in a class conscious way. it is murky, it is not to achieve as left- Talking about the 1 per cent in Australia, because understood. wingers, what we we all are not part of that. Who are they? Who are would see socialism Wherever we are those characters? Make it real so that we on the talking in those practically being left can talk about it constantly, to describe it, to generalisations, we in Australia. point it out every time there are pressures on left are saying we want wing governments or unions. more democracy, Who is it, who are the people behind it? Give we need to say more than that, we need to have a them faces, give them names. basic program of the things we want to achieve as Let’s all on the left unite around that, not under- left-wingers, what we would see socialism practi- mine each other on that simple practical thing we cally being in Australia. can do. Where we can unite on those big picture issues is Secondly, we need to work together on the basics where we should focus. In doing so, that will make of what is our vision for a better society. all of our struggles easier.

Jenna Price (Destroy the Joint) and Prof Emeritus Frank Stilwell (USyd Political Economy Dept) launch Enemies of a Fair Society booklet, hosted by Rob Durbridge (SEARCH Foundation).

27 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Uniting to Fight the Abbott Coalition

Tad Tietze

How having the Left in government made life easy for Abbott — and what we can do about it now

I acknowledge that we are here on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. Rather than getting depressed about this crisis, I’d suggest that one thing the Left has been good at in the past is to have a material analysis of the crisis, and to understand also the weaknesses of Tad Tietze is a public hospital psychia- the other side — our opponents. trist who blogs at Left Flank and was the co-editor (with Elizabeth Humphrys and We are living through a period that [the Italian Guy Rundle) of On Utøya: Anders Brei- Marxist] Antonio Gramsci described very well, a vik, Right Terror, Racism and Europe. period of many morbid political symptoms, on all sides. I will talk about three points in this dis- cussion, including some lessons and some ways forward that we can look at. formally Left Prime Minister who attacks asylum It is important to understand the ALP’s crisis not seekers, single parents and so on. What’s going just as one of narrative and ideology, but of real on? material factors in the formation and constitution Yes, the party has lost its ideological reason for of the ALP. The trade union base of the ALP has being. It is really hard to take Wayne Swann seri- really withered. It was over 40 per cent density ously when he attacks mining bosses at the same between 1914 and 1990. Now it is 18 per cent. time as helping design the Minerals Resource This is the real base of the ALP. Strike days are Rent Tax, which hits them with a feather. But all down. those problems of narrative and ideology have The party organisation is famous for how with- to be understood on the basis of something real ered it is compared to even 20 or 30 years ago. and material. The Labor Party has had ideologi- The primary vote has collapsed compared with cal crises in the past but never has it been so deep its historic levels. Don’t forget the ALP was out of and dramatic. And it is a crisis of political repre- office during the Menzies years, averaging 45.7 sentation. per cent of the primary vote even with the DLP in I would argue that Labor’s greatest success of the existence. And look at the last two elections and modern era, the Accord period, was its undoing, where we are heading now. because its success was a neoliberal success. Most significantly, and a really bright spot of the If you look at that graph, of the trend of average last ten years, there’s actually been a Left forma- male wages in Australia, you see that when the tion – whatever its problems – outside the ALP economic crisis of the 1970s starts, actually this that the Left has been able to draw inspiration rising wages situation falls apart. In fact, if we from. are really honest about it, wages do worse under The factions of the ALP have also lost their mean- Hawke and Keating than they do under Howard. ing. The higher you go in the party, the govern- I’m not a defender of Howard, but we have to ment and the politicians, that real connection think what the implication of this is; of a progres- with the working class is not what it used to be. sive reform agenda promised as part of the Accord As Sally McManus described, there are some but which wasn’t actually delivered except for a very unrepresentative fiefdoms, it is more about few things people keep talking about, like Medi- patronage than about social interests. We have a care. Even superannuation, given its returns, and 28 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum II Labor’s neoliberal ‘reform success’ was its undoing Started with Accord • Systematic attack on work- ers’ wages (c.f. Howard) — with cooperation of unions • Progressive reform agenda dropped in favour of pri- vatisation, cuts to welfare, deregulation, etc.

the financialised industry it created — you have We’ve forgotten the great victory there because to wonder how progressive a reform that was for we’ve then looked to this government to deliver workers. things. As the crisis has gotten worse, both sides of politics have grown unpopular, and have But neoliberalism is hardly a popular set of poli- looked increasingly to scapegoating to cover this cies. Polling from Essential Media Communica- up. You can’t correct this by having a few nicer tions last year shows Liberal-National voters policies to talk to the base. You can’t correct such saying who did well out of this period of reform. a deep crisis that way. Gosh, 55 per cent said corporations did. These are Liberal-National voters. You can see across And the crazy part is that people don’t think Ab- the community that there is a real class sense that bott is going to be great. He is unpopular in all the this project wasn’t the right thing. Yet then main- polling. Essential polling shows that most people stream political parties want to carry on with it, expect to be worse off under Abbott than under want to celebrate this ‘golden age of reform’. the existing situation. Labor is going to lose the election this year, pos- There is new marginal electorate research show- sibly horrifically. I’m starting to think 55-45 is not ing that even though a majority of voters in mar- unreasonable. But it is actually the whole official ginal electorates are going to vote for the Liber- political class that is hav- ing these problems. The ALP’s crisis is cur- rently worse, because it has come off a long period of power in the states and more importantly federally. But actually the Liberal and National par- ties have a lot of internal problems. Let’s not forget that Campbell Newman was the solution to a dire crisis of the LNP in Queensland. And the Left has forgotten that it won in 2007 because Howard’s agenda was so exhausted he got thrown out of his own seat.

29 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Uniting to Fight the Abbott Coalition als and Nationals, a majority also want a Labor apocalypse all the time, you just make people pas- government. sive in the face of it. There are all these kinds of morbid symptoms. Is there a basis for a new WorkChoices? No there’s not. Look at LNP voters opinions on Here is that Essential polling - really excellent penalty rates – overwhelmingly LNP voters think stuff - showing people’s expectations of Abbott people should be paid penalty rates. Contract versus the current situation. In almost every work – who does it help? The vast majority of category people expect that things will be worse, LNP voters think it helps employers more than including by a factor of nine per cent that they workers. themselves will be worse off financially under Abbott. But the ALP’s morbid symptoms have been made worse by this period in government. It has at- You can understand that it is a crisis of official tacked refugees, watered down the minerals tax, politics, and not necessarily some kind of rational dropped climate action (and then been pushed decision about who has the better list of policies. by the Greens to do something). Then there are That is why Abbott is playing the small target welfare crackdowns, the Northern Territory In- strategy. He is holding together a very messy, very tervention, gay marriage, 457 visas and national- diverse constituency, a lot just united by being ism — you name it. This is a government that has against this government. He knows he can’t go played to the Right. It has accepted the primacy of back to Howard or implement the full Institute of Abbott before he has even won an election. Public Affairs agenda. As he made clear at the IPA The current leadership can’t even claim its one dinner the other night, he said, ‘I’m not going to true achievement — saving us from the Global be the Whitlam of the Right’. Financial Crisis — because that’s apparently when If we think he is all powerful, we instantly become it was most dysfunctional under a psychopathic demoralized and despairing, and get stuck worry- leader. ing about that. What sort of confusion do we get out of this? It at- Let’s look at LNP governments. We’ve had two tacks Abbott for not being pro-market enough on leaders overthrown, one of them by phone call climate, not pro-market enough on paid parental while overseas. We have Campbell Newman in leave. Is the ALP possibly now having its PASOK a lot of trouble internally. The fact that the Left moment? This is a serious issue. hasn’t had a political resurgence in any of those The Left, though, has dropped serious political places doesn’t tell you anything about the weak- independence from the ALP’s project. The ALP nesses of the Right. Left is caught up in that. Unions demobilized the Abbott is a thug, but his government will be weak Your Rights At Work and accepted a government and incoherent, and if you predict an Abbott that gave us WorkChoices lite.

ALP Left is beholden to party’s current trajectory Unions demobilised YR@W to support a government that gave them Workchoices Lite Greens’ alliance with Gillard • Muted criticism of Gillard in exchange for access & policy sops • Actively demobilised supporters to facilitate this; e.g. climate action • Have thrown away ability to stand against old political class on a progressive basis & become tainted by it • Even after ‘divorce’ Greens spruiking ‘achievements’ of alliance

30 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum II And the Greens — this is a more subtle process. man going into crisis and hasn’t been able to take The Greens haven’t collapsed their program in advantage. the face of Labor, but they gave ground politically It is really important that we understand that to Labor by entering a political alliance. They ex- the ALP’s crisis is so deep that we can’t expect an changed some policy sops and access for muting automatic benefit for the ALP from a crisis of an the kinds of harsh criticisms they used to make of Abbott government. the ALP. They actively demobilized supporters in the climate movement. They’ve thrown away their Finally, and perhaps most worryingly, this parti- ability to stand against this crisis of the politi- sanship is bad, but it’s not so bad in terms of the cal class. Even now they talk like, ‘Labor is really general populace, because most people are not terrible’, but on the other hand ‘it was really good pulled along by it. But there is a hard Right con- that we were in power with them’. stituency building, and not only is Labor having a PASOK moment, but we could see a Golden Dawn To build a we have to start by recogniz- moment down the track as well. And that is a real ing that the Left can’t rebuild while it accepts concern, far and above Abbott. large parts of the neoliberal agenda. People want to hold on to bits of it as if you can add nice stuff to it. We have to recognise that this is a crisis of political representation but we shouldn’t join in ABBOTT IS NOT MAIN it. We shouldn’t make excuses for bad policies because our side is implementing them. There has DANGER been too much of that under this government. Australia is unlikely to escape We should develop a Left program that doesn’t the global economic crisis subordinate itself to first getting Labor and the forever — what if Left is not Greens into government. Really we have to think prepared? about mass political action, the sorts of move- ments we saw in the early 2000s, the inspiration Abbott Govt will go into crisis, of Your Rights At Work and the Climate Move- there will be resistance, but ment, rather than governmentality. what if the only politics on the I don’t think Abbott is the main danger. Are we Left has not learned the lessons actually prepared for a global financial crisis of the failed politics of the last 5 actually hitting Australia? Are we prepared for when Abbott goes into crisis? Because the Left years? in Queensland hasn’t been prepared for New- LEFT DROPS INDEPENDENCE

31 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Uniting to Fight the Abbott Coalition

Hall Greenland

I’m going to be a bit self-indulgent in Andrew Giles’ terms by talking about Labor and the Greens this morning. But before I do open with some probably quite harsh but honest words about our Labor comrades, I do want to acknowl- edge the three representatives of Labor here whose day-by-day work I have a lot of apprecia- Hall Greenland is a journalist, commu- tion and sympathy for having been in the Labor nity campaigner, a founder of the Greens Party for 22 years, and I really do support and and the Greens candidate for Grayndler wish them well in developing a 21st Century social in the federal elections. democratic vision of a good society and a good life. Today, what it is I want speak about is the pos- sibility of a united front, if I can use such an old There are some advantages, like the clean energy fashioned term, between the Greens and Labor package, Denticare et cetera, but it is perfectly to see off the Abbott Liberals on September 14, legitimate to argue, I think, that this is because of and I’m at one with Nick Martin on this in that I the participation of the Greens in an agreement believe that’s a possibility. with this government. And if that doesn’t work out, then we’ve formed a And when you look at the Tarkine, the Great Bar- basis of some kind of ongoing and hopefully suc- rier Reef, the valley around Gloucester, and so on, cessful resistance to an Abbott government and you can see the environmental negatives of this its inevitable excesses. This is an attempt, if you government as well. I won’t go into the booming like, to construct an Abbott-proof fence. coal exports and the export of emission 40-80 times greater than we’re supposed to be saving by But I think we have to start with some honest 2020. things on the table about the Gillard government. On industrial relations, as Tad described it, we’ve On many very important issues it has continued got Workchoices Lite and we’ve got no right to with the Howard era policies. And in some, like strike and we’ve got lockout provisions of the Fair refugees, it’s gone one or two notches worse. It Work Act that obviously benefit employers and doesn’t seem to me that we can ignore this. corporations. And even on simple, decent human Whether it’s expanded aid to the wealthiest pri- issues like the defence of Julian Assange, this gov- vate schools, school league tables, the dismantling ernment has not only failed to support him but of TAFE, the Northern Territory Intervention, has joined the hunt. I’m still waiting for a Labor et cetera. That’s a reality and it’s not something figure of some principle to speak out on a basic any of us welcomed, or feel comfortable with. issue like this. And I don’t think we should hide Larger questions of wealth and income inequali- from this because it’s out there and we know it, ties, they’ve continued to grow as Andrew Leigh, a we have the corruption of the CSG approval pro- Labor MP, has pointed out. cess in QLD, it was on the Four Corners program last Monday, and the grave allegations involving The domination of financial institutions in the Labor ministers and warlords in NSW. economy, the profits of the Big Four banks in- creased by 50% in the last four years; that con- There is a miasma of disappointment surround- tinues. We have this remarkable situation in this ing this government and I don’t think we can run financial year where this Labor government will away from it. This sense of disappointment is collect more from cutting single parents’ pensions a mass phenomenon, it cannot be just brushed than it will from the Mining Tax. aside as a matter of left-wing intellectuals or im- 32 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum II patient overcritical Greens. It’s a disappointment united front. And I’m serious about this; that this – disappointment may be putting it too lightly – seems to be an inescapable reality, an inescapable there are signs of an inchoate, baseball bat kind of choice that we have to make. That the leadership anger in much of the electorate out there, much of of the Greens and the leadership of Labor must it aimed at Julia Gillard herself. come to some kind of working agreement on what they agree about, what they will pursue in govern- Guy Rundle has explained this popular anger ment after September 14. in this way, and I think he’s correct, ‘for many Australians, life while prosperous on paper, is And I think that program can be built around ed- squeezed and limited. They are squeezed by ucation and giving priority to the public system, it absurdly inflated house prices, absurdly high can be around the defence of the climate pack- grocery and basic prices, overpriced telecom ser- age and expanding the derisory 5% target, public vices, a working day creeping up in length, pitiful investment and ownership of renewables. parental leave, and poorly designed cities.’ It can be around public enterprise, defending the He could have added, a starved, inadequately NBN and going on to high speed rail and into funded public education system and precarious banking. working conditions, but he didn’t. It can be on industrial relations, improving peo- And he goes on, ‘the social advances of the past ple’s rights at work, and the rights of unions. 30 years have been co-opted to the squeeze, so It can be around welfare state advances, like the the entry of woman into the workforce has been National Disability Insurance Scheme and Den- entirely absorbed by rising house prices. People ticare, the increase in Newstart allowance by $50 know their parents and grandparents’ lives were and the restoration of single parent’s pensions. more limited and oppressive than theirs but they also know that a home could have been bought It can be around tax reform, already work has and maintained on a single wage and that people been done by David Bradbury and others on tax- had more time and space, and more ease of life.’ ing overseas companies properly, the abolition of fossil fuel subsidies, a genuine mining tax, and so All these failures it seems to me make it impossi- on. ble to arouse the most progressive sections of the population, and I believe they are a majority, to And a better life, which means investment not in a positive and enthusiastic defence of the Gillard West Connex with $15 billion that Anthony Alba- government. This is not going to happen. nese has got in mind, but in better public trans- port, in expanded rights at work for leave and so What may be possible is a campaign to prevent on, and public housing for more liveable cities. a worse government. And unlike Tad, I don’t underestimate how bad that government can So, I think that that is a real possibility. We will be: banning even a minimal action on climate continue as Greens to put forward a vision for change, weakening and scrapping environmental the future, to defend people like the refugees and protections, abolishing rights at work for work- Julian Assange, to stop any expansion of coal ers, cutting social spending, making things even mining or CSG fracking, and so on, of getting out worse for refugees, and extending tax breaks to of Afghanistan. corporations and the rich. But I believe that there is a core of things on Now, this will not only be an attempt to go back to which we can agree. So, under this scenario the the Howard era, but I think it will be worse in the election would boil down to a coalition versus a worsening global economic situation. I haven’t coalition. There would of course be exchanges of got time, obviously, to go into that, but the United preferences in the Senate and the lower house; States economy, the EU economy and now the it would entail recognition of the end of the two weakening of economic growth in China gives us party system, the end of the imperial pretensions a much worse economic environment that we’ve of the Labor Party that will be difficult for the had in the past. dinosaurs in the Labor Party, and I’m not confi- dent that the forces of realism and regeneration But I don’t believe a negative scare campaign will are strong enough in the Labor ranks to make be enough. It will require some promises of a bet- them face the reality that we cannot defeat Abbott ter, easier life. It would need to be as hopeful, as alone, that without this united front, this politi- it is defensive. It would need to offer an alterna- cal cooperation, I doubt that an Abbott victory tive. And it seems to me that can only be offered and all that follows can be prevented. So that’s a by Labor and the Greens presenting some kind of proposal. Thank you. 33 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Uniting to Fight the Abbott Coalition

Andrew Giles

Are we all in this together? A Labor perspective on building a progressive agenda for change.

I join the other speakers in acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay my respect to their elders, past and pre- sent. I’m pleased to join in this important conversa- tion, and it is great to be up from Melbourne to be here. I say ‘conversation’ because I don’t think we are ready to have a debate about some of Andrew Giles is a Melbourne employment the questions that underlie the issues which the lawyer and the ALP candidate for Scullin. speakers are trying to lead a discussion on today. I’m not here to have a debate, I’m not here to proselytise a perspective which is relatively fixed, about the conversation of every inner-city café probably like that of everyone else in this room. and every broadsheet newspaper – and that is My concern is to try to identify some common Labor and the Greens. Now is not the time when ground around asking two big questions. that kind of self-indulgence suits the purposes of anyone on the Left. The first one is: are we united in organising to prevent a Tony Abbott government? Again I think most of us acknowledge that we are going to have some difficult conversations elector- The second one – the bigger one perhaps – is: can ally going forward, and most of the people in this we start today the process of laying the founda- room have got some fairly clear notions of where tions for a positive, unifying Left agenda into the they see the ideological and practical imperatives medium term in Australia? of the way forward. That’s a conversation that In addressing those questions there are three will go on, but it is a distraction to the big discus- things I want to touch on very briefly before sions we need to be having, and indeed, leading, looking forward to what I am sure will be spirited between now and September 14. Perhaps just as questions and answers and the other contribu- importantly, on the longer narrative arc of Aus- tions. tralian politics into the medium term. I want to set out the perspective that I bring to Firstly, me, I am up here in my capacity as La- this debate. I want to talk about the scope of the bor’s candidate for the Federal seat of Scullin, a challenge we all face regardless of our various traditional working class electorate in the north- perspectives on the ideological spectrum of the ern suburbs of Melbourne. My experience in be- Left in Australia. And I want to share some initial ing a candidate informs in large part my thinking thoughts on what may be a way forward. on some of the issues before us today. I am also here because I have I should also say that I am not going to talk about been secretary of ... most of us Tony Abbott, even though we have some firm the Victorian Social- views about what an Abbott government might acknowledge that ist Left in the Labor mean, and even though we might argue about its we are going to Party since 2006, and consequences. I am not going to talk about ‘Labor have some difficult have participated in in crisis’, and I’ll say no more than that I think many of the debates conversations the rumours of Labor’s demise have been going before us today from electorally going on for quite some time and have always proven to an internal Labor forward ... be grossly exaggerated. I’m also not going to talk 34 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum II Party perspective through that time and before it. status of heresy ... the majority of I should say that the reason which set me on my in many circles, electors regard the path of deep involvement in the Left of the Labor particularly pro- Party and perhaps to become a Labor parliamen- gressive circles, best party to achieve tary candidate, is my work as a lawyer. but we must al- a variety of ends ways remember connected to social In particular the great privilege I had to act on that we’ve got to behalf of the asylum seekers on the MV Tampa justice, fairness and try much harder in 2001. I am proud to be a lawyer and proud of equity, they don’t see to be where the the work that my profession at its best does. But the Labor Party as people are. That that was a moment for me – and I’m sure many is something that meeting those needs, others had very different responses to those tragic I will reflect on nor do they see the circumstances – that led me to firm up my convic- as I leave today, Greens political party. tion that the most effective use of Leftist, col- and I hope many lectivist political activism is to seek to shape the That great institution in this room do governments that are formed in Australia. ‘none of the above’ too. came out in front. That is the conviction which I continue to main- I want to talk tain and which informs much of what I say today, now briefly on and much of what I do in all the political activity I the scope of the challenge that’s before all of us am involved in. in the broad Left. I do so again standing from Moving from that, it is probably unsurprising the perspective of someone who fervently be- that my activity, every day between now and lieves there have been some real and significant September 14, is to ensure the reelection of the achievements of Labor in government since 2007 Labor government. I suspect that is not a convic- which have not been adequately acknowledged, tion that’s shared with equal fervour by everyone particularly in the circumstances of minority gov- in this room. I’ll touch a bit on why I think that is ernment since 2010. unfortunate in terms of the broader issues before Any recital of those successes must also be situ- us as the Left in Australia, but I think I should ated in the broad political context, which to me make my perspective clear. has two critical elements, which feed into today’s I should also bring to bear the other big realisa- conversation. tion that’s come to me in all the conversations One is to look at the reality of the opinion polls, I’ve had as Labor’s candidate for Scullin, across which show obviously disappointing support for suburbs like Thomastown, which are facing real Labor but also declining support for the Left over- challenges, where unemployment is significantly all, in particular obviously for the Greens party as higher than the rest of Melbourne. well. Or rather two things that have become clear to me More worryingly than that, if we scratch the first-hand when I am a representative of formal surface behind these raw numbers, we see some politics, which were not before I held the office other disturbing developments in attitudinal the Party’s given me. research. Like Tad Tietze I have had recourse to One is that people are looking for politics of hope, the good people at EMC and the two numbers not politics of critique. that I thought I’d share because they trouble me a The other is that so many working class Austral- lot relate to some research that EMC conducted in ians feel fundamentally alienated by the political 2011. That was really on how electors saw political conversations such as – unfortunately – the one parties as repositories of ideals. we are having today, about the direction of Aus- I find it deeply disappointing and concerning, and tralia and where they fit into that conversation. something that I’m doing all I can to turn around, That is something that Sally McManus touched that the majority of electors regard the best party upon as well. It is something we all need to reflect to achieve a variety of ends connected to social on in carving out a positive agenda for the Left. justice, fairness and equity, they don’t see the La- Always remember that the politician’s worst en- bor Party as meeting those needs, nor do they see emy or best friend is the mirror, and that’s true of the Greens political party. That great institution all political activists. We love to talk to ourselves, ‘none of the above’ came out in front. and I know that to talk of Obama is almost reach- Similarly ‘none of the above’ wins the contest for ing the shark-jumping moment and attracts the the party with a clear sense about what it stands 35 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Uniting to Fight the Abbott Coalition for. That’s a big challenge for anyone involved in matic in doing so. The ... the obvious formal politics, especially for anyone concerned sort of vision we need reaction, unfair as about transforming economic and social condi- to share, if we are rally tions in this country. to effectively unite to it is, in the general fight the Abbott Coali- populace, to the Also if you look at the body of attitudinal material tion, and the notions general idea of that’s out there, a large part of it from EMC, we and powers that under- do see some more troubling concerns in terms of organised labour pin it, must emanate broad perceptions around a range of critical social in the aftermath from values. organisations. of recent events We must dream big And I am deeply concerned, and I think Sally particularly about the images, the McManus touched upon this a bit, not just about around the Health central tenets of what the declining density of unions in Australia, but Services Union. may make a good so- the obvious reaction, unfair as it is, in the general ciety, and use them to populace, to the general idea of organised labour try to find common purpose on what the critical in the aftermath of recent events particularly features of that good society might be. around the Health Services Union. A deep conversation about equality and the posi- I will briefly reflect on a way forward that might tive role of government ought to be at the centre establish some common ground across the diver- of that. I’m sure others have different ideas. gent groups that are represented here. Perhaps even more than an appeal to values that My focus is on September 14 as a candidate – I drive policies, and the working class and those am proud to spend every moment I can cam- sympathetic to working class interests together, paigning in support of the record of the govern- we must also reinject two things into politics in ment and for a platform where I was part of the Australia. debate that led to its endorsement. In my view they are a moral purpose and a sense In calling for others to reflect on the immediate of hope. When I speak to people in the electorate political context before us in uniting to fight the of Scullin, particularly in the suburbs that face Abbott Coalition in the September 14 election, I greater challenges, what they want is two things am not asking for me or the Labor Party to have a – to be listened to, and for politics that offer hope leave pass from critique, but let’s focus on the real for the future. game before us – who forms government after That’s the conversation I want to be part of today. September 14? We must all be able to do more than focus on the next event in the political cycle, we must be all able to walk and chew gum at the same time. The When I speak to people challenge for me, the Labor Party and all of us is in the electorate of to look over the horizon. Brian Howe, a luminary Scullin, particularly in the of the Victorian ALP Left suburbs that face greater The challenge and a former Deputy challenges, what they for me, the Labor Prime Minister, very re- want is two things – Party and all of cently said of the Labor party – but I think it is to be listened to, us is to look over true of the reformist Left and for politics that offer the horizon. ... at large – that we are hope for the future. We must dream uncertain, defensive and big about the reluctant to spell out the images, the central commitments central tenets of that define social democ- racy. Starting to spell what may make a out those commitments good society, and is the big challenge for use them to try the Left in Australia. to find common My concern is that we purpose ... can’t be too program-

36 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum III Strategic Priorities for the Left Rob Durbridge

Strategy for Secure Jobs/Left Renewal

First we should recognise the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, the Gadagal people of the Eora nation and pay our respects. It’s been great to hear the speakers over the past couple of days. Prior to this I was at the Political Economy Conference which also saw some great contributions. Rob Durbridge is the SEARCH President, a newly redundant casual teacher, a I’m really pleased to be sharing the platform with founder of the Institute of Employment Doug Cameron who exemplifies the best of the Rights and a former official of the Aus- and who in his role as Manufactur- tralian Education Union. ing Union Secretary always had a wider agenda, notably his support for public education. Not to mention Lee Rhiannon and my teachers’ union Capitalism has not stabilised itself after the global President Maurie Mulheron. Times might be hard financial crisis, it lurches from crisis to crisis. The for the Left but we do have people who can win first thing the system did in the crisis was ditch support on issues and lead important campaigns. its own neo-liberal policies. Instead of leaving it So we should begin where we are today – not to the market to solve everything when the banks where we would like to be in some fictional time. started to go under they said “too big to fail; lets get the tax payers to bail them out, the state to We are a small outpost of a global economy which bail them out.” is itself fragile and volatile, prone to crisis. As our comrade from Greece was telling us repeatedly So, the system itself is by no means guaranteed of about their situation; “this will happen to you”. a happy future. They talk as if it is back to busi- ness as usual, everything has been fixed. But the The first thing the The global economy crisis and its effects on savings and on jobs has is not stable and Aus- had a profound effect – not just in the countries system did in the tralia is vulnerable as an where it is obvious, like Greece, Spain and Italy, crisis was ditch its economy to changes. We but in Australia too. own neo-liberal are doing all right now, well some are, a lot of us People’s attitudes to the banks and big business policies. Instead have been affected and the Occupy movement was of leaving it to the aren’t of course, but we should be aware of that one example of that. I believe the shift in people’s market to solve sort of crisis that has be- attitudes is much deeper than those who demon- everything when set much of Europe and strated. But the corporations go on as if nothing the banks started which previously beset had happened. to go under they Latin America. The Australian government tries to put in place a said “too big to There are consequenc- quite reasonable and equitable mining tax, advo- fail; lets get the es...politics is being cated by a former Treasury head, and the cor- tax payers to bail rewritten and the Left porations jump up and down to bully them, use renewed in many coun- their media - and the government backs down. them out, the They oppose any reforms which need increased state to tries, which we hear lit- tle about in our media. public funding. They campaign against the tax bail them out.” base; for the rich the ideal level of tax is, what do

37 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Strategic Priorities for the Left you reckon? Zero! And that is about what many Doug Cameron has I don’t think many corporations and the rich actually pay in tax... campaigned against workers realise zero! and spoken out about. the potential that We know all this stuff. But more important than the Fair Work Act the Left knowing it, I believe that millions of I think we have to gives for Senator people know it too. That polling about tax we saw do more, though, this morning, even from Liberal Party mem- to inform people Abetz, if he becomes bers, about who benefits and who pays and how about what an the Minister, to the system works, I thought was very revealing. Abbott govern- basically exercise People know it but what political options do they ment would do. I the huge discretion have? don’t think many the Act now allows workers realise the We are seeing in the electoral cycle that we face for interference in potential that the the rise of the Right. We face a horrible conjunc- Fair Work Act gives industrial relations. tion of State and Federal Liberal and Coalition for Senator Abetz, governments and perhaps they’ll even gain con- if he becomes the Minister, to basically exercise trol of the Senate. the huge discretion the Act now allows for inter- Now, the first point to make is we shouldn’t give ference in industrial relations. And that threat, it away. All sorts of things can happen and we I think, is something that Unions have not done should be the last people to throw it away before enough about. time. We should be realistic, but we shouldn’t Abbott and Abetz are playing a small target strat- give it away and it is very important for the Left’s egy and hoping that people won’t notice that they standing for the future that we don’t. We have to are the most Union-hating choice in the election. fight. We need to do more. Although the prognosis is electorally pretty bad, The Coalition also threatens social wage depend- I believe that, despite everything, more people ents, services, public health and education and if are engaged in or support progressive issues than you want to know what they really think, have a ever before. There are more people engaged in a look at the report that Peter Costello did at public whole range of movements and campaigns. De- expense for the Queensland Government. Even spite the electoral rise of the Right, the actual at- though he wants to privatise everything, he gets titudes of people are not reflected in those figures. paid out of the public purse. It is an absolute It is a crisis of the system, the political system disgrace. Everything is up for privatisation. Eve- which is beholden to the corporate media and the rything is up for contracting out and Queensland neo-liberal agenda, and ordinary people’s views would be left with virtually no public services at don’t get through in that very occasional and very all. rarefied setting. The Right has the means to pro- mote its agenda, but it also has harnessed aliena- We believe that while we campaign to counter tion and discontent skilfully to promote it. the Right we should be building something else as well at the same time. We should be building I am not going to rehearse the failures of the Gil- a unity in action and the elements of an alliance lard and Rudd governments; that would take too by as many people who have no truck with their long. But neither should we take an unbalanced interests and who are prepared to make an alli- view because there is a substantial legislative ance of that kind. There are many issues on which agenda that has been achieved and more to come to campaign, and many have been discussed at and we should be the last people to not appreci- this Conference, but we haven’t put them into ate what has been done. a framework for an alternative economic and We should be I’m not glossing over all social system. Not a throwback to authoritar- realistic, but we the issues that I know ian state communism but a society based on new we all mobilise around shouldn’t give institutions of community and workers’ owner- - refugees, the welfare it away and it is ship which are democratically controlled and are payments, the unem- very important for ecologically sustainable. ployment rate, all those the Left’s standing things, cuts to incomes That’s a big ask, but to build that alternative we for the future for single parents; need to start at the beginning...as Hall Greenland that we don’t. We which are disgraceful. said this morning when he called for a “United have to fight. These are things that Front”...as nearly everyone has said over this

38 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum III ... to build that weekend, we need where all the currents of the Left could work to- alternative we an alliance but it gether. That has now become a massive political needs to be one movement on the Left, in the context of the crisis, need to start at the which works to- polling 30 percent of the vote which could take beginning...as Hall gether on the issues government in alliance with some other parties. Greenland said this of the day to build It has transformed the prospects for the Left in morning when he an alternative. Greece, with lessons for other left movements in Europe because the crisis cannot be solved in one called for a “United The Left is good country, as we saw in the 20th century. Front”...as nearly at protest, and we everyone has said can win support on Now I am the last one to suggest that we should over this weekend, issues - we are good take an experience of a different country and just we need an alliance at that too. The apply it to Australia. But Left can be proud what the Greek left suc- The Right has but it needs to be of much of its role ceeded in doing was to corporate one which works in achieving change show the power of unity power, private together on the for women, Aborigi- involving diverse organi- property and issues of the day to nal people, workers, sations. By singing from the free market build an alternative. the deprived and the same song sheet and uneducated as well providing for people the as its chapter as the environment means to unite against and verse. The in our own society. But these issues remain and the austerity programs Left’s crisis since have common elements and causes which lie at of the EU and the corpo- the collapse the heart of capitalist society. We need to build rations they showed that of “existing more broadly and more deeply to create a new there was an alternative. politics of the left. SYRIZA has all differ- socialism” and ent currents and parties the decline of What we have failed to do, not just in Australia within it; they have an social democracy but internationally, is to develop a clearer sense agreement about what of what sort of economy and what sort of society is based on being they will do and each would serve people and the planet better. The unable to project organisation agrees to Right has corporate power, private property and a new alternative stick to that program. I the free market as its chapter and verse. The think that’s a lesson we vision for society. Left’s crisis since the collapse of “existing social- can learn for Australia. ism” and the decline of social democracy is based on being unable to project a new alternative vi- Eric Hobsbawm, the famous Marxist historian in sion for society. his book “Interesting times; a 20th Century Life” finished on this point, and I want to leave it with It is not just the ALP or its Left that has lost its you: way, the Greens haven’t developed an economic and social alternative either. Both share the “Still let us not disarm even in unsatisfactory profound failure of the whole Left, including the times, social injustice still needs to be denounced self-proclaimed vanguard parties. and fought, the world will not get better on its own”. So, in the course of campaigning to stop the Right, we need to build together a better sense of Thanks for participating in this Conference which an alternative. We in SEARCH call it democratic we hope will contribute to an alliance and renewal ecological socialism, three concepts which many of the Left in Australia. agree with but which have not been synthesised in any real way. We can’t afford the luxury of be- lieving that any of us has the solution; by working together we can only benefit and learn to build renewal of the left. I want to emphasise the experience that our com- rade from Greece brought to us. The new phe- nomenon called SYRIZA evolved from the split in the Greek Communist Party and the chaos that followed that. That led to the creation of a space

39 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Strategic Priorities for the Left

Holly Creenaune

Real Voices for Change

When I think what should be the strategic priori- ties for the Left, I don’t only think about which issues are going to have the most momentum be- hind them or which policies we need to develop. For me, particularly this year, I think about what organising can we do that builds our long term power and our capacity. Because there are attacks now on workers compensation in NSW: we know there are more coming. We know that the cuts in Queensland from the Newman Government are just one of more to come. I am interested in how the Left can put more Holly Creenaune is a lead campaigner in resources into our organising capacity: how we the national office of United Voice, and build new activists, new structures of leadership, has worked with union members and and support many more people in coming into community organisations for climate our social movements. justice for the last 10 years. The shifts over the last few decades of neo-liber- alism mean that the work contract in itself is not the primary source of insecurity. Yes, workers are losing income and the security of decent jobs, but vices that we all rely on; and of course, attacks on they are also bearing the cost of those broader the movement that is attempting to avert runa- social shifts over the last three decades. They are way and dangerous climate change. now bearing a greater cost of healthcare, a greater I don’t believe trade unions and the Left have cost of education, and much more. These neolib- enough capacity to influence the big debates eral shifts have also meant that the unions, our of today. We’ve really got to begin to turn that organisations, our community organisations and around. I think also we face the challenge that the civil society are weaker and increasingly under public, and even some of our membership, are attack. disengaged from political action, disaffected and When I think about what the strategic priorities often quite pissed off at the range of the debates of the Left should be, I begin by asking ‘Where are in society and in the media. we at? Where do we want to be? What is it that we So how do we rebuild our capacity to influence need to do?’ change? Many times I feel stuck in this toxic political and My sense is that we can’t get out of this mess by media environment: an environment where work- running the same campaigns or by doing what we ers and their ability already do a bit better. I don’t believe to organise is under attack and poten- The range of strategies I have been hearing on trade unions and how we approach the election are currently not The Left have tially increasingly so. Certainly we are enough. The approaches range from attempt- enough capacity to facing a toxic media ing to build a relationship with Conservatives, to influence the big and political environ- pushing for minor expansions of current policies, debates of today. ment on the question to aiming to maintain a balance in the Senate. We’ve really got to of race, migration and But these strategies are not going to excite our begin to turn refugees; on our public base and bring new people to our organisations! that around. sector jobs and ser- We need ideas and analysis that people are going

40 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum III we can look to the to get excited about. in lobbying in Washington DC, but in community parts of the climate Ideas that we can see organisers on the ground. will improve our lives Many unions have made a shift from a service- movement that and communities. are strong and based approach to organising, and then from a growing to show us There have been a workplace to industry focus. lot of changes in the I am part of trying to build our union’s ability to the path. climate movement in tackle, with all our members, the broader eco- the last five years and nomic and social justice fights of today. We re- we can look to the parts of the climate movement cently started our new campaign “Real Voices for that are strong and growing to show us the path. Change” by speaking with over 25,000 members The 100% Renewables campaign has focussed who shared their stories about the pressures on all of its resources on community organising; on their families, the big issues in their communities, building a base; on doorknocking; on database their ideas for change and their willingness to work; and developing leaders, activists and thou- take action with other union members. sands of new members. We’re currently discussing and debating the They have taken that approach to community results across our union and looking to support organising very seriously. With very minimal re- new people in becoming leaders and activists. sources, they have built a huge network of people Part of that will be building new partnerships and that are really committed to the vision for 100% reinvigorating others to listen, learn and act for renewable energy, a solution they believe we can justice. win together. Another example is the Lock the Gate network. Again, done on the smell of an oily rag and really focussed on community organising: how we build new leaders and support communities in ‘locking the gate’. One of the big wins so far in that cam- I am part of trying to build paign is the win against Metgasco in the Northern our union’s ability to tackle, Rivers of NSW. with all our members, the That campaign took a With very broader economic and social systematic approach justice fights of today. We minimal to community organis- resources, [100% ing. They went house recently started our new Renewables] by house. When every campaign “Real Voices for house in a street was Change” by speaking with have built a committed to ‘locking huge network of over the gate’ and protect- 25,000 members ... people that are ing their community really committed from coal seam gas, they to the vision for declared their street 100% renewable Coal Seam Gas Free and energy, a solution moved onto the next. they believe we It is this kind of ap- can win together. proach to community organising done in the Northern Rivers that we should be rolling out elsewhere – and already people are. Beyond these great grassroots efforts, we also need to push large organisations in our move- ments to get back to their base and to organise. That is what large environment organisations have done in the US, such as the big shift by the Sierra Club who invested serious resources, not

41 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Strategic Priorities for the Left

Keelia Fitzpatrick

With friends like these: the need for harmony and shared vision in the left

Thank you very much. I think it is great by this point of the conference that there is going to be some repetition, which I think means consensus, so forgive me if I am echoing some of the things that have already been said. So, I’ve titled this talk “With Friends like these – the need for harmony and shared vision in the Left”. And I really came to this point after I heard Keelia is the Victorian Trades Hall Youth Richard Denniss speak at the ACTU “Secure Jobs, Officer and also works as an organiser Better Future” community summit which was with the ASU. She has interned with held a few of weeks ago and Richard declared that the National Organization for Women the Left was losing badly and I started thinking (NOW) and was Women’s Officer of the and speaking to a lot of my friends that I regard to National Union of Students in 2010. be progressive as to why exactly that is and I have come to the conclusion that it is for two reasons. And the first is that we lack any type of unity or I think a good example of this is on the matter of cohesion between Left participants and I think the response to climate change that we saw after it is at the point now, and someone else has used the 2007 election. You know, we had this amaz- the phrase sectarian and infighting, and I call it ing 2007 election result and somehow we kind of civil war. managed to lose the public on this issue. I think that is damaging us enormously and really The mind boggles when we look at 2007 and just playing into the hands of our Tory counter- where we are now. The Greens dug their heels in parts who I think are much more cohesive and for the policy obviously giving too much to pollut- united than we are. I think the reason for that ers. The ALP’s leadership deemed it too politi- lack of coherence is this idea that we lack a type of cally difficult and all the while this happened and umbrella policy broad-based framework that we we failed to kind of articulate to the public what can all unite behind. So, that is what I am going exactly taking action on climate change meant. to be putting forward. So we did no education during that process and ... this kind of So, the infighting - it is I think it got to the point where the Carbon Tax really narsistic a lack of cohesion in the slogan stuck and did enormous political damage Left and it manifests and continues to do political damage today. So, infighting and itself in this kind of re- I think now we are at the point where the policy mud flinging ally narcissistic infight- has been implemented and we can see that it is between ing and mud flinging starting to have a positive effect in reducing emis- primarily the between primarily the sions and we are seeing an increased investment ALP and The ALP and The Greens. in renewable energy sector. Greens. And I And I am just kind of And I think the Left, the ALP, the Greens and our am just kind of completely sick, sick of it other civil society partners have stopped talking and I think it is just such about it. So, despite the fact that I think this is an completely sick, a waste of energy. issue that we have not necessarily won but done sick of it ... enormous things on, we have stopped talking 42 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum III we look at the state about it. And the the Left in Australia, because we look at the state that we are in and carbon tax “Juliar” that we are in and the possibility - and you know I messaging continues hate to say likelihood - of an Abbott Government, the possibility - and to dominate this is- is simply not enough for us to stop the in-fighting. you know I hate sue and I think it is So what I am proposing is a new kind of shared to say likelihood a really big example policy umbrella framework and it’s being really of how the infight- - of an Abbott informed by the Human Rights movement that ing and the lack of Government, is we have seen emerge in the last few decades. And cohesion in the Left is simply not enough I really think a Human Rights discourse - I am just playing into the involved in a couple of Human Rights Organisa- for us to stop the hands of the Right. in-fighting. tions - it’s really dominating the social justice Another example is sphere at the moment. So that kind of language, on marriage equality that really rights-based approach to equality, is and I won’t go into this too much, but the fact is dominating civil society and kind of Left partici- that at one point we had four marriage equality pants in civil society. I think you can see it in a lot bills in Parliament at once. How the Left had not of women’s organis- managed to get together and work cohesively on ing, that rights kind of ... when I talk about something like this, I think just dilutes our mes- language is dominat- Human Rights sage to the public. ing in that sphere and Framework I am a lot of GLBTI groups I think this is made all the worse in the Left in as well are using it specifically talking Australia by how cohesive our Tory counterparts with much success. about substantive effectively work. So, they are a functional BROAD equality, so I CHURCH. On climate change for example the And I think it is Coalition party room, and you all know this but I because talking about am not talking am just pointing out the obvious, contains mem- equality in a rights about individual bers who don’t believe in climate change, others kind of language rights because who don’t believe it is caused by humans, others is really successful I think it can be who don’t believe the market can be trusted to in individualising disassociated from reduce emissions. And all of these individuals sit disadvantage. You community and alongside the Malcolm Turnbulls of the Coali- know you hear about tion and many of them served on Howard’s front someone’s individual disassociated from bench when he took an emissions trading policy right and you can im- sociality. to the 2007 election. mediately associate it with someone in your So I really think this is an example of how the life who is missing out on that equality. Right has this broad-based umbrella approach that we are lacking. Their umbrella framework I do think the Human Rights Framework does kind of encompasses obviously smaller govern- have limitations, and being a Trade Unionist, I ment, less tax - you know, ‘sensible economic think it is because it does tend to be inherently management’ - and they really have participants individualistic. I want to explore now how I think with really varied ideological views that somehow the Left, but specifically the Trade Union Move- manage to fall behind ment, can adopt a Human Rights Based approach ... what I am this umbrella frame- to organising and to messaging and I think it can proposing is a new work without bicker- be really successful. ing. What that does is So, when I talk about Human Rights Framework kind of shared just give legitimacy to I am specifically talking about substantive equal- policy umbrella their messaging and ity. So I am not talking about individual rights framework and to their issues and it because I think it can be disassociated from com- makes us - you know it’s being really munity and disassociated from sociality. I think - look the complete op- informed by the it really needs to be about substantive equality, posite - that we don’t Human Rights which requires that disadvantage is addressed have a united front. movement that we by not only eliminating discrimination but by al- have seen emerge And I think it is clear leviating inherent disadvantage that some groups in the last few at this point that the in society experience. And it also captures the threat of a common en- substantive equality framework , also captures decades. emy is not enough for marginalised groups who are left out and dis- 43 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Strategic Priorities for the Left criminated against because of stigmatisation and tive equality and how those economic, social and marginalisation. cultural rights make us a more equal society, is a shift that will reframe the union movement as So, to quickly use a bit of a case study, let’s look a social movement, rather than this third party at Human Rights and Labor Rights. As I men- bargaining agent. tioned I am involved in a couple of Human Rights Organisations. And it has always really, really Dave Kerin, who has been here this weekend, had baffled me why the Labor Rights Movement and talks about how EBA unionism has really contrib- Human Rights movements failed to intersect. So uted to the death of the movement. they are both on the economic and political Left So I think this substantive equality framework and they both seek to protect the weak and the sets unionism as a movement that encompasses vulnerable and yet there seems to be a complete the interests of union members and non-union lack of cohesion between the two. members alike. In this precarious direction that I think it is essential our workforce is taking, the union must adopt a It is obvious that Unions revital- new framework and I think the Left can take a lot that unions are ise and they adopt a from that as well, and I will finish there. different kind of ap- membership-based Thank you. organisations proach to unionism. that have to be There is firstly a kind of structural differ- representative ence between the two for the members. and why they have Human Rights failed to intersect. ... better framing the goal of Organisations unionism as an economic and It is obvious that social right and how that fits are not, they rely unions are member- on donors and ship-based organisa- within ideas of substantive supporters. So that tions that have to be equality and how those is a big structural representative for the economic, social and cultural difference. members. Human rights make us a more equal Rights Organisations society, is a shift that will are not, they rely on reframe the union movement donors and supporters. So that is a big structural difference. as a social movement, rather than this third party Another difference is the role that unions have bargaining agent. in having another party involved in the course of bargaining, so having to inherently compromise because of the role of employers and the work that they do. Human Rights Organisations don’t have that. Compromise is weakness for them. They are also quite reliant on litigation, which I think again is quite individualistic. So I think what it comes down to and a big thing that I have come out of this weekend with, is a need for the union movement to move towards social movement unionism. And that is especially important when we look at young workers who are increasingly becoming casual and temporary and freelance for example. So I think the adoption of a human rights ap- proach is not necessarily the answer to union re- vitalisation and obviously any type of move away from collectivism in the union movement would be a nail in our coffin. But I think better framing the goal of unionism as an economic and social right and how that fits within ideas of substan- 44 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum III

Maurie Mulheron

Defending Public Education: Why Education is the Last Frontier for the Right

Comrades, I have labelled this “Public Educa- tion – the Last Frontier for the Right”, not just because I want to speak exclusively on a brokered issue as President of the Teachers’ Federation. I am here as an individual, because I believe pas- sionately that what is happening in public educa- tion is an exemplar for what is happening right Maurie Mulheron has been a teacher in across society. public schools for 34 years. In late 2011 he was elected to the position of President of And as a nation, indeed as the Left, if we don’t the NSW Teachers Federation. understand what’s happening in public education and the attacks on it, then I am afraid the Right is going to essentially, I would say that within the next five to ten years, dismantle what we know as the ABC gave Rupert Murdoch capacity to speak our public education systems in schools, in TAFE at the Boyer Lectures in 2008. As though Rupert and university. Murdoch needs another opportunity to put his And any capacity for our society to have people, point of view, the public broadcaster says “here working class people, or anyone access anything you go”. So in that Boyer Lecture Rupert Mur- beyond what is meted out to them, I think, is doch pontificated this: “The unvarnished truth under attack. is that in countries such as Australia, Britain, particularly the US our public education systems I want to then move from just talking about that are a disgrace, despite spending more and more as an exemplar to what we may learn from some money, our children seem to be learning less and of the struggles we have been involved in as a un- less especially for those who are most vulnerable ion and link it to the broader notion of what the in our society.” and he went on to observe that “it strategic objectives for this should be. is arguable that our lesser schools are leaving Look, it is no coincidence that Murdoch, corpo- far too many children innumerate, illiterate and rate America, the corporate world in Australia, ignorant of our history.” through right wing think tanks, have all them- What Murdoch failed to tell the ABC was that he You can’t name a selves chosen public didn’t like the lecture. The Boyer Lecture was not education as the ul- written by Rupert Murdoch, it was written by Bill corporation that timate battle ground is not connected McGurn who was George W Bush’s speech writer. and they have given There is a point to all of this. Murdoch is very intimately to a themselves a time closely linked to Jeb Bush and Foundations for rightwing think period essentially to Excellence in Education. These rightwing think tank attacking cripple it and crip- tanks - there is an absolute proliferation of them public education. ple it for very good across America, and in England and in Australia reasons, not just with massive corporate sponsorship. You can’t Whether it is Hewlett financial. Packard, Shell, BP, name a corporation that is not connected inti- IBM, Coca Cola, Murdoch for in- mately to a rightwing think tank attacking public stance - and the education. Whether it is Hewlett Packard, Shell, KFC, McDonalds, ABC ought to be BP, IBM, Coca Cola, KFC, McDonalds, Micro- Microsoft ... ashamed of this - soft, you can list corporate America and they 45 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Strategic Priorities for the Left Philip Blond is all are funding these ants right across NSW, support for refugee kids from a rightwing rightwing think tanks. completely demolished. Professional learning There has got to be a gone, Crickland, Director of NSW Primary Educa- think tank in reason. tion gone. And the list could go on. the UK called ResPublica - they There has got to be a We have had now essentially the fragmenting of reason why corporate the system. have used and America, if there is Now what I want to draw from that lesson is this. captured the such an animal, and The Left, for too long I think, have often been language of the certainly around the guilty of being beguiled by that language too, be- world, is saying the Left: localism, cause it was our language. So when you hear gov- next frontier is attacks autonomy, self ernment saying it, one of the difficulties for our on public education. management, union has been to say to people “that is not what Pasi Sahlberg, of Finn- it means and that is not what it is in practice”. local control. ish Education, calls what is really happen- In practice it is about essentially breaking up and ing a ‘global education reform movement’. He fragmenting the system and there is a reason for calls it “the GERM” which is infecting education. it because there is something transformational about public education in terms of building com- If I could bring it back to Australia, the same munity and certainly giving working class chil- pressures are happening in this country now. We dren an opportunity to succeed in life. have been involved in a very bitter campaign, par- ticularly the last 12 months, but for much longer And so in the TAFE system right across this over the notion of school autonomy. country we have marketisation brought in. The TAFE system - which was once the envy of the I want to just give you this language because world - I don’t think this is what the Right was able to do, at least in we will have essen- ... the public system Margaret Thatcher’s time, and ever since, and tially a TAFE system is about educating there are more people doing it now. Phillip Blond in this country within and building is from a rightwing think tank in the UK called the next four to five ResPublica - they have used and captured the community. The years. language of the Left: localism, autonomy, self Catholic and other management, local control. Abbott and Pyne educations are But what the agenda is, is to essentially fragment have chosen educa- about breaking up and break up our education systems to the extent tion as one of the community and that that now universities are only getting about 40 battlegrounds. They is essentially the percent of their funding from public dollars. In have said it is not role they play. our TAFE system in NSW alone, 73 percent of about funding, it is course delivery is done by casual staff, 73 percent. essentially about autonomy – just giving schools the chance. It is a In our school system of course what is happening, form of privatisation. right across Australia, is this notion that you will give schools a bucket of money, autonomy, and So I want to draw this together with these points. that they will then employ their staff and their Politically we have got to educate about language. resources from that. The importance of language is critical in all of this What it is essentially is this. There will no longer and we have got to be able, in terms of our ability be a guarantee from government that they will to counter the Right, to offer think tanks in that fund a free, secular and democratic education language, we have got to understand their use of system - which is what public education is. Unlike language and turn it back on them. the Catholic and those other education systems The whole notion of small government and taxa- which serve a very different purpose, the public tion are the political priorities that we need to system is about educating and building commu- tackle because that is essentially the same agenda. nity. The Catholic and other educations are about Organisationally, we have to engage and educate breaking up community and that is essentially the young people. Our union has been doing that. role they play. That is a negative role and we’ve The Teachers Federation in NSW is an example got to call it what it is. of this, with over 50 percent of our membership But the attacks in NSW have led to, in just the last now joined since 2004. We have spent the last few months, lots of multi-cultural ESL consult- ten years building a massive young new educa- 46 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum III The whole notion of tors network base, gaging in activity that there is strong community small government where we literally understanding and awareness and knowledge and train thousands of engagement in the same campaign issues. and taxation are the new educators each That is the only way unions are going to be able to political priorities year, young teachers win struggles collectively with the community. that we need to coming in, and it is tackle because that paying dividends. Thank you. is essentially the They are now sitting same agenda. on our Executive and now becoming offic- ers of the organisation and I think that initiative is important. I am very mindful that we have got so many unionists who have retired, who are active and intelligent and engaged, and it is a resource that we are not harnessing as a movement. People that are retired from the workforce, where do they go other than to sit at home reading the compact Sydney Morning Herald and being pissed off to buggery that they can’t be involved in the movement? I think that the union should pay a role in en- ... make sure that when the gaging their ex-members in campaigns directly, public sector unions and the not in a patronising way, but in a direct way and other unions are engaging in harnessing that. activity that there is strong The last point I want to make is this. Our union community understanding and has been fined three times last year and the fines awareness and knowledge have hit us. They have threatened to increase and engagement in the same those fines eleven-fold, but they are also talking campaign issues. about deregistration. In the last fine we got in June for the strike action we took to secure staff- ing, the Judge made that point about deregistra- tion and I will finish on this point. We are learning, if we have not learned as a union movement already, that we will not be able to win things as unionists by ourselves. We may have when union density was around 60 percent thirty years ago. But when it is down in some work places to virtually nothing, and in some private enter- Our union has prises down to 10, 12, been fined three 13 percent and the public sector union is times last year high, what it means for and the fines the public sector union have hit us. They is that we can be very have threatened isolated. increasing those So one of the things fines eleven-fold, that we have to do as a but they are also union is to make sure talking about that when the public deregistration. sector unions and the other unions are en- 47 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Strategic Priorities for the Left

Lee Rhiannon

Taking on Abbott – campaigning with optimism and energy

I pay my respects to the Gadigal and Guringai People of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and acknowledge their history, their culture and their ongoing con- tributions to our community. And thanks very much to SEARCH. It has been a great weekend. I have enjoyed it immensely. Lee Rhiannon is an So our subject is Strategic Priorities of the Left. I Senator. Prior to entering parliament Lee certainly find it challenging having sat here for worked on a range of union and commu- the weekend and heard lots of goods ideas, but nity campaigns. Lee trained as a zoologist will give it ago. and botanist. I think to start with we need a little bit of context – I certainly do and we certainly have heard a lot about neo-liberalism this weekend and for me in the past or thinking of the good old days. Our that is a really big one. I think it has knocked a history is very fine. The great struggles of the 20th lot of confidence out of The Greens and certainly century are something that we can be enormously has been very successful. proud of. We have heard some startling figures this week- Often it was small groupings of the Left who took end and one that stuck in my mind is that 50 per- forward the great campaigns around feminism, cent of the people in this country control 90 per around LGBTI issues - then called gay liberation, cent of the wealth. But that is not just the only around union struggles, protecting the environ- problem we have with neo-liberalism. They have ment, public education. That is something that very successfully rewritten the public discourse we can be enormously proud of and it is, as I say, and this is what I think makes our situation much not just for the history books, it is something that harder. is dynamic and something we should be building They are normalising into our discourse to help inspire more activists. I think that as inequality and you have I think that needs to be an important part of what the Left we heard this so well from we work on. also need to Maurie Mulheron just Coming forward, talking of context, then you have celebrate our now. So, how do we take heard of greatness in difference, sometimes even history ... Our that forward? What do in interjections, about Labor and The Greens. history is very we need to do? And there is - or has been - a Labor and Green fine. The great Before I go on to some agreement that is now part of history. I would struggles of ideas about that, I also certainly be interested - I certainly don’t want it th just want to say a little bit to dominate the discussion - I would be interested the 20 century more about some context. in feedback on how people thought that agree- are something I think that as the Left we ment played out. that we can also need to celebrate our It is something that has been very critical in terms be enormously history. This isn’t some- of many of the progressive achievements that proud of. thing about wallowing have come out of this government. 48 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum III We recognise the And the big one has through for months and months is that people need to reinvigorate been the action on are feeling under pressure, short of time, how to climate change. Let’s manage their lives. a truthful narrative remember what Cost of living is still a big issue. Job security is about Tony Abbott Labor said about still real for people. And even if people have a and the Coalition, climate change in the secure job, they are worried about what it will last election. We have identifying that it mean; what does the future hold for their children heard it many times is a party of greed as they see the increasing rate of casualisation? and self interest at because Tony Abbott said it many, many And I think while we are talking about strategy we the expense of the times and Prime need to be addressing it in this context. How do community. That Minister Gillard said our messages reach is part of what we that it wasn’t going to people? People Cost of living is still need to build into happen. who I think are a big issue. Job very sympathetic all our campaigns ... It happened because security is still real for to what we stand we ended up in bal- people. And even if for, but how do our ance of power. So messages reach people have a secure there is an important context there to consider them? job, they are worried when we’re thinking about where we are going. about what it will So in terms of the But in terms of the strategy before us I think there long term strategy, mean; what does the are both the short term strategy and the longer I would like to future hold for their term. raise five points. I children as they see Just in terms of the short term strategy - obvi- didn’t want to get the increasing rate of ously for the next coming five months - that is into a shopping list casualisation? an election strategy. And I am not sure if you and the five points were all here this morning, but if you weren’t I are not a blueprint very much recommend that you catch up with in any way. But again going back to learning a lot the speech by my colleague Hall Greenland, The listening to our Greek colleague, Costa - he was Greens candidate for the seat of Granydler. Since talking about how they brought the Left together. he set it out, many people have made reference to He talked about finding what they had unity it, about Labor and The Greens working together around. to ensure we don’t end up with an Abbott govern- And I think, for all our differences, we do have ment and identifying how damaging that would enormous unity. be. The points that I wanted to make - it is not just That is something that The Greens are certainly about the issues that we have unity around, but very passionate about. We recognise the need where often they can be themes that we build into to reinvigorate a truthful narrative about Tony all our work. Abbott and the Coalition, identifying that it is a party of greed and self interest at the expense of Because, you know, we have all had a great week- the community. That is part of what we need to end but it is about to end and we go back, largely build into all our campaigns at every moment working on our campaigns like Refugee Action, over coming months because what we are facing Occupational Health and Safety, maybe public is so critical. But I think that a great deal of detail transport, maybe a new child care centre. And has already been given about that. that is great, that is what is important. That is the strength of us. What I would like to spend my time talking about now is a more longer term strategy and certainly, But we also need a unified message and I think like many of you, I was incredibly inspired by that there are many possibilities. Just to make the comments and the speech by our colleague five suggestions: from Greece and how the Left is working in that • diversity of media ownership country. • make public education the norm But first off just some general comments. As a • climate change action Greens MP I spend most of my time talking to • fixing up mining tax people, at meetings, in formal situations, in- formal. The big message that has been coming • workers’ rights. 49 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Strategic Priorities for the Left Because of shortage of time, I will give you an Organisation: now there are some of the best or- example of what I mean. Say you are working for ganisers in Australia in this room and I pay credit a new childcare centre. In your public speeches, to the huge achievements that many of you have in your Facebook page, in your leaflets, you could made. Organisation remains our strength, we have a dot point about how we need more re- don’t have the corporate money but we have or- sources for public education. When the children ganisation. These days we have many more tools, leave child care where is their public school? but we always need to remember at the end of the Every child should have a public school to go to. day it is the face-to-face action. It is real people, We should include in that about the need to divert doing real things that make the difference. money from the private school system into the I left to last democracy. I think when you con- public school system. So we are building those sider where the Left is at, where society is at, messages into what we are doing. internal democracy in our organisations is the About fixing up the mining tax - fixing up the most important. Firstly, to my mind that is what mining tax would bring in billions of dollars in is critical in society. Our society is not about a few revenue, not the skimpy little system that we have of us coming up with good ideas about how to ended up with. And that is money that we can make our society more equal. It is about people use, linked with our campaigns, for light rail in themselves engaging in and making the change. Western Sydney; more heavy rail system around We need to inspire the next generation of activists the country; all the other plans that we know that and win voters, and I see democracy as critical for are so urgently needed to bring greater equity in that. Organisations without active membership our communities. We can be building messages will see a power shift to the centre, and that is in about mining tax when we are talking about where we can resist with greater internal democ- that. racy. Again my suggestion was workers rights, diversity So, the Left has played a key role in the great of media ownership, climate change actions. But social and environmental movements of the 20th getting back to my theme about how, within our century. The 21st century is beckoning fast. campaigns, there is a certain consistency of the messages that we bring, I think that would help So, we are a critical part of those social move- us as a movement to develop a greater unity and ments; those movements to protect our environ- understanding between us. ment. The Greens are passionate about being part of those movements. I do think there are greater I also want to give some consideration to how we opportunities for us working together and I look actually achieve it, because it is often the ‘how’ forward to the discussion. where we have some of our differences. So four suggestions there: Thank you. • unity • ideology • organisation ... when you consider where • democracy the Left is at, where society The unity, I think is fairly well covered and I was is at, internal democracy in interested going back again to the Greek experi- our organisations is the most ences to how PASOK was seen as a problem. PASOK is their social democrat party. I won’t important. Firstly, to my mind go further into that but hopefully there might be that is what is critical in society. some questions. Our society is not about a few Ideology is a word that we need to win back. of us coming up with good ideas Ideology is used to abuse me, to abuse you, to about how to make our society abuse all of us, to quarantine us. Our ideology more equal. It is about people is so important in terms of our analysis of who themselves engaging in and and why and of how and why power is exercised making the change. in our country. It is critical to rebuilding public institutions and resisting privatisation and the wider neo-liberalism agenda. So ideology is so important.

50 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum III

Doug Cameron

Thanks very much and could I also acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. When I saw the heading for this session which was “Strategic Priorities for the Left”, I remem- bered one of the last discussions I ever had about strategy and, you wouldn’t believe it, it is probably over fifteen years ago, about what does strategy mean? What does strategy mean? And I don’t think Doug Cameron is a Labor Senator for the Left actually analyse what strategy is about NSW. Prior to this he was National Sec- enough, and I thought I would raise that issue retary of the Australian Manufacturing here as a fundamental issue for any program that Workers Union. talks about strategic approaches. My last big debate about strategy was with Laurie Carmichael and the AMWU education campaign, a war, but this is where strategy becomes very out there talking to delegates about what strat- important. And I say, what is the strategy for the egy means and the difference between strategy Left? and tactics. There is in my view strategy, but your strategy is not long term, your strategy is Well, you can look at all the issues that have been what you are about, and your tactics are about raised here this afternoon, they are all great is- what you do to meet your goal and your strategic sues. The issues are all important. But I think outcomes. you can encapsulate Left politics as building a good society, because that encapsulates all the So these are issues that I think the Left should issues we are talking about here today. How do have more discussion about. You could even have you build a good society? And I think you build a a session in the future about how we can work good society by addressing all of those issues and more strategically, instead of using it as an adjec- developing a number of priorities. tive in the overall program that we have here. Many of those priorities have been discussed So it’s very important, in my view, to have an at the conference. I went through the confer- overall campaign plan because that is your ence program and congratulations to the Search strategy, that is what I was taught, you have got Foundation for pulling this together - “Building to have this overall campaign plan. And strategy the left” and “Left Strat- as I understand it, my reading of it, was basically egy” - that is this one I think you can from the military - how do you get a strategy to here, “Understanding encapsulate win a war? the Right” and we have Left politics as heard a bit about that. And so they are very good at strategies, the building a good military is very good at tactics and if you want to Well, I have had an even society, because look at how you do it and how you do it in a very clearer understanding that encapsulates formal, strategic way, you look at how the military of the Right and Rupert all the issues we go about it. Murdoch over the past are talking about week or so. But, these Now they might not deliver their outcome from are extremely powerful here today. How time to time, you might not want to be in a war. forces, and you don’t do you build a I am a pacifist and I don’t want to be involved in turn this around over- good society? 51 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Strategic Priorities for the Left We need to night. It takes a long But we didn’t do what Hoover did, you know, understand - time. The Mining leading up to the Great Depression in America Industry - extremely and that was fiddle about at the edges. We took when you are powerful. Extremely the big decisions to invest in our industries, to understanding the wealthy organisations, invest in our communities and to invest in indi- Right - the huge out there, pushing viduals, to let them go out and make sure there power that we are against progressive was money in the market when the market and up against. But policies. The finance industry had actually abandoned investment. sector is doing the that has never in So these are big issues. Sustainability - we have same thing. And we heard a lot about sustainability – absolutely the past ever fazed have got that combina- essential. Collectivism in the trade union move- the Left. tion in Australia of the ment. I’ve got to say I think there is one big Murdoch Empire, the issue left that we need to get agreement on, that I Mining Empire and the would be arguing that is very important in terms Finance Empire all aiming at the Left, all trying of industrial law, and that is the right to arbitra- to disempower the Left – take our voice away and tion when a company or an organisation like a that is the key issue for us. public sector just refuses to bargain in good faith. We need to understand - when you are under- I have always been a supporter of arbitration. standing the Right - the huge power that we are Our forefathers understood the need for arbitra- up against. But that has never in the past ever tion. And just because we are all about flexibility fazed the Left. The Left have always said we have and increased productivity it doesn’t make arbi- to take that on. That is why the Left are there, to tration any less important for those that are put take it on and get more equity, more fairness and in a position by a strong employer not to be able a decent society. to get an enterprise agreement. And I take the Indigenous issues are on the agenda, feminism on view we need to deal with that as a government. the agenda, race and refugees, globalisation, free Now the other issue for me, apart from technol- trade in the global financial crisis. ogy, and I think there has not been much on the It wasn’t that long ago that nobody ever talked or agenda about technology, but that’s a huge influ- spoke about free trade in Australia. ence across our country and across the world. I was talking about it at lunch time, that I went to The issue for me is economics, and it can be Seattle and you know the big protest in Seattle in pretty boring. I am not an economist. I am a fit- 1999. And the trade union movement here, our ter by trade. My highest qualifications are “City only policy on trade, our only international policy and Guilds”, the equivalent of TAFE here. But I of substance at that time was “a feeder”. That was just felt you have to get engaged in economics. our policy. And we were insular, we were parochi- And I always found, and I always have a critique al and we didn’t talk about those bigger political of the Left to some extent, that we were great issues. about dealing with the wealth issues. We were And that is not to say that the leadership of the great about talking about dealing with the is- trade union movement at that time were wrong or sues of insecurity; we were great about talking were bad. That was not one of the priorities and about poverty. But we never engaged in the issue the priority has grown about understanding what that helped us deal globalisation is about; to understand what the with that and that is For me that is the finance sector is about; to understand what free economics. And that important thing trade is about and why we end up with a global is having an alternate about getting a financial crisis that the conservative forces in this Left economic agenda. strategic analysis country say has not happened. For me that is the of the economy. There have actually been speeches in parliament important thing about Getting some when I have been there talking about the “North getting a strategic anal- tactical responses American Financial Crisis”, as if nothing hap- ysis of the economy. and getting pened in Australia. I think that shows the success Getting some tactical initiatives in there of our intervention in the economy because peo- responses and getting ple didn’t understand how difficult it was around initiatives in there that that are important the rest of the world. are important to build to build the the economy. economy. 52 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Participatory Forum III Should there The debate about the be a role for role of government has been going for how government or long? I mean it was should you let the Hayek and Keynes, market rip? Well, going back to the two I know where we big economists from stand. We say the Left and the Right. there is a They understood the big debate and the strong role debate really hasn’t for government. changed. Should there be a role for government or should you let the market rip? Well, I know where we stand. We say there is a strong role for government. And that contin- ued on. We got Galbraith and Friedman in the US, that debate was still there. Now we will get Stiglitz, we will get Krugman; we will get Quiggin - progressive economists - saying that this debate But the message I want to is still with us. leave with is that strategy How do we get a role for government? How do is important. Tactics are we get fairness? How do we get equity? How do important. It is not long and we deal with the issues that are important to us? short term. You pick out what I don’t buy the argument that because we are a your issues are. You deal with triple triple A economy that everything is OK. I those issues and you end up don’t buy the argument you simply balance your with a strong position that budget and everything is OK. I don’t buy the argument you can simply pick priorities and leave we can take forward to win people on Newstart in poverty and relying on the further progress for the most social security areas. disadvantaged in the country. I don’t believe that we should have the fifth lowest tax-to-GDP ratio of any of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development coun- tries. We need to lift our tax-to-GDP ratio. There is a whole range of areas I can go through, that are really, really important for the Left to deal with. But the message I want to leave with is that strategy is important. Tactics are important. It is not long and short term. You pick out what your issues are. You deal with those issues and you end up with a strong position that we can take for- ward to win further progress for the most disad- vantaged in the country. Thanks.

53 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Understanding the Neoliberal Right and Australia’s Power Elite of income between capital and labour, between rich and poor. It was the era in which the welfare Frank Stilwell state developed, albeit only at the end of that period with a national health service in Australia. Neoliberalism: power elite, or And it was an era in which leftwing reform was never at the top of the agenda but it did have accumulation regime? some traction. People on the Left could make pragmatic coali- Franks Stilwell is the retiring Professor of tions with people in the political centre to press Political Economy at the for changes in economic policy, tax reform, and social policy that had some progressive elements. With the crisis of the capitalist system globally in I’m happy to substitute for Damien Cahill as a the 70s there was a breakdown of that particular speaker in this session, although I’m unhappy set of orthodoxies and practices. This ushered in he’s unable to be here because of illness. the new era that we now refer to, broadly speak- Damien and I edited a book which was published ing, as neoliberalism. last year, called Neoliberalism: beyond the free In the early stages we talked about the influence market. In it we explore the nature of neoliberal- of the rightwing US economist Milton Friedman ism, both as a theory and as a political practice. and the monetarism approach to economic policy. I foreshadow my argument to say that actually A whole lot of other labels were also being ap- these two aspects don’t fit comfortably together. plied. But now, having come through more than a It is important to try to understand the nature of quarter century of neoliberalism as the dominant neoliberalism. It is a term that’s commonly been political economic orthodoxy, I think we can see bandied around as if it were self-evident what it its contours quite clearly. means. But it can be interpreted in all sorts of dif- In part, they come from ferent ways. ... the practice of a long history of ideas I’m old enough to remember before the term – that’s the ideological neoliberalism has became popular when people talked, for example element in neoliberalism. to be understood, in the 1980s and 90s, about the New Right. There Going back to classical not in terms of were publications such as Laurie Aarons’ Here liberalism, an antipathy some abstract Come the Uglies that were trying to understand towards the state, an theory deriving the significance of this New Right movement. I emphasis on individual from classical remember writing an article for the journal Social freedom, it is libertarian- Alternatives called ‘The New Right are Wrong’ ism of the Right that I’m liberalism, but and that was published in the late 80s. alluding to here. as a practical So, what we are talking about here is a set of Even within libertarian- politics of class. ideas, a set of political practices, and a set of ism of the Right there rightwing organisations that aren’t exactly new on were always conflicting, sometimes incompatible the landscape. currents. But that general set of beliefs was and is The neoliberal ascendancy arose partly because fundamentally hostile to a progressive reformist of the general crisis of international capitalism in program, let alone anything that smacks of social- the 1970s. ism. Socialism is regarded as impairing individual freedoms, giving way to the development of a Put somewhat schematically, I would say that large authoritarian state that is totally anathema during the 50s, 60s and early 70s the dominant to people who share those particular libertarian orthodoxy, in political ideals. ... a set of ideas, economy in particular, a set of political was a sort of selective But I think that ideological element of neoliberal- practices, and a Keynesian, state-inter- ism has never really been dominant in practice, ventionism. in the realm of what neoliberals in power actually set of rightwing do. organisations that It was an era of rela- tively progressive taxa- To cut a long story short, what Damien and I and aren’t exactly new the other contributors to our recent book argue on the landscape. tion, and some modest degree of redistribution is that the practice of neoliberalism has to be 54 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 1 the man and his motives. His biographers, and especially his critics, see him first and foremost, David McKnight as a businessman. They believe he is a person whose motives and actions can largely be reduced The power elite: Rupert to the desire to expand his profitable media busi- ness. His critics overwhelmingly assume that his Murdoch, a case study undoubted political influence is mostly directed at obtaining government favours that promote his David McKnight is a writer and academic at the businesses. They argue that his political allegianc- University of NSW and author of Beyond Right es are not deep rooted but that they will shift out and Left and more recently, Rupert Murdoch: An of self-interest, with his support for Tony Blair’s investigation of Political Power. New Labour as the chief evidence for this. I disagree. I think Murdoch is just as interested My recent book, Rupert Murdoch: An Investiga- in political influence and ideas for their own sake, tion of Political Power outlines in great detail as he is in getting favourable treatment from how Murdoch has exercised power in Britain, governments. He has wide range of views and Australia and the US over many decades. he has a rough and ready philosophical outlook that should be taken seriously, not least because He has done this in two ways. First, through his it partially explains why his news media has influence on the readers of his newspapers and been popular with many people. This makes him on Fox News, his highly political cable channel in a much more significant figure in politics and the US. Second, he has exerted influence by both business. Murdoch likes to portray himself as the persuasion and arm twisting via direct meetings ruthless businessman of his critics’ accusations. with political leaders. He once said: ‘All newspapers are run to make But I am particularly fascinated by something dif- profits. Full stop. I don’t run anything for respect- ferent. This what might be called the ‘dominant ability. The moment I do, I hope someone will ideology’ of News Corporation and its CEO. I continued next page ... argue that previous accounts had misunderstood

understood, not in terms of some abstract theory economic circumstances of a wealthy elite relative deriving from classical liberalism, but as a practi- to the rest of society. cal politics of class. So, that’s my take on neoliberalism, to set the ball In other words, neoliberalism has become a broad rolling for this discussion session. It treats neolib- label placed over the attempts by a dominant eralism as an awkward amalgam of a purist ideol- capitalist class to re-gain the ascendancy, to re- ogy based on beliefs about individual rights and a gain the lost ground it had conceded during that political practice that is all about class power. earlier so-called Keynesian era of welfare state The challenge for those of us on the Left is to development. work out how to deal with this reactionary set of Hence, of course, the familiar set of attacks on political ideologies, interests and policies. Frank- wages, industrial relations changes, the attacks ly, we’ve been grappling with that for a long time, on the poor, and more generally, attacks on just and it’s essentially the same challenge whether about everyone in society other than a wealthy, there’s a Labor or a Liberal party in government. powerful elite. We can discuss what difference that makes in The effects are pretty obvious: privatizations and other sessions in this conference, but the influ- deregulations that serve the interest of capital ence of this neoliberalism arguably is almost as have gone hand-in hand with a growing polarisa- pervasive with Labor as it is with the Liberals. tion in the distribution of income. The proportion Of course, I’m not saying that a change to an of income in Australia, as in many other capitalist Abbott-led government in Australia wouldn’t be countries, that goes to the top 1% of households a big deal, but I think we already ought to be pre- has increased spectacularly in this era. pared with our critique of neoliberalism because One book that tracks these trends in the USA is we’ve seen the way in which it works through all called Winner Take All Politics, showing how the major political parties. the influence of neoliberalism has paved the way Thanks. for an increased disparity in the power and the 55 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Understanding the Neoliberal Right and Australia’s Power Elite come and fire me and get me out of the place – belief is he is an opponent of a powerful elite. This because that’s not what newspapers are meant to elite goes by various names — the cultural elite, be about. ’ [i] the liberal elite, sometimes in Britain the ‘chat- tering classes’ and in Australia the latte-sipping, Critics have seized on this kind of ‘tough guy talk’ inner city elites. but it is highly misleading because it is simply not true. For many years News Corporation has Some dismiss his self-image as a rebel and enemy spent hundreds of millions of dollars propping up of elites as mere window dressing to cover his loss-making newspapers. The prime example is own genuine power. But Murdoch’s set of beliefs the New York Post, purchased for $37m in 1976 are not merely prejudice nor are they trivial nor which has never made a profit and today costs are they merely a disguise to obscure his own an estimated $15-20m a year. The London Times status as a member of a power elite. also runs at a vast annual loss. Murdoch’s beliefs grew in an organic way from In Australia, Murdoch’s flagship The Australian his early life in Australia. In the period of Mur- is a newspaper with relatively few ads while also doch’s childhood and early adulthood, Australia being one of the best resourced newspapers in had an official culture of Britishness and was Australia. Its losses are estimated at $25-30 mil- governed by an Anglophile elite. But underneath lion a year. All of these loss-making newspapers there was an unofficial culture imbued with scep- are, in effect, political subsidies designed to give ticism toward the values of this Anglo-Australian Murdoch influence and a seat at the table of na- elite and hostility toward Britain’s class society tional politics in three English speaking nations. and snobbery. Murdoch’s preparedness to carry loss-making Though he is well qualified as a member of a so- newspapers is matched by financial patronage to cial elite by virtue of birth, Rupert Murdoch could ideological causes on a significant scale, in par- not help imbibing this unofficial culture which ticular think tanks and political activists. This was was egalitarian, which despised pretence and one of the things my research uncovered and its disliked elites, and which was anti- intellectual. scale surprised me. Above all, this Australian sub-culture celebrated the ordinary citizen. Political theorists describe For many decades he has given generous support such values and attitudes as a form of populism. to the British free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, which laid the intellectual These views developed especially under the influ- groundwork for Thatcherism, and the Institute of ence of the Republican Right in the 1970s and Public Affairs in Australia. 80s. This was a period in which Richard Nixon In the US he has been on the board of two think and Ronald Reagan made a populist appeals to tanks, the free market Cato Institute and the Hoo- garner support from working class voters. Such ver Institution, dedicated to advancing US global supporters were known as the ‘Reagan Demo- reach. He generously supported the neo-conserv- crats’. atives long before they emerged as the foreign One important key to mobilising their support policy brains behind George W Bush’s adventure was directing the resentment of socially conserva- in Iraq. tive Americans (including many workers) against Today, Murdoch gives big donations to those in the ideas of multiculturalism and feminism which the US who want to change the public school sys- were advocated by the rising middle class influ- tem by importing market discipline, choice and enced by the New Left. competition. Today Murdoch’s version of Australian populism Murdoch’s political ideas has been transmuted into a political world view that ordinary men and women are oppressed by Murdoch’s critics usually put him in a box labeled the small-l liberal elites who have captured gov- as simply conservative or right wing, but this ernment, the mass media, science and the uni- is woefully inadequate. The precise nature of versities and whose ideas on culture and politics Murdoch’s politics is very significant, particularly dominate by virtue of the orthodoxy of ‘political because he represents a much wider strand of correctness’. radical politics on the Right. And it’s on this topic on which I’d like to spend some time. Put simply this is a battle of ideas or, as many conservative American intellectuals call it, a Murdoch’s political beliefs begin with the image culture war. As a political strategy this kind of of himself as a rebel. Murdoch sees himself as an populist anti-elitist discourse is ingenious. By mo- opponent of the status quo. His central framing 56 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 1 As a political bilizing this resentment of Rather, progressive politics is now a patchwork strategy this industrial workers against of interest groups, a spectrum of self-interested middle class profession- causes. All are legitimate in their own terms but kind of populist als, it splits the coalition few people now speak in the language of the anti-elitist between these two groups broad common interest – rather in the claims of discourse is – a coalition that has been their identity group. the mainstay of Labor ingenious. In philosophical terms the left has lost its narra- parties and the parties like tive of universalism and substituted a narrative of the US Democrats for many decades. Today this special interests, often expressed as group rights. right wing populist anti- is one of the key This is a great loss because a vast number of ordi- ways Republicans articulate their politics. nary people value what people hold in common, This world view of anti-elitist populism has not what separates them. And this is really the another vital element. This is the slogan of ‘small only way to mobilise sufficient numbers of people government’ and the belief that the market against the neo-liberal project. mechanism, if untrammelled by do-gooding, in- Related to this, progressives have a contradictory terfering governments, can liberate ordinary men attitude to governments. On the one hand, we and women, and can even give them the power to see governments as the most powerful player in overturn so-called elites. society, as oppressors, as wanting to control our So Murdoch (and many others) rationalizes the lives, to carry out surveillance etc. On the other intrusion of market mechanism in areas well be- hand progressives rely more than ever on govern- yond the economy (education and health) on the ments to implement progressive ideas – indeed basis that it allows ordinary people to ‘vote with it’s hard to see any other way which is not at last their dollars’ and oppose public sector models. indirectly reliant on government action or policy. Yet we have lost the ability to articulate a power- Finally, all of this picks up on the new spirit of ful message about the possibility of governments freedom of the 1960s and channels it into support as a democratic, collective force, capable of repre- for deregulation, low taxes and privatisation. It senting the public interest – compared to markets was fitting then that when Murdoch’s purchase which are undemocratic and favor self interest. of the Wall Street Journal was complete, News Corporation ran a global advertising campaign Second, the left once broadly articulated an analy- trumpeting a new corporate brand under the sis which put economic power at the centre of its Orwellian slogan: ‘Free markets, free people, free analysis. This has a number of downsides. It was thinking’. [ii] usually crude and it reduced culture and beliefs to a function of economics but it had the virtue of il- On the basis of this free market populism, Mur- luminating a great truth – that we live in a society doch and the trend he represents in Republican in which vast power is exercised by the super rich. politics are therefore not conservatives in the The loss of this narrative means that in their daily old sense of those who valued stability, disliked lives most people are simply unaware of corporate change and promoted respect for established au- power and its power to shape our world and our thority. Murdoch is indeed a radical and a rebel, lives. wanting to radically re-make society and institute a new order based commercial freedom, individu- (A good example was the ease with which the al choice and competition. mining industry convinced people they should not pay tax in the campaign of 2010.) Why is this important? First, because an appeal based on the idea of freedom is successful and Addressing these problems, I believe will go some appealing to many people. And it’s important to way to being able to combat the dominant ideol- understand why – rather than simply denouncing ogy of market populism of Rupert Murdoch and it and damning it as untrue. Second, this populist the radical Right he represents. anti-elitism sheds light on some of the problems Notes of progressive politics today. [i] William Shawcross, Rupert Murdoch: Ringmaster On this score, the first point is that the Left was of the information circus, (London, 1992) 302. once a more populist force – its central idea was [ii] Richard Perez-Pena, News Corp. completes takeo- once a series of demands in the name of ordinary ver of Dow Jones, New York Times, 14 December people. This is no longer true. Progressive people 2007, p.4. do not articulate their demands in this frame- work. 57 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Empowering Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities be empowered and to ... my background be educated if we are is as a teacher - Empowering Aboriginal & Torres teaching them a lie? Strait Islander communities - That’s the most critical until we are able Constitutional Recognition point in relation to the to acknowledge Recognition process building on truth vs the Intervention that we are going in our schools I through, that we can- don’t believe that Nicole Major not continue to teach empowerment our country a lie and we need to teach the can be a reality rest of the world as to for us we and Recognition + Education = what has existed and we will continue Empowerment that continues to exist. down the track I don’t believe that we have been on Nicole Major is Federal Aboriginal Education we as a nation and we and continue to Officer with the AEU and former organiser with as Aboriginal people see things like the the NSWTF. Nicole worked on a program to help can be ‘empowered’ Intervention being implement the recommendations from the Royal until that truth is in forced on our Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. those founding docu- ments. And as teachers communities. I acknowledge that we are meeting on Gadigal and educators - my land and pay my respects to all of you here. background is as a teacher - until we are able to acknowledge building on truth in our schools I From my perspective working with the Austral- don’t believe that empowerment can be a reality ian Education Union in this new role that I have for us we and we will continue down the track we taken up there is no debate around the need for have been on and continue to see things like the Recognition. There isn’t a discussion, it’s just Intervention being forced on our communities. something that simply needs to be done for a whole range of reasons. Apart from this fact, it’s In relation to the education process for schools, right and reasonable to recognise the history that I don’t believe that we make use of skills and our country had well before European settlement knowledge we have in our schools. There are and now to recognise the diversity that went onto hundreds and hundreds who are not university- this land. trained teachers who bring in an enormous amount of skills and knowledge to our schools. We need to recognize the depth of connection For me that is about the empowerment of Abo- and knowledge we have with Aboriginal people riginal communities. and what that actually means, as well as for non- Aboriginal people. It is very important that we do We are very much based around the European or put this in our most important founding docu- non-Indigenous based learning style where we ment and state that this country has an enormous have an expert standing at the front of the room wealth of knowledge and experience and we want and teaching us what other people believed we to share it with everybody. needed to know. In some cases that information is relevant and useful but it is also completely It needs to recognise the history that we actually ignoring the fact there are other people within have and what it is that we do. For me in relation our community, particularly our elders and the to education we can’t move forward effectively knowledge that they have. They are ignored as without having this Recognition within our Con- part of the education process and that this is one stitution, within the documents that founded this of the most damaging things we are doing within country. our communities. Our entire education system, whilst it is based Every community is different in what it is that specifically on a non-indigenous learning style they need and want and until we actually are flex- and education style, we are not teaching the truth ible enough in the systems that we offer (whether of this country, we’re not acknowledging the truth that’s a state-wide education or national system), of this country. until we actually recognise some level of flexibility How on earth do we expect our children from and community ownership of what happens in every race that currently live in this country to their schools, TAFEs and learning environment, 58 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 2 we’re never going to be able to let our education mation of TAFE, our ... we’re not evolve beyond where we sit at the moment. communities are going allowed to be backwards. The way we actually educate in schools at the mo- empowered at ment is structured as a one size fits all: we all start TAFE at this point suits this point because at 9am and finish at 3.30pm. We have how many, the way our communi- of the way that a 10 week term during the year? That doesn’t suit ties learn and provides the vast majority of communities across the coun- the opportunity to we’ve set up the try. Even now parents are saying it doesn’t suit learn in an environ- structures, and if the way we work and the work that we do. ment that is nurturing anything at the and acknowledging the Even looking at the differences, purely climatic moment, because depth of knowledge differences across the country, we can ask ques- of issues like that is outside the com- tions like: why are we sitting in a class room in the decimation munities as well. the heat of summer in some cases? Why are we of TAFE, our ignoring what our com- At the moment the life communities are To become munities are doing in is being choked out of going backwards. owners of our relation to tribal busi- TAFE and that creates future, our ness that they have to an enormous deficit in do? Why are we saying our communities and education and that we have to operate in the ways our communities are learning. our destiny we on a 9am-3.30pm basis, Schools obviously have a long way to go in rela- need to be able or a 10 week school tion to providing a relaxed way of learning and term? to be less rigid, the flexibility around bringing in our Elders and more flexible We can do better to acknowledging what our communities are doing. and more open recognise the fact that But until governments can acknowledge we’re every community is to a whole range teaching individuals, we’re teaching people, and different and for us to of diversity in that we’re not about numbers, money or rankings, become empowered. To our community and until that is actually turned around and the become owners of our right view is taken that education is about devel- that is not future, our education oping people and about developing this country, accommodated at and our destiny we need we’re never going to be in a situation where our this point in time. to be able to be less communities feel they are able to take control and rigid, more flexible and start directing what it is that we want and how it more open to a whole is we want to see Aboriginal people give to this range of diversity in our community that is not country in the future and be part of where we are accommodated at this point in time. heading as a nation. One of the greatest faults of our system is the emphasis that is placed on mass testing. TAFE, in particular, is being transformed into an organisation that is just about making money. It’s not about what the individual needs, it’s not about the students who are there, it’s not about what the needs of the communities are. And wherever our governments are focused on money, on numbers and on rankings we will never ever be able to acknowledge what it is that we bring as a collective, as a country, nor will we be able to effectively empower our communities across the nation. At the moment our communities are not allowed to be empowered. We talk about wanting to empower our communities but we’re not allowed to be empowered at this point because of the way that we’ve set up the structures, and if anything at the moment, because of issues like the deci- 59 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Empowering Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities raphy of all the people involved. There were some really key leading people involved in the land rights movement and the formation in 1975 of the Heidi Norman black defence group was a key pivotal moment. At the same time you had activists shaped by the event of the Tent Embassy who were going Real Economy: strategies for through a radical politicisation. Paul Coe poeti- engaging in the cally explains this: ‘their minds were exploding’ - and going through a process of decolonisation real economic discourse of their minds. He talks of his own transition of considering himself in terms of a state identity to Heidi Norman is a Senior Lecturer in Social and Wiradjeri. And at the same time the acquisition Political Change at the UTS. and honing of modern political skill to be able to draft policy and shape ALP policy and influence the likes of Frank Walker and Maurie Keen. Let me introduce what I am going to talk about. There is a link here and that is in thinking about The links to the trade union movement and the this incredible movement for land rights in NSW Left were extensive. The Builders Labourers and this incredible movement for change that Federation of course was very instrumental in was so gripping and sweeping that’s so effectively expanding cases that included land in the con- persuaded an already - I guess - enthused Labor text of labour justice and industrial justice – an government in NSW. There are some interesting expanded political understanding and analysis. lessons to learn from the campaign for land rights At the same time you had key people like Frank and also the lessons are both good and bad, both Walker – inaugural minister for Aboriginal Af- negative and positive is what I am suggesting. fairs in the Wran Government whose father was I want to suggest a particular story about how a communist, as was Pat O’Shane’s father. They land rights has developed since the laws had were skilled and came from a particular political passed in 1983. It’s a critical perspective. schooling and were attuned in a cultural sense, and had a foot in the camp of ideologies and strat- Now of course I acknowledge the traditional own- egies for change. ers and many of you here I feel confident were actually heavily involved in land rights in NSW Frank Walker for instance, (an interesting char- (Kevin Tory). In the last five years I have com- acter in the story for land rights) his father was pleted a history of land rights to be published in a a communist and banished from Australia and book in time for the 30th anniversary. Frank found himself in PNG as a small white boy who couldn’t speak the language or fit in. So The movement was able to draw on (Kevin Tory Frank understood the language of marginaliza- and Kevin Cook’s) links to the Left, and TUCAR tion when they came back to NSW and lived on was a critical mode of organising that spread the North Coast. information well before the social media networks we have now, and far more effective about spread- He took that sense of marginalization and became ing the word about the land rights movement. a rural advocate in segregation campaigns at the Bowraville Cinema. He passed away last year but Land Rights passed in 1983, it was a culmination explained to me he was treated to a well known of many generations of land activism but it took ritual amongst activists on the north coast but I argue a different form from about 1975 and a copped a hiding from the police. series of events contributed to that. Then as a member of parliament he was part of One is people (like our two Kevins) came to a the activist movement that translated into the level of political awareness and skill to lobby formal institutions of power that other Aboriginal government, to speak to government and speak activists were able to establish effective communi- the language of government. Many activists who I cation with and agreement about. It’s an incred- have mentioned made significant interventions in ible moment of change. And the Land Rights Act Labor party processes (Kevin Cook and Bob Bel- was born (that was a very truncated story and I lear) sitting on an ALP policy committee putting have missed out some critical moments). through changes and supported by the likes of Meredith Burgmann. Of course any story leaves a So in terms of how the government came to frame lot of people out – it’s not a comprehensive biog- land rights. What you can see here is the consul-

60 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 2 tation process, the Select Committee that Maurie come together, elect a chair, president, secretary, Keen chaired. He was from the south coast, and and provide a power base in local towns. In other as the community consultation moved down the rural country towns it facilitates an interface with south coast you can see the south coast Elders varying government departments and even the would get administrative support from the South private sector. Coast Labour Council, have the hall there decked At the same time we see this incredible activist out with pictures of their country they were movement shaped by the Left, drawing on the strongly defending against the approval of logging influence and networks of the Left, trade union licences. movement and a host of others, mostly exclusion At Wee Waa you can see members of govern- of the environment movement. ment with cotton picking workers. It was the first My reading of the Cabinet documents shows that time governments did business this way. Maurie it was the environment lobby that was most hos- Keen explains it: it was transformative, there tile to land rights. Largely because there was some was a cross-party committee that unanimously competition over Crown Land, as some members endorsed the recommendations for land rights, of the Total Environment Centre wanted to secure they were genuinely transformed by the observa- Crown Land for national parks, and of course the tions they made and the experiences they had. Land Rights Act provided a mechanism for Crown The members of parliament moved well outside Land to be returned to land councils, to Aborigi- of their comfort zone eg sitting around a campfire nal people. on car seats. But by 1991, I want to suggest the influence of the But we can also see the land rights demand Left waned. There was a loss of support for land (shows picture of cardboard banner) ‘Land equals rights as a primary concern – a disappointment self respect, justice, health the future and life if you like and of course the Greiner government itself’. You can see here the land rights demand was in power from 1988. was imbued with an incredible sense of optimism and possibly unrealistic. And those kinds of les- This government was the first to introduce neo- sons are worth thinking through, of being mindful liberal discourse to the act of governing. So one of of as we approach another great movement that the first acts it performed was to attempt to dis- is for achieving Constitutional change. Important mantle land rights. In doing this there was a fan- realities to take into account – like the disap- tastic protest outside NSW parliament where the pointment that followed. fence came down (“I pushed that over” interjects Kevin). I was there and my sister was involved in In terms of how the government envisaged land organising that, so it was a pretty wild old time. rights, Walker, Keen and the member from the south coast and many others, they genuinely But the Greiner government forced a kind of em- comprehended the land rights demand. And what bracing of neoliberal discourse. A new language it was Aboriginal people were saying to govern- emerged from the Greiner government. The expe- ment. They also refashioned the demands to rience of freedom was to be achieved now through modern political systems. the market, independent of the government. These are aspirations that have some resonance . How he imagined the local land council - it was a three-tiered model that eventually encompassed But it also says that the state is not responsible for 115-116 Local Aboriginal Land Councils now. the kind of atrocities that have been committed or Originally there was a regional council and then the circumstances Aboriginal people find them- eventually a state office. There was a sense ac- selves in, but rather Aboriginal people become re- cording to Walker that the regional and the local sponsible for those circumstances ourselves. That would be were the power operated, not at the is what I have argued is this Aboriginal govern- state level which just had a minimal budget. mentality - the shift in responsibility in dealing with particular issues to the land council domain There was a strong opposition to state power, brought about not only this discourse of realising it was to be at the regional and local level. He freedom and realising self determination of our envisaged the network of land councils would economic independence, it also brought about a be political cells, as local power bases that were new mode of governing certainly in the relations resourced and could interface with the exist- of the state land council to the local. ing formal institutions of power, local, state and federal government. The local land councils Within this story, the local story, local aspirations would be a space where Aboriginal people would are largely lost.

61 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Empowering Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities But there has been so much money spent on these punitive bureaucratic control mechanisms that are basically designed to keep people under the thumb and micro-manage their lives while at the same time the productive resources (meagre resources) that existed within the communities have been ripped out. For example, the Community Development Em- ployment Program that employed 7,500 people Paddy Gibson - far from perfect with below award wages - but really the backbone of many of these communi- ties. Rather than going in and saying what are we going to do to improve on some of the posi- The NT Intervention and tive programs and helping these communities Stronger Futures: develop, they wiped out 7,500 jobs out of their Apartheid in Australia? communities. They created about 2,000 (or a bit more) jobs to replace the lost CDEP positions and said that Paddy Gibson is a Senior Researcher at the these were going to be on award wages etc, but Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning (UTS). a lot of them are part-time, so people are getting Paddy is a founding member of the Stop the less. A net loss of about 5,000 jobs from some of Intervention Collective Sydney and co-editor of the most impoverished communities in Australia Solidarity magazine. is the result. All of the asset base that had been built up I’d really like to acknowledge Heidi Norman, who through the local council and through the CDEP - when the Intervention started was straight out of whether it’s the trucks, the graders, the vehicles, a the blocks and introduced me to a lot of people whole range of things that allow people to do civil trying to establish a campaign here in Sydney. works and conduct community life as the local From that a whole new chapter in my life has government – were essentially fleeced by reforms opened up and I’ve gone up to the NT for a num- when the Intervention came in. The CDEP was ber of years and campaigned on this issue. closed down and people lost all their graders they Looking forward to reading your book and your lost everything, so you can walk down the street fantastic analysis - and what Heidi is putting of Dargeragu where you used to have a family forward there is that the Intervention is that centre and a bakery operating and an arts centre - absolute culmination of a neoliberal assimila- all these programs and literally all those buildings tion approach, the defeat of that wave of rights are shut. activism that came in the 1970s and 80s, the nail This is symbolic of the Intervention as this family in the coffin of that model of Aboriginal self- centre used to have people employed on CDEP to determination and demanding of the state that help young mothers and their babies etc and is resources are provided for that development to now a derelict building and the child protection take place. system is now removing more and more of those The Intervention is an explicit form of racialised children. control in the Northern Territory that is akin to So I think from the community perspective, apartheid in South Africa, or the welfare boards people have far less than they had previously in and mission boards in the 20th century that peo- terms of employment opportunity, resources, and ple lived under. certainly no representation where they feel they We’ve seen a reemergence of the mission board have somewhere they can go locally to have a say model racialised control mechanism. First, on the because their communities have been shut. economic order that’s been imposed - the Inter- I’ll just read this, as it shows the mentality of the vention has often been renamed as an injection of Intervention. resources into poor communities, and there is no doubt there hundreds of millions of dollars have In 2008 there was the National Indigenous Re- been spent – in some areas badly needed, a lot of form Agreement which was signed by COAG - the money has gone into the health sector. agreement between Commonwealth, State and 62 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 2 The Intervention is Territory govern- port it being dry but that’s their decision and they an explicit form of ments as to how need to be able to decide that the Intervention funding would be says alcohol is banned. All they need is a suspi- racialised control allocated: cion that you will drink that grog on Aboriginal in the Northern land, and how else do you get a suspicion other “Priority for infra- Territory that is akin than the colour of someone’s skin? So it is just structure support this open racialised regime. to apartheid in South and service provi- Africa, or the welfare sion should be given The other way it’s done is the Basics Card. The boards and mission to larger and more income management system quarantines 50% of boards in the 20th economically viable someone’s Centrelink payment so you can only century that people communities where spend that at certain shops approved by the gov- lived under. secure land tenure ernment with a Basics Card. exist. We recognize When I first went to Alice Springs I was on the Indigenous people’s dole - I hadn’t got my research job yet – and I was connection to their homelands but we need to calculating the dole and I had to sign up and there avoid expectation that there will be major invest- was a queue ment in service provision where there are few there of four This is in some of the education opportunities, and facilitate voluntary people over neediest communities in mobility by individuals and families to areas there, and there where better education and job opportunities Australia where people was a queue of exist and where there are higher standards of don’t have running 18 black people service.” water and don’t have lining up under That is written into the funding agreement, that a little sign housing, but we’ve if your communities are not economically viable, saying ‘income got all the money in if they don’t have a market base, you’re going to management’. the world to build this have to move. If you want a house you’re going to Income Man- control apparatus to have to move. agement is micromanage your life, The housing program during the intervention supposed to be and that’s what I mean has only built houses in 16 communities. In the non-discrim- about this regime that vast majority of communities, no new housing. inatory and has been constructed. You’re living 20 people to a house, you want a is supposed new house, go to Alice Springs, go work in the to apply to mines, go elsewhere, it’s not here, on your land, everyone in the NT and now it’s spreading out there isn’t going to be any job, there isn’t going to to other areas in Australia including Bankstown be any house etc. here in Sydney. But it is still overtly racist: 94% of people on income management are Aboriginal; On the other side of things you’ve seen the 75% of exemptions are granted to non-indigenous construction akin to an apartheid regime and an people. It’s just an out-and-out racist control explicit regime of racialised control that happens measure. When I first went through a number of places. You can argue some people like income manage- to Alice Springs I ment, some people don’t – whatever. In a survey Firstly, through the was on the dole that was done with 850 people, the thing they police and the prison ... I had to sign liked about it is they get a free banking system, system. In the NT they you can call up free of charge and put your money up and there was have different powers where you want for free. I mean you could do that a queue there of on Aboriginal land than on a voluntary basis. four people over non-Aboriginal lands (for there, and there example, they can enter But they found there has been no gain in terms was a queue of someone’s house without of people having access to the necessities of life. 18 black people a warrant to search for Overwhelmingly (three quarters interviewed) alcohol, because there is people say they experience humiliation, rac- lining up under a blanket ban on alcohol ism, and discrimination. The government has a little sign on all Aboriginal lands). now spent - or budgeted - $1 billion since the saying ‘income Of course some who start of the Income Management system in the management’. wanted it to be dry sup- NT. In the Territory more than half a billion has

63 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Empowering Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities already been spent. This is in some of the needi- en on a real importance and we’ve got a focus now est communities in Australia where people don’t in Bankstown where they’ve tried to implement have running water and don’t have housing, but the compulsory income management system. And we’ve got all the money in the world to build this people leaving prison will be put on Compulsory control apparatus to micromanage your life, and Income Management. that’s what I mean about this regime that has been constructed. Statistics since the Intervention 80% incarceration increase. Currently we have a situation (in Alice Springs) of 14 –15 people in a cell on mattresses on the floor – absolute Third World concentration camp stuff. The rate of But there is all the incarceration in the NT is now akin to that of the money in the world to USA, which are the most incarcerated people in go in there and split up the history of the world. families. It’s not just Child protection: 80% increase in children being the Intervention where removed from their families. This gives an indica- we see this punitive tion of what is going on with the Intervention. A apparatus being funded recent report showed in 2010-11 the government at the expense of the spent $31 million on child protection workers in social programs. the Territory. $47.8 million in keeping kids in out-of-home care, keeping black kids with white foster families and only half a million was spent on intensive family support services. In my mind this is a systematic policy of removal. You have a situation of absolute poverty and ne- glect that exists in the communities. There is no help for those families. There is no real engage- ment with families when kids are in trouble. But there is all the money in the world to go in there and split up families. It’s not just the Interven- tion where we see this punitive apparatus being funded at the expense of the social programs. When the Royal Commission came down there were 2,140 Aboriginal people in jail and there are now 7,873 Aboriginal people in jail in WA, and 7.5% of Aboriginal men are in jail. 17% of Aborigi- nal men between 25 and 40 are in jail. In the child protection system 2002-03 there were 47,550 Aboriginal kids in out-of-home care. There are now 13,300 Aboriginal kids in out- of-home care. Juvenile justice system: 31 times the level of whites in the juvenile justice system, which is 60% black kids. They have all the money in the world to break up families, keep people behind bars, keep people in care and there is an acute crisis out there, with families being broken up by this repressive appa- ratus of the state at exactly the same time as they are cutting services, TAFE and smashed CDEP across the country. It is as fierce as it’s ever been. In that context an actual fightback against the Intervention has tak- 64 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 2 vote wasn’t that wonder- You probably ful? Well, that’s actually all know that not what happened in 1967 David Shoebridge in the referendum. when the Australian It was in some ways an Constitution MLC acknowledgement that Aboriginal people would be was knocked Empowering Aboriginal counted in the census. But out in 1901, communities in the face of Aboriginal people got the it was a systemic discrimination vote in most States before fundamentally that change in the constitu- racist David Shoebridge campaigns on the need to tion in 1967. document. It empower Aboriginal communities in the face What they actually did in actually has of systemic discrimination from police and 1967 – amended section the criminal justice system and for greater some of the 51 subsection 26. This is most offensive recognition of Aboriginal heritage at all levels of the heads of power that society. the Commonwealth has, elements still basically the States can do in it. I acknowledge we are meeting of the land of the anything that they like - Gadigal people and I pay my respects past and they’ve got plenary power, State governments, but present and to the elders that we see in the audi- the Commonwealth parliament has a limited set ence today. of heads of power so that things are agreed that the Commonwealth can do, but basically every- Every time I hear Paddy Gibson speak about the thing else should be done by the States. Intervention or I hear Penny or another indig- enous person talk about the Intervention it makes That’s how the Constitution was originally envis- us realize just how important this subject is and aged. how important it is we get this right. Over time more and more power has been ac- • stopping and turning around the intervention creted to the Commonwealth heads of power so and that the Commonwealth have been given a very • the need it raises for me to have a united po- expansive reading by the High Court. sition on constitutional recognition. So initially the Constitution was designed to have Because if we had the Constitution right, which most of the power in the States and a limited, prohibited racism and adverse action on the defined amount of power in the Commonwealth. grounds of race, then we wouldn’t have had By a series of interpretations by the High Court the Intervention in the first place. Some of the the power balance has actually been turned figures about juvenile justice and Aboriginal around and in fact the Commonwealth has most disadvantage in the criminal justice system – one of the constitutional power. figure stands out – how grossly racist the crimi- nal justice system is in NSW – if you’re a young But subsection 51:26 used to read before 1967: Aboriginal man aged between 18-25 you are more “the parliament shall, subject to the constitution than 75 times more likely to be hit with a Taser have the powers to make laws for the people of 50,000 volts than anyone else, on average. That’s any race, other than the Aboriginal race in any a conservative estimate. state, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws”. I’ll talk about some of the nuts and bolts about Constitutional Recognition, what’s on the table So when they knocked out the Constitution in what’s being discussed and some of the history. 1901, they explicitly gave the Commonwealth You probably all know that when the Australian power to make racist laws but not racist laws in Constitution was knocked out in 1901, it was a relation to Aboriginal people - that was the deal. fundamentally racist document. It actually has The deal was those racist laws were being done some of the most offensive elements still in it. well enough by the States, and the Common- Some of that was softened a little in 1967, but wealth can basically legislate against Chinese fundamental racism still is in the heart of the migrant workers and citizens, South Pacific Constitution so many of us think well the Consti- Islanders any other race was fair game for the tution was amended in 1967 and gave people the 65 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Empowering Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities Commonwealth to make sure that all that basic as though they have never been here - 60,000 racist machinery that operated at a State level years, don’t you worry about it. wasn’t going to be interfered with at a Common- The founding document for the Commonwealth wealth level. makes no reference to Aboriginal people and In 1967 they removed from subsection 26 the ref- that’s what has led to the call for Constitutional erence to limitation and they got rid of the phrase recognition. And that’s great to have Mick Gooda “other than the Aboriginal race in any state”. By here. And the Commonwealth set up that expert doing that they basically said the Commonwealth panel I think in 2010 and Mick Gooda and others, can make a law with respect to any race that is Patrick Dodson and that panel’s come up with a deems necessary – any race at all, Aboriginal or set of demands. non-Aboriginal. What I want to talk about is what that set of Very clearly what they didn’t do was say the demands are and why we need unity on the Left Commonwealth can only make beneficial laws for even though not 100% on this set of demands. any race. It is a broad race power and in fact in a Whatever comes, provided it takes Aboriginal series of High Court decisions - the Hindmarsh people forward both in terms of acknowledged Bridge decision and others - it’s been made very and substantive rights, we’ve got to be united on clear that that race power that the Common- the model. wealth has is as every bit as good for making Look what happened to the Left with the republic discriminatory laws as it is for making positive - the Right modeled a referendum that was de- laws like land rights. signed to split the Left so we didn’t get a republic Its principally been used in terms of Aboriginal in any way, shape or form. people, that race power. The Commonwealth has Over the next couple of The proposition used it to discriminate against Aboriginal peo- years we may well tragical- to remove ple and that’s what it is there for now. The other ly have an Abbott govern- section 25 from thing they did in 1967 was remove section 127 ment. They are committed the Constitution which said in 1901, “ in reckoning the numbers with going forward with a surely should of the people of the Commonwealth or of a State referendum on Aboriginal or part of the Commonwealth Aboriginal natives recognition. My suspicion, unite us all. shall not be counted” – that was the original com- given their track record, pact. We’ll count everybody in the country for the is they’ll want to put something up that splits census but not blackfellers, not Aboriginal people. the Left, that splits Aboriginal communities or at least that has the potential to do that. Why did they do that? Firstly they were deeply racist and thought it was ok not to count Aborigi- We’ve got to be absolutely mindful of that kind of nal people. But it was also some real politics at divide-and-conquer history. Kevin Tory spoke of play in 1901 that States like WA and Queensland that in terms of the land rights movement, that had large Aboriginal populations - as best as they “divide-and-conquer history” that so often means could tell, as they couldn’t be bothered counting - chances of major reform are lost or major reforms and the other states didn’t want WA and Queens- are degraded. land to count Aboriginal citizens as though they What the Expert Panel has come up with is a were citizens because you see that would have package of reforms - the first is to remove section given them more seats in the House of Represent- 25, which is still in there, which says the States atives because the number of seats you get in the can ban people of a particular race from voting. House of Representatives is dependent upon how That’s still in our Constitution from 1901. So for many people live in your State. NSW, parliament thinks they suddenly don’t like So the other States actively didn’t want Aboriginal Chinese people - they can pass a law that says people counted because they thought they would Chinese people are no longer entitled to vote - be given an unfair deal. Ugly power politics and that’s Constitutionally valid. ugly racism. In fact it’s written into the core of the Constitu- In 1967 that section 127 was cut out of the Consti- tion and we should remember in 1901 we were tution and so since then Aboriginal people have a deeply racist society and a law like that might been counted in the census. One of the forgotten have had a lot of attraction, and it’s still there, outcomes of the 1967 referendum was any refer- and it’s shameful. The proposition to remove sec- ence to Aboriginal people and every reference to tion 25 from the Constitution surely should unite Aboriginal people was cut out of the Constitution, us all. 66 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 2 The other proposal is to remove entirely section But fundamentally whatever package we come to 51 subsection 26. That gives the Commonwealth we should make sure we unite around it, because the power at the moment to pass any law in re- I am pretty sure the Right - the Coalition - will spect to any race and the argument about remov- want to divide us so as we don’t get any action at ing subsection 26 is that has traditionally been all. used against Aboriginal people to pass discrimi- Thank you. natory adverse laws – so get rid of it entirely. But if you just do that, that would remove any power for the Commonwealth to pass a law for the good of the Aboriginal people or for the good of other migrant groups. For example the Su- danese community might need some protection The proposal is to put a from the Victorian government. Speaking of pass- new section 51A - I think ing laws to protect the Sudanese community from - that would recognize the Victorian government, you could think of a Aboriginal and Torres number of migrant groups - Lebanese citizens in Strait Islander peoples and Sydney - who may need at some point protection preserve the Australian from their State government. government’s ability to Just removing the power to pass a law in respect pass laws for the benefit of to any race kind of takes us one step forward and takes us one step back at the same time and I Aboriginal and Torres Strait think we should be aware of that. Islander peoples. The proposal is to put a new section 51A - I think - that would recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and preserve the Australian government’s ability to pass laws for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. But the Expert Panel says get rid of the general discrimination and get rid of the general race power and insert a separate provision that allows for positive laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The other proposals are to include a ban on racial discrimination generally and a fresh section recognizing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages as the country’s first tongues and con- firming English as the national language. Some of that is at high level statements of good and some of it has very practical elements – • removing the ability to racially discriminate against Aboriginal people or indeed anyone; • creating a positive power to pass positive laws for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and • getting rid of that racist power to prohibit people of a race to voting. The problem I see with this - thinking about Mick Gooda’s perspective - is removing the ability to pass laws to positively discriminate for other races. I think that might be an area of potential division and we should have a mature conversa- tion about that, if we want to have that power in the Commonwealth.

67 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Feminism: challenges and Strategies Both these theoreti- ... what is left cal frameworks have out of the always had problems industrialised, Eva Cox conceptualising the place of the ‘residual’ market models goods and services, are the areas left Feminism as another lens on which are produced by to women, family what matters: households and com- and community. munities for their own These related progressive policies for those consumption and shar- not in paid work ing in various ways. groups manage communal Eva Cox is a lifetime feminist, activist, change The gender lens is relationships that agent, researcher, policy wonk, Boyer lecturer, useful here as much of what is left out of the generate activities currently Professorial Fellow at Jumbunna, UTS, which are not and WETTANK (womens equity think tank). industrialised, market models are the areas formally traded. left to women, family and community. These If we are serious about Left renewal, we need to related groups manage communal relationships recognise that the future is not just a rerun of the that generate activities which are not formally past with some adjustments for environmental traded. Marxism added these on as part of re- changes. We need a new vision and many new producing the workforce for capitalism but both viewpoints to create the basic framework for a frameworks failed to note that much of what we more equitable social system which values the do and care about falls outside trading relation- components that make up a good society. ships and formal workplaces. It is about putting the social back into socialism There is an urgent need for a serious review of by recognising the diversity of people, the impor- these priorities, both to accommodate the chang- tance of connections, feelings and relationships es in gender relations that redistribute responsi- and the need to determine new ways of mixing bilities for care and other unpaid activities, and non-material and material goods and services. the obvious limits to industrial growth that are In a time where industrial production will need to becoming more evident. slow, where globalised economies are the future Limiting the growth and sharing the status quo norm and where sharing is the solution to better resources more fairly means questioning both the overall living standards, the older state models role and priority that paid jobs, however green, and class battles are not very useful. take in our future. We need to think through how The new utopias may be as unattainable as the we share both paid and unpaid work and offer older versions, but we need to do some work on public funding for time out of paid work in equi- developing the tools for collective risk sharing table ways. and less need for material well-being. It is time for socialism to become social, to Without believing that progress is still possible recognise the value of the frameworks of social and that we have the capacity to use technology, relationships that make up our communities and ethics and know how to make a better society, societies. Social rela- we have no tools, no story or vision to defeat the tionships are based on Limiting the conservative neo-liberals’ mix of past paternalism a range of bonds based growth and with individuated freedoms. on the non-material: sharing the status emotions, obligation, What underpins both classic capitalism and quo resources trust, ethics, commit- socialism is the basic industrial revolution, when more fairly means ments, interests, values some forms of mass production moved out of the and beliefs. They may questioning both home and farm into factories and offices. The also be framed and sup- the role and production and exchanging of goods and services ported by the belong- priority that paid were the core activities that were seen as deter- ing and communality mining the ways we relate and were assumed to jobs, however that derive from shar- provide the materialist base for both markets and green, take ing public objects and Marxism, albeit with different aims. in our future. institutions. The privati- 68 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 3 sation processes of services and public resources distributed power, and Societies need further pushed the buttons of fragmentation and do not create structural to set social self-interest. These groupings are often labelled change. We need to look ‘affect’ but this term under-rates the importance at why, after 40 years of goals as well we put on the need to belong, to be respected and agitation, we still have as economic to contribute. high levels of violence ones and against women, inequita- The new well-faring state needs to be built on the recognise that ble access to power and ideal of equitable sharing of risks, responsibilities social inclusion, live in an economy, not a and resources, the right to a good life, and to be well-being and society. part of creating a more civil society. cohesion depend Despite the failures of ne- So how do we start rethinking the sharing of on both paid and oliberal fundamentalism, responsibilities for making better societies to live unpaid inputs. as illustrated by the GFC, in? there are few signs of seri- We start by working out how to recognise and ous alternative options incorporate in policy the social areas of life that for a paradigm shift coming from progressive were left out of the military industrial complex. people. In Europe, and even here, there are signs This strategy was the core of the 1970s feminist of increased populism, both Right and Left. These revolution which saw women’s liberation coming tend to use nationalism and exclusion as mecha- from a major restructure of what was counted and nism to gain power and commitment. These valued, not just what was paid for in the market movements also tend to exclude out-groups. or defined economy. The areas to be included There are some signs that others deplore this lack was what was left to households, community and of vision. To quote Guy Rundle in a recent Crikey women when the men went out to work. Care, piece on major welfare shifts in Britain and the communal wellbeing, apparent demise of protesting groups that fol- While violence the quality of our rela- lowed the 2010 changes: to women and tionships, our collective the numbers links with others, our ‘Life, in Britain, was, and is, seen in very rigid sharing of rights and terms — this is where you live, this is what of women responsibilities for self you do, etc. Thatcherism replaced that with a in powerful and others need to be more mobile ideal, but only for the people who positions may be combined with com- could actually go anywhere. ……Meanwhile, the serious issues, mitments to culture Left has been trying to develop a response that they are dealing and country. We need draws on those collective notions, and the post- with symptoms of to learn Indigenous WWII inheritance ….They (the protest groups) approaches to what have now faded, as did Occupy, and the new mal-distributed matters and sustain- groups may have the same problem — without a power, and ability as well as sharing positive vision to advance, without even a set of do not create equitably what is there proposals for a different tax-spending mix, they structural change. to share. are in a sense one or two steps behind much of the general public.’ We need a grand vision, not by setting rules for an impossible utopia, but After chastising Left leaders for sticking with by starting bottom up to work out how we change older models, he concludes: the ways we live, earn and distribute responsibili- ‘Just as with much of the Australian Labor ties and resources equitably. Left, there is no set of responses that addresses These discussions need to happen across the the broad middle of the population, and does whole Left renewal process, not isolated in a ses- not seek to make a politics out of a patchwork sion on feminism with one speaker on income of minorities, no matter how legitimate their support. However, this session may offer a good claims to a better shake.’ starting point in moving out of the current stuck Societies need to set social goals as well as limits of the gender debate into some wider vision economic ones and recognise that social inclu- of what we could do and be. sion, well-being and cohesion depend on both While violence to women and the numbers of paid and unpaid inputs. Informal relationships women in powerful positions may be serious with children and others offer nurture and care issues, they are dealing with symptoms of mal- through obligations, gifts and reciprocity, which 69 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Feminism: challenges and Strategies Therefore we need are intrinsic to individuals, families and the state in ensuring fair mixes of policies and the current and access to adequate resources to live decently. future well-being Current policies programs but can of our society. The start with the areas interdependence Instead of recognising both changes and prob- that ensure life cycle of human beings lems above, the current ALP government’s record income adequacy for in society is core to is very patchy. While they have introduced pay- the many women, our sense of who ment for parental leave, albeit with flaws, other and hopefully more we are and want changes have been far less gender appropriate. to be. The core problem comes from official sexist and men, who manifest outdated assumptions that the model good citizen Therefore we need different paid work is a paid worker and mixes of policies and earning patterns part of ‘working fami- and programs but The core problem lies’, who make their to the current mainly can start with the comes from official economic contribu- male mode. areas that ensure sexist and outdated tions. Those who lack life cycle income earned or shared in- assumptions that adequacy for the come, who are deemed the model good many women, and hopefully more men, who capable of paid work, citizen is a paid manifest different paid work and earning patterns are defined as prob- to the current mainly male mode. Changing how worker and part of lematic, whatever time is distributed between the sexes and genera- ‘working families’, their other activities or tions, as well as the funding quantum, is impor- who make circumstances. With tant in ensuring the informal reciprocity essential the exception of carer their economic to any good society. payments and severe contributions. The policy directions, currently being followed disability payments, fail to recognise changing involvements of both the norm is ‘get a job’. partners in paid jobs, more sole parents, higher This assumes that equality for women is achieved expectations of engagement and normalisation by adopting masculinised workplace participation for those with disabilities and the possible care modes. Instead of designing payments to recog- needs of an older population. nise social contributions, part or full time, this Income support is here defined as the publicly approach allows the government to penalise and provided programs of financial subsidies for earn- further isolate out-groups such as sole parents, ings, or their replacement, which ensure a suf- members of Indigenous communities and the ficient basic income for all. A feminist framework other non-employed people. Despite evidence for such payments needs to acknowledge the ways that many may be excluded from paid work by that gendered institutions and assumptions cre- other responsibilities or structural discrimina- ate continuing differences in work patterns, both tion, they are labelled as ‘bludgers’. Current paid and unpaid. policies offer them inadequate basic incomes and high levels of conditionality, designed to pressure Despite some changing norms over the past four them into non-existent jobs. decades, women still provide most unpaid care as well as increasing their paid workforce participa- The last three years of major problematic changes tion. They both use more formal care services and include: the various forms of compulsory income staff these, often at relatively low pay rates. They management, cuts to sole parent payments, the live longer than men adding to the problems of continuing failure to index Newstart to match lower lifetime earnings, but also often provide the costs and the tightening of definitions of dis- domestic services that allow men to earn more. abilities. It also has failed to deal with the gender These patterns of earning and non-earning mean inequities of the current superannuation tax con- women are more likely to depend on public forms cessions and other forms of retirement income, as of income support through the various life stages. these mean there is a gender bias inbuilt into the superannuation design. These differences mean that a gender neu- tral design of policies cannot deliver equitable Redesigning income support outcomes. A 21st century income support that Start by reframing the values put on the various ensures gender equity and fairness needs to take contributions so social inputs are as clearly val- into account the appropriate responsibilities of ued as economic ones. There should be redesigns 70 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 3 Expand the of workplaces to allow diverse household relationships which should Government’s for better mixes of paid not impose obligations to support another and unpaid work for all. person, or to be supported on the basis of narrow view of There should be no poli- an assumption about a bona fide domestic what constitutes cies that coerce women relationship. a social (or men) into paid work • Income support should support sabbatical which have been falsely contribution to style time out on a regular basis for those justified by misquot- include services who have projects/contributions they want to ing feminist claims that in care, culture pursue. women had a right to and creativity paid jobs. • Tax expenditures should be treated like wel- that feed into the fare payments and eligibility assessed on the Expand the Govern- good society. basis of need and equity. ment’s narrow view of what constitutes a social Short term changes contribution to include services in care, culture • Raise allowances such as Newstart to the pen- and creativity that feed into the good society. This sion level. social model needs an appropriate mix of paid and unpaid contributions to ensure we have ad- • Retirement income needs to recognise life- equate well-being, cohesion and mutual respect. time earnings will differ and many will have Therefore, policies need to fund adequate income few savings, so pensioners without adequate support to support a decent life style for those savings need access to small capital grants for excluded from paid work or who choose appropri- the mainly older women. ate other ways of contributing. Even if the gender • Excessive tax concessions for higher income biases change, the need for funding a substantial areas, such as for super contributions and quantum of informal unpaid contributions will earnings, should be abolished to release funds continue. for other income support needs. Some initial benchmarks • Put sole parents back on Parenting Payment • Basic income payments must be adequate to recognise that they already have one job, to support recipients at a decent level and and offer incentives for adding income by bet- should not differentiate on the basis of rea- ter access to care services and education. sons for eligibility for support. (same for the • Compulsory Income Management should be aged and unemployed) abolished and Centrepay expanded to help • Additional costs for aids and equipment for those needing assistance and family protec- mobility, communication and body mainte- tion. nance to cover needs required to participate in society need to be core to the income sup- port systems. • There should be access to such payments for time out for those who choose to contribute their services to individuals or to community well-being, including creativity. There should be no coercion • Responsibility for children and others requir- into paid work. While ing time and involvement should be seen as recognising the value of paid legitimate and payments should be designed work for both self-worth and to provide support for part time job holders economic well-being, the and time out workers. evidence is that it can cause • There should be no coercion into paid work. damage if not a good job or While recognising the value of paid work for a good fit with parenting. both self-worth and economic well-being, the evidence is that it can cause damage if not a good job or a good fit with parenting. • Income support payments need to recognise individual rights to payments as there are 71 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Feminism: challenges and Strategies all those IUDs in little It’s not only shoebox-sized boxes about control with no multilingual Margaret Kirkby language or informa- of your body, tion and sent them off it’s also about to developing coun- control of your Still recovering from the impact tries. life and it’s also of the Howard years: lessons First world women about national learned and how to rebuild benefited but at the and international expense of women in issues ... developing countries. Margaret Kirkby is a feminist activist since That connection to me 1978 around abortion, contraception and other as a feminist and as a Marxist feminist is very reproductive health issues from a state-based, important to understand, in terms of the econom- national and international perspective. ics of capitalism. In terms of the specific brief we were given around challenges, for me as an Australian I don’t want to be antagonistic to Eva Cox in any feminist over 2003-06, I worked for the Bessie way, but I see myself as a Marxist feminist. Smythe Foundation, one of the feminist abortion I am going to talk about why I am an abortion service organisations that was established by the activist still today when I started in 1978. When Sydney women’s liberation movement. It opened I got involved in abortion rights it was out of in 1977 and I ended up being the last manager of having had an experience of having a terminated it. pregnancy the year before and my wish was But by 2003-06 we weren’t running a clinic thwarted actually by a mistake at the clinic and anymore. We had to sell out to a British multi- they made an error which meant they couldn’t national, and I was doing advice and advocacy proceed with my operation that day. and counselling for low-income women who were And I got shunted off and got to feel like I was trying to obtain an abortion. the one made to feel at fault. I did end up having Over time I found what I would now describe as a my termination of the pregnancy two weeks later challenge of not only the women’s movement but – but under general anesthetic, which I did not the Left, in that there was a failure to realize the want because I had deliberately chosen a clinic depth to which many people in our society had that provided it under local anesthetic so I could fallen because of the inequities that have devel- be awake during the procedure. oped across the 80s and 90s. Anyway, the long and the short is that this Many people revealed a lot of very distressing propelled me and I founded the group Women’s situations like homelessness and being cut off Abortion Action Campaign and the women who Centrelink benefits be- set it up called themselves socialist feminists and cause they allegedly had Over time I found one of the things that has kept me active on this a breach. What do you what I would issue is about the connections. think people do who are now describe It’s not only about control of your body, it’s also breached and who are as a challenge about control of your life and it’s also about not getting any money of not only national and international issues, and abortion from Centrelink for 6 rights, because you don’t need an abortion if weeks or 8 weeks? Think the women’s you have your contraception sorted. There are about it yourself, if all movement but problems because multinationals are involved of a sudden your money the Left, in that in developing contraception and there’s a whole stops, rent needs to be there was a heap of things that go on there. paid and food bought. failure to realize So, for example, on the contraception side of The depths to which the depth to the WAAC campaign, the international women’s many people have been which many health movement in the developed countries cam- thrown have not been people in our paigned against a form of IUD that was deemed understood by even the society had unsuitable because of complications and you trade union movement, know what happened? The drug company just put and many others in fallen ... 72 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 3 society, and I feel privileged that at the time I was that the connections have I am not going able to work and help a lot of women get access to just fallen down between to agree with a termination of pregnancy but in the conditions us and other organisations. they wanted it to be in. For example, when WAAC anybody was established it came who says I am not going to agree with anybody who says from some of the feminists just because just because you are poor you’re not entitled to had been involved in health get this operation in the way you want it to be. you are poor consumer rights and issues, And I know that feeds into my own personal you’re not and they were involved in experience, but I will give you an example of one entitled to get the humanist society and young couple that I had assisted who had an ad- a whole range of organisa- this operation diction background and met in rehabilitation. tions, and over time those in the way you They had an unplanned pregnancy, had both connections fell apart, or want it to be. agreed it was really the best thing they could be there wasn’t so much con- doing for themselves on their journey to a better tact between us for a variety place but they were very specific about what kind of reasons. of support they wanted in the clinic, and they So, in terms of strategies: reconnect where we wanted the foetal remains, as part of their dealing can, help each other out as much as we can. For with it. example, I attended the AFTINET Forum (Aus- And I am only too bloody happy to go in there tralian Fair Trade and Investment Network) and and advocate for people in that circumstance and the lovely Dr Pat Ranald, a key worker in that to say to a doctor: this what they want and I want organisation, gave the presentation about what you to agree, and if the doctor says no, you keep seems far away from all of us here - trade agree- negotiating with them. Because it doesn’t matter ments - but Pat was talking about how that is go- if you have struck a bad patch in your life, every- ing to impact on , in particular body is entitled to have access to support, and so over access to medicines, and obviously that’s not in the context of abortion to have that option to only going to affect women. have that operation in a way that makes it easier These are big picture issues and I attended that for them or fulfils their wishes. forum because I thought it was important to I think another challenge for us all is to maintain take that back to WAAC. We need to think about an international perspective, like in the forum that; let’s attend each other’s forums so we know this morning I was just gobsmacked - but loved what’s going on. it - that Angelo Gavrielatos was talking about just coming back from an international forum, and Remember humour is my last strategy. Humour I was thinking ‘wow’ wouldn’t it be great if Eva is an amazing force out there in people and when and Mel and I could get up and say we have come they come together and the start bouncing around back from an international forum on feminists in- ideas. volved in the trade union movement, or feminists If you use humour rather than just being heavy – doing what Eva’s been doing. ‘oh they’re mean and they’re nasty’ - that just cuts Years ago there was an international feminist through so quickly to the public so just remember organisation - there still is the Women’s Global humour. Using some sense of a quick quip or Network for Reproductive Rights in the Philip- something like that is really very important. pines - but there’s just not the funding to pay That’s my contribution. for an international flight and even when I think back on some of the times I have gone overseas to international things, I have partially paid for it myself. So, maintaining an international perspective is so important because you get some strength out of linking up with other feminists and activists and bring back ideas and you feel reinvigorated. But also it helps develop your analysis on your own country. My third challenge that I see for the women’s movement is, and I am using the broad brush, 73 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Feminism: challenges and Strategies of Indian men and 2012 saw a serious women came together kickback from and rejected the perva- Melanie Fernandez sive culture of blaming various sections survivors of rape and a of our community culture of acceptance to the every- Generation F: Feminist Activism of violence against day sexism and in the 21st Century women and girls. misogyny that is We have also seen directed against smaller wins this women across Melanie Fernandez is a feminist activist and year – F Collective, the world. the National Chair of Women’s Electoral a grassroots Sydney Lobby, Melanie is committed to ensuring the based feminist collec- involvement of young women and creating tive, and Women’s Electoral Lobby (WEL) ran a pathways for inter-generational dialogue and campaign to stop the state government defunding learning. 26 community services that were slated to be cut, including women’s resource centres, child sexual assault services and health support groups. This In the Left we spend a lot of time talking about campaign saw secured funding of the Gay & Les- the challenges faced by the , bian Counselling Service, Margaret Jurd Learning mourning the decline of a movement that we still Centre and Liverpool Women’s Resource Centre consider so necessary. But 2012 was not a “trend” and an extension of funding for the other services year for feminism. 2012 saw the resurgence of for 3-6 months. feminist analysis into the mainstream media. There are always going to be challenges in the 2012 saw a serious kickback from various sections movement, particularly with the rise in conserva- of our community to the every-day sexism and tism and the recent policy attacks on some of the misogyny that is directed against women across most vulnerable members of our communities. the world. However, right now we should be focusing on our The Gillard misogyny speech was an amazing mo- recent wins and what we have learned from them; ment for the feminist movement. Not because of how this growth and regeneration of our move- what she said, but because of how it was received. ment places us in a better position to fight the Institutional Australia – commentators, journal- coming battles and where we go from here. ists, politicians – wrote it off as a set piece swipe at the Opposition Leader. So what does feminism activism looks like today and what’s next? The amazing part was how well the speech was received by those outside the Establishment in I grew up under the so called ‘Equality Myth’. Australia and across the world – the youtube clip Being told by public discourse that we are in a went viral. Facebook, twitter and youtube com- ‘post feminism era’; that all the battles have been ments all celebrated the PM and many expressed fought and won by our mothers and we just need wishes that they too could take such a stand to work hard and we will succeed. For many against the constant sexist jibes they experience. young women we believe this until we encounter barriers, discrimination or violence in our own The famous Destroy the Joint movement was also lives. It is only at this point that many young borne out of a disgust at name calling. Destroy women wake up to the fact that there is still insti- the Joint uncovered the depth and breadth of the tutionalised discrimination in our country. anger in our community at the day-to-day sex- ism spewing from our newspapers, radio stations I’ve often been asked about why young women and televisions. Almost 17,000 people took part don’t self-identify as feminist, why they don’t in their initial petition, and they recently lodged want to get involved in the movement. Often it is a petition of 38,000 to call out victim-blaming on assumed that they don’t want to associate them- radio. The facebook page has over 27,000 likes selves with the stereotypical image of a feminist. and over 3, 000 comments. Huge numbers of However, a bigger challenge to involving young comments and likes show a real engagement. women is the idea that feminism is no longer relevant - the Equality Myth. On the other side of the world we have seen a huge outcry in India over the rape and murder What has been so inspiring in the last year is the of a 23 year old woman. Hundreds of thousands displacing of this myth. In the last year feminism 74 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 3 has been more talked about in public discourse that are persistently undervalued because they than it has been in years. Young women and men have traditionally been done by women. are starting to realise that they are not equal So what does this mean practically? For WEL this to men; to identify systemic discrimination in means a focus on putting good social policies on Australia and around the world and say enough is the agenda, particularly focusing on Early Child- enough. hood Education and Care (ECEC), and Welfare We have seen wins locally where feminist organi- Reform for the Federal Election. sations have collaborated and where we have Recently we have seen great wins in the ECEC broadened the way of engaging in feminist activ- sector, with the government putting in a $300 ism. We are starting to see renewed momentum million wage subsidy, and funding the trial of in the movement. We are seeing different ways some 24hr early childhood facilities. But these young women engage in the movement through reforms are just tinkering around the edges. We feminist blogs, like F Collective, Dawn Chorus should not forget what the movement was origi- (Melbourne) and Feministing (US). nally fighting for: free, quality early childhood Exploiting relationship networks allows us to education and care. mass mobilise and effectively organise, and also The system as it currently stands is a mess, one for participation in a nation-wide or global move- which inadequately addresses the needs of work- ment in a way we have not been able to before. ing class women across Australia. Even when The diverse ways in which to engage in feminist receiving all the relevant rebates, ECEC remains activism is ensuring wider accessibility to the unaffordable for some women, or leaves women movement and more individually defined engage- devoting all their income to paying for childcare ment. fees. WEL is advocating for a holistic review of the I think it is a really exciting time to be part of the sector, and a shift away from public subsidisation movement, particularly because it is a time for of for-profit early childhood education and care. regeneration. We are seeing a lot more young In recent Welfare Reforms we have seen a consist- women and girls engage in the movement. For ent attack on vulnerable members of our commu- this to continue we need to be flexible about nity. This is seen in the further roll out of Income different ways of engaging and different types Management, a punitive scheme that quarantines of . Feminism is diverse and we need a portion of a welfare recipient’s payment, deny- diverse ways of engaging in the movement. ing them their financial autonomy. This condi- Though we have seen real change in the move- tional welfare is based on negative assumptions ment and growth and regeneration in recent about the capacities of those claiming government years, we still have some tough fights ahead. We payment and fails to recognise the diverse social are seeing a rise of conservatism, we are fighting and economic contributions made in ways other to ensure we are not going backwards. than paid work. It also ignores discrimination and structural barriers to some engaging in paid work. In NSW we have seen a State election in which there was a significant backsliding of the number We have also seen an attack on Sole Parents in the of women elected to parliament. We have our first further cuts to sole parents payments introduced female PM and she has had to withstand personal recently. These changes to our welfare system do and sexist abuse in a way that generations of male not recognise the social value of many activities, PMs have not. We are seeing implementation other than paid employment, such as caring re- of policies that target some of the most vulner- sponsibilities. We need to recognise and value this able members of our community and perpetuate contribution appropriately and allow individuals, gender inequality. We are in the lead up to an and in particular women/sole parents and other election which is likely to see the appointment of vulnerable members, dignity and autonomy over a conservative government. their lives and finances. There is much work to be done to progress this So where does this leave us? We see people frus- agenda and we will only succeed in this if we learn trated with the lack of a social conscience of either from our recent wins: of the major parties. In the lead up to the elec- tion we need to focus on pushing this agenda. We • to work collaboratively; need to work towards systemic cultural change, • to ensure diverse forms of engagement and and a shift in our values. We need to value the increased accessibility; to capitalise on the various ways people contribute to our society, in building momentum in our movement; and particular valuing caring roles and other roles • to link to a nation-wide and global movement. 75 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Equality, Race and Refugees in Australia leadership in the way that Howard didn’t and, I’d argue, in the way that Gillard hasn’t. Equality, Race and Let me take one step back before I get to Gillard. Refugees in Australia Keating was in office, and in many ways, one of the worst things he did was introduce mandatory detention for refugees, the only country in the Jock Collins world that did it, and that does it. Mandatory detention is in my view completely inhumane, unethical and impractical. I’m com- Jock Collins is Professor of Social Economics in pletely opposed to this. Rudd came on, said better the Management Discipline Group of the Faculty words about multiculturalism but he maintained of Business at the University Technology, Sydney mandatory detention, although they closed down (UTS). He is Co-Director of the Cosmopolitan the offshore processing. Civil Societies Research Centre and his research Then we had Julia Gillard who rolled Rudd as we interests centre on an interdisciplinary study all know, and the interesting thing to me about of immigration and cultural diversity in the the messages that she sends are that they are very economy and society. much in the same subliminal racist space as How- ard, and there’s this notion of dog whistle politics where you’re sending these messages. Thanks for coming. It seems to me that there’s a Because the very first thing she said, if you re- lot of playing the race card in Australian politics member when she was elected leader to replace today. We saw it very much with John Howard Rudd, she said I’m not for a ‘Big Australia’, I’m with the Tampa election in 2001 where basically against a Big Australia. And previous to that there he won that election by saying these refugees was this debate, the demographic predictions threw their children overboard. were that we’d have 35 million people in Australia The navy had photos to prove it, people voted, by 2050. Rudd said he was comfortable with that. and of course the argument was ‘well what sort of Gillard straightaway said I’m not comfortable people are these who would throw their children with that, which is basically a code for saying ‘I all to save themselves’. So, that resonated very don’t like the immigration.’ That was her first well and of course it was proved later that there means of demarcation. was no such children overboard photo. But he She then of course introduced and moved to played the race card in that election and was very offshore processing, including Manus Island and successful. trying to set up deals with Malaysia. She didn’t When he was in office he also did a very tricky want Nauru but what’s the difference between thing. He never said the ‘M’ word multicultural- one and the other? So, she was completely having ism. He was always very uncertain about that. the Coalition policy. But he defended ’s right to say But the other thing she did about the multicultur- what she wanted to say, on the one hand, and alism question is that when she won the election he increased immigration to record levels on the and she had that narrow coalition. other, in particular, the guest worker or 457 im- migration. No one in her government had responsibility for multiculturalism. When she announced her Cabi- Because Australia has always been what we call net and her parliamentary secretaries no one had a settler immigration country - people come to responsibility for multiculturalism. This is amaz- live as permanent migrants- under Howard the ing because we have more immigrants than any number of temporary migrants had increased to country in the world of a greater diversity, and outnumber the number of permanent migrants. yet multiculturalism had slipped off the political So, we had mixed messages. So, racism was an radar so it had no importance at all. important card that he played, and refugees, and She’s since changed that and the Minister for if you think about the current wave of refugees, Sport was much later also given responsibility the previous wave were the Vietnamese boat for multiculturalism. But how multiculturalism people and it was actually Fraser who was very can disappear as a political priority in current welcoming of them irrespective of public opinion Australia just amazes me, and that it should come which was very negative. He showed political from a Labor government amazes me even more. 76 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 4 And then the final straw, I think, in the whole have job skills that So, what would I racist card of the Gillard government in my mind we don’t fill. The do with refugee is her recent Rooty Hill speech about 457 work- problem is, is that ers, where she was more or less saying you know, there have been a politics? I’d ‘we support local workers, not foreigners’. And number of cases end mandatory that’s completely the same racist card as Pauline where there was detention. I would Hanson was pulling, as John Howard was pulling exploitation of 457 end offshore with the Tampa boat people. And it seems to me, workers. There are processing. I would you know I’m once again amazed that the Labor a number of cases have community Party would tread that road in blatant political where employers opportunism in order to get elected. have used that in an settlement, and unscrupulous way, not in the gulags So, my basic argument is that we have it from they’ve paid them in the desert both sides of the and we don’t much lower wages; have any political leadership here. which Amnesty they’ve exploited International called So, what would I do with refugee politics? I’d them. correctly ‘factories of end mandatory detention. I would end offshore Now, I’ve been argu- processing. I would have community settlement, mental illness.’ ing against that for and not in the gulags in the desert which Amnesty some time. What International called correctly ‘factories of mental the government’s got to do as it escalates the 457 illness.’ There is even detention of children still in program, it’s got to police the whole visa so this these places: completely immoral and inhumane. isn’t a way of cheap labour and exploitation. The other thing I think that’s important is the But, having said that, I think there’s still a case for numbers of refugees, and the one good thing Gil- 457 visa workers. In my view, if I were managing lard did is increase them to 20,000 as part of the immigration I would try to reduce the relative size deal accepting the new package from her special of the 457 program and restore the balance more committee. So, I think that number is probably towards settler immigration while acknowledg- about right or could even be increased, but you’ve ing that there’s a need for temporary migrants,. got to resource refugees settlement because But temporary migrants should have rights, and refugees are people with difficult histories of pre- I agree with this program about access to citizen- migration and flight to Australia, let alone periods ship and access to settlement. I think that makes of incarceration in detention. sense because once you’ve been here for a while They have the highest unemployment rates in you develop the links and the networks. Australia, s0 there needs to be work done on So, I think that the key thing about that is to treat employment programs, on issues of torture and it as an issue of rights, rather than an issue of for- trauma. So, I think we should be much more gen- eigners which is exactly what’s happened today. erous in numbers and support. So, that would be my view. The other thing I’d just like to turn my attention It seems to me, on multiculturalism, what we to is the issue of 457 visas. So what happened, need to do is to reenergise it, to re-evaluate it. under Howard, is Australia moved from a settler- immigration nation, which it had been since So much has changed since it was introduced, the post-WWII immigration for five decades, to in- nature of immigration, the nature of the global creasingly a guest worker immigration program. economy and Australian economy has changed. That was not noticed because of the smokescreen The Galbally Report set out programs and servic- of the boat people, the refugees, all that political es for migrants in 1978; that needs to be revisited. noise about that and his uncomfortableness with I think we need to have more anti-racist strategy multiculturalism. as a key part of multiculturalism and we need to Similarly, under the Labor government since build much better links with the indigenous com- then, the numbers of temporary migrants have munities and the Anglo-Celtic majority communi- grown massively. And, you know, in many ways ties and get them to buy into a new multicultural- I think the number of foreign students, there’s a ism. That would be my policy prescription. very good case for that. I think there’s also a good case for those on working holiday visas, which is a large number. There’s also a good case, it seems to me, for 457 visa workers because they mostly 77 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Equality, Race and Refugees in Australia How is it that an issue that touches upon the ori- gin of one in twenty of us and some of our high- est achievers has come to be so contentious and Dianne Hiles divisive? John Howard can bear much of the credit. As Opposition Leader in 1988, he made contro- Australia does not have a versial remarks about the rate and make-up of refugee problem: immigration, offending pro-immigration and ethnic groups. Howard came under attack from why is it so politically expedient what he saw as the politically correct “elites” to create one? (McMaster,P61). But he also breached what had been until then a tacit bi-partisan agreement “not to pander to fear and xenophobia on immigration Dianne Hiles is a founding member of ChilOut, and refugee issues” (Atkins,P231) and as Mares Children Out of Detention, a former chair of A (P112) put it, “politicians from all sides struggled Just Australia and the current Greens candidate gamely to stuff the race cat back in the bag”. for the federal seat of Sydney. The same election that made John Howard Prime Minister in 1996, also ushered in Pauline Han- Australia does not have a refugee problem. son and the One Nation era. Paul Kelly analyses this phenomenon as “…the introduction of racial Pakistan has a refugee problem. There are nearly chauvinism into our politics”. Australia was, three million people of concern to the United Na- he says, then undergoing a political revolution, tions High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) adjusting to the global economy and making within its borders. far-reaching social changes such as “Aboriginal Jordan has a refugee problem. It was trying to reconciliation, a strong ongoing Asian component look after nearly half a million people from Iraq in immigration, and the adoption of multicultur- before another 250,000 people arrived from alism”. Syria. Kelly (P97) characterises One Nation as an ex- Lebanon is straining to cope with its influx of treme form of the counter-revolution to economic 375,000 registered refugees from Syria.[1] rationalism which sought to roll back the tide ‘all Yet Australia is making a song and dance about the way’ and opposed virtually all forms of trans- 17,202 souls reaching its shores in 2012 to claim formation, be they social, economic, strategic. asylum (ABC). Through following the left wing in her campaign against market economics and immigration and This paper asks ‘Why’? It will present views on the right wing in her attacks on Aboriginal policy the political motivation behind the evolution of and multiculturalism, Hanson represented a syn- Australia’s mandatory detention policy and con- thesis between economic protection and mono- sider what the political rewards are of keeping the culturalism. Somehow she bent the spectrum so population frightened and divided. It will discuss that both left and right were united against the how political correctness and racism have shaped centre (Kelly,P99). policy and offer some suggestions as to the course the issue might follow in the forthcoming elec- There was no intellectual leadership to counter tion. Hansonism. Howard refused to condemn her but used the opportunity to continue his crusade Since Federation, Australia has provided sanctu- against political correctness and the elites. Far ary to over 750,000 refugees (RCOA, 2010). In from epitomising Abraham Lincoln’s words about 2000, refugees and their descendants accounted how good leaders bring out the ‘better angels of for around 5 percent of the total population yet our nature’ (Langmore,P206), he told his Queens- Hugo tells us they made up almost two thirds land Liberal State Council audience in September of the nation’s billionaires as “five of Australia’s 1996, eight billionaires were people who themselves, or their families had, come to Australia as post-war “One of the great changes to have come over refugees. In 2010 three of the top richest people Australia in the last six months is that people do in Australia were of refugee-humanitarian back- feel able to speak a little more freely and a little ground”. more openly about what they feel. In a sense the pall of censorship on certain issues has been

78 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 4 The lifted… I welcome the fact The pre-election events of the Tampa and 9/11 responsibility we that people can now talk led to the degree of panic about boat people about certain things with- reaching fever pitch and Border Protection freely undertook out living in fear of being emerged as a matter of national preoccupation. to protect branded as a bigot or a John Langmore (P185) notes authoritarian lead- people fleeing racist…’ (Grattan,P81) ers have often fanned the fears of their citizens so as to control them more easily and that fear persecution and Not that the record of the has always been a powerful element of Australian the impact on Labor Party is spotless in politics (French, Asians, Communists and latter- our sovereignty all this. day asylum seekers and terrorists). when we signed As far back as 1977, Bob As Peter Mares (P133) says, “When John Howard the Refugee Hawke called for Aus- put his foot down and said ‘Keep out!’, the people Convention in tralia to stop accepting of Australia roared their collective approval. The refugees who arrived here 1954 is rarely government was seen to be standing up to the directly, with the support defended or people smugglers and the illegals, the legions of of his leader Gough Whit- explained by queue-jumpers who ‘flout’ Australia’s generosity”. lam – who colourfully Government or expected “Vietmanese The Tampa affair polarised public opinion then Opposition in Balts” would be as ideo- as border protection and asylum seekers continue Australia. logically antithetical to to do today. They are issues on which everyone Labor as earlier refugees seems to have an opinion, however ill-informed. who fled Soviet commu- Mares (P263) puts it, “Deep rifts have emerged in nism in the Baltic States (Mares,P74). Australian society over the asylum seeker ques- tion. The exploitation of the issue for political ad- With the end of the Cold War in 1989 the interna- vantage has unleashed ugly passions: animosity, tional mood changed from protecting refugees to fear, anger, resentment. It has been rewarding for States needing to be protected from refugees. The the government to polarise opinion on the issue, Labor Government started detaining Chinese and but this has shut out the possibility of construc- Cambodians arriving by boat. Initially they were tive debate on policy alternatives.” in low security facilities. Then in 1991, the first re- mote Immigration Detention Centre was opened The signs are the ugly passions will again be at Port Hedland. In 1992 further legislation was unleashed in the 2013 election. The ALP has been passed to do away with time limits, making Aus- unable to take the heat out of the debate or pre- tralia the only Western country with a regime of sent sensible alternative policies. Another exam- indefinite mandatory detention. ple of the politicisation of the issue is Paul Howes, a founding member of Labor for Refugees, calling Writers such as Margot O’Neill (P21), Mary Crock for strong leadership over the 2009 Oceanic and Ben Saul attribute this course of action to Viking incident. Gareth Evans’s Nobel Peace Prize aspirations for his part in the Paris Peace Plan, for the UN to ”It is really important for Labor to have a compas- implement elections in post Khmer Rouge and sionate line on this … this is an issue about lead- Vietnam-occupied Cambodia. The idea of Cam- ership. It won’t be popular in the electorate. But bodian refugees was not acceptable. Bob Hawke this is the right thing to do and Malcolm Fraser declared they were economic refugees and queue did it when he was dealing with the boat people jumpers. Crock and Saul (P31) maintain “it is issue from Vietnam and I think Kevin Rudd can from this time that Australia’s hostility towards do the same,” Mr Howes said. (Grattan, 2009) – and obsession with – boat people began”. If Howes then went on to become one of the “face- people were being locked up they must have less men” who installed Julia Gillard, a known done something wrong and thus seeking asylum hardliner on refugees. From Day One of her became conflated with illegality. The idea that Prime Ministership, Gillard sought to introduce people should be punished, not protected, gained some form of offshore processing regime – East widespread currency. Timor, Malaysia and finally the present appalling The responsibility we freely undertook to protect re-opening of Manus Island and Nauru. people fleeing persecution and the impact on our Under the “No Advantage” policy, we are seeking sovereignty when we signed the Refugee Conven- to hold people in even crueller conditions that tion in 1954 is rarely defended or explained by those created by John Howard – and there has Government or Opposition in Australia. been not a whisper of complaint from the previ- 79 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Equality, Race and Refugees in Australia ous champion of compassion and doing what is which will successfully divert our attention from right. Which makes one wonder about the sincer- the things that will radically affect the quality of ity of that 2009 call – or was it the start of white- our lives, the fairness of our society and the future anting Rudd as party leader, at the expense of of our environment. would-be refugees? The principled Howes/Gillard Bibliography response to the Opposition’s wedge is to stoke xenophobic and class-based fears on the numbers ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 7.30 Report, of 457 Visa-holders. 25 March 2013 http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/ content/2013/s3724787.htm the age of the permanent campaign where media Atkins, David, 2002, “Manipulating the Media” in would present politics through a prism of enter- Howard’s Race: Winning the unwinnable election, tainment, celebrity and confrontation to a deeply ed David Solomon, (Sydney:Harper & Collins) cynical, disengaged electorate. In the changed Crock, M. And Saul, B. 2002. Future Seekers: Refugees nature of campaigning, negativity will be more and the Law in Australia, (Annandale: The Federa- powerful and positive messages derided. Policy tion Press) direction will be determined by opinion polls and Grattan, Michelle, 1998, “Pauline Hanson’s Hi–jack of not intelligent leadership. Distrust of politicians John Howard” in Two Nations: The Causes and Ef- will transmute into distrust of the democratic fects of the Rise of the One Nation Party in Austral- system. ia, ed Robert Manne (Melbourne: Bookman Press) Grattan, Michelle, Narushima, Yuka and Probyn, Writing in 2007, John Langmore (P182) cata- Andrew 2009, The Age 20 October 2009, http:// logued the impact ten years of the Howard www.theage.com.au/national/jakarta-to-take- Government had on our democracy through its latest-boat-of-asylum-seekers-20091019-h504.html sustained attempt to suppress public discussion and manipulate political processes: Hugo, Graeme 2011 Submission to House of Repre- “…The Executive has been dominant and sentatives Joint Standing Committee on Migration’s Parliament has had little independence. Senate Inquiry Into Multiculturalism in Australia fears have been exaggerated, the use of politi- cal propaganda has exploded; the public service Kelly, Paul, 1998 “Hanson – Sympton of a Deeper Problem” in Two Nations: The Causes and Effects has been disempowered; and many community of the Rise of the One Nation Party in Australia, ed organisations have been bullied into silence”. Robert Manne (Melbourne: Bookman Press) Under an Abbott government presumably we can Langmore, John, 2007. To Firmer Ground: restoring anticipate a renewal of this assault on our demo- hope in Australia, (Sydney: UNSW Press), p 185 cratic system. “Uninformed voters are less able Mares, Peter, 2002. Borderline: Australia’s response to make well-judged choices about their repre- to Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the Wake of the sentatives and leaders”, Langmore (p188) goes Tampa, (Sydney:UNSW Press), p 93 on to suggest, and “a weak democracy is more McMaster, Don. 2001. Asylum Seekers: Australia’s likely to be manipulated by particular interests Response to Refugees (Melbourne: Melbourne and to be unresponsive to marginalised groups”. University Press) In that case, John Howard’s aspiration (Grattan O’Neill, Margot, 2008. Blind Conscience, (Sydney: 1998,P82) for Australians to be “relaxed and com- New South) fortable” (and dumbed down?) has ramifications RCOA Refugee Council of Australia, Speech by Paul for today’s campaigns against fossil fuel lobbyists Power, 2013, http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/r/ and for humane treatment of refugees. spch/100320-MurdochUni-PPower.pdf Kelly’s idea (P100) that political leadership can UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refu- be “expected to propagate a vision, create a sense gees Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized of confidence and trust, and have the ability to Countries 2012 http://www.unhcr.org/5149b81e9. sway opinion in defence of principle” is looking html quainter and quainter. ______In the meantime the race cat remains firmly out [1] All statistics from UNHCR Country Data http:// of the bag and untold damage is being done to www.unhcr.org/5149b81e9.html individuals in detention and the fabric of our soci- ety. We will continue to squabble over a non-issue

80 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 4 of Labor for Refugees at the ... when Labor time and sees Gillard as on had the most pretty much the right track Ian Rintoul and that one of the things pro-refugee that has held Labor back is policy it the policy weakness of Labor actually had Challenges for the Left: It could for Refugees in the early the greatest 2000s and the campaign success. have been so different: Labor, that it ran to actually shift refugees and lost opportunities the Labor position. One of the other things I just wanted to point Ian Rintoul is a long-time political activist, out is that, unlike the kind of picture that’s often a founding member of the Refugee Action portrayed, when Labor had the most pro-refugee Coalition in Sydney, and a member of Solidarity. policy it actually had the greatest success.

Thanks for the opportunity to talk here. I think So, in 2007 when Rudd was elected it actually had it’s a particularly important issue. As the last the most pro-refugee policy that it had had since speaker pointed out, refugees are simply out of all the mid-90s. And in one respect, I want to argue proportion in terms of legal issues compared to that actually refugee policy is a bit of a bellwether the actual issue that it is. in terms of the kind of other policies that Labor is running at any particular time. I think you can The numbers of people coming are tiny, the just see on the progressive spectrum, if you like, impact of that socially, except for the politics where Labor situates itself with refugee policy about that, would be tiny, the numbers are easily on those other kinds of things. While it may not assimilable, there are vastly larger numbers of be the single policy issue that people look to, people immigrating to Australia. nonetheless I think there is a correlation between So, it’s a bit of an ask in the first instance to ask those two things. why it is such a politically charged issue, and I’m So, if you look at industrial relations policy, those not going to deal with that so much. things are true. It’s nonetheless clear that at the But I wanted to make the connection that Jock time in 2007 when Howard had so successfully Collins actually made in the first talk. I do think played the race card in previous elections, when the issue of refugees and Visa 457s are actually Andrews the Immigration Minister tried to play related and particularly at a time when so many the race card in 2007 with the campaign against of the people who came by boat are coming out Asian and African gangs in Melbourne and so of detention and into the community. One of the forth, it simply didn’t work. But I think that’s one things that the refugee campaign is going to have of the things I wanted to raise as one of those to face up to is the struggle for the right to work missed opportunities. and the right to be processed in the community. Now there’s a couple of issues if we go back I think the issue of 457 visas, the racist connota- further, because I do think that if you look at the tions that’s associated with that, the fear that’s history of the refugees under the Howard govern- generated out there, you know ‘foreign workers ment there are clear moments when there were coming here’ doesn’t take too much to make that big opportunities, when the refugee campaign kind of extension in terms of what Gillard I think and the Left actually missed that opportunity. is intending to do with the campaign on the 457 There’s a bit of a message and a bit of a lesson in visas, in the kind of impact it can have on the that. One was in 2005 when, although the num- right to work and the right to process the people ber of boats had slacked off if you like, but nev- who are actually coming here by boat. ertheless there were large numbers of people in I’m not going to encourage people to read Mark detention, the campaign ultimately forced How- Latham’s latest essay. It’s really a litany of sil- ard to release families and children in June 2005. linesses that he’s been generating for a long, There was an opening there that had come from long time. But he makes a singular point - John the campaign when the model that was associated Robertson’s role, the rightwing leader of Unions with Howard’s refugee campaign cracked and NSW, in supporting Labor for Refugees. Latham there was an opportunity to push into that crack. says it’s a policy weakness that Labor has yet to But the truth at the time is that the refugee cam- recover from. Latham was a vehement opponent paign itself was actually quite divided over how to 81 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Equality, Race and Refugees in Australia prosecute and to take advantage of that break in from that position ... in 2006 when ... Howard’s system and the Labor Party didn’t have Rudd slowly ends the first time ... for the policy at the time, didn’t have the political will the Pacific solution to attempt to push into that crack. and by the middle a long time where of 2008 re-opens a social movement The same thing happened in 2006 when I can ar- Christmas Island. By campaign had gue it was the first time we’d seen for a long time the end of 2008, they where a social movement campaign had actually actually forced say detention is a last forced a result in the election. Howard was forced a result in the resort, not enshrined to withdraw the bill to excise the whole of Aus- election. Howard in law in anyway, but tralia out of the migration zone. by 2009 he’s looking was forced to So, within the space of a couple of years, there at the Indonesian so- withdraw the bill to were two crises around the refugee policy but they lution and April 2010 excise the whole of weren’t taken advantage of. And in the case of the reopening Curtain Australia out of the bill being withdrawn, here in one respect was a and the thing goes on. migration zone. high point of a movement actually forcing some So, I think there was parliamentary shift. a clear indication of It was August 14 when Howard withdrew the bill. what way Labor was going to go and I think the On August 19 Howard actually shifted 7 Burmese movement needs to recognise that the issue of the refugees from Christmas Island to Nauru and asylum seekers, the lesson that the ALP learned there wasn’t a word. So, on the one hand here was in 2001 is deeply, deeply embedded, leaving aside a huge political advantage that was won, but five for a second our own history in terms of 1992 the days later there was Howard attempting to blunt introduction of mandatory detention and so forth. that victory by showing he still ran the Pacific But it is deeply embedded in the Labor leadership solution. Instead of taking advantage of that situ- that being harsh on refugees gives you a political ation, there was nothing said, it was just ‘we’ve advantage. And I think to understand that it’s not had a little bit of a win’ we should be happy with just an absolute failure of But it is deeply that, we pushed him back, rather than seeing the political will in terms of possibilities of stepping on that to take it even both political parties, but embedded further. in some respects it’s also in the Labor So, I’ll just jump ahead a little bit as I think the a system failure. leadership that third opportunity was in the 2007 period, which What it looks like to so being harsh on was in some respects the height of the campaign many people who cam- refugees gives in terms of pushing back against Howard play- paign about refugees is you a political ing the race card. Kevin Rudd kept insisting that there is no actual par- advantage. he had the same policies as the Coalition over liamentary solution. I refugees, there’s no difference he said between mean people will vote the Liberals and us on mandatory detention, no Green hopefully in larger numbers in this coming difference between the Liberals and us on off- election, but you know for obvious reasons that’s shore processing. What would we do on offshore not going to present an immediate parliamentary processing? When we’re in power we’ll do exactly solution to the issue. the same thing. But the conclusion I think the movement, and Now at the time it was very obvious, and even a the Left needs to draw from it, is that there is no few days before the election, Rudd actually said point in making concessions in the hope that you ‘I will turn back the boats’ and tow the boats can wring some parliamentary solution out of it. back. There were clear warnings of where Labor So, when the children got out of detention, it was was going to go in that situation. But again, the a matter of saying okay we’ve got the children out hope that Labor was going to be different, even of detention and now we need everybody out of though there were so many clear indications that detention. it wasn’t, meant that rather than take that oppor- Yet, when Rudd was saying the thing in 2007 that tunity at a time when Labor was riding in, when we’re the same, the movement at that point need- there were clear problems with what the Liberals ed to say there can be no concessions, a Rudd were doing, that didn’t happen. government that’s still got mandatory detention is We paid a very high price for that subsequently not a Labor government that we want, and I think because if we go through the little litany of how if we’d taken advantage of that if could have made 82 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 4 a substantial differ- the Left needs to In that regard, we are going to have to re-engage ence. And I think we draw from it, is that with Labor, we do need to break that bipartisan need to draw those support, and the process of doing that actually same conclusions there is no point in starts now and will continue after the election. now because we’re making concessions But I think the only way in which we can shift that already in a very ugly in the hope that public opinion which is so important is if we actu- period of campaign- you can wring some ally argue about what we need right now, and the ing between Labor parliamentary argument is about offshore processing, manda- and Liberal over solution out of it. tory detention, those kind of issues and the way Manus Island, Nauru, we can position ourselves. what’s happening in Australian detention And that’s one of the reasons, and I’ll finish on and so forth. There’s ugly campaigning about this, about the regional solution. who is going to be toughest on refugees and that’s Because I do think there’s too much that’s come going to be the nature of the argument now and, I out of making concessions that we need a regional don’t think there’s any point in pretending - we’re solution somehow or other to solve the problem. going to get an Abbott government. I think, as Dianne Hiles’ presentation pointed To put ourselves in the strongest possible posi- out, there is no problem, and we have to be quite tion, you have to not make any concessions, be specific there is no refugee problem. What there clear what we want - we need an end to mandato- is a failure of political will, there is an attempt by ry detention, we need an end to offshore process- political leadership to use racism to divide the ing and to campaign now against the attempts community in various kinds of ways and it’s only by Gillard to continue to push things to the right by insisting on that position that I think we’re over refugees, over Visa 457s now, to make it very going to be able to maximise the impact both clear what the Left actually wants. socially and politically.

... we have to be quite specific there is no refugee problem. What there is a failure of political will, there is an attempt by political leadership to use racism to divide the community ...

83 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Learning from Elsewhere Why the improvement? There are five major reasons for the improve- Peter Ross ment: 1. Governments adopted policies to promote employment as a means of stimulating econo- The State of the People? Latin mies and improving living standards. Elected America in the 21st century political leaders generally rejected austerity, some aspects of neoliberalism, and the Wash- Peter Ross is a historian of Latin America ington Consensus. They opted for economic (UNSW) and has had a long involvement with growth policies. Latin American solidarity work. 2. The neoliberal emphasis on trade was not rejected. However, markets were generally more diversified than in the past, and many of the South American countries in particular The Latin American and Caribbean peoples are trading with Asia, especially China. This during this century have had one of the best helped them avoid recession during the GFC. periods in their history with regard to improved Moreover, regional trading blocs such as Mer- standards of living. Certainly, in comparison with cosur enabled more trade within the region, the lost decade and debt crisis of the 1980s and particularly of manufactured goods, again the full neoliberal onslaught of the 1990s, the protecting countries from the dependent rela- last decade or so has been relatively prosperous tionship with Europe and North America that despite the global financial crisis and the interna- had characterised the past. tional economic downturn in 2012. 3. Beginning in the mid to late 1990s, but That is not to say that improvements have been increasing markedly in this century, more even and sustained across all the countries, or governments instituted, maintained, and even within individual countries. Nor is it to say increased conditional cash transfer pro- that there are not many millions of people still liv- grammes by which poor families with chil- ing in poverty and extreme poverty. dren receive money with health, nutrition, and/or educational conditions attached. In However, consider the following: 2000 some 5.7% of the region’s population • between 2002 and 2011/12, GDP growth received such grants. By 2010 it was 19.3%. averaged 3.5% annually (despite the GFC and the poor years of 2002 and 2003); 4. Hugo Chávez (elected 1998) was instrumental in not only challenging neoliberalism but in • central government gross public debt fell the projection of a rejuvenated vision of an from 58.2% GDP to 29.5% in 2010; independent, united, prosperous and pro- • the urban unemployment rate declined from gressive Latin America. Even in those coun- 12.6% to 6.5%, and the participation rate rose tries that did not elect pink tide leaders, his from 59.8% to 61.7% (2002 to 2010); vision appealed to many people and affected • the numbers of people living in poverty fell the politics of conservatives and liberals. from 225 million to 174 million (43.9% of the 5. Major social movements of urban and rural population to 30.4%); unions, indigenous groups, the unemployed, • social spending by governments increased students, slum dwellers, and human rights from about 15.5% GDP in 2000 to about groups mounted considerable pressure on 18.4% in 2008 (US$466 per capita to governments to develop and implement poli- US$697), with cies that would benefit them rather than the • education spending growing from 4.3% to oligarchies and transnational corporations. 5.1% (US$119 per capita to US$171); Is the improvement sustainable? • health from 2.7% GDP to 3.2% ($100 to $159); Economic growth is still largely based on the ex- traction and export of commodities, and the im- • social security and assistance 6.7% to 8% port of manufactures and technology. World (and ($321 to $470); and especially Asian) demand and consequent favour- • housing 1.2% to 1.7% ($48 to $87). able terms of trade underpins current growth.

84 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 5 As noted above, An important aspect at the hands of the large landowners, as do mem- the gains made of Latin American bers of the Movement of Landless People (MST) this century are governance during this in Brazil when they seek to take lands. century has been the Green Development? predicated on emphasis placed on employment and, investment in human Latin America has a low carbon footprint per by extension, the capital. Future genera- capita as compared to most other regions of the consumer demand tions will be healthier world. This is due mainly to its use of clean en- that comes with and better educated. ergy, particularly hydroelectricity, and relatively low levels of industrialisation and development. workers and Moreover, in at least employees having some countries (the As a developing region, Latin American coun- money in their Bolivarian Republic of tries had no reason not to support the Kyoto Venezuela, the Plurina- Agreement as they were pockets from tional State of Bolivia, not required to reduce For Evo Morales, selling their Brazil, and Ecuador greenhouse gas emis- global warming labour power. spring to mind imme- sions. At Copenhagen, is real enough diately) citizens have some countries rejected but it is the result gained considerable the Accord (including the of capitalist experience in political organisation, making it less members of ALBA – The likely (though certainly not impossible) for social Bolivarian Alternative rich world improvement to dissipate. for the Americas) while development and others, such as Brazil of imperialism. As noted above, the gains made this century are subscribed to it. Of the predicated on employment and, by extension, the The West has 55 nation states that for- consumer demand that comes with workers and colonised the mally associated them- employees having money in their pockets from atmosphere, and selves with the Accord selling their labour power. Real wages have risen, by the deadline of 31 it is the West that and the share of the surplus flowing to work- January 2010, only two must pay. ers, but only marginally. The informal economy were Latin American. remains extremely significant, employing about 51% of the non-agricultural workforce. These Brazil pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by workers are generally shut out of superannuation 39% by 2020 and Costa Rica stated that it would schemes and other programs that benefit workers be carbon neutral by the same year. Subsequently in the formal sector. In some countries such as other regional governments, including Mexico, Argentina governments have implemented poli- Colombia and Chile, made commitments. cies to provide something of a universal welfare Bolivia took a radically different stance as shown safety net. at the World People’s Conference on Climate There have been interesting experiments in a Change and the Rights of Mother Earth held at number of countries with worker run enterprises Cochabamba in April 2010. (especially in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezue- For Evo Morales, global warming is real enough la and in Argentina) and other forms of worker but it is the result of capitalist rich world develop- control such as cooperatives (again, Venezuela), ment and of imperialism. The West has colonised and some renationalisation of privatised indus- the atmosphere, and it is the West that must pay. tries and companies (principally in Venezuela, In the meantime, the developing countries have Bolivia and Argentina). But there has been no se- every right and the moral duty to their peoples to rious challenge to the capitalist mode of produc- stimulate economic growth. This stance has cre- tion despite the rhetoric of twenty-first century ated problems with regard to growth policies in socialism emanating mainly from the govern- Bolivia, and also in Ecuador. ments of Venezuela and Bolivia. Morales views investment in such infrastructure Wealth remains highly concentrated, and while as new roads in rainforest regions as essential. there has been a slight decline in inequality over His views are echoed in Ecuador by President Ra- the region as a whole, the capitalist class (urban fael Correa who supports new oil exploration and and rural) remains powerful. exploitation. In both cases they have incensed Even in Venezuela with its official land reform local indigenous groups and environmentalists. policy, recipients of expropriated lands face death Correa labeled such people ‘infantile leftists’.

85 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Learning from Elsewhere According to What is true for However, governments have yet to confront seri- the Economic Latin America is ously the holders of wealth who resolutely reject, that governments as always they have done, any redistribution Commission for generally take the of income, let alone ownership of the means of Latin America and climate change issue production. the Caribbean, seriously. They are Further government investment in development caught, however, some 2.6 million projects (whether productive or infrastructural) on the horns of the Brazilian employees or in the enhancement of human capital (educa- dilemma of achiev- worked in green tion, health, housing), is severely limited by the ing economic growth failure of governments to undertake fiscal reforms jobs in 2008. that is sustainable in such as increasing government revenues via every sense, including targeting the rich rather than relying on non- environmentally. progressive taxes such as those related to value Moreover, while governments have been ac- added. tive in protecting more and more habitats, they Apart from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, Latin frequently lack the funds, the personnel, and the American governments garner much less in rev- technology to secure a real protection of those enues than the 30% of GDP which constitutes the areas. There has been an increasing number of OECD average. environmental non-government organisations formed in Latin America, but for most people the Putting pressure on the rich world to supply struggle for every day survival and security takes funds for development and conservation has precedence over environmental concerns. yet to prove to be a successful strategy. Indeed, to date, the advanced capitalist world has been With regard to the theme of this conference, there forthcoming only with promises. have been initiatives with regard to the creation of green jobs. A major example would be the This suggests that progressive governments in ethanol industry in Brazil, commenced in the Latin America need to go much further with their 1970s in response to the increased cost of import- reforms, despite the danger this poses for politi- ing oil and as a measure to support the sugar cal stability, if they are serious about the threat of plantations. There is also a considerable amount global warming and the welfare of their people. of experimentation with regard to the construc- tion of sustainable buildings with the installation of low-flow showers, solar panels, and thermal installation materials. In Brazil, some 500,000 houses for low income earners are to be built supplied with solar energy Apart from Argentina, leading to a 40% reduction in electricity bills. Brazil and Uruguay, Many countries are seeking to recognise and Latin American formalise recycling workers. Ecotourism is also a governments garner minor industry in many countries, and is expand- much less in revenues ing. And there is a good deal of experimentation than the 30% of GDP with sustainable agriculture. which constitutes the According to the Economic Commission for Latin OECD average. America and the Caribbean, some 2.6 million Brazilian employees worked in green jobs in 2008. The State of the People? The pink tide governments have undoubtedly introduced and implemented policies that have benefited many indigent, poor and working class families. The role of the state as the principal agent of development has been reasserted, and one must applaud any improvement in the stand- ard of living of the mass of people at the lower end of the social spectrum. 86 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 5 wonder when you think of that broad picture if you like, that economic picture, that the dominant feelings of anger, indignation, resentment that Adam Rorris is palpable. You see it on the street and it’s living and it’s breathing, and it sets a particular tone to the political debate that is now gripping that Learning from Greek Left country. experience Today I want to look at it from two perspectives: • what we can learn from the Greek situation Adam Rorris is an education economist who and the way it unfolded, and has worked for governments in Australia and overseas, the United Nations and development • what can we learn from the way that the Left agencies such as AusAID, the Asian Development and largely SYRIZA has responded to that cri- Bank and the World Bank. In Australia, most sis in such an effective way. They’re not quite recently he was the lead author on the paper for there yet but they’ve propelled themselves to the Gonski review looking at school funding for now be on the cusp of forming government. disadvantaged students. So, the first lesson in terms of how the crisis un- folded is that economic fortunes can change very, A preamble to my presentation. I was asked to very fast in today’s globalised world. This was a make this presentation before Costa Isychos was country that was recording quite strong growth confirmed as a speaker. Costa was sitting here be- between the years 2003-2007 before the GFC, an fore and he’ll be coming back to join us. He’s the average of 4% annual GDP growth, which is very expert on what’s going on in Greece at the mo- good actually. ment. What I will do very briefly is to turn atten- In part, it was driven by a construction boom tion to what I think we might perhaps learn from around the Olympics in 2004 but it was a bit the Greek experience here in Australia. That’s broader than that. It also did rely on an influx of maybe something where I can add a little bit more credit which sort of supercharged that economy. value knowing the Australian situation. When the GFC hit, in the following year in 2009 The first thing I wanted to say is that Greece at there was a 2.3% reduction in GDP, which is the moment is in a very different place to where significant. The following year, 2010, there was we are, and I think it’s very important to under- a 3.5% reduction. Now, by any stretch that is a stand how different it is. significant slowdown to be experienced for that At the moment, 60% of young people are unem- economy. ployed, 30% of all working age people are unem- But it’s what happened after then which is the ployed. We’re talking about a Depression era, this real drama, because it’s at that point, it’s after is depression. They are living the Great Depres- that, that the economy goes over the cliff - 2.3% sion again. This is as bad, some are saying worse and 3.5% is bad, but you can manage that - it’s in terms of employment than the nazi occupation what happened after when the policies of the time, because you have now an urban population Troika – the IMF, the ECB and European Com- rather than a rural-based population and people mission – ensured that the whole thing went splat can’t grow their own food basically. So, we’re against the wall. talking about a disastrous situation. So, what were these policies? What did they im- Essential services such as hospitals and schools pose on Greece? are collapsing, physically in some cases, but cer- tainly in terms of their capacity to provide basic It’s been successive rounds of austerity measures services. We’re talking here about a country that’s which leads the government and the people to in Europe and has been a member of the EU for a be dependent on this unending treadmill. You very long time. Wages have been cut by an aver- make one cut, as soon as you’ve made it, you have age of about 40%, and sometimes even more, and another mission that comes in and wants more the brunt of those cuts measured in just the per- cuts, and deeper cuts, and as the economy begins centage has been borne by those on the minimum to slow down and revenues start to plummet they wage. demand even more cuts because your revenues are so bad now that you need to make more cuts This is what has been imposed upon this coun- just to stay afloat. try in the space of a couple of years. So, it’s no 87 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Learning from Elsewhere I won’t bore you with the details of the billions was an important It’s actually the which they’ve had to renegotiate but the process and effective political Hayekian dream of has been one of disaster. So that what began as lure and it helped it a contraction in economic growth and economic build and consolidate the free-marketeers production of around 2.5 to 3% blew out to its political machine writ large. It’s come around 6% and 6.9% in 2011 and 2012. across the country to Europe but I and across classes. And that cycle, that sharpening contraction is a think it’s coming direct result of those policies imposed upon that It’s probably also the beyond, and that’s country. This crash has not been organic, it’s been vestiges of that ma- the lesson for a policy-driven crash which we’re watching. chine that is deliver- Australia. ing it the last of the And what is the underlying policy-framework? It’s vote it’s getting now, essentially an intensification of the market regula- of 7 to 8%, the vestiges of people hanging onto tion of people’s lives. There has been further de- some jobs here and there that it’s thrown at them. regulation of the labour market so that collective bargaining has largely been dissipated. There’s The consequences of all that for PASOK is that it’s been a shrinking of social welfare entitlements had this massive breach of trust with the people. and a stripping of public ownership of productive It’s clear beyond its slogans that it’s a massively assets, that’s at the heart of it. compromised political vessel that is clearly unable to deliver on any egalitarian values or principles It’s actually the Hayekian dream of the free- it once preached, and which some of its members marketeers writ large. It’s come to Europe but I may still preach. Its reputation is in tatters, it’s think it’s coming beyond, and that’s the lesson for leadership has been implicated very seriously in Australia. It’s not going to stop there. corruption scandals that have left them unable The second point that I think is very important to speak with any credibility or integrity in front to note in the case of Greece is the collapse of the of the Greek people. Now, unable to rule in their key social democratic party and its breach of trust own right, they’ve sought a political refuge in a with the people. PASOK which is the socialist coalition with conservative parties as their last party, the key social democratic party in Greece, gasp step to stall their political annihilation. has essentially imploded, electorally but also So, we’ve got a social democratic party, its asso- organisationally. It’s in a state of both intense ciation with neoliberal policies, ideological confu- internal conflict but also organisational and sion, corruption, breach of trust with its base, ideological disarray. It came to power in the 80s widespread disillusionment and rapid decline in riding a very big popular wave of expectation that electoral fortunes. There are some parallels, and I it could deliver changes. think the Labor Party has got to be listening, has And it actually did deliver within the framework got to be watching this. in which it was operating, within the political One would hope that there are some people in the background in Greece, the story of the rightwing Labor Party that can see the parallels, 30% may juntas and very conservative rule. It did introduce look good in a little while if you persist with that some significant social, political and economic type of breach with your electoral base. reforms. But what it never did is actually tackle the essential culture of patronage of the state. If you persist with that kind of ideological confu- sion there are massive consequences that come What it did do in fact is further the delivery of your way when the times get tough. You can ride opportunities and benefits to families that were it out when times are good, just, maybe maybe associated with that state. So, it essentially sought not. When times get hard and people are being to restructure and renegotiate that system of sacked and the welfare system is collapsing and patronage to its own advantage and it did. And it you are implicated in that collapse and in the consolidated those relationships and those rela- stripping away of those conditions, there can be a tionships helped deliver it power for a number of very, very heavy price to be paid electorally. years. The third thing that we need to note is that the Secondly, PASOK did not seek to end the culture conservative response to this crisis has been pow- of providing access to jobs as a way of securing its erful and it’s been international. It was swift. And political base. So, this was another line of patron- it’s not misguided in a sense that they didn’t know age culture if you like, but at a lower level and to what they were doing. It was swift and it was de- ordinary families. The sort of ‘job for life’ strategy cisive precisely because this is about imposing a 88 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 5 new regime of accumulation beginning in Greece, people. It’s not the Left driving its old solutions, but I think Greece is just a beginning. its old formulas. It’s about listening to what can work now that we may not have thought about Germany has led that aggressive campaign and in the past, combinations of ideas, combinations it’s about a more intensive, but also extensive, of approaches, not necessarily coming from the imposition of that market regulation. It’s an in- top or the middle or the party, it could come from ternational drive that is leading this. The IMF and anywhere, let it come in. the ECB are implicated in all that, Greece is like a new test tube baby, but it won’t be the last. What’s You’re seeing this movement of the ‘squares’, very clear to the Greeks now, is that the puppet- which came from Spain, but is now been taken up eers in all this, the ones who are really pulling the and is spreading and think that’s a very important strings and demanding this and that, they don’t fact that needs to be considered. The importance live in Athens, they don’t live in Greece. of connecting to social movements is a part of that, but you will hear SYRIZA continually refer- That charade of a national democracy and we are ring to the challenge to the elite and the estab- masters of our destiny - is clearly not the case in lishment only being successful if we widen the Greece. That’s apparent to everyone, even the umbrella of our support. conservatives. Strings are being pulled elsewhere. As well as the formal coalition of organisations For us here in Australia, we need to remind that are in SYRIZA, they are also open to those people that those same elites that are trashing Eu- outside it, that may not be inside. It is both a pro- rope, they don’t live in Sydney or Melbourne ei- cess of dialogue and learning from those as well ther. We shouldn’t expect any better if those poli- as trying to influence outside the umbrella. cies and those circumstances were to come here and they had the opportunity to take us down that The final point is international solidarity. Now it’s path. It’s not going to be any more lenient. abundantly clear that Greece cannot ride out the storm alone, it just won’t be able to do it, there’s What have SYRIZA and the Left response in just too much at stake for financial capital to Greece shown us and what lesson we could learn simply let Greece manage its debts in a way that from this? I think the first one is that it’s impor- doesn’t maximise their profits. They won’t allow tant to refresh the analysis of the political situa- that in my opinion. And any Leftist government tion. It’s important that the Left does not fall into that would come into Greece that really chal- an anti-intellectualism. lenges that status quo agreement on national debt If you go to Greece now, there is a very, very lively is going to have a massive fight on its hands. debate going on. Greece has always had lively de- Such a government would not be able to agree bate. I think the internet and the new media have with the kinds of austerity programs that are be- helped drive that. They’ve moved beyond certain ing imposed on it and so, that’s going to be very stale arguments, they’ve opened up a conversa- brave but I don’t think it will be enough. tion with different people amongst themselves, and I think that’s delivering them a freshness. If such a government is going to survive, it’s going to take the support, both of other governments When you hear the political dialogue of the lead- and also other people’s movements around the ership of SYRIZA and its dialogue with people, world. That is going to be essential. The establish- it’s fresh, it’s lively, it’s effective, it’s convincing. ment of those links and the building of solidarity In part it’s convincing because the country’s just with this Greek political resistance to the free falling apart and here are these people who’ve market neoliberal agenda is going to be crucial. actually had a consistent and radical critique of Greece has shown us that being today’s shiny what was coming. They foresaw it, they predicted capitalist economy, like it was between 2003 and it, and every step of the way they said, ‘this is 2007, you’re basically one financial shakedown not the end, this is the beginning. We know what away from being tomorrow’s basket case, that’s they’re doing and this is how it’s going to go’, and what Greece shows us, and that’s a very impor- the game is following the unfortunate script that tant message for us because it should drive us to was put out there by SYRIZA. build our solidarity with Greece at the moment Another key element here, and I think it’s an because what’s come to Greece can very easily important one, is that democracy is at the heart come and I think the agenda is to spread that to of the new challenge being posed by SYRIZA. To other countries, and that’s precisely why we need me that’s a really important aspect. You’ll hear to be helping the Greeks right now. in Greece about ‘real democracy’, it’s about a Thank you. participative democracy and about giving voice to 89 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... conservative cultural On the merry- A Strong Public Sector maps and meanings. go-round it is On the merry-go-round and a Fair Tax System it is really time for a really time for a neo-socialism or neo- neo-socialism or collectivism, though neo-collectivism, Christopher Stone I doubt those terms though I doubt would be used. those terms would False Economies - Efficiency and The reason why this be used. Public Services merry-go-round hap- pens, according to Lindy Edwards, is about what’s needed at the Christopher Stone is the Research Director of time. What’s the big problem? The thing our the Public Service Research Program at the collectivist tradition is best at dealing with is the Centre for Policy Development, his research cooperation-based solutions, just and safe social is currently focused on efficiency and public relations to deal with collective problems. And services. that is really our problem at the moment, particu- larly things like secure jobs and sustainability. Both of these are collectivist problems. So this The Centre for Policy Development (CPD) is a links well with the opportunities we’ve got. policy think tank based in Sydney and I’m the It reminded me of a quote from a George Monbiot Research Director of the Public Service Research article on neo-liberalism in the context of climate Program. It is one of the CPD’s major research change and sustainability in general. He pointed streams, looking at public services. We are work- out that we have this gigantic crisis, possibly our ing on a three-part report talking about false greatest crisis ever, coinciding with an ideology economies. This is really critical in talking about that directly attacks the only way we have of deal- themes of left renewal, to attack some of the ing with it, the state-based solutions. So if we are myths and present some genuine alternatives for going to have state-based solutions, we have to efficient and effective public services. have effective state-based solutions. And because That’s [http://cpd.org.au] our website and the resources are never unlimited, so they need to be first part of the report that came out last week efficient state-based solutions. [http://cpd.org.au/2013/04/decoding-efficiency], And the trouble with that word ‘efficiency’ is it has and much of my talk comes from that. I recom- been so badly misused that it is often regarded as mend that you check it out. completely a weapon of the Right. I want to deal To link my talk with the theme of the conference, with this in my research, it is critical. I will take some analysis from one of my current One of the speakers in the first forum, Angelo favorite books, The Passion of Politics, by Lindy Gavrielatos, said the Left is good at describing the Edwards. She talks of three different orders of problem. I take issue with that. The left is good logics of order: at knowing what the • cultural maps and meaning, which relates problem is, but not If you talk about to the conservative view about roles in our at describing it well. the Global society; If you talk about the Global Financial Crisis Financial Crisis • just and safe social relations, which is mostly to the average person to the average where we are at, the collectivist socialist tra- on the street, who is person on the ditions; and not committed to any street, who is not • autonomy which is more the liberalist tradi- particular political ide- committed to any tion. ology, will they spout particular political a leftwing explanation She identifies those three logics of order and talks of the GFC? No, they ideology, will they of their different strengths. won’t. spout a leftwing Looking at the history of Australia you can see explanation of the We haven’t described that we’ve had recently a rise of the autonomy the GFC in a way that is GFC? logic of order in the dominance of neo-liberalism; convincing. No, they won’t. then under Howard we’ve had a rise of the more 90 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 6 When you look at one of the two most recent Another example We recently put out movements, one of the reasons why neo-liberal- – look at what’s a paper on ‘false ism rose to prominence so forcefully, is because happening to our it had a really good description for the problem. tax. I have this economies’, and Even though the Hawke-Keating government info graphic of our the key was to look wasn’t ideologically aligned with this movement, income tax brackets at two big myths they still took it on board because it had a really in different colours: to bust: that ‘cuts good description of the crisis at the time. If you The numbers rep- = efficiency’ and describe the problem well, you build your cred- resent how much ‘markets = efficiency’. ibility for giving a solution. income tax is actu- We were asked to identify strategic campaign ally paid in those priorities. The first thing we need to do is to de- income tax brackets, and you can see they’ve been scribe the problem – we know what it is – but we decreasing. The red part is the tax-free threshold, need to describe it in a way that is convincing and and that black line is the median income. So the builds our credibility. A friend of mine described middle tax bracket, the green part, has roughly this as ‘defensive analytics’. He talks about ana- followed the median income – we’ve had no lyzing, recording and re-framing the potentially bracket creep. What is really interesting that a common rights and values that will be lost under whole lot of people who had a large proportion of a conservative government. their income in the top tax bracket [purple] have dropped into the second-top [blue]. It is complex If, as seems likely at this point, we get an Abbott to explain that, but this kind of graphic can show government, and we get another wave of con- what is going on. servative thinking, we need to be clear on what problems that is causing, because that builds our You need to have this kind of explanation about credibility to propose an alternative. Without that our taxes to show why we are struggling to get we have no credibility. good public services, because we are actually taxing everybody less, particularly the rich. Why? A couple of examples of my work along these lines That’s the sort of debate we need to bring out. are ‘false economies’ and ‘fair tax’. Finally it is good to tell a positive story. This is There is no point building credibility unless still early in my research, but I will draw on an you have a solution to present, and that is the interesting book and a paper I have been reading: next point – efficient public services and how to Rethinking Public Service Delivery and Copro- achieve that. duction: A Manifesto for the Core Economy. They We recently put out a paper on ‘false economies’, make the point that there is no ‘one-size-fits- and the key was to look at two big myths to bust: all’. We can’t just say ‘government government that ‘cuts = efficiency’ and ‘markets = efficiency’. government’, nor can we say ‘privatise privatise These are widely held views. You often hear privatise’. We need to look at what sector does politicians using the word ‘efficiency’ as though it what, best. That needs to include all three sectors, means ‘cuts’, but that is ridiculous even from the including the charitable sector. It needs to include most hard-nosed economic point of view. ideas of co-production, looking at how people, Technical efficiency is inputs over outputs. You individuals, can become part of the provision of have to look at what’s going in as well as what’s public services. coming out. If your cuts lose you more than you These are really interesting ideas, and we need saved, you are being less efficient by cutting, you to grab them. But the book Rethinking Public are creating inefficiency and waste. Service Delivery is very academic and technical, The same thing occurs in the privatising or out- as is the language of ‘coproduction’. It needs to be sourcing argument. brought into common parlance and made into an inspirational narrative that we can push forward There is often an assumption, even among people as an alternative. on the Left, that markets are efficient, and so privatisation is very difficult to fight. It tends to As I say, once we have described the problem in a get fought on values grounds, but it can be fought way that is convincing, we will then get the cred- on efficiency grounds. Markets can be very inef- ibility to push ideas such as these that will give ficient. For those of you who might not believe us the sort of public services we want, the state- me, read my paper! I won’t go into that because it based solutions that we need to these collective is too big. problems that we face. 91 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... A Strong Public Sector and a Fair Tax System and support from European and other govern- ments around the world. It was very difficult to shift the Australian government to support a FTT Jo-anne Schofield at the G20 through that lobbying effort. That was partly because it took place against A Grand New Bargain? the backdrop of the carbon tax and the mineral resources rent tax, both of which were politically very difficult reforms.

Executive Director of policy network Catalyst I’m not here to talk about the merits of that Australia Inc. Jo-Anne has variously worked in reform process, but they did result in a set of the public and private sector and spent over a political circumstances that has made it difficult dozen years as a senior union official with the to advocate for tax reform in Australia. We can LHMU (now United Voice). learn from that in that any successful reform in the future needs to be underpinned by a strong case: it can be easy to blame political, business or I commend the work that the Centre for Policy other leaders for the tepid nature of tax reform, Development is doing on the public sector re- but progressives also failed during each of those search series. It’s generated a whole discussion reform periods to build a strong case in the com- about the public sector that wasn’t happening munity. If we can learn from that, it will make before that approach was taken. future reforms easier. I hope to contribute today from a less specialist The starting point is community perceptions point-of-view. Catalyst has been active as a partic- of tax. There is a terrific survey of 1,400 people ipant in the financial transactions tax campaign. done by the policy think tank, Per Capita, an an- That is a 0.5 per cent tax on speculative finance. nual tax survey and it came out a few weeks ago. We’ve worked with a number of aid and de- They found that people think they are paying too velopment organisations in the lead up to the much tax now, in a system that is unfair. Sixty per G20 meeting in November 2011 to try to get the cent of people say that Australia is a high taxing Australian government to adopt a neutral posi- country. People surveyed thought that they were tion, which was ultimately unsuccessful. We also poorly served by public sector spending, and did some work a few years ago on corporate tax, the report noted support for more public sector we did a poll to test the understanding of business spending has weakened since 2010. Having said tax systems and how fair it is. that, support was still pretty high. That is the extent of our expertise on tax. But we Sixty-eight per cent of people think that business have also been mindful of the work that CPD and pay too little tax, and forty-six per cent say that others have been doing around tax and the public small business pay too much. sector. These two issues are intertwined – the tax You should have a look at this paper which is system pays for public services. succinct and well presented. It talks about the Australia has a fickle relationship with taxation. cognitive dissonance around tax – Australia actu- We don’t understand it very well and we don’t ally has the fifth-lowest tax burden of all OECD like changes to it. We want a Swedish-style social countries. services system with a US-style tax base to pay for Despite people saying they are poorly served by it. That’s my reading of our relationship with tax. public sector spending and we pay too much tax, In recent years it has large numbers of people think there should be Australia has a become a political more spending on health, education and social fickle relationship no-go zone. We expe- security. rienced this when we High income earners think they pay too much tax, with taxation were advocating for a but they think the rich should pay more tax. And ... We want a financial transactions more than half of all respondents thought that Swedish-style tax. This was a high petrol prices had risen due to the carbon tax, even level international social services though fuel is not taxed. system with a US- campaign spearheaded style tax base to by aid and develop- One aspect of the survey that got some media at ment groups with great the time was that half the people surveyed said pay for it. celebrity endorsement, they got no compensation for the carbon tax – 92 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 6 Despite people but ninety per cent of Wisconsin shows that Bluestone saying they are people did. That’s the as the public begin points out – landscape to which we to feel that the public poorly served are bringing the reform sector workers are uncomfortably by public sector case. We need to be doing better than they for some – that spending and we clear about that. are, and recognise how the public much national and pay too much tax, It is clear with the won’t always state economies are large numbers policy reforms on the be sympathetic struggling, they will of people think progressive agenda to public sector increasingly side with – Gonski education there should be municipal officials unions, especially spending, National more spending on against public sector against a backdrop Disability Insurance health, education unions. of austerity in Scheme, meeting the and social security. health needs of an ag- So public sector unions other parts of ing population – makes have to be at the fore- the economy. it hard to argue that front in finding ways to less funding is needed. We are going to need more improve productivity and to reclaim the efficiency revenue, more taxes to pay for those things, to agenda in ways that meet the interests not just which there appears to be a national commitment of public sector workers but also of the broader in most cases. community - to demonstrate to the community that the public sector unions have the interest of Discussion about providing public services and the community at heart. NDIS and Gonski reforms is abstracted from discussion about the revenue base we need to get We haven’t really taken this up in Australia. We there. Experience shows that changes can’t always haven’t had the same threats to public sector un- be successfully imposed, as the carbon tax and ions, but we will no doubt see them in the future. the mineral resources rent tax tells us. We have to In moving beyond the abstract, we need a strong bring people with us. framework for progressive public services that One of the things I read recently that brought addresses spending and revenue and build this this to a head was by a Harvard writer, Barry case with the community. There is much work Bluestone, who talks about the need for a grand to do to win community support for increases in new bargain between public sector unions and tax, but there is strong community support for tax payers, to talk about what public services are public services, as the Per Capita survey finds. So valued by the community and to negotiate with starting with public services is a good way into the community about how we should best pay for that discussion with the community about how them. we fund a fair society, a strong public sector and a decent place for us all to live. He talks in the context of the lessons from Wisconsin, the big dispute in America where the Public sector unions have a critical role in tak- state government took steps to slash and burn the ing the discussion out to the community, but to public sector. Unions mounted a legal challenge do this through a grand new bargain with tax that went on for several months, that was ulti- payers, not simply through a defence of public mately unsuccessful although it did look hopeful sector wages and conditions. As important as for a while. That is, while the community forced those things are, they are central to public sector a recall election, the Republican governor was workers, but not to others. That’s not to say these re-elected. things should be forgotten, just that they are not the sole focus to build power and support. Bluestone points out – uncomfortably for some – that the public won’t always be sympathetic to Public sector unions have public sector unions, especially against a back- a critical role in taking drop of austerity in other parts of the economy. the discussion out to the It’s worth noting that in the USA, it is the pro- community, but to do this gressives and Democrats who are at the forefront through a grand new bargain of the Charter School movement, to take schools out of the public sector and give them greater with tax payers, not simply community control. through a defence of public sector wages and conditions. 93 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... A Strong Public Sector and a Fair Tax System going to see a massive collapse in the quality of training and education. John Kaye MLC Private providers will not take on students with learning difficulties, while TAFE welcomes such students. Private providers won’t touch the John Kaye taught and researched electrical 120,000 individuals with special needs – physical engineering at the University of New South and mental disabilities – who are in TAFE around Wales before entering parliament. He is now the Australia at the moment. Greens Treasury Spokesperson. If you doubt that, look at the one private provider already operating on the north coast of NSW – I want to pay tribute to the work of the Centre for they do their training in a shipping container on Policy Development and Catalyst for their lead- the back of a truck, with stairs to get in. When ership. I read your paper on the three kinds of they were challenged about this, they rented a efficiencies, and recognised multiple ways I could forklift truck to move people who were in wheel- use the arguments there. In politics, I am very chairs, or had other mobility issues. So you can reliant on the work of organisations like Catalyst see that access there is not going to happen. It is and CPD, so please keep it up. so demeaning. Let’s be clear – private providers I want to talk about four separate acts of privati- don’t touch those people. sation - forgive me for being parochial - happen- The consequence of this is that TAFE is in freefall. ing in NSW, but each has a national ingredient. I In Victoria, there are two or three TAFE institutes want to illustrate some key features in the emerg- currently facing bankruptcy. In NSW they won’t ing debate about privatisation in Australia, and face bankruptcy; they will just cut their way out how we can respond to that. of business. Information and communication The first one is TAFE. Around Australia it is a technology has disappeared entirely at Randwick similar picture, particularly where there is a Institute. It is about to disappear at Sydney. It has Coalition government. In NSW, TAFE is facing a disappeared on the north coast. TAFE is pulling loss of 800 jobs, mostly teachers. By my calcula- out of the business of training people in the area tion we have lost about 400 teachers from TAFE of information technology. in the last six months, and we are likely to lose The consequences are diabolical. We face a green- another 400. This is part of a $1.7 billion cut from house century. We need an educated, engaged TAFE over the next four years. This has devastat- workforce that a) can innovate to provide the ing consequences for TAFE, for students and the solutions we need, and b) be part of the collective future of our society. responses to how we reduce our carbon footprint At the same time this is happening, the national and deal with the problem we’ve already created. partnership on training reform has hit NSW. We are going to lose that, because private provid- The national partnership included a competitive ers do not give education, they only give training market for training services. The way that is to be to a narrow set of criteria. So we are producing played out in NSW for all Certificate II, Certificate workers who are prepared for a particular in- III and shorter qualifications in the first instance, dustry to do a particular task, but who are not and almost certainly for Certificate IV and prob- prepared to think holistically about an industry or ably for diplomas and graduate diplomas in the have a critical view of where that fits into society. next few years, is by a training voucher. Each in- The second example of dividual who hasn’t previously got a qualification privatisation is the pri- The national gets a voucher and they can cash it is at the public vatisation that you and standards are sector provider –TAFE – or they can cash it in at I pay for massively. so weak that a a private sector provider. You and I are putting private provider This is price regulated. The private sector pro- $50 billion into pri- can get away vider can only charge above the voucher to the vate schools over the with providing same level that TAFE can charge. How the private next four years. Ironi- sector provider will make money and gain mar- cally, if Gonski goes what TAFE would ket share is by shortening courses. The national through, that will go take one year standards are so weak that a private provider can up to about $55.2 bil- to do, over two get away with providing what TAFE would take lion. But currently we weekends. one year to do, over two weekends. So we are are putting in $50 bil- 94 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 6 lion, $37.4 billion from the Commonwealth and differences. It is like a thermo-dynamic process. the best estimate is $12 billion from the states. They work off differences in wealth levels, not absolute wealth levels. What we are paying for is the transition of stu- dents out of the well-respected, successful public To Professor Presser I say, fine, you go to a school provider into a series of schools that segregate in south-western Sydney that has got three kids young people by their class, their ethnicity and who have ADHD, two kids who have opposition language, and by their sexuality. We are taking a defiance disorder, two kids who are deeply on the system that created a national identity, a func- autism spectrum, one kid who hasn’t had a show- tional cohesive society, and replacing it with a er in five weeks, and another two kids who need series of systems that deliberately divide us by toileting regularly, and you tell me that money our religious, ethnic gender, ability wealth and doesn’t make a difference. You tell me that relief family backgrounds. from face-to-face teaching doesn’t make a differ- ence, that having smaller class sizes doesn’t make We are doing so in a most outrageous way. In a difference. It is arrant nonsense being peddled. NSW there are 110 schools in either the old Cat- egory 1, 2 and 3 – which means they’ve got a lot of The third privatisation is the power sell-off here resources, like two, three, four, even five swim- in NSW. What’s interesting here is that we’ve ming pools. If you doubt the five pools, there is a gone from an ideological argument that Labor school near me that has just put in an application mounted about selling off the electricity industry, to spend $45 million on a Wellness Centre that to a simple asset-swap argument that the Coali- has two swimming pools in it, which I was pretty tion is putting forward – we need the money to impressed by. Or they recruit from families from build more motorways. The biggest problem we the top 20 per cent of socio-economic back- confront with this is that we are handing over 60 grounds. Those schools are getting $452 million million tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted by the from the State and Commonwealth. To break power stations to the private sector. We are clos- that down, Sydney Grammar School gets from its ing off policy options. parents $37,000 per student, and collects another The final privatisation is recreational shooting $2,500 per student from State and Common- in national parks, where we are replacing pub- wealth governments. So they can spend $39,500 lic sector professional pest control in national whereas Sydney Girls or Boys High School spend parks with a private sector, supposedly cheaper, only $8,000 per student, form. To go back to Chris’ paper, we are going to They’re and Sydney Boys High gets increase the number of feral animals in national not really far better results in the parks because these private sector people are HSC than Sydney Grammar deeply inefficient. interested in School. money now, Wherever you look - in Queensland, NSW and they are What we are doing here is Victoria - you see a neo-liberal agenda emerging paying for the dismantling of downsizing the public sector. The big differ- interested in of our public education sys- ence between Labor and Liberal in NSW was the making sure tem. If you doubt my word, ruling clique in Labor – I respect those people in that the public read a piece of work by Scott the Labor Party who fought against it – but the education Presser, who is the head of majority in Labor ideologically bought into the system is kept the Public Policy Institute at neo-liberal agenda, people like Michael Costa, impoverished. the Australian Catholic Uni- , , Morris versity. He was paid by the Iemma, and the list goes on – Ian McDonald – extremely wealthy private drove a neo-liberal agenda through Labor. The school lobby to produce a paper that said ‘money Coalition doesn’t even bother engaging with that. doesn’t matter in schools’, it is all about getting They don’t say the public sector is inferior. The better teachers. The problem is the teachers, not argument they put forward is that we need the the money – that old teacher-bashing thing. money, we are going to cut these things because it The wealthy private school lobby is prepared is cheaper to do it in the private sector. to forego the $1.6 billion a year they would get We need to drag the Coalition back into an ideo- from the Gonski process, in order to stop public logical argument about services, not at the com- schools getting $4.9 billion a year. They’re not re- plex level, but at the level we can get this to the ally interested in money now, they are interested community, and have the community reengaged in making sure that the public education system with the arguments we were having four years ago is kept impoverished. They really like the class about privatisation. 95 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... A Strong Public Sector and a Fair Tax System ous forms. This scenario is eerily similar to what is happening now, federally. Troy Wright Throughout 1991 and 1992, aspects of that blueprint were floated in opinion pieces in the major papers in Victoria, and those articles were attacked outright by the Kennett Opposition as Unveiling Abbott’s plans for being incorrect, as radical, as poor journalism. the public service through the The then Kennett Opposition reaffirmed at every opportunity its commitment to traditional consul- experience of the States tative mechanisms in managing the public sector. Kennett won the elections with a negative cam- Troy Wright is Senior Industrial Officer with the paign, and within four weeks put in a mini-budget CPSU’s (SPSF Group) Federal Office. Troy has by then Treasurer, Allan Stockdale. The mini- previously worked in Corrective Services NSW budget was followed by an avalanche of radical as a Probation and Parole Officer for 13 years. legislative reform which was in part the exact Project Victoria blueprint, which they had spent years denying that they were going to implement, The presentations today show that there is a role ridiculing it whenever it was raised in the press. for public sector unions to be more proactive in Basically the Kennett Opposition had spent three driving the agenda. years blocking all revenue measures, talking My speech today is the opposite of that. I’m a big down the economy, and were at least partially one for sporting analogies, and I find that work- if not largely responsible for the Victorian woes ing in the public sector union movement we are which they inherited, yet used those very woes to always batting to someone else’s bowling. We’ve engage in a series of radical reforms. probably had a couple of years of Nathan Lyon’s It immediately set up an Independent Commis- rubbish off-spin coming at us, and we’ve been go- sion of Audit - probably the first time that term ing all right. But they are probably going to bring was used. The Commission of Audit was to over- on the pace attack so we are really in the stage of see what other structural changes were needed, worrying about this next bowling change that’s and its mission was to “get Victoria on the move” coming on and how we are going to deal with again. This language sold to the electorate is re- that. ally positive, something you want to get behind, So to have an opportunity to talk about Left sounds fantastic, but really it’s a radical agenda renewal and setting our own agenda is something dressed up; it’s lipstick on a pig. unique for us. The model was used throughout the 1990s by the I want to talk about what we anticipate would Court government in WA, the Brown government happen with an Abbott government, what they in South Australia, and the Groom government in are planning today, what lessons there are from Tasmania, all with the same exact agenda. history, what we’ve learnt from state Coalition Now if we come to the present, if we look at what governments, and what signs there are that Ab- happened under Kennett, and look at WA, we bott is doing the same; and in what forms those have Barnett who won unexpectedly in 2009. attacks will come. Again he appointed an Economic Audit Commit- tee to review and recommend change to how the If we can go back 20 years, in Victoria, we can see state operates. They reported on the strategic di- the precedent was set. In 1991 a group of em- rection of the public sector workforce which made ployer organisations – then known as the Tasman wholesale recommendations about the restructur- Institute, now known as the Institute for Public ing of the WA economy, its provision of public Affairs – developed a blueprint for reform in the services and their relation with business. Victorian economy. Those recommendations fun- damentally overturned accepted orthodoxies of One of the great quotes is: “The Barnett gov- economic management. They attacked the role of ernment will increasingly act as a facilitator of the state as a supplier of goods and services and services rather than a direct provider. All areas of undermined the role of the state as an important service delivery will be open to competition, and contributor to skills development and employ- citizens in need of services will exercise control ment opportunities for Victorians. The blueprint over the range of services they access and the was called Project Victoria. It was leaked in vari- means by which they are delivered.” 96 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 6 Probably this is no news to anyone here, but the der platform. You not only We anticipate tone of language makes it sound fantastic. A great get a pro-privatisation attacks in sales pitch. Again – win the language and you go candidate elected, but you a long way towards winning the battle. get increased demand for four areas - your services. A fantastic privatisation, The Committee also said that managers need the win-win. wages policy, freedom to manage in flexible and responsive ways to meet the needs of citizens. Nothing in the The other major company posign ‘frontline Committee report was about respecting the public is G4S, which has got so staff’ against sector, preserving the public sector, nothing posi- big that it is the second ‘backroom tive about the role of the public sector. It was all largest employer in the bureaucrats’, about choice and freedoms. world after Walmart. It and labour hire. has 625,000 employees Our WA Branch is up against probably the most in 125 countries. It has radical privatisation agenda of all the branches. security contracts all over the world. The government adopted a policy of ‘collabora- tion and community’, another phrase you would The third one we deal with a lot and is increasing never oppose. The report noted a world-wide its presence in Australia, clearly seeing Australia trend for governments to expose their service as a fertile field, is Serco, an English FTS100 com- delivery to competitive outsourcing to drive value pany. It has a big presence in WA, in corrections for money outcomes. and other services. It is estimated to be about $6 billion in value, but doesn’t produce one thing There was a Commission of Audit engaged in that the government didn’t produce previously. NSW by the O’Farrell government, and we’re just It is a complete service company, just taking gov- not sure how much of its recommendations are to ernment contracts. be adopted. So as a union our first concern is privatisation, Another obvious one is the Costello Audit Report and the companies we are dealing with are far in Queensland, which is probably the most radi- better resourced than the previous privatisations cal in terms of job cuts and nasty cuts to some we’ve had. services which the government has a prejudice against, rather than for economic reasons. The second issue is wages policy applied to the public sector. It is an issue across all our jurisdic- So we have a pattern of a new government that tions. The employers have the right to set their comes in, uses the same flowery language, en- wages and conditions of employment through gages a Commission of Audit which says things legislation, a right no other employer has. That is are far worse than ever previously imagined, and where we envy the private sector unions. then engages on a series of changes which we’ve The third issue we constantly face is the division seen before and we expect to see under an Abbott of ‘back room bureaucrats’ from ‘frontline staff’, government. the demonisation of ‘back room bureaucrats’, the The four areas where we really anticipate attacks artificial tension created by saying ‘we are only are firstly, privatisation. One area I work with at axing those guys, they are the waste of money, the state level is Correctional Services, the pointy and the frontline guys aren’t’. But we all know end where states are privatising. What is differ- that it all works together, without one the other ent now with privatisation is the number of large doesn’t operate. multinational companies which didn’t exist 20 The last issue we face is labour hire. We did a years ago that have the capacity to take on con- submission to the Senate and we found that six tracts with the state that are far bigger than any million hours of labour hire were used in the we have seen before. NSW public sector last year. It is a phenomenal Geo is a US corrections corporation. It has amount of money and resources. It is far more Parklea and Junee jails in NSW, and two others expensive than public sector employment, far less in other states. Geo stands for ‘Global Expertise accountable, and it is undermining the terms and in Outsourcing’, and they’ve got something like conditions of normal public servants whom we 53,000 beds in the US and are the second largest have as members. private provider there, after Corrections Corpora- For us, renewing the Left is rejecting these tion of America. They are also one of the largest policies and rhetoric and lies. We first have to political donors. They donate to conservative can- take this stuff on before we can drive an agenda didates in state legislatures that run a law-and-or- forward. 97 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... the other day, our our sovereignty is Free Trade Agreements sovereignty is worth worth more than more than a few steaks vs Jobs and on a Korean BBQ. The a few steaks on the Public Interest Trans-Pacific Partner- a Korean BBQ. ship Agreement - TPPA The Trans-Pacific - is of even greater Partnership Andrew Dettmer import because its Agreement - TPPA breadth is so much - is of even greater greater that those Andrew Dettmer is National President and bi-lateral trade agree- import because its former Queensland State Secretary of the ments. breadth is so much Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, and greater that those a former Queensland State President of the ALP. I’ll make it clear that the AMWU is not op- bi-lateral trade I am going to talk about what the AMWU is posed to FTAs; it is agreements. concerned about. There was a pretty good fight how capital operates, against the US FTA in 2004, we were successful how our members therefore get employment, and in embarrassing the Howard government and we want to see Australian agreements and jobs in putting trade front and centre in the political across the world. It’s very clear that we are not debate in Australia. It doesn’t occupy the airways opposed to trade, it’s important in this debate too much but it’s something that put into sharp that we are not painted as an organisation - AFTI- contrast exactly what it means to have a free trade NET, the AMWU or the Left generally - as being agreement with the US and in this case with the opposed to trade. We are not, we need to have 12 other nations. a very good and clear – and socially aware and politically adept - policy with respect to trade. So what that debate around the countryside in- troduced into the Australian political vocabulary The problem we have with these FTAs is that they was that FTAs are not necessarily free nor are are neither free nor fair. We say fair trade is what they about trade. The US–Aust FTA was mark- we should be on about, and these agreements that edly deficient in the area of sugar - for me as the are proposed at the moment – such as the TPPA - secretary of the AMWU QLD. show us that we’re not likely to get fairness there too. The US sugar industry and its lobby strength can be calculated on the basis that you would un- One of the elements of importance to the AMWU, derstand when Bill Clinton was threatened with as the manufacturing sector in Australia, is impeachment over Monica Lewinski and a whole shipbuilding. The US has a number of restrictive range of things were coming at him there was one pieces of legislation when it comes to shipbuild- person he took a call from – the head of the US ing, most importantly the Jones Act since WW1 sugar lobby. So the size and strength of the US that was introduced to try to protect the US ship sugar lobby is beyond belief. building industry. It says if there is a vessel with a keel length of 100 feet or more, that ship must What does that mean in terms of the US approach be laid down and built within the US (including to sugar - we do not get access to the US market. Hawaii). We get around 30 tonnes/year varied by decisions of the appropriate US Congressional Office; this The Jones Act is there as a clear example of what is out of a total tonnage of 12 million tonnes. So, the US means by free trade. They don’t care about you can understand this amount is really beyond the shipbuilding industries of other countries and a joke. what I’ve said at trade negotiations in Auckland, and our publically stated position, is that if the US That illustrates how trade can be susceptible to was fair dinkum about free trade the first thing the needs of a domestic political agenda, which they would do would be to look to their laurels we’re now seeing in relation to Korea with the de- with respect to the Jones Act and see how it can sire and demand by the Cattleman’s Association be modified or abolished to ensure that other - backed up by their allies in the federal Liberal countries get a fair shop out of it. Party - that we must sign a free trade agreement with South Korea otherwise we won’t get access to The alternative of course being that for the their beef market. But as far as I am concerned, in AMWU we say that if the Jones Act is the opera- a letter I sent to the Australian Financial Review tive principle of shipbuilding in the US then if we

98 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 7 The alternative of are to enter into decisions, which will be a great contest in years course being that for an agreement with to come, is that corporations will have that actual the US, and with personality not simply the limits of legal per- the AMWU we say other countries sonality. This is a huge concern to us on a whole that if the Jones Act is in the TPPA, then range of unintended consequences if ISDS were the operative principle we should have to be there. This should be the subject of some of shipbuilding in our own Jones legal conjecture in the years to come. Act. Because that the US then if we The Labour Rights Chapter in the TPPA - the would only be fair are to enter into an AMWU, AFTINET and the ACTU have been at and reasonable if pains to talk about this. Of the countries which agreement with the it was a fair agree- are part of the TPPA, a couple of them, Brunei be- US, and with other ment. countries in the TPPA, ing a good example, outlaw trade unions. So the Even the more ILO conventions 87 and 98 - freedom of associa- then we should have ardent advocates tion and the freedom to organise - are the fun- our own Jones Act. of Australian in- damental and basic international laws that allow dustry within the trade unions and organised workers to exist and Labor Party baulk at that concept. So for us the to bargain. If you were a Brunei worker - many whole process of these FTAs is not fair and the of whom are foreign and bonded labour - much TPPA is likely to exacerbate that. the same as our Visa 457 workers, but with even fewer rights - you are not accorded the right to Dr Patricia Ranald has already mentioned in join a trade union. detail the investor-state dispute settlement provi- sions, the ISDS. We see that ISDS is fundamental- You would have to wonder ly misused by companies like Phillip Morris to try the value of a free trade One final thing to hold governments to account. We understand agreement covering all of to talk about that this is something that has a deadening effect these countries given that is the secrecy on social policy and on industry policy, for every one of the key signatories that goes into time you do something to encourage the growth doesn’t allow for organised these trade of industry in Australia you would likely come up labour as we know it. As against some large multinational behemoth who far as we’re concerned the agreements. In would turn around and say ‘well that’s going to Labour Rights Chapter - terms of good operate to disadvantage our industry therefore we argued strongly for the public policy we we are going to sue the Australian government for Labour Rights Chapter at need to have that industry policy’. the ALP conference and openness and a got it endorsed - should be For example, we were talking about things like lack of secrecy insisted upon before they industry planning that occurred under the aus- even contemplate the abil- in these trade pices of the Accord - that would be deemed illegal ity to sign up for the TPPA. agreements. under the TPPA, if that were to come to pass, if ISDS was included. As far as labour rights are concerned, we believe that is crucial in terms of But another element to US law that is of grave ALP policy and in terms of our continued free- concern, and not just in the context of the TPPA, dom of association, right to organise the, right to is that the US law now accords to corporations bargain etc, that we experience in Australia to be not just legal personalities (the front and centre in the formation of any TPPA. Of the concept of being able to sue To their credit the Australian representatives are countries and be sued) but actual per- pushing very strongly - Craig Emerson the Trade sonality in that a corporation which are Minister is - and we are saying they should not can be defamed. part of the put it up for approval in the absence of labour TPPA, a Previously the corporation rights. did not have ‘flesh and blood’ couple of One final thing to talk about is the secrecy that personality and could not be them, Brunei goes into these trade agreements. In terms of defamed in Australia or under being a good good public policy we need to have openness and English common law because a lack of secrecy in these trade agreements. After example, that is where our law of defa- all, these instruments will have the force of law outlaw trade mation comes from. The issue and will influence decisions on things like invest- unions. in the US by virtue of these ment and the manufacturing industry. Things like 99 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Free Trade Agreements vs Jobs and the Public Interest the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme would be we might find ourselves and the next generation potentially up for grabs. affected by the decisions taken in 2013. We cannot afford as a country which is osten- So it’s important that we be as informed as possi- sibly open and democratic to have these all- ble about these proposed trade agreements so we encompassing agreements negotiated and agreed can actually intervene in a meaningful way in the without being susceptible to public scrutiny. This political process and in the process of delibera- is not simply something that affects Australia, it’s tion with our politicians who don’t want us to be a about treaty-making around the world, and spe- part of them. cifically to do with the TPPA and all the countries Organisation or individuals can join AFTINET - which are a part of it. go to http://www.aftinet.org.au. Other countries are far less open even than Aus- tralia - and we are not particularly open - but we are getting reasonable levels of access to the nego- tiators and Pat Ranald and I will be meeting with the negotiators soon to follow up the Singapore round negotiations. I can only urge you to The only scrutiny that these treaties get is from join AFTINET. Even if you the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties don’t join, your part of (JSCOT). This is a committee of the whole Parlia- an organisation can at ment that simply assesses and says this was either least be informed about a good idea or a bad idea to sign. It doesn’t say AFTINET and these treaty you should or you shouldn’t sign, so it’s almost making issues because unique amongst all deliberative committees in the parliament that it is operating after the fact. it’s sort of like the butterfly effect ... If we are to pursue a progressive politics and an open government, then we need to be agitating on this issue of signing treaties, because unless we do, things like the TPPA will be left in the hands of a conservative government. And we know what a champion of open government the Tories are. You can see how Campbell Newman, Colin Barnett, Barry O’Farrell and Dennis Napthine are going on - they want to take away from any public scrutiny virtually any of the decisions that they make. Well it seems to me that with Labor likely to face a significant period of Opposition, one of the legacies which Labor might leave us, if they were to think about it, would be to make open - and subject to public scrutiny - any of these treaties before they are signed. And we should not forget this in any of our campaigning. Finally we rely very much on the work that Pat Ranald and AFTINET do and I can only urge you to join. Even if you don’t join, your part of an organisation can at least be informed about AFTINET and these treaty-making issues because it’s sort of like the butterfly effect which people waffle on about. Here are these treaties being negotiated and signed on our behalf and they will have huge ramifications, not just now but for the future, and unless we are agitating and active around them

100 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 7 As with most trade negotia- The most tions, the negotiating docu- detailed Patricia Ranald ments and draft texts are information secret. The US shares draft texts with over 600 corpo- has come from Challenging the corporate rate advisers, and a handful leaked texts[i]. agenda: Fair Trade vs the Trans- of other non-government The content Pacific Free Trade Agreement organisations, but they are of these has sworn to secrecy. confirmed civil There has been a public Dr Patricia Ranald is Convener of the society fears ... consultation process which Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, includes briefings by ne- (AFTINET), is a Research Associate at the gotiators, and presentations by stakeholders at University of Sydney, and teaches in the ACTU negotiating rounds. But this is limited by lack of education program. access to the text. The most detailed information has come from The TPPA is a free trade agreement being negoti- leaked texts[i]. The content of these has con- ated by the US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico firmed civil society fears of attempts to extend Canada, Peru, Chile, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia corporate rights at the expense of access to afford- and Vietnam. Japan is likely to join later in 2013. able medicines and the right of governments to The TPPA is driven by the US, which sees it as regulate in the public interest. an opportunity to implement a legally binding The demand to release texts is now coming not agreement in the Asia-Pacific, which it has been only from civil society groups, but also from US unable to achieve through APEC. The US wants to Congress members, other parliamentarians, jour- expand its exports and introduce US-style region- nalists and lawyers. al regulatory frameworks, which increase corpo- rate rights. The TPP is also part of US geopolitical In Australia, the Australian Fair Trade and strategy to counter balance the influence of China Investment Network, (AFTINET) has involved in the Asia-Pacific. The aim is to persuade other unions, public health groups, church groups, countries to join in future. environment groups, pensioners’ organisations, and other community groups in public debate of The negotiations began in March 2010, with the the TPPA. This has included opinion pieces in the aim of finishing in 2012. The aim is now to finish media, public education leaflets, public meetings, by the end of 2013. Delays have resulted from US lobbying of parliamentarians, email campaigns, a demands to extend corporate investment rights, parliamentary petition and public rallies dur- patent rights on medicines, and copyright on ing the negotiations held in Melbourne in March the internet. There have also been differences 2012. There has been media coverage of the is- between governments about the inclusion in the sues in traditional and digital media. This debate agreement of enforceable labour rights and com- has pressured the Australian Labor government mitments to environmental regulation. to implement its policy to refuse investor-state Other governments are resisting the most ex- rights to sue governments, to refuse US demands treme US proposals, prompted by public cam- on medicines[ii]. paigns led by trade justice, unions and health Continuing sticking points in the negotiations groups. Some governments may be willing to include foreign investor rights, regulation of trade off other policies in the hope of increased medicine prices, extension of patent and copy- access to US markets, but the US is limited in right, regulation of state-owned enterprises and what it can offer because of the power of its own the inclusion of labour rights and environmental domestic agricultural and manufacturing lobbies, protections. and continued high unemployment. The same Perhaps the clearest demonstration of the cor- US industry groups which prevented increased porate power relationships involved in the TPPA Australian market access in the Australia-US Free is the debate over the right of corporations to Trade Agreement in 2004 are even more active. sue governments through investor-state dispute This calls into question whether there can be any processes (ISDS). The US, prompted by ma- benefits from the TPPA for countries other than jor corporate lobby groups, including tobacco the US, and why those governments have agreed companies, pharmaceutical companies and the to the negotiations. 101 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Free Trade Agreements vs Jobs and the Public Interest The Australian US and International judiciary because judges can also be advocates, government’s Chambers of Commerce, the processes are not open to public scrutiny, and is arguing that such there is no system of precedents in decision-mak- policy has since rights must be included ing, leading to inconsistent decisions. The tribu- been reinforced in the agreement. The nals do not have the same obligation as national by the experience Australian Chamber of courts to consider the public interest. This means of being sued Commerce and Industry that international corporations have far more for damages by recently added its voice rights in these tribunals than in national courts the Philip Morris in support[iii]. systems[vi]. tobacco The debate over ISDS Companies have successfully sued governments company ... in Australia goes back for millions of dollars using ISDS under agree- to the Australia-US ments like the North American Free Trade Agree- Free Trade Agreement, ment. As discussed above, the Australian Labor when public opposition pressured the Howard Government policy is to oppose these clauses in conservative government to refuse to include it in trade agreements, including in the TPPA. How- that agreement. ever, ISDS clauses do exist in some past agree- The current Australian Labor Government decid- ments, and big tobacco is taking full advantage of ed to oppose ISDS in all trade agreements after a this. Productivity Commission Report on Regional and The Philip Morris tobacco company announced Bilateral Trade Agreements in December 2010 on the day of the High Court decision that it is recommended against ISDS on the grounds that persisting with its case to it produced no economic benefits, no increase in sue the Australian gov- ... ISDS can be foreign investment and gave additional rights to ernment using an obscure used to sue foreign corporations over local corporations. 1993 Hong Kong-Austral- government Convincing evidence about this was presented to ia investment agreement, over democratic the Commission from the range of community which contains an ISDS legislation ... groups described above, academics and legal clause. experts[iv]. Philip Morris described The Australian government’s policy has since itself as a US-based company when it made a sub- been reinforced by the experience of being sued mission in 2010 to the US Trade Representative for damages by the Philip Morris tobacco com- supporting an ISDS process in the TPPA. How- pany over its plain packaging legislation, despite ever it could not sue under the US-Australia Free the fact that the legislation has been validated by Trade Agreement, because public opposition kept the High Court. ISDS out of that agreement. On August 15 2012 the Australian High Court Philip Morris rearranged its assets to become a rejected a challenge by a group of tobacco compa- Hong Kong investor in order to sue, because the nies to the Government’s 2011 tobacco plain pack- company believes it can win in the international aging legislation. The Court supported the Gov- tribunal despite the High Court decision. The ernment’s right to regulate tobacco as an addic- case will take 2 to 3 years to be heard. But if the tive substance that still kills 15,000 Australians government loses the case, which is possible given per year. The tobacco companies had argued that the nature of the ISDS tribunal, it could be liable the legislation acquired their intellectual property to pay Philip Morris compensation of millions if rights in trademarks without just compensation, not billions of dollars. in violation of section 51 the Australian Constitu- This example shows that ISDS can be used to sue tion. The High Court found that the government’s government over democratic legislation even if legislation did not violate the Constitution[v]. it has been validated in the highest court in the But the government still faces legal challenges land. This exemplifies the extension of rights from big tobacco, which is desperate to stop the that international corporations are seeking in the Australian example from being followed by oth- TPPA, and why we need to campaign against this ers. The major legal challenge is through an ISDS agenda. process. For more information, campaign materials and The ISDS process takes place through interna- tools see http://www.aftinet.org.au tional tribunals which lack the safeguards of national legal systems. There is no independent continued next page ... 102 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 8 reports dutifully and increasingly quietly docu- Food and Resource ment the continued decline in air quality, soil, water, native vegetation extent and quality and Scarcity in the biodiversity. Capitalist Crisis Without a rational economic basis for natural resource extraction which fully costs the impact of resource extraction, Australia will do little more Kathy Ridge than document the steady and entirely predict- able environmental, and eventually economic, Food security: underpinned by decline. soil, and water health As Sydney’s Fresh Food market surveys tell, our food supply is becoming contaminated by the increasing amounts of pesticides and chemicals Kathy Ridge is an Environmental lawyer, used to grow food in Sydney. This heavy handed and previous CEO of the Nature Conservation reliance on industrial pesticides, fungicides Council of NSW. Kathy most recently and other agricultural chemicals is killing our volunteered in the Basin Plan campaign. Hawkesbury - Nepean River. Abstract Clean environments, properly valued, support a sustainable and healthy food supply. Successive Australian Governments have been reluctant to rationalise the economic underpin- All views in this paper are personal, and are not nings of natural resource management. the views of any organisation of which I am a Board member, Committee member, or legal Landholder’s rights to utilise soil, water, native representative. vegetation, even cultural heritage, as they see fit, are only recently starting to be regulated with a Overview: a potted history of the challenge reluctant enthusiasm. While Government has Aboriginal people understand the inherent varia- always preserved the right to regulate natural re- bility of the Australian climate, the fragility of our sources, it has largely been a local affair, observed landscape, and the complexity of the ecological more in the breach. interactions required to support enough excess Since the Landcare movement, successive Gov- to feed a human population. They have a simple, ernments have attempted to use the carrot of yet effective plan of management: “take only what grant funding, and fully funded industry adjust- you need, share, allow animals places to breed ment reforms, to promote more sustainable and feed in peace, and do not waste anything”[1]. agriculture and mining, but as yet there is little or It is critical to the survival of Aboriginal people, no evidence that such investments have resulted and people who broke the law were sanctioned in in anything other than short term or local im- the most serious manner, and in many places still provements. Successive State of the Environment are.

Dr Patricia Ranald continued ....

Notes gional Trade Agreements Final Report, Productivity Commission, Canberra, December. [i] Leaked US intellectual property proposals found [v] See the High Court decision athttp://www.hcourt. at http://keionline.org/sites/default/files/tpp- gov.au/assets/publications/judgment-summa- 10feb2011-us-text-ipr-chapter.pdf ries/2012/hca30-2012-08-15.pdf Leaked investment chapter found at http://tinyurl. [vi] For a more extensive discussion of the literature, com/tppinvestment see Ranald P, ‘The Australian High Court tobacco [ii] For documents and media reports see www.aftinet. plain packaging decision and Investor-State Dis- org.au pute Settlement (ISDS)” Paper presented at the [iii] See the ACCI media release at http://acci.asn.au/ Stakeholders Forum, Fourteenth round of Trans- Research-and-Publications/Media-Centre/Media- Pacific Partnership negotiations, September 9, Releases-and-Transcripts/Global-Engagement/ 2012, Leesburg, Virginia, found at www.aftinet.org. Australian-Foreign-Investment-Requires-Right-to- au/cms/sites/default/files/Leesburg Ranald forum Su.aspx paper 090912.pdf [iv] Productivity Commission, (2010), Bilateral and Re-

103 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Food and Resource Scarcity in the Capitalist Crisis As a child, Dame Western Christian ronmental flow events to drive productivity, and Mary Gilmore concepts such as some Irrigators who invest enormous personal God’s gift to Man: resources and energy globally in encouraging the observed the Dominion over Na- most energy and water efficient rice grown on the impact of frontier ture, and convenient planet, need our support – not judgment or finger settlers disregard fictions such as Terra wagging. Nullius, and perhaps for Aboriginal It is alienating, and drives their stereotyping of particularly, the resource city-based greenies. management on Darwinian concept of ‘survival of the fittest’ Common sense can, and should prevail, but it the wetland Emu resulted in the single needs regulatory support. sanctuaries on the most effective wave Soil Health Murrumbidgee of extinction on the River ... planet, colonisation Australia as we all know has the oldest soils on of Australia[2]. The the planet, in the driest continent, with the great- first law passed by the est climate variability, particularly of rainfall. colony was an environmental law, to protect the Western Agricultural production systems are tank stream from effluent and garbage, and laws designed around deep, fertile soils, permanent to protect our wildlife were soon to follow. rivers, regular rains and very few species. As a child, Dame Mary Gilmore observed the Healthy soils in Australia are completely unsuited impact of frontier settlers disregard for Aborigi- to western agricultural productivity as the early nal resource management on the wetland Emu settlers soon found out. Aeolian wind-blown sanctuaries on the Murrumbidgee River: “When Pleistocene age sand did not produce any crops the blacks went the fish went’: meaning that the and until the settlement habit of preserving the wild was destitute in the found Parramatta they Healthy soils early white settler.”[3] were on starvation rations. in Australia This fundamentally flawed system of natural Perhaps more efforts at are completely resource management of allowing landholders to identifying local foods, and unsuited do what they like, paying a small licence, royalty local production systems to western or access fee, and Governments’ continual subsi- would have been a more dies to protect private profits has survived largely profitable enterprise, but agricultural unimpeded to 2013. we will never know. productivity ... Our natural resource economics are still largely To produce, as we do, based on Governments allowing corporates and enormous amounts of western agricultural foods, landholders to “socialise the losses, and corpora- Australian farmers have to add enormous system tize the profits”. A patchwork of rights considered inputs, such as fertiliser and pesticides. Large inherent to the previous largess of government areas of our landscape have been permanently agencies, and ministers, are currently being modified by removal of native vegetation[4], hardwired into the new property rights systems of laser levelling, damming small watercourses and natural resource law. retaining runoff that otherwise would have been inflows to our rivers. Any attempt, such as the Basin Plan, under the Water Act 2007 (Cth) to address the economic These land management changes drive our irrationality of the current natural resource man- water table to the surface, bring with it the salt agement systems of historic largesse, which has that rainfall previously washed through the soil so over-allocated these precious resources as to profile, into the groundwater which eventually threaten the viability of these industries, has been percolates back into our rivers. Salinity and soil met with howls of protest from the industries acidification are the greatest threats to our most which currently profit from the over-allocation, productive soils, such as the Hunter Valley and and complete disinterest from the broader public. Clarence Lowlands. Because conditions have been so dry for so long, salinity has dropped down the Those of us who eat the food, and support sus- national priority list, but recent rainfalls, and tainable farming practices, need to give those the associated rise in production will inevitably industry leaders trying to drive improvements, increase salinization. more support. Many large landholders, in partic- ular the Floodplain Graziers who rely on envi- Intensive cropping regimes destroy soils. Loss of soil organic carbon is approximately 30-50% of 104 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 8 most soil types in NSW since colonisation. It is The Water Act 2007 Approximately also perhaps the most profitable investment for (Cth), and its main 85 per cent of large scale landscape storage of carbon dioxide. instrument for driving Landholders are working across NSW on a range change, the Basin Plan, the median flow of soil types to develop robust carbon accounting is the most comprehen- of the Murray– methodologies for productive ecosystems. sive attempt to regulate Darling is fully water across all Murray Our soils support the greatest biomass of all our developed or Darling States, and for ecosystems – as yet there has been no Franklin overallocated ... the first time acknowl- campaign, or North East Forests campaign to edges that Aboriginal save our soils, but without them all of our ecology, people deserve acknowledgement of their cultural and productive ecosystems will fail. flows. Yet we don’t value it. Previous soil controls were The current Basin Plan proposes to return be- hardwired into Western Land Leases, now rapidly tween 2750 GL and 3250 GL water to the envi- being converted to freehold. Good, bad or indif- ronment from the consumptive pool. Genuine wa- ferent farmers receive no encouragement or in- ter recovery projects which allow leaky irrigation centive, no rent rebate or tax deduction based on systems to be repaired, or improvements in water their soil conservation practices. All farmers may delivery may cover all the water to be returned to apply for grants, and perhaps perversely some of the environment without reducing extraction. the worst offenders are rewarded with grants, but it is ad hoc, and unsustainable. However the proposals are potentially able to be undermined completely by plans to mine, There is not even any talk of such a program or frack, or otherwise extract Coal Seam Gas. emerging from the bowels of Government policy Growth in groundwater extraction was not lim- forums. ited to the extent considered prudent by some, Water health but deferred to an expert process. Further dodgy proposals such as the proposal to purchase the Globally, and across Australia, clearing of lands, Nimmie Caira irrigation system on the bottom of modifications of higher order streams, and large the Murrumbidgee will reward decades of water scale infrastructure such as dams and weirs have theft, and regulatory failure. radically altered our flow patterns. Time will tell how effective the additional incen- Historically, NSW rivers had hydrographs that tive programs, and removal of constraints will be mirrored the predominant climatic conditions – at addressing some of the matters the irrigators extremely variable seasonally and on longer term claim will improve the environment without det- climatic cycles. rimentally impacting upon production. Over the past 150 years, NSW has constructed Ultimately any political failures to tackle vested a series of large dams across our inland rivers interests will be addressed when we experience to supply regional towns and agricultural enter- the next drought of record. prises with year-round water. This has completely Notes altered the river flows, and had a dramatic impact on our natural ecosystems. [1] http://booroongendjugun.com.au/wp-content/up- loads/2012/03/ANRA-Kit-.pdf The process of damming river flows to control the [2] Australia has the highest extinction rate in the flow of water down the river is called regulation. world. Almost half of the global mammal extinc- NSW’s inland rivers drain into the Murray–Dar- tions have occurred in Australia: http://www. ling Basin. Seventy-five percent of the Murray boobook.org.au/declaration.htm River flows come from upstream of the conflu- [3] M Gilmore, Old Days, Old ways: a book of reflec- ence of the Murray and Murrumbidgee and only tions, Angus and Robertson, Sydney 1934, pp 10 percent from the Darling River and its tribu- 163-164 taries[5] . [4] The rate of land clearing, one of the most signifi- cant pressures on the land environment, averaged Approximately 85 per cent of the median flow around 1 million hectares per year in 2000-10, State of the Murray–Darling is fully developed or of the Environment 2011 overallocated to consumptive uses. ‘Overalloca- [5] “Murray Darling Basin Rivers: Ecosystem Health tion’ means that the amount of water that can be Check, 2004 – 2007 (2008) Sustainable Rivers extracted under licence in the river valley exceeds Audit, Murray Darling Basin Authority: www.mdba. the amount of water available in the river. gov.au”at 2 105 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Food and Resource Scarcity in the Capitalist Crisis cally linked to agricultural CSG has the success. And the largest potential Jacinta Green source of groundwater in Australia is the Great to bury the Artesian Basin (GAB). camel under a Food and water In 2007-2008, 616 Giga multitude of or coal seam gas: the impacts Litres of water was ex- haystacks. tracted from the GAB. Of of coal seam gas extraction in this 511GL was for agriculture. Estimates gleaned agricultural land from the Senate inquiry estimated that the and water catchments 40,000 wells planned for the eastern seaboard will conservatively require between 144-592GL Jacinta Green is a Doctoral Candidate in water, with most of this demand to be met, pre- Ecology at UNSW and campaigner with Stop sumably from the GAB. CSG Sydney and Lock The Gate Alliance. While exact recharge rates of the GAB are un- known (Herczeg and Love, 2007) all indications The availability of food and water in Australia (e.g. 25% bore flow failure since the 1860s, 30% is under a myriad of threats including, but not decrease in spring flow and pressure drops of up limited to decreasing soil productivity, decreasing to 50 metres (Herczeg and Love, 2007 and refer- land area for food production, decreasing water ences contained within) suggest that the 616GL/y availability, decreasing fertilizer supply, overuse, of water we already extract is too much. over-extraction from our ground waters, water quality and, of course, decreasing climate stability Meanwhile the recharge areas for the GAB are un- and increasing population. der threat. Most notably, the Pilliga State Forest, one of the most southerly GAB recharge points The introduction of any new activity into this and the last great remnant of bushland in north landscape is akin to adding another straw to the west NSW is also under threat from CSG. Increas- camel’s back and needs careful consideration. But ing industrialization of the forest increases the the coal seam gas (CSG) industry is so different to risk of recharge water contamination, while habi- anything we have known before that it cannot be tat fragmentation (Lindenmayer, 2006) reduces described as simply a new activity. CSG has the the area of the forest available as a water filter. potential to bury the camel under a multitude of haystacks. However, the amount of water directly extracted from the GAB is not the only threat. CSG extrac- The CSG industry, if left unchecked, has the tion results in a large amount of water being potential to profoundly change the landscape for extracted from the coal seam, this water is com- centuries to come. America, with its advanced monly called ‘produced water’ and is a combina- unconventional gas industry provides a snapshot tion of existing coal seam water and water used of our future, a snapshot we can learn from. But during the drilling and/or fracking processes. It is even in its infancy, the Australian CSG industry contaminated naturally with the compounds from appears to have learnt no lessons from the US the coal seam and any ingredients in the drilling experience. and/or fracking process. The landscape near Dalby Queensland is rapidly The impacts of depressurisation and drawdown mimicking the landscape in the US to such an are best described using the following quotes extent that recently an employee from SANTOS from the Queensland Government Fact Sheet on suggested to a local council meeting in Gunnedah water: that the images were in fact from the US and were “Depressurisation of coal seams will commonly an example of the lies being spread by the anti- lower the water levels in bores that are in coal CSG campaign. seams near producing gas fields.” Meanwhile the ABC captured unarguable images “a decline in water level may also occur in aqui- that not only show the scale of the industry in fers overlying or underlying the coal seam” Queensland, but also destroy the credibility of the “Bores that are further away from coal seams industry claims of minimal land use. and gas fields may not experience water level The impact of CSG extraction on agricultural decline at all for years to come” land and water supplies cannot be neatly divided http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/factsheets/pdf/ as water, particularly groundwater, is intrinsi- water/w194.pdf 106 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 8 The amount of produced water extracted (and et al, 2011; Petron et al, ... SANTOS has therefore the impact of depressurization and 2102; QLD, 2012), and downgraded drawdown) from the coal seams in this process is even ignores its own also highly debated. reports. their application to drill in the For example SANTOS has downgraded their Worley Parson (2011) Pilliga from 1100 application to drill in the Pilliga from 1100 well report for the industry heads to 50, but they have also received approval provides data showing well heads to 50, to build massive holding ponds adjacent to the no difference between but they have forest to hold millions of litres of produced water. black coal and CSG also received One can only assume that they had previously se- emissions during the approval to build riously underestimated the produced water each generation of power. massive holding of these 50 wells will extract or they have every They also ignore the ponds adjacent intention of going ahead with thousands of wells. inconvenient truth that gas, even conventionally to the forest to But water impacts are not the only threats from drilled natural gas, is hold millions of CSG to our food supply. The CSG industry is in- still a fossil fuel. Wigley litres of produced compatible with large scale cropping technology. (2011) modelled the It can be the cause of erosion, subsidence, soil water. conversion of 50% of and air contamination, and also has an economic our coal-fired power sta- impact via the ‘two speed’ economy, the higher tions to ‘natural gas’ and even assuming 0% life dollar and artificially inflating local wages. cycle leaks, climate change accelerated for at least But impacts are not purely a problem for farmers. 50 years, due to the removal of upper atmosphere These impacts from CSG are equally concerning coal pollution, which acts as a cooling mecha- for our water catchment areas. It would, to most nism. people, appear to be a no-brainer to protect our Additional impacts that directly related to our water catchments from CSG. But not only are our water and food security include: water catchment areas, but even our Water Catch- ment ‘Special Areas’ - areas • Conservative estimates put produced water Conservative that “protect our water supply extraction at 300 GL a year. What to do with estimates by acting as a buffer zone to this water? Treating it with reverse osmosis is put produced help stop nutrients and other too expensive (Sydney desal plant processes water substances” where “Under 40GL/year); reinjecting the water is closely the relevant regulations, fines linked with earthquakes; evaporation ponds extraction risk soil/air/animal exposure (US Depart- at 300 GL a of up to $44,000 apply for unauthorised or illegal access ment of Energy, 2010), flooding and seep- year. What to in the Special Areas” (source: age; reuse for agriculture or environmental do with this Sydney Catchment Authority flows - can they economically treat the water water? Website) - directly threatened to useable standards? Australia’s ecology has by CSG proposals. evolved for an arid climate, turning ephem- eral creeks permanent is not a solution. One of the common threats to both food and wa- • The Centre for Water in the Minerals In- ter is the decreasing stability of the climate due to dustry (2008 study) estimates 510,000 – anthropogenic global warming. Gas, in particular 3,352,000 tonnes per year of contaminate natural gas, is generally considered ‘green’ and salt will be extracted. ‘clean’, part of the solution. The CSG industry is keen to include CSG under the ‘natural gas’ ban- • What impact on our groundwater dependent ner, hoping that people will ignore the differences ecosystems? (DEC WA, National Groundwa- in the two sources and extraction techniques. ter Committee Issue Paper 2.) • What happens when water is purposely The industry often promotes US decreasing CO2 discharged for flood mitigation, or acciden- emissions as part of their argument. Unfortunate- tally through a natural disaster (Davies et al, ly the US emissions are modelled not measured, 2010). and the modelling is based on some very outdated science that excludes most lifecycle emissions How long will it be before we see these impacts? and underestimates others (Howarth et al, 2011, These are not the only impacts of coal seam gas, 2012a & 2012b). It also ignores the increasing there are a myriad of other considerations. The body of evidence on methane migration (Osborn reference list below is a combination of citations 107 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Food and Resource Scarcity in the Capitalist Crisis from the text, references and recommended read- estates’ vicinity. The State of Queensland, ings. Department of Employment, Economic Develop- ment and Innovation. Accessed online at http:// References www.dme.qld.gov.au/zone_files/petroleum_pdf/ Davies, R., M. Manga, et al. (2010). “Sawolo et al. tara_leaking_well_investigation_report.pdf on (2009) the Lusi mud volcano controversy: Was it 18th March 2011. last accessed 12th April 2011. caused by drilling?” Marine and Petroleum Geology US Department of Energy (2010) HyCap Energy, LLC: 27: 1651-1657. CBM Gas Separator, Internal Report DEC, WA. Stygofauna of the Pilbara (http://www.dec. Wigley T. (2011) Coal to Gas: The Influence of Methane wa.gov.au/content/view/3253/1808/1/6/ last ac- Leakage. Climate Change Letters. DOI 10.1007/ cessed 12th April 2011. s10584-011-0217-3 Entrekin, S., Evans-White, M., Johnson, B. and Hagenbuch, E. (2011). Rapid expansion of natural gas development poses a threat to surface waters. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 9:503- 511. Hardisty, P. E., Clark, T. S. and Hynes, R. G. (2012). Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Electric- ity Generation: A Comparative Analysis of Austral- ian Energy Sources. Energies. 5:872-897. Herczeg, A.L. and Love, A.J. (2007) Review of recharge mechanisms for the Great Artesian Basin. Report to the Great Artesian Basin Coordinating Committee under the auspices of a Consultancy Agreement: Commonwealth Dept of Environment and Water Resources. Water for a Healthy Country report series. CSIRO, Canberra. Howarth, R., Santoro, R. and Ingraffea, A. (2011). Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint of natu- ral gas from shale formations. Climatic Change. 106:679-690. Howarth, R., Santoro, R. and Ingraffea, A. (2012) Venting and leaking of methane from shale gas development: response to Cathles et al. Climatic Change:1-13. National Groundwater Committee Issue Paper 2: Improved Management and protection of Ground- water Dependent Ecosystems. National Water Commission (2009) Groundwater- surface water connectivity. National Water Com- mission. Accessed online at http://www.nwc.gov. au/www/html/178-groundwater-surface-water- connectivity.asp on 14th April 2011. National Water Commission (2010) The coal seam gas and water challenge: National Water Commission position. National Water Commission. Accessed online at http://www.nwc.gov.au/resources/docu- ments/Coal_Seam_Gas.pdf on 14th April 2011 Osborn, S. G., Vengosh, A., Warner, N. R. and Jackson, R. B. (2011). Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Petron, G., et al. (2012), Hydrocarbon emis- sions characterization in the Colorado Front Range – A pilot study, J. Geophys. Res., doi:10.1029/2011JD016360, in press QLD (2010) Investigation report: Leakage testing of coal seam gas wells in the Tara ‘rural residential

108 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 9 ence around climate So if we can Progressive Futures change. This was es- build a more sentially a drive to get people to volunteer progressive with us for five hours a young generation Lucy Manne week, and in about three that will have weeks we collected about an effect in the The Role of Young People 150,000 hours, a lot future, that is the more than we expected most powerful initially. Lucy Manne is National Co-Director of the thing in this Australian Youth Climate Coalition, and has That’s primarily the space that we worked in both the Australian climate movement AYCC strength in getting can do. and a winning 2012 Democratic Congressional people out on the ground race in the US. and that flies in the face of the misconceptions about Generation Y. There are 4 main things: I wanted to follow on from Nick Moraitis’ talk 1. How is Gen Y (young people) perceived? about the role of young people specifically. What do we need to do campaign-wise to build a more A Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece earlier progressive future in Australia? Young people in the year had the headline ‘Why O Why Is Gen Y have to be front and centre – people of 20 years So Nauseatingly Conservative?’ age will be 40 years old in 20 years’ time, and It went around a lot on social media and in my those people will be the leaders, the union organ- network of socially progressive campaigners it re- isers and the activists and working people society ally captured the sentiment around Gen Y that is is going to made up of. out there that claims that So if we can build a more progressive young 1) young people are apathetic, and generation that will have an effect in the future, 2) young people are really conservative. that is the most powerful thing in this space that we can do. Those things are kind of contradictory. To say they are apathetic, is saying most young people It’s important although we know that it’s hard don’t care about anything but themselves or if to prioritise as there are a lot of misconceptions they do care enough they only care about con- about what Gen Y is like, and what they care or servative things like buying a house or having a don’t care about. Misconceptions around how to strong economy. engage young people and what are the most effec- tive ways to do it. This is a complete misconception, and the num- bers pulled out of the article are ones which you My experience is mainly with the AYCC which see repeated a lot. According to one statistic, ‘The was founded in late 2006 by a whole lot of youth Coalition (amongst young people) is leading by leaders and youth groups who got together and about 5 points’ which is really misleading because said ‘climate change is the biggest issue facing you can just look at that one statistic on its own young people at the moment’ and there is no peak but also compare it to other statistics that show body, there is no representing us. young people are more progressive than other de- Engineers without Borders, and the Australian mographic groups where the Coalition is leading Medical Students Society and diverse groups by a lot more than 5 points. said we want to start a coalition that is just about Secondly, young people care about the economy empowering young people to do something about more than the environment and this was put up climate change. as evidence that they are really conservative. Since then we have grown fairly rapidly - now Firstly, caring about the economy isn’t necessarily 80,000 online members, but primarily a grass conservative – where does that come from? - and roots organisation, with 100 local groups around secondly, young people don’t exist in a bubble, the country engaged on the ground in activities and right now, if you’re graduating from high throughout the year. school or university, the economy is actually re- We recently ran a campaign asking people to ally important and it’s really unstable, and we did pledge hours to get involved in making a differ- just go through a global financial crisis. 109 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Progressive Futures And everyone in society is worried about the and progressive parties, but Young people economy, so it is not unreasonable that young there is also a larger percent- are not people care about the economy. age of swing voters, which is also a failure of ours on engaged by Those are the kinds of arguments I see again and the progressive side. There ‘clicktivism’, again, and when we do media interviews with the we’re not inspiring people that’s a AYCC, we’re always asked how do you get young to identify with a particular people involved, young people don’t seem to care misconception movement or a party. That about anything these days. ... identification will then stay It’s frustrating, and as progressives we need to with you your entire life and stop engaging in that narrative because it’s just that statistic of voter ID is the biggest indicator of not true and we’re shooting ourselves in the foot, who you will vote for in the federal election, even because engaging young people is the key to better than in a poll of who you say you will vote building a more progressive future. for at any given time. 2. What are Gen Y (young people) actually 3. How do you engage and empower young like? people? Not to make generalisations about a whole gen- Young people are not engaged by ‘clicktivism’, eration, but one of the common threads about that’s a misconception, the idea that you just sign young people and Gen Y is that they care about a petition online or share something on Facebook ‘issues’ not ‘politics’ - which is not surprising and that’s it. They do that, but what they actually looking at the state of want is community. ... the more you party politics today. can empower AYCC found most success and its greatest The AYCC - this came out strength in running campaigns on the ground as young people prior to the 2010 election grassroots campaigns. We do find ways to engage and get them and I’m not sure if the online but it’s very much traditional field organis- into the numbers are still right - ing that we do around the country and that’s how democratic had more members than we build our membership and volunteer base. the ALP (and that’s when process, get To illustrate that we ran Powershift – which we had 50,000), and there them voting, brings 2,000 people together to be part of a com- are similar number of munity to take action on climate change - which get them active, members of Oaktree and shows how we try to embed community in what the more other organisations that we do and make it more than just an online com- progressive your are really issues-focused. munity. The best email we sent out in terms of society will be. Oaktree is focused on ticket sales is one that included a statistic that poverty (another impor- said you have a 70% chance of meeting your life tant issue to young people), and AYCC is focused partner at Powershift. on climate change. So remember, issues are really Young people want to be empowered and that’s important to young people and they will engage because they are actually disempowered; the ex- in them, but politics is disillusioning and we’re all perience of being a young person is an experience disillusioned by politics at the moment and it’s of being disempowered. not surprising young people are not flocking to the major parties. We forget that all the time as there is this other misconcep- A second thread is that Gen Y is more progressive AYCC found tion that young people are than older generations – you can pull out over- most success entitled and privileged or all statistics, but it is a trend that young people and its self-centred. But actually my are just more progressive. So the more you can experience of being involved greatest empower young people and get them into the in climate change activism is strength democratic process, get them voting, get them ac- I saw Tim Flannery speak and in running tive, the more progressive your society will be. I learnt about it at university campaigns There is evidence that the most formative time for and I was just having sleep- on the people is up until about age 30. Between 15 and less nights and I was terrified ground as 30 your identification with a party is formed and about the future and I didn’t what we’re seeing is that currently people in that have an avenue of how to be grassroots age demographic are identifying with the Greens involved. campaigns. 110 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 9 I didn’t know what to do. I went to a really big viction you can’t vote, which is incorrect infor- environment group to volunteer and they had me mation. They are systematically trying to stop stuffing envelopes and that was really disempow- disenfranchised people from voting. ering because the action I was taking was not on Whereas progressives are doing a huge operation scale with what I was feeling for this issue. to try and get as many people enrolled and get as That’s why we need to empower young people many out to vote as possible. because they have so much passion and desire As we have compulsory voting we have never had to create real change - give that style of campaigning in Australia. But given And that’s them the opportunity to automatic enrolments and mass voting there is why when fulfil their potential. I found the huge opportunity to run that kind of campaign for And that’s why when I found young people and that could have a huge impact AYCC I could the AYCC I could never on the next 3 to 6 years. never leave. I leave. I walked in and the walked in and first thing they asked me to the first thing do was to bring 600 people they asked from Melbourne to Sydney me to do was for Powershift. I had never organised anything in my to bring 600 life before but I was trusted people from to do that and it was a really Melbourne amazing experience. And to Sydney for that kind of story you hear 600,000 newly-enrolled Powershift ... from just about every AYCC thanks to automatic volunteer. enrolments but only about 4. Why it’s urgent we get this right this year a third are expected to vote. in the context of the election! There are about 500-700,000 Because we have compulsory voting in Australia who are not enrolled which is we don’t have a good discussion about how dis- a significant number. enfranchised voters and young people are quite a big group of disenfranchised voters. Young people are much less likely to vote and much less likely to be enrolled to vote. This year we have a really big opportunity to turn out a lot of young voters and in doing so really boost the progressive vote. And the numbers are extremely significant – 600,000 newly-enrolled thanks to automatic enrolments but only about a third are expected to vote. There are about 500-700,000 who are not enrolled which is a significant num- ber. It’s important to cast aside our misconceptions as to why young people are not voting. It’s not because they self-centred, conservative or don’t care, it’s actually because we’re not really ad- dressing this problem. And from my experience in the US, the progressives know the number one thing they need to do to win an election is to turn out disenfranchised voters. Similarly, conservatives know the number one thing they need to do is to try to stop disenfran- chised voters from voting, so you get a situation where Republicans are in a poor Hispanic com- munities saying that if you’ve ever had a con- 111 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... constructing these wind We are a living Sustainable Futures turbines. And through a sustainable that process, Mary got trained in how to use a energy Nicky Ison computer and how to run revolution. In a project, and is now, of Scotland there her own volition, not only are about 300 A sustainable energy revolution reducing her own energy community- demand, she’s also started owned Nicky Ison is a Research Consultant at the a local food movement Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS, which has led to a whole renewable Director of the Community Power Agency and lot of local farmer sup- energy projects Convenor of the Board of the 100% Renewables ported agriculture. and Scotland Community Campaign. I don’t know about you, has a 100% but that vision sounds renewable I’d like to invite you all to close your eyes. I’d pretty idyllic to me. Pretty energy target. like to be paint a bit of a picture. Imagine you utopian. In fact, it was a are walking along the street and every building vision I had a few years you walk past has solar panels on the roof. And ago when asked to envision a sustainable future. then you look up to the hill, not too far away, and there’s some wind turbines turning, steadily, and The thing is - that that vision is happening right you feel happy, because you know now that your now. community is powered by energy that works in That story of Mary, is the story of a woman I met tandem, in cooperation with nature. on the Isle of Eigg, off the West Coast of Scotland. No longer do you have electricity supplied from That story of walking down the street is an experi- coal that’s been mined on arable farming land ence I had across Germany and Denmark and or in beautiful forests, or from uranium that is Scotland as well. It’s a vision that is happening. mined on indigenous land. We are a living a sustainable energy revolution. In Now your electricity is being generated right up Scotland there are about 300 community-owned there on that building or on that hill. Moreover, renewable energy projects and Scotland has a you’re really excited because not only is that 100% renewable energy target. an environmental benefit, there’s an economic In Germany they produce almost the same benefit to your community, because you, and the amount of electricity as we use across our whole rest of the people in your community, own those economy in Australia from renewable sources, assets - those wind turbines on the hill and the and 51% of that is owned by individuals and com- solar array on the town hall that you are walking munities. Some communities across Germany past right now. actually generate over 100% of their energy needs The money generated from selling electricity from through renewable energy sources and it is ben- those assets not only goes back to your commu- efiting not large companies and investors far away nity, it goes to fund really important re-skilling but people who live and work in those communi- programs, energy efficiency programs, and age ties. care programs. When I talked about renewable energy going to And as you are walking along, you pass this fund age programs and re-skilling programs, woman on the street – her name’s Mary, she’s an that’s exactly what’s happening in another com- old friend of yours, and you’re not quite sure how munity I visited off the North coast of Scotland you came to be friends because she didn’t have an in the Orkney Islands, and it’s starting to happen environmental bone in her body. here in Australia. She had a small farm, and when I say small I This month we’re going to reach that the point mean very small, and it was struggling, and more- where a million homes across Australia have solar over Mary was pretty timid when you first met panels on their roof. If you add in solar hot water her, she hadn’t really come into the 21st century, that adds up to almost 1.5 million homes which is she didn’t know how to use a computer. about 4-5 million people. But you got her involved in the energy coop- Already we have two operating community wind erative that you were setting up, that set about farms and about 30-40 community wind, solar 112 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 10 and bio-energy projects in development. And And there are some re- ... the 4 Ds - that’s what I spend a lot of my time doing, advo- ally scary sustainability Community cating and support these types of projects. And issues out there. don’t get me wrong, community energy develop- renewable energy But for me, commu- ment projects are hard. Creating a sustainable projects - they nity renewable energy, energy future has many challenges in its way, but decarbonise, which is something I’ve it’s worth doing as I’m sure we all agree. And it’s talked about a lot, is decentralise and happening, and I think that’s something we some- one of those win-win- democratise our times forget. win-win issues. energy system and So, when I talk about community renewable en- It’s a win on the social help demonstrate ergy what am I talking about? aspect because it brings that a renewable Well, I talk about the 4 Ds of community renewa- people together, it’s energy-powered bles. Community renewable energy projects - they about a cooperative future is possible. decarbonise, decentralise and democratise our model of develop- energy system and help demonstrate that a re- ment. It’s a win on the newable energy-powered future is possible. environmental side. It’s a win on the technological stake - we’re creating In doing so, they generate jobs. Renewable energy the technology of the future, and finally it’s a win generates many more jobs than fossil fuel based politically. energy, and they also create stakeholders in re- newable futures, people who can be mobilised to If there are a few take-homes from what I’ve been campaign about issues that affect things that they talking about - I think there are three things we care about – our energy future, but also their hip need to be doing as the Left. pockets. One is painting a vision of what is possible and One of the reasons why I do renewable energy saying that it is happening right now because it is. campaigning is that, like most people around this I think we need to be exploring cooperative mod- table, I care and am bloody scared about climate els of governance across the board because I think change. cooperatives are a natural fit with what we are The fact that our climate is changing so immense- about on the Left. ly with so many impacts on so many people, and And finally, we need to get out there and do it non-people, just blows my mind, and it’s some- and talk to a lot of other people and not just talk thing I have found quite debilitating in the past. to ourselves. That’s what the 100% Renewables And we in the environment movement have a ten- Campaign has been doing with doorknocking over dency to talk a lot about the big bad and there’s a 16,000 people over the last couple of years and lot of big bad, and there’s some really good cam- will continue to do so in the years to come. paigns going on at the moment about coal and gas, and that’s really important. I’ve been involved in a number of those cam- paigns, not so much now, but certainly in the But what we’re less good past. But what we’re less good at doing is talking at doing is talking and and campaigning around the good, and we need campaigning around the that, we need that vision if we’re going to have any hope of creating it. Because if people can’t good, and we need that, we imagine something different, they’re not going to need that vision if we’re going do it. to have any hope of creating So, that’s why I was involved in founding the it. Because if people can’t 100% Renewables campaign and also the Com- imagine something different, munity Power Agency, an organisation that sup- they’re not going to do it. ports community renewables. And I feel like, if we can do it in energy, we can do it in all of the other sustainability issues: food, waste, peak resources, oil, transport, the list goes on.

113 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Sustainable Futures Since about 1970 the global ecological footprint has been greater than bio-capacity. Anna Schlunke We are in a state of ecological overshoot: • We are using resources faster than they can A Sustainable Economy be regenerated • We are producing wastes faster than they can Anna Schlunke is Co-Director of the NSW be assimilated chapter of the Centre for the Advancement of the Humans currently use the resources of 1.5 planets Steady State Economy (CASSE) which looks at and moderate UN scenarios predict that by the how Australia could transition to a sustainable 2030s this will increase to the equivalent of 2 economy. planets. We are faced with multiple limits. As the economy grows we: Today I’m going to talk about a sustainable econ- omy. I am Co-Director of the NSW Chapter of the • Use more energy, particularly fossil fuels, Centre for the Advancement of the Steady State which are finite Economy (CASSE for short), and we’ve recently • Mine more minerals, which are also finite started looking at how Australia could transition • Harvest more trees, in many cases resulting to a sustainable economy. in deforestation As you probably realise, the economy is a subsys- • Catch more fish, to the extent that many fish- tem of the environment. eries across the globe have collapsed or are predicted to do so All of the inputs to the economy come from the environment, and all of the wastes produced by it • Use more fresh water, depleting groundwater return to the environment. supplies • Produce more wastes, such as carbon dioxide As the economy has grown, it has required more resources and discharged more waste. • Create more toxic materials, such as heavy metals and nuclear waste, which natural sys- I doubt that anyone here would have trouble tems have no way of dealing with accepting that we live on a finite planet, and if • Occupy more land, displacing other species you accept that then it must also make sense to and leading to biodiversity loss you that we cannot continue to expand our use of earth’s resources indefinitely,.Although I have In Richard Heinberg’s book The End of Growth heard otherwise sensible people talk about how he predicts financial disruptions because our we could solve the problem of finite resources by existing monetary, banking and investments sys- mining asteroids or colonising other planets. This tems won’t be able to adjust to resource scarcity makes me roll my eyes because, apart from the and soaring environmental costs, and they won’t ethics of that, I think we are already too close to be able to service all the debt generated over Earth’s limits and too far from mastering those the past couple of decades when the economy sorts of technologies. shrinks. He writes: For most of human history, the global population “Disruptions due to the inability of our existing and the level of per capita consumption remained monetary, banking, and investment systems relatively stable. to adjust to both resource scarcity and soaring environmental costs—and their inability (in the This really only began to change in the 1800s fol- context of a shrinking economy) to service the lowing the Industrial Revolution, and the major- enormous piles of government and private debt ity of growth has occurred during the last century. that have been generated over the past couple Between 1900 and 2006: of decades.” • World population increased by a factor of 4 While I’ve been busy mentioning that we can’t (1.5 billion people to 6.5 billion people) continue to expand our use of resources forever • Per capita GDP grew by a factor of 6 ($1200 (or even for much longer), most political and to $7300) business leaders have been busy worrying about how to keep the economy growing. • Total GDP grew by a factor of 24 (2 trillion dollars to over 47 trillion dollars) Who knows how to absolutely decouple economic growth from natural resource consumption? 114 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 10 It hasn’t happened yet. like long and happy True economic lives, healthy ecosys- There has been some decrease in the amount of ends are tems, vibrant communi- natural resources required to produce one dollar ties, and opportunities things like long of economic output (20% less in 2008 than in for meaningful employ- and happy 1980), but this has been overwhelmed by GDP ment. Economic growth lives, healthy and population growth so that global resource is NOT the same as extraction grew by almost 79% between 1980 and ecosystems, economic development. 2008. (www.materialflows.net) vibrant Also, increasing GDP communities, and Whether we like it or not, our economy is a doesn’t mean that the subsystem of our environment. As the economy opportunities increase is distributed grows, it requires more resources and discharges for meaningful fairly amongst citizens. more waste so there is a fundamental conflict employment. between economic growth and environmental So, what if instead of protection. As the economy has grown, the envi- aiming for GDP growth ronment has become increasingly degraded. we aim to live within our ecological means – to have an economy where: For the economy to be sustainable it cannot con- sume resources faster than they can be regener- • There is stable (or mildly fluctuating) con- ated and cannot deposit wastes into the environ- sumption of energy and materials at sustain- ment faster than they can be safely assimilated. able levels • Stable (or mildly fluctuating) population And yet the commonly accepted basis of our economy is the supposed possibility of limitless • The goal of maximising economic output is growth, without constraining the use of natural replaced by the goal of maximising quality of resources. life. Perhaps, people need to believe that because we And within the goal of maximising quality of life have an economy that is structurally arranged comes addressing poverty by dealing with distri- for growth. Government wants to keep investors bution explicitly, rather than waiting for a rising happy, keep inflation low, and keep unemploy- tide to lift all boats. ment low, and the main way these goals have There are many policies that could be used to been pursued is through macroeconomic policies build the foundations of a sustainable economy. to increase GDP. Governments and corporations Different thinkers have compiled lists of recom- manage money, banking, and taxes to achieve mended policies and you can read more on the growth year after year. The goal is to achieve CASSE website www.steadystate.org/discover/ about 3% annual growth in GDP. policies The theory is that an ever-expanding economy As I mentioned at the start, the NSW Chapter of means more jobs, more opportunities for profit. CASSE has recently started to look at how Aus- It is not just that we are trying to expand the tralia could transition to a steady state economy economy forever on a finite planet. Economic and we will be producing a discussion paper growth means that the economy is getting bigger, called “Roadmap to a sustainable economy”. not necessarily better. We want to work out what options we have in Australia for limiting throughput, restoring GDP doesn’t separate the costs of growth from ecosystems, stabilizing population and reducing the benefits. inequality. We will also need to look at things like Surveys of happiness and life satisfaction show ethics, democracy and reforming the monetary that once the people in a country have reached a system to make the economy more stable. basic standard of living, further increases in the Taking care of people during the transition is also country’s level of income will do little or noth- very important, so we will also look at things like ing to increase the average level of happiness, employment, housing, and retirement income. because the only thing that will make people hap- pier is an increase in their relative income (and an We’ve been inviting people interested in the area increase in one person’s relative income would be to help us create this road map or advise us, so if offset by a decline in another person’s). you know of relevant information I’d like to hear from you. Economic growth is a means to an end, and not an end in itself. True economic ends are things 115 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Sustainable Futures An even greater propor- We’ve got one tion of super is used exception that to purchase products Alejandro Rodriguez on the stock exchange we’re working that have no real value. with now, Pacific They’ve got exchange Hydro, which Super to Build our value but no real value, is the biggest Renewable Future like investments in renewable Goldman Sachs and energy company Barclays Bank with Alejandro Rodriguez is a civil engineer and is on Credit Default Swaps in Australia, the Committee of the SEARCH Foundation. and derivatives being and which is the main products that fully owned by they’re selling. workers’ funds. The best part of working with the SEARCH Foun- Most unions have rep- dation is to bring different groups together, as resentatives on boards we’ve done with this conference - different areas of superannuation funds, and a lot of them make of work and expertise - and see how we can get reference to the UN Principles of Responsible the best outcome for communities, community Investment with their Charter of Environmental groups, unions and people in general. and Social Governance. I think Anna Schlunke is right in talking about the If this Charter is being used, there’s very little eventual demise of the human race if we continue evidence of it. There are a few exceptions. We’ve to do as we’ve been doing. So, I think we need to got one exception that we’re working with now, look at different ways of changing the way we live, Pacific Hydro, which is the biggest renewable and in a more sustainable way. energy company in Australia, and which is fully In Australia at the moment there’s more than $1.4 owned by workers’ funds. trillion in worker’s money in superannuation, But overall there’s very little that has been done that’s been accumulated by workers. Never before collectively to use workers’ money for the best at any point in history have workers accumulated outcome of workers and the environment. so much capital and yet the political and eco- Of course there’s a very small group of people nomic system doesn’t reflect who actually owns a who profit very well from super, with over $20 lot of the capital. billion used in admin and commissions for a very A great majority of the money is used against the small group of bankers and finance experts. workers’ best interests, against their economic, While this is going on, some of the smartest scien- environmental and safety interests. The majority tists in the world have said there are going to be of investment is used to produce weapons, and hundreds of millions of people who are going to pollute the environment. They offshore as much die if we continue to burn fossil fuels as we are as they can, and they don’t even want to sign col- burning them. lective agreements here in Australia. So, a few people from the SEARCH Foundation There’s a really good example we had in Mel- approached a few bourne with the Grocon dispute where CBUS, environmental groups which is the fund where the CFMEU and ETU We’ve looked and we went to see members have their through every ... with the Grocon a few of the industry money, were financ- funds to see what we industry fund in dispute where ing Grocon, a con- could do about this. Australia and they CBUS, ... were struction company We’ve looked through all burn fossil fuels, financing Grocon, that hired thugs, bik- every industry fund in ies and bouncers, to they all invest in a construction Australia and they all intimidate the shop burning fossil fuels. company that burn fossil fuels, they stewards on site. They practically hired thugs, bikies all invest in burning This is workers money fossil fuels. They prac- all invest in the and bouncers, to weapons industry. intimidate the shop being used against tically all invest in the stewards on site. them. weapons industry.

116 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 10 Very few of them are actually investing in workers There’s much action that unions have done and their communities and in the type of future around campaigning against very bad bosses, they’d like to see. against offshoring by manufacturing companies, or selling ports. There’s enough money in super- Industry Funds have made a bit of headway with annuation now to buy out the ports, to buy out this when they bought out Pacific Hydro. Pacific all the manufacturing, to buy out the biggest food Hydro is a company that actually makes money. producers at the moment. Over the last ten years it’s made about 11% aver- age per year compared to 7.1% to 7.6% for the And we could transition to a more organic and top-earning superannuation funds. sustainable kind of agriculture as soon as possible just through workers’ money. The new funds that we are setting up at the moment, their initial investment will be 100% So, we’re at this point in history where so much renewable energy starting with investment in workers’ money has been accumulated, and Pacific Hydro projects and will be marketed by through workers money we can do these things. environmental groups. Another factor that can work in our favour in So I’d be very keen to talk to 100% Renewables these campaigns is that the liberalisation of super after this and I know that Pacific Hydro’s given means that you can choose your super fund. funding before to 100% Renewables so we’re re- You’ve got this democratic possibility to choose a ally inviting anyone to get involved in this cam- super fund that you want that will work for you. paign. We really want to run it like a campaign. So, using this democratic space, we want to ad- In the election campaign if you can get 10% of the vance the construction of renewable energy, and vote you can get a Greens Senator in. That’s good. use that as an example for other workers in other We could get a progressive Labor person in. If we industries to see the possibilities through buying get 10% of people’s super we can get a fully re- out their own industries. newable energy grid! And that will have a lasting Now I’ll leave it open to discussion. effect for generations to come. So, that’s really what we’re going for in this, and in starting to work in this area we start to see a whole heap of opportunities.

The new funds that we are setting up at the moment, their initial investment will be 100% renewable energy starting with investment in Pacific Hydro projects and will be marketed by environmental groups.

117 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... • What was it we were as unionists, at work and Campaigning for a in our communities, saying “Yes!” to? Green Future • Were we on about a better world, or merely a bigger share of this one? • Is it possible to win an appropriate share of this world without a systemic approach Dave Kerin anyway? Without policies which deal with the nation’s problems by dealing with their Earthworker Cooperative systemic causes? Manufactories: Working our way The difficulties we found were in finding the time, out of climate emergency the resources and at least initially, a hearing from already pushed-to-breaking-point union secretar- Project Organiser with Earthworker ies and organisers. Cooperative, Dave’s history spans the Green Earthworker Cooperative was and remains a large Bans, Peace, Environment and Socialist step outside the square for modern, enterprise movements. bargaining-based unionism. The roots of Earthworker Cooperative go back to BACKGROUND: UNION SOLIDARITY the Australian union movement’s Green Bans. Union Solidarity was set up to take on the How- In the early 1970s Green Bans succeeded in their ard industrial laws, thereby grappling with the primary function which was to defend space, legacy, recorded above, around the right of unions parkland and bush as well as low income inner and communities to legally show solidarity with urban housing for working class families, against each other, just as employers and capital do. inappropriate plans by developers. When anti-union laws were used against workers The Green Bans also achieved, as an unintended and where injunctions were used against unions, consequence, the development of those spaces supporting employers in a dispute Union Solidar- and inner urban areas into thriving economic ity would step in and support the workers. Where zones, creatively different parts of our cities, with companies traded-on while the dispute was on, the benefit of thousands of ongoing jobs organi- often employing scabs to do so, we successfully cally linked to their neighbourhoods. One obvious argued that this was a Secondary Boycott against example of such a in Melbourne is the unions. If it was illegal for unions to hit second Victoria Market, the only remaining outdoor mar- parties, why was it legal for corporations and gov- ket in that city’s central business district. ernments to use second parties to achieve their A few of the key people who initiated Earthworker industrial and political outcomes? Cooperative cut their industrial teeth as young Union Solidarity fought in many community activists on the Green Bans, where a significant assemblies, in one year doing 30 disputes at the seed was planted. industrial pointy end. Many of those were redun- In addition the BLF campaign, under its General dancy struggles. Secretary , for “Blueys (A protec- However, the disturbing, thorny question of what tive woollen work coat used in construction and sort of proactive policies Australian communities other industries), Boots and Overalls”, protective needed but which Governments could no longer clothing in other words, held a significant lesson. provide, continued to arise. This is especially true Once again an unintended consequence, where of policies on jobs and environment. the Tasmanian Bluey Company was set for closure EARTHWORKER COOPERATIVE just as the Blueys, Boots and Overalls campaign began. When that campaign was successful, and From the organisation’s beginnings, a percentage because the union could in those days preference of the Union Solidarity Coordinator Dave Kerin’s the locally made goods (illegal under “Free” Trade time was always to be used for Earthworker ac- Agreements now), the Tasmanian Bluey Company tivities. http://earthworkercooperative.com/ boomed into new life. For Union Solidarity, the Earthworker project The union had caused the market to take a partic- was one important answer to some very impor- ular direction, it would not have otherwise taken. tant questions:

118 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 11 (This of course raises the question of what a truly Australia is now an 80% we need to find free market, where workers unions were free to service sector economy. the means to put collectively intervene in the economy, as employ- Many of these jobs ers and their organisations can now do, would in place the new are unorganized, with look like; of course we will not find out as capital manufacturing no union Agreements across the globe, is committed to defining the jobs, so that and only the minimum word “free” only in relation to their own needs). standards or worse, Australians are The strength of Earthworker Cooperative’s mes- where they are casual not only installers sage lies in the fact that: positions. and maintainers • It represents what it is that unions are saying This is an economy of the new “Yes!” to, as Governments retreat from manu- built on mineral wealth, energy forms and facturing because employers are determined where some of the major grids, but the to simply seek the lowest production/envi- mining corporations are manufacturers of ronmental costs in a race to the bottom. a part of the 20 largest as much of • Unions are stating loud and clear that they companies, mentioned that grid as will support the creation of the new green above, who own 54% jobs in manufacture, installation and mainte- of Australia’s big four we can win. nance. banks, but where a large • Unions are supporting the creation of com- amount of their mining activities will become munity-owned cooperatives as the model for more and more carbon constrained in the near this production, and future. The Australian economy, for all of its glis- tening shopping malls, is built on sand. • Unions are the people supporting a new distribution model which allows citizens their With the help of supportive unions the Earth- right, once again, to preference locally manu- worker Cooperative is proposing to begin to factured goods as they purchase through their put the manufacturing jobs in place ourselves. negotiated agreements with employers. To provide a future for our children and grand- AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING: WORKING children we believe that we must create the green- OUR WAY OUT OF CLIMATE EMERGENCY collar, manufacturing jobs based in solid, depend- able, risk-averse, workers cooperatives. Whereas climate change is an environmental SURVEY TOLD US emergency, the solutions we require involve the WHAT FELLOW WORKERS WANT economy. In 2007 Earthworker Cooperative had a feasibili- We can deal with new climate-related jobs the ty study commissioned across a number of unions hard way or the harder way. As Tony Maher, which showed some exciting results. National President of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (Mining Division) has Union and community allies banded together stated in the past, we must choose the harder to assist. The Electrical Trade Union (ETU), the way: we need to find the means to put in place Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union the new manufacturing jobs, so that Australians (CEPU), the Australian Manufacturing Work- are not only installers and maintainers of the new ers Union (AMWU) and the Moreland (suburb energy forms and grids, but the manufacturers of of Melbourne) Energy Foundation Ltd (MEFL) as much of that grid as we can win. cooperated to approach the State Labor Govern- ment of the day for some funding to carry out the The private sector of the Australian economy, Study. Union Solidarity put some money it had largely foreign-owned and short-term profit and raised for the Study into the effort, with the Gov- shareholder-driven is incapable of profiting from ernment providing the major contribution under manufacturing in Australia, at anywhere near then Environment Minister John Thwaites. the levels of the massive profits available to them through exploiting cheaper labour in developing The results showed that all of the aims of the pro- economies. ject were supported by on average 80% of work- ers involved in the questionnaire: Governments from the late 1970’s have moved away from the role of employer, and where they • 69% stated they were in favour of Superan- have been able to divest themselves of public nuation (Pension) Fund investment in the assets, they have. Australian Governments will manufacture of solar hot water systems by certainly never engage in manufacturing. union-supported cooperatives 119 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Campaigning for a Green Future • 89.9% were more likely to buy a solar hot something which Gov- (Transition water system if it were locally made ernment funding bodies out of carbon- • The four factors considered most impor- wish to support. dependent tant in deciding to install a SHW system This fact seems to be were: the capacity to produce enough hot industries into the same across what new climate water (96.2%), receiving a ten year guaran- once was the first world, tee (91.9%), good post-installation service where manufacture emergency driven (90.3%) and the creation of ongoing jobs in has been in decline industries), Victoria (88.4%) as the corporations strangely, do not • There were in addition, four other factors have moved the jobs to meet funding rating highly in terms of the decision to depressed-labour econo- criteria. choose solar hot water systems. They are: The mies. This movement of jobs will always remain in Victoria because jobs has had two effects: the manufacturing is done by cooperatives • An increase in personal debt where workers (84.8%), how much it will reduce your energy have been forced to borrow to consume consumption (87.8%), how much it will reduce your gas/electricity bills (83.3%), how • Connected to that, an increase in the size, much it will reduce your household’s green- scale and speed of the Climate Emergency be- house gas emissions (83.8%) cause of course the depressed labour econo- mies cannot afford complex and effective • 86.6% indicated they are willing to purchase environmental regulation, in order to deal a new solar hot water system when their old with the climate emergency. hot water system breaks down • 53% of respondents have hot water systems THE WHOLE MODEL over 10 years old; industry data puts the aver- • From small beginnings with cooperatively age figure for replacement at 12 years owned factories initially manufacturing solar • 84.7% of respondents were either somewhat hot water systems at Eureka’s Future Work- (29.5%), very (36.2%) or extremely (19%) ers Cooperative factories, first in Morwell, concerned about climate change and global Victoria, then in each State and Territory of warming; that is 84.7%! Australia. • 82.6% questioned were either very or ex- • The systems to be sold through Union agree- tremely concerned about retaining and ments negotiated with Employers, as part of increasing manufacturing jobs in Australia. the workers’ wage increase. It was these sorts of figures which led the Con- • The employer receives an incentive payment, struction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union 10% of total RECS and rebates, so that at least (CFMEU – Mining Division) to seek funds for a part of the wage increase boomerangs back to Business Plan. them. • The union involved receives a social sector re- The Business Plan was peer reviewed by a num- sponsibility payment, 15% of total RECS and ber of expert individuals and institutions and Rebates, because if it was not for the work of provided the basis to advance to the next stage unions over 160 years this strategy would not (The Business Plan is currently being updated). be available to working people. One thing Earthworker Cooperative has consist- • When there is an effective carbon trading ently run into, both at the Federal and State levels market the employer and unions can offset of Government, is that so called “Just Transition” their footprint through this model, trading projects (Transition out of carbon-dependent through bulk purchasing, thereby providing industries into new climate emergency driven in- the means to enable workers and their fami- dustries), strangely, do not meet funding criteria. lies to draw carbon down out of the atmos- Even though the data used in the business plan phere. was not hypothetical, as with most start-up busi- • Earthworker Cooperative, the cooperative ness plans, but was real data from the Coopera- factories, unions, faith-based communities, tive’s two existing small business supporters, other social sector organisations and commu- Everlast and Douglas Solar, that fact seemed to nity based groups will affiliate to Earthworker count for little. The experience of Earthworker Cooperative Group (ECG). Cooperative shows that Manufacturing is not • ECG will fund the start-up of more factories.

120 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 11 These cooperative plants will manufacture and currently producing in the high 80 percentile the energy-producing goods. of Victoria’s power. • ECG will then purchase the energy-producing As well as the micro-financing, Earthworker goods, guaranteeing the market for the coop- Cooperative will see Eureka’s Future Workers Co- erative manufactories. operative in production of solar hot water systems • ECG will lease the energy-producing goods on in the first half of 2013, out of the Douglas Solar equitable terms to the three levels of Govern- factory in Knox, Melbourne. We are now aim- ment, farm communities, indigenous com- ing for these two approaches combined to get us munities, business groups and low income into the Morwell factory by the end of 2013 and families. This will allow for rapid uptake of in production, initially, of the stainless steel tank the goods, solving two key problems to do http://www.facebook.com/Earthworkercoop with renewables: The cost and slow uptake of SUPERANNUATION (PENSION) FUNDS – the goods. THE WORKERS’ WAGE • Unions will negotiate with employers for the sale of Green Power through the Enterprise As part of such a strategy, and very rapidly, the Agreement, thereby building the demand Australian labour movement needs to address the side. ways in which our Superannuation is used. • The cooperatives will make their surplus out Australia is now the fourth largest capital in- of the power they pump into the National vestment market in the world, at $1.4 trillion. Energy Market. Approximately 75% of that is Superannuation, • Earthworker Cooperative Group will seek to almost totally dependent upon the 9% workers’ negotiate Public Social Partnerships (PSP) contribution. (Nicholas Taylor, (author “Out- with Governments. crop”), Age Newspaper, Feb 9/4/09). • Earthworker Cooperative Group will seek to When it was introduced Superannuation was establish International Social Sector Trade ruled to be part of the workers’ wage by the Arbi- Agreements the aim of which will be a global tration Commission. It is in fact, and was intend- solidarity economy. ed to be by those in the labour movement who • Through such a global economic network of pushed for its introduction, part of a social wage. cooperatives, unions, superannuation/pen- At the time as a result of internal debates within sion funds, faith-based communities, across the union movement, it was intended that Super- the breadth of civil society, the critical mass annuation would be used to build workers’ hous- of workers’ socialised capital can be mobi- ing, as one available social outcome. That never lised. eventuated, and now it is the appropriate time to • This is part of a vision for the 21st Century put the question of how our Super is used back on which at last includes the economy in deter- the agenda. mining the will of the people. It is workers’ money. It results from collective Because Earth- labour. For most of its life it sits in a number of Because Earthworker worker Cooperative collective funds. Its use must be for the collective Cooperative failed to failed to get fund- good and at the moment one means of achieving get funding beyond ing beyond that that is by linking wealth-creating manufacturing that achieved for achieved for the jobs to environmental outcomes. the Feasibility Study, Feasibility Study, It is time to mobilise our industry funds behind the decision was our members’ real needs. Establishing democratic the decision was made to micro- made to micro- control over our social wealth is surely one of the finance through the most pressing and important industrial issues finance through the 100,000 Austral- facing our movement in Australia and globally, 100,000 Australians ians Campaign. and remains a key link to a strong social sector of Campaign. This campaign is the economy. joining 100,000 SOCIAL SECTOR ECONOMICS: SOCIALISED Australians at $20 CAPITAL INVESTED FOR THE SOCIAL GOOD per member to Earthworker Cooperative. That gives us the factory equipment for our first major Investment of our social capital into corporate in- factory, Eureka’s Future Workers Cooperative, in terests which run counter to the needs of Austral- Morwell, at the heart of the coal region of Victoria ians is no longer viable. 121 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Campaigning for a Green Future At the moment most of our Australian com- It is indeed time we re- ... all entitlement munities have been disengaged through years versed Thatcher’s cyni- is actually of consumer capitalism, which has discouraged, cal message which heads belittled and mocked social engagement, apart directly towards extinc- based upon the from invaluable state-sanctioned volunteerism tion, and voiced our own obligations met around disaster. positive message: by all previous Disengagement is so ever-present that most It is the duty of our generations of Australians with whom Earthworker speaks today society and we as in- workers’ labour; cannot tell you where their Superannuation is dividuals to look after that is the source invested. our neighbour, in the of wealth ... certain understand- Engaged communities established to powerfully ing that this is the and democratically deal with key aspects of the most efficient and fulfilling way to look after the way we live have all but disappeared. Let us face individual. the fact squarely, in order to be successful mar- ket-driven consumerism does not lie well with Such an ethic is entirely in line with a political strong communities, but rather prefers to pay economy which uses wealth, socially and collec- for any “relationship” it enters into. The market tively created by the people, for the social good. destroys belief in the collective, democratic spirit, Networked alliances linking organised labour, ideologically defined very succinctly by Margaret farming communities, viable small businesses Thatcher: and strong, engaged communities, represent the “I think we’ve been through a period where too basis for a social sector of the Australian econo- many people have been given to understand my. In turn such a sector can begin to redefine the that if they have a problem, it’s the govern- role of Government within the overall Australian ment’s job to cope with it. “I have a problem, economy, providing new forms of Government in- I’ll get a grant.” “I’m homeless, the government tervention and new ways to regulate our economy must house me.” They’re casting their problem via the Public Social Partnership. on society. And, you know, there is no such This is more than a Buy Australia campaign. This thing as society. There are individual men and is about people democratically controlling the women, and there are families. And no govern- places where we work and where we live. ment can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first. It’s Such a vision is winning loyalty across traditional our duty to look after ourselves and then, also divides because it is the junction of a number of to look after our neighbour. People have got the different roads with many cultural starting points, entitlements too much in mind, without the ob- from the Catholic Distributist tradition through ligations. There’s no such thing as entitlement, to the socialist tradition of workers’ control, and unless someone has first met an obligation.” including in Australia the powerful farming and - Prime minister Margaret Thatcher, agricultural cooperatives (once they return to the talking to Women’s Own magazine, October 31 historical understanding of the Cooperative as the 1987 site where all who labour in it become worker- owners of it). These views gained such strong currency amongst corporations and governments that even our own Through its practice in creating a new mode of Superannuation/Pension Funds, our wage and production this vision will be passed on from how it is used, is seen as an entitlement which hand to hand, as a new collective and democratic in the end does not belong to us. The reverse of spirit begins to pervade our workplaces and course is true. language, our loungerooms and streets. What better vision than a new, deeply democratic sector Further, it is timely for us to reconsider the very within an Australian mixed economy! last sentence in the Thatcher statement. Of course all entitlement is actually based upon the obliga- An Australian participatory democracy which at tions met by all previous generations of workers’ last involves the economy when determining the labour; that is the source of wealth, the source will of the people. of revenue for governments and importantly, because that wealth and the decisions concerning This is about people democratically it are undemocratically removed from society, the controlling the places where we source of ecological catastrophe, poverty and war. work and where we live. 122 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 11 These schemes operated A combination on the same principle of factors has Tim Thorne as Ponzi scams - you got a return on your led to the speedy investment as long as collapse of Tasmania’s Forests: other suckers were still the industry in Peace at What Price? contributing. Most of recent years. this money has now also The slowing in ended up owned by the demand, the high banks. The vast major- Tim Thorne is Vice-President of the SEARCH ity of the trees, in many Aussie dollar and Foundation, Tim has been an outspoken cases specially bred for the growth of opponent of the Tasmanian wood-chipping woodchips, are useless environmental industry for over 40 years. for anything else. awareness in The land they are grow- consumers ... For almost four decades, from the early 1970s ing on, however, could until just a few years ago, the forestry industry in many cases be put to use producing food or in in Tasmania, indeed in most of Southeast and other cases returned to mixed-species, mixed-age Southwest Australia, was based on the production native forest. of woodchips for paper pulp. The end products of the woodchip industry The preferred harvesting method was to clear-fell, become smoke or landfill on average three years and as native forests were destroyed they were after manufacture, thus releasing their carbon to replaced by monoculture plantations of often contribute to climate change. This fact must be exotic species. kept in mind when the forestry industry claims The woodchips were exported at a fraction of the to be ‘clean’ and ‘renewable’, as if solid, durable, price which could have been expected had those wooden products which retain their carbon were same forests been logged for solid timber. more than a small fraction of what our forests have been turned into. We are all familiar with the campaigns over those decades which focussed attention on the destruc- A combination of factors has led to the speedy tion of forests, campaigns which were supported collapse of the industry in recent years. The slow- by, among others, Green politicians, NGOs such ing in demand, the high Aussie dollar and the as The Wilderness Society, and, in some places, growth of environmental awareness in consum- by whole communities. ers, resulting in the global need for Forest Stew- ardship Council certification (leaving Australia We are all familiar with declining employment well behind, with not much in the way of social li- in the forestry industry over that period, even as cence) have all contributed. In Tasmania this has production increased and markets expanded. We led to an unusual three-way division of opinion as are familiar, too, with the divisions, often ex- to future directions. tremely bitter ones, within the Left between those whose priority was conservation of the environ- In 2009 some of the main players in the indus- ment and those who saw preserving jobs as of try approached three environment NGOs - The more importance. Wilderness Society, Environment Tasmania and the Australian Conservation Foundation - and Since the early days of this millennium, one after between them these groups developed a compro- another, the companies which had invested most mise, embodied first in a Statement of Principles, heavily in the woodchip industry have been going then in the Tasmanian Forests Agreement Bill, belly-up. passed by the Lower House late last year and Only last month the biggest of them all, Gunns, subjected to scrutiny by a Select Committee of the was officially liquidated. As the banks clawed back Legislative Council last month. what they could of their capital, there was a group In brief, this agreement protected large tracts of of investors who were not so fortunate. These native forest from logging, while leaving the for- were the people conned into putting their savings estry industry dependent on monoculture planta- into the Managed Investment Schemes promoted tions intended to feed a pulp mill (either the one by Senator Erich Abetz when he was Minister for planned by Gunns or another in some unspecified Forests in the Howard Government. place) and in receipt of hundreds of millions of

123 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Campaigning for a Green Future government funding as compensation, much of a similar attitude, will not be told by The Wilder- which has been paid out already, even though the ness Society, the Greens or anyone else whether Agreement has not yet been legislated. or not I am allowed to demonstrate against what I believe is wrong. It is worth noting that the State Premier has stated in Parliament that the Agreement “is all Gunns Ltd, which was the focus of the biggest about getting the pulp mill up.” protest campaigns for ten years or so, no longer exists. Its former directors are facing a number of So on one side of this tripartite antagonism stand legal battles (including a charge of insider trad- those three NGOs, the State ALP-Green Govern- ing against its former Executive Director) and the ment and much of the industry, including the receivers are having a hard time disposing of the main corporate player, Ta Ann, which stands to few assets left. Rather, however, than dancing benefit considerably. Ta Ann has a disastrous on its grave, we are still alert and apprehensive social and environmental record in Sarawak and because we are aware that the Pulp Mill Assess- elsewhere and from whom, coincidentally, the ment Act of 2007 is still in place, that the permits Chair of the Select Committee, Mr Paul Harriss to build and operate a pulp mill in the heart of the MLC, has declared receiving a pecuniary benefit, beautiful Tamar Valley are still current (although although he claims that this does not constitute a they, too, are the subject of a legal challenge), and conflict of interest. that the preferred option of both State and Fed- On another side are the Liberal Party and some eral Governments and Oppositions is for the mill hard line supporters of the continued clear-felling to be built and operated. of native forest - including some small contractors Of course the argument that the mill will provide who stand to lose their livelihoods without any jobs is always the first one raised. At an estimated compensation- who reject any compromise and cost of $2.8 billion, the mill will employ 220 want to revert to the status quo even though it is people once it is up and running. That’s an invest- obvious that there are neither enough customers ment of nearly $13 million per job. You could nor enough trees. invest that capital and from the interest pay five And on the third side are those who believe that times that number of people a good wage to do Tasmania should not become “Plantation Isle”, absolutely nothing and still make a profit. That’s that there are better ways of making paper than not to mention the hundreds of jobs that Gunns from trees, that a pulp mill would be an economic shed in order to streamline the company in the and environmental disaster, and that selective vain attempt to attract a joint venture partner. logging and environmentally responsible manage- Add to that the jobs that will be lost in the fishing, ment of the forests for the sustained production viticulture, hospitality and tourism industries if of socially useful products is both possible and the mill goes ahead and the argument based on desirable. employment falls into a very deep hole. This third group, which includes environmental So it is imperative that those of us who want and community organisations which were delib- to avoid economic and environmental disaster erately excluded from the two years of discussions remain vigilant. It is especially so in the face of leading up to the Agreement, contributed a sub- what I see as naivety on the part of environmental stantial number of submissions to the Legislative NGOs and Green politicians, whose enthusiasm Council Select Committee, but nobody represent- for saving the iconic old growth forests in the ing this point of view was invited to appear before Florentine and other areas may have blinded it. them to the ruthless and cynical ways of those It is obvious to me that it will be from the ideas they have been dealing with. Perhaps I am being generated within this group that any hope of a charitable in calling it naivety, but what is more sustainable future will come. important than allocating blame is ensuring that the natural resources of Tasmania, Southwest- In the meantime, however, the gap between those ern WA, Gippsland and the far South of NSW who think this way and those whose priority are used for the production of socially beneficial is to save the native forests regardless of what products that do not hasten climate change; that wider environmental and social damage might this production not entail public health hazards; be caused is widening. For example, one of the and that the populace not be prevented from points agreed to in the Agreement is the cessa- publicly objecting to practices that are socially, tion of public protests against the excesses of the environmentally and economically detrimental to industry. I, for one, and there are thousands with the planet and its inhabitants.

124 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 11 here about fracking The Federal or, more often now, government’s Jess Moore stimulation because fracking’s got a bad Water Group The risks of coal seam gas name, it gets called ... is estimating and how a campaign stopped all different things. that industry will But essentially, it’s draw up to 5,400 development in the Illawarra shattering the rock, gigalitres out of the Jess Moore is the spokesperson for Stop CSG holding up the shat- ground each year Illawarra, a 4,000 strong group set up in tered rock so that in mining for coal response to an approved coal seam gas project in the gas can flow eas- and around two drinking water catchments for ily and from a wide seam gas. ... to put Greater Sydney. area. it in perspective, There are three Australian I thought I’d try to do three things in this talk. major problems households use The first is just to try to explain coal seam gas a with this; and a 1,872 gigalitres of bit better because I think that most people get whole range of other water every year. that it’s scary, get that there are bad consequences problems too. But on farmland, that’s getting out in the media, but the first problem is actually understanding the technology and some water. The water that you draw out of a coal seam of the particular risks involved is still something is contaminated water. It’s high in salt, it’s high most people in the public don’t really know about. in methane, and it can contain toxic and radioac- tive compounds and heavy metals, so anything The second thing I wanted to do is to explain that’s in the coal itself. It’s enormous quantities of what’s going on state-wide in terms of policy and water. legislation, and also at the Federal level now, so how far the campaign has come in terms of win- The Federal government’s Water Group, and this ning some changes, but also where it’s still got to is actually based on industry modelling, is esti- go. mating that industry will draw up to 5,400 gigali- tres out of the ground each year in mining for coal Lastly, I’ll just talk a little about the campaign seam gas. Now, when I read that I had no idea itself in the Illawarra, because it has been a very how much a gigalitre was, but to put it in perspec- effective campaign and I just want to talk about tive, Australian households use 1,872 gigalitres of some of the different thing that we’ve done. water every year. The industry is going to draw up So, this first image is a graphic of a coal seam gas to 5,400 gigalitres of contaminated water out of well. Coal seam gas is just gas trapped in a coal the ground each year. seam. So, you’ve all heard about explosions in At the moment it sits in evaporation ponds. Prin- coal mines, that’s because there’s a lot of methane cipally it’s run through reverse osmosis plants or and other gases in coal seams. Now, that gas is it sits out in the open. So, enormous quantities trapped by water pressure. So, in order to get the of contaminated water that has to be treated. gas out, what you need to do is draw the water Now, to put it very simply, reverse osmosis can’t out of the coal seam, first and foremost. And then remove all contaminates, it can only remove con- once you’ve got the well the gas can migrate to the taminates that are smaller than a water molecule, surface once the water is removed. and that means we’ve got water that can’t be com- Now, coal seam gas is a kind of unconventional pletely purified that has to be disposed of. gas. So, we’re all familiar with conventional gas, Now the second issue when it comes to water, is which is the gas we’ve had in our homes for gen- that we’re talking about depleting our groundwa- erations. Conventional gas is gas that is very easy ter systems. So, those coal seams need to recharge to get from a wide area. So you drill a well, and with water, that’s going to come from other aqui- the gas flows very easily through the rock. fers, potentially freshwater aquifers, and obvious- Unconventional gas is drilling into a rock that ly if we’re talking about large portions of Central isn’t particularly porous so that the gas doesn’t Australia, this is the water that we depend on, this flow easily, it doesn’t flow from a wide area. Now, is the water that is used for farming. what that means in technological terms is that So, we’re depleting our groundwater systems by you have to shatter the rock. So, this where you enormous amounts. Now, there’s also the water

125 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Campaigning for a Green Future that’s directly contaminated in the process, in ad- And all of the industry modelling says you should dition to this. be getting around .1% not 4%. So, that’s just way out of step with reality. So, with hydraulic fracturing you are taking large quantities of freshwater and directly contami- It’s also highly explosive and highly flammable. If nating it with chemicals that basically make the coal seam gas development is going on in bush- water flow faster because the water doesn’t move land or in a catchment you’re introducing an fast enough to create the kind of pressure they enormous risk if you’ve got a leaking gas field in need to shatter the rock. And they only recover the middle of your bushland. 20-80% of that. You’re immediately losing con- The last issue that isn’t talked about enough is taminants into the ground when you’re fracking the industrial footprint of the industry because as well as directly contaminating fresh water. when you see the ads they say ‘less than half a Now, many of you will have seen photos of people tennis court’ in the middle of a field, and the cows lighting their water on fire, that’s when you’ve got can all walk around it, and it’s fine. But it’s not. groundwater contami- Production involves a well-head every 300m to ... most of the nated with methane, 900m all connected by roads and pipelines. Those studies coming that’s the result you roads have to be at least 20m wide because you’re out of the US are can get. getting enormous tank- saying you get at And that image up the ers in and out. And of least 4% of the So, 15, and it top is of two fracking course there’s all of the became 16, gas down there well blow ups, one is in other aspects of pro- leaking straight Camden in NSW and duction that go along exploration wells off the top, which the other is in Queens- with it too. You’ve got were approved makes this much land. And what you’re to have compressor across the seeing there is meth- stations, you’ve got Woronora and worse in terms of ane, fracking fluids and LNG conversion plants climate change Upper Nepean produced water which and then as most of the drinking water than coal. is the water you draw gas in Australia is for out of a coal seam go- export you’ve actu- catchment. ... ing up into the air. And that Camden one actually ally got huge tankers It’s 2% of the spread out over backyards and the catchment, taking it out through land in NSW that which is quite frightening. the reef at this stage provides 65% off Gladstone. So, it’s Methane is the next problem. Now coal seam of the drinking got an enormous above gas is principally methane and when it’s burnt water - incredibly ground footprint. it’s cleaner than coal, you get less carbon dioxide important land. when you burn methane than when you burn In the Illawarra we coal, so the industry often says it’s a cleaner burn- started the campaign ing fuel, which is true. What that doesn’t take into because in 2009 a project was approved in the account is the methane that leaks in the produc- drinking water catchment for Greater Sydney. tion process itself. So, 15, and it became 16, exploration wells were So, if you’ve got a well-head, a pipeline, a process- approved across the Woronora and Upper Ne- ing plant, an LNG conversion plant, all of the dif- pean drinking water catchment. I didn’t know ferent processes that go on with getting this gas to much about drinking water catchments before households or getting this gas overseas, we’re get- this campaign and I had to learn very rapidly. But ting methane leaking along the way. Now, there’s basically water for about 65% of people in NSW very limited research on this, but most of the comes from the Sydney Catchment Authority studies coming out of the US are saying you get at lands. There are five major catchments in that. least 4% of the gas down there leaking straight off Three of them are in the Illawarra, or part of them the top, which makes this much worse in terms of are in the Illawarra, and all of them have coal climate change than coal. seam gas licenses approved either on or encroach- ing on them. The reason for this is that methane warms the atmosphere much faster than coal, I think the lat- These are areas so protected that if I walk on est NASA research is saying up to 105 times faster them I can be fined up to $44,000. It’s 2% of the over a 20 year period. So, it’s obviously a concern land in NSW that provides 65% of the drinking that we’re getting this type of leakage rate. water - incredibly important land.

126 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 11 ... people keep This is where coal seam actually legislation. It’s information ‘to be consid- coming up to me gas licences have been ered by government in making an approval’. approved, and this is And we’re still in a situation in the Illawarra and saying ‘you where coal seam gas where mining could go ahead in our drinking wa- guys are winning’, development has been ter catchment because the policy doesn’t prevent and really we are approved. Now, in the it, either at the state or federal level. in a sense, the Illawarra we didn’t actu- industry’s been ally find out until the I’m going to stop talking and just show a video unable to develop end of 2010, like most to explain the campaign and just to show you the people, about the ap- breadth of the campaign. It was mentioned that for the most part provals, and we actually we’ve got 4,000 members and it really does bring and that’s a real only found out because together people from all different backgrounds, testament to of a leaked document and we’ve done it through all the things that seem the community which was a communi- very obvious and boring if you like. campaign. cation between a coal That is, we’ve letterboxed hundreds of thousands mining company and the of houses. We’ve talked to community groups. We coal seam gas company knock on people’s doors. that they accidentally published on their website. That’s how our community found out about this. Essentially, we’ve worked non-stop to build an engaged and mobilised community. People need Now, what you can see there are the licenses. So, to know what’s going on, and they need to know coal seam gas approvals happen in two ways. First what role they can play in stopping it. is the license. So, if you imagine that you want to build a house, you buy a block of land, that’s like your license area, it’s the area that’s yours to develop. And then you put in your development application, which is also called a development application for coal seam gas, so that you get approval for your wells and your roads and your pipelines. And these are the license areas. Now, I don’t know how well you guys know the Illawarra, but basically the east coast of NSW is under exploration licenses. What we’ve had in the Illawarra is a change of government at the ... we’ve letterboxed hundreds state level. Now most coal seam gas projects are of thousands of houses. We’ve approved by the state government, so the approv- talked to community groups. als I’m talking about actually happened under the previous Labor government, but they’ve contin- We knock on people’s doors. ued under the Liberal government, and there’s Essentially, we’ve worked really been no concrete change in policy. Now, non-stop to build an engaged the reason I say that, is because there have been and mobilised community. heaps of announcements, We’re getting and people keep coming lots of up to me and saying ‘you wonderful guys are winning’, and re- ally we are in a sense, the words, but industry’s been unable to most of it is develop for the most part not actually and that’s a real testament legislation. It’s to the community cam- information ‘to paign. be considered But what it doesn’t explain by government is that it’s not policy that’s in making an made that happen. We’re approval’. getting lots of wonderful words, but most of it is not

127 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... market we have seen The gutting the Strategies for Stronger over the last generation. public sector These are the length- Trade Unions ening working day, is going to get increased casualisation, worse. In NSW under-employment. there has been While some people wholesale cuts Jim Casey are working too many to the public hours, others don’t get sector budget. In enough. We have the de- Public sector organising and the cline in the social wage my industry this future for industrial militancy and the steady erosion is being felt as in the public sector. temporary closure of fire stations Jim Casey is the Secretary, NSW Fire Brigade Recently I found the Employees’ Union. Jim has been a firefighter and corporate plan for NSW when short union activist since 1997. Rail for 1981. Looking staffed. at that – 30 years ago is not that long ago – the My one line introduction to this talk was public number of stations around NSW was phenom- sector organising and the future of industrial enal, and they all had 12 hour or 24 hour restau- militancy. The answer is, yeah, we need industrial rants and bars attached. Some of them actually organising, we need to be organised at the point had sleeping accommodation. of production. That is a truism, and no one here would disagree with that. In 30 years we’ve seen such a fundamental piece of social infrastructure as a state-wide rail net- I’d like to offer some ideas of where we are at, work disappear, and replaced with buses run by some ideas of the obstacles we face, in terms of the private sector. That’s indicative of the steady turning our movement around, and a few sugges- erosion of the social wage. tions from my perspective. That has an impact on those employed in those For those of you unfamiliar with my organisation, agencies, and for the rest of the class how rely on the Fire Brigade Employees Union, we are not by them. any measure a “normal” union. We have 99.8 per cent density. I know the name of all my scabs and The gutting the public But if you I’m working on them individually. I’ve got two to sector is going to get want to get visit tomorrow, out of the six statewide. worse. In NSW there has been wholesale cuts to the frightened, We are well organised, and have a long proud public sector budget. In start looking militant history. But firefighters are just like my industry this is being at Europe, everyone else. We still have about 40 per cent felt as temporary closure who voted for O’Farrell, and I expect we will have start looking at of fire stations when short America. more than that vote for Abbott. staffed. In other industries A lot of my members are small business people it has gone straight to when they are not at work. All of the classic politi- job losses. And then there’s the big ticket privati- cal problems inside the working class movement zation targets – like electricity. We know that exist inside every fire station in the state. We are O’Farrell is going to move on the poles-and-wires not special. Our union is extraordinary, but we shortly. have all the pressures that everyone else does. But if you want to get frightened, start looking at So – where are we at? Europe, start looking at America. ... we are not by The balance of class As an example from my industry, in London at any measure a forces is tilted fun- the moment, they’re closing 25 per cent of all the “normal” union. damentally against fire stations. For me, that’s quite phenomenal. We We have 99.8 per us. The division of are not at that point yet. If we saw 25 per cent of wealth in society has the fire stations closed permanently in Sydney, cent density. I become more extreme. know the name of I think we could actually beat it back. The union And then we have the movement here is still robust enough to take it all my scabs ... changes in the labour up. 128 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 13 But really the UK is not that different from us, I refer to the extended working day and the they are a little bit further down the road. Similar- rest of it. Equally important is the fissuring ly in America, we are seeing a concerted attempt of modern work, the fact that jobs like mine to fundamentally undermine the tax basis of the barely exist anymore, the idea of a blue collar public sector, to totally get rid of it. career, a trade you join and work at for life. Grover Norquist has a famous line – this is a Far more likely for a person with my skill-set major political figure in the US – “I don’t want to now – not just firefighting but skilled manual destroy the public sector, I just want to make it work – is that you will be a sub-contractor. so weak that I can drag it into the bathroom and You will work for someone else who works drown it”. This passes for a mainstream political for someone else who works for someone position and it is gathering some kind of weight. else. Underpinning all this, and I’ve been wrestling That fissuring of the modern workplace with this for a couple of years, is the ideological means a total abrogation of responsibility shift that has accompanied it, and what it means from the major employer and an enormous for working people. organising challenge. How do you organise against the fifth layer, the sixth layer, where In many ways, the neo-liberal world view is the money really is? That is something we discredited, but in other fundamental ways, our don’t talk enough about, and we should. class has bought a part of the lie, it has bought the concept of aspiration. Our class has been atom- Similarly the changes in the legal framework ized, and individuals are now saying that the way within which we fight – Barry O’Farrell’s to survive isn’t to look to each other, to look to the reform agenda is a great example. community, it is about trying to do the best you The erosion of the limited legal space we can for yourself. have to act within is a significant structural So you get yourself some education, you try to get shift in power away from workers to the em- your kids educated, you try to find some way to ployer. I have spent years saying the Indus- get a leg up. That is the real loss. Everything else trial Relations Commission is a bosses’ court, stems from that. Rather than seeing collective and it is a bosses’ court, but at least in the struggle as the sensible way to look after yourself past there was some modicum of independ- and your family, millions now define this as a ence in the Commission that workers could strictly individual pursuit. exploit. So speaking of that, in terms of our own side, we Both of those structural changes are going are in disarray. I’ll limit this to Australia, because to require political solutions. We need to I’m not in a position to speak with any great con- be clear about that. We need to start seeing fidence about anywhere else. governments which are going to start doing something in terms of legislation. The parties In Australia, the social democratic party – with we have aren’t capable of doing that, so we respect to any ALP comrades in this room – the need to have movements capable of making party as a whole has no answers, the party as a new parties, or making existing parties do whole has bought into some of the fundamental what we need them to do. proposals of the neo-liberal project. In terms of working people themselves, I The Left inside the party seems incapable of talked about the ideological buy-in we’ve organising to shift that. You look outside of that, got. That’s buttressed the revolutionary Left is an irrelevancy. You have by the expansion of the Greens, who are doing what they can, but ... we need credit, and high rates again a marginal party, a party which has a ten- to have of personal debt. sion between its electoral nature and the fact that movements we need movements which are capable of shifting One of the reasons it capable of stuff. is hard to organise is making new not simply that people That’s my 50 cent tour of where things are at, and parties, or are frightened for I don’t think it’s good. their jobs, people are making existing The obstacles to turning it around involve the also carrying so much parties do what structural changes that have taken place and what debt. People may say, we need them they mean for how we organise. ‘you’ve got nothing to do.

129 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Strategies for Stronger Trade Unions to lose but your chains’, but that’s not quite true. the firefighters whom I represent, there is a mi- You’ve also got your house, your car, and all the nority who would join a union regardless of how rest. effective the union was. They would join a union out of ideological conviction. But the majority of The union movement itself has been in decline my comrades join the FBEU because they know for a generation, and it seems to have stabilised. the FBEU is going to represent them, look after Certainly density levels have stabilized, but it them, and make their life better. hasn’t stabilized in a healthy state. Strike days are historically low. Union power itself is historically We need to build movements that are serious low. This is indicative, I think, of all the things about that, so that as a rank and file member in I’ve said – the structural shifts, the atomisation of the workplace, or as a job delegate, or as an of- any sense of class consciousness and class soli- ficial, can make the case that the union matters – darity that’s gone before us. that it makes sense to be involved. Having said that, there is still the potential for re- That is an easy thing to say, but at times you sistance. So how do we turn things around? There can forget that. We need to be proud about the are reasons to be cheerful. Even with the decline movements we are building, the organisations we in density and militancy in our unions, we are represent and do a good job with them. still the biggest social movement in this country. And from there the Holy Grail, the re-building of Over two million Australian are members of trade cross-union solidarity. That’s got to come from unions. Not all of them are members of unions the rank and file. While I’m not expecting to see that have a go or have a fight. But we are still talk- rank and file explosions any time soon, we do ing about potentially hundreds of thousands of need them. people who can be a part of some resistance. What is going to push people like me into work- I don’t expect to see explosions of rank and file ing more closely with other organisations in the anger in the near future. But where there are the labour movement is going to be pressure from right circumstances and the right lead is given, below. We need that desperately, and we can all people are having a dig. play a role in pushing it. Certainly the NTEU dispute at Sydney Univer- A last thing to roll around - the question of local- sity – really interesting and in some ways a sign ity is something I’m putting more energy into for the future – these are white collar workers. A with the FBEU. generation ago they would not have identified as workers. But, you know, three days now of suc- What pushed me was the anti-fracking campaign cessful strike action, where they are re-learning in regional NSW. That campaign is totally situ- traditions of solidarity and militancy. ated in ‘place’. People are saying ‘this is my com- munity’, some are saying ‘this is my land’, some The other thing that is really interesting in terms are saying, ‘it’s our town’, ‘our water table’. That of reasons to be cheerful, is that the very weak- sense of locality cuts right across that modern ness of the Left is now an opportunity. corporate technocratic understanding that ‘it’s People have been talking for 10 years about the just an economy, just a society, get over it, we’ll decline of factions inside Unions NSW. Now let’s move the resources around as we see fit’. not get carried away, factions are still there and Rather than seeing this as nimbyism - people people’s political careers are still determined by looking after their own patch - we need to start them. Certainly the Chinese wall between Right saying that these are spaces where we need to put and Left that existed when I first became involved standards down, that our movement is going to in my union, that doesn’t exist. I have a working take this seriously, that our movement defends relationship with people ostensibly on the Right, our communities, our movement is at the heart of people I respect, doing a good job in their unions. our communities. The breaking down of some of these divisions is We are seeing the beginnings of this with the local long overdue. Our challenge is to use these new union-community councils that Unions NSW has spaces as a place to organize from. initiated. We need to see more. This is one area Some brief comments on the key priorities to where we can start to resist that commodification rebuild and strengthen our unions. of everyday life, by asserting that these are our spaces, our communities, our workplaces, and we We need to be serious about the work we do. This are going to fight to hang onto them. Thankyou. might be screamingly obvious. But when I look at

130 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 13 Australian trade union It was like leaders came back and applying American Sally McManus instead of talking about the type of organising scientific we looked at doing at management the start of Organising models to how we Campaigning strategies and Works – about rank go about building union democracy and file organising, unions. It was a workplace democracy centralisation of – things which Rita Sally McManus is Secretary of the Australian Mallia and Jim Casey power, a Fordist- Services Union NSW & ACT. Sally has 19 years have talked about – all type control in experience as a union official running successful of a sudden organising unions ... industrial and organising campaigns. was top down.

When I first started as a union organiser it was It was like applying American scientific manage- right at the beginning of the devastation of the ment models to how we go about building unions. union movement, 19 years ago. I was in the first It was a centralisation of power, a Fordist-type group of Organising Works, a program that the control in unions, a focus on becoming bigger trade union movement set up because they could through amalgamation, and decision-making be- see the train wreck coming down the track. I re- ing even further away from rank and file workers. ally felt when I was a young organiser, aged 22, I think this was a bad deviation, and it has taken that I was part of trying to turn that around. us quite a while to critique and analyse. It has We didn’t turn that around, it kept going down, knocked us off course for a while. worse each year. During that time, I applied When it comes down to it, all those strategies myself to thinking about what works in terms of and tactics, all those modes of operating, are not union organising, union growing, union strength. actually anything new about what builds unions. Over the years I’ve read a lot, I’ve tried most tac- Veteran comrades here who have been through it, tics and strategies that people have come up with know it is the same lessons that they learnt, which over those 19 years. I was an organiser in the call we need to learn now – that building unions is about workers building centre industry when that first started to take off, ... building before it all got outsourced to India and the Phil- democracy in their work- ippines. I was also an organiser in the IT industry place amongst them- unions is about at the point when it had low union density. selves. It sounds simple, workers building but it isn’t, it is hard, and democracy in I watched our trade union movement grapple it is critical to building with these debates, not just in Australia, but all strong unions. their workplace around the world in industrial countries where amongst union membership has been decimated. I’ve see It is also important as an themselves. It big mistakes that we’ve made. Some of those agent of social change in itself. There is no other sounds simple, mistakes came out of a feeling - which I had but it isn’t, too - about our desperation to turn around the space in people’s lives situation. It was looking for shortcuts and silver where that happens, it is hard ... bullets as a way to build union membership and where they have that kind union power. of equal power and space to make decisions about their own destiny. I saw especially how ... our desperation That very experience of being in a good trade to turn around susceptible Australians are to Americans, how union does change people. It makes them better the situation. It we would send delega- social activists, with a better idea of the kind of was looking for tions to the USA – Jim society that we want to have. shortcuts and Casey is the exception If you look at our strongest unions in Australia, silver bullets as a that proves the rule! – they are the ones that are most highly democratic. way to build union maybe it was the early The teachers’ unions – Rob Durbridge’s union membership and days of powerpoint, – the Maritime Union, the Fire Brigade Union, but they razzle-dazzled the strongest part of my union at Sydney Water union power. them. – highly democratic, one delegate for every 12 131 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Strategies for Stronger Trade Unions ... we should never members, members 40 – someone who has the potential to be be susceptible make all the decisions there for at least ten years. That’s not negotia- pretty much. Our ble in some of our areas, because otherwise we to the razzle- density there is 85 per are going to have these places with people who dazzle, or looking cent – we know all the have been delegates for 30 years who retire, for shortcuts to non-members – and and we haven’t done the work to renew. That the hard work of it is going to stay that is a focus for us in strong workplaces. way despite the bosses organising that 5. Look at ways that new technology can over- attacking us all the needs to happen. come problems of geography, space and small time. workplaces. This is something I grapple with I want to say that we in our community sector area. We are strong should never be susceptible to the razzle-dazzle, in some ways, but in truth we are quite top or looking for shortcuts to the hard work of down. We have our democratic structures organising that needs to happen. That is simply but they are not nearly what they should be. workers one-on-one, talking to each other, and So how can I be using social media to enable them coming together as a collective and working debates among the members about the direc- out themselves the decisions they want to make. tion of the union? How do look at devolving power through technologies now available to Of course, it is more complicated than that. There us to build those democracies. That part of is the role of leadership within that. There are my union is growing so fast, it has grown by longer debates. But when you strip it all back, that 30 per cent over the last five years. It’s grown is at the heart of what builds strong unions and at from being a baby union to a middle-sized the heart of what we must re-focus on. union very quickly. Being able to develop Five things we need to do are: those structures to keep up with that is a chal- 1. Be serious about how we build structures that lenge, especially with small and geographically allow meaningful democracy within unions. isolated workplaces. This is a huge thing to consider. When you Out of all my experience, it is very simple and have Jim’s union where you have well-defined straightforward. We know this. Whenever we go workplaces and everyone has the same email around looking for ways out of what we basi- addresses it is a different prospect to social cally already know, we are wasting our time and and community services workers where the energy. average workplace size is three, and they are spread out everywhere. It is a matter of scale about how hard it is. 2. Have a real focus on education of workplace delegates and leaders about the skills you need to build and maintain strong democratic Five things we need to unions. These are real skills and sometimes we do: build democratic have minimized that. A lot of effort needs to be put into this continuously. structures, educate delegates and leaders, question if 3. Have at the front of your mind the question: leadership is strengthening how is leadership strengthening or weakening workplace democracy? As a union leader my- workplace democracy, renew self, I try to always reflect on that. If you are a your structures, use new union delegate there are ways you can disem- technology to overcome power your members, by the way you act. Be barriers to democracy ... always conscious of that. 4. Always look to renew your structures. A big challenge to us in the public sector is that there is this big generation of workers about to retire. That is probably the case for most well-organised places. We have a program where each delegate must be mentoring a younger person – younger mind you is about

132 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 13 fully enrolled delegates We have also training courses this year. had to commit We haven’t done that Rita Mallia for a long time. They are to the delegates four-day courses. that we must do whatever Building union power in a These are the things we see as crucial to our we can when Changing Industry continued success. But they are shifted, Rita Mallia is President of the Construction it is not easy. We have to when they are Forestry Mining and Energy Union (NSW protect the delegates. No terminated. We Branch) Construction and General Division. Rita one sticks their hand up will fight to the has been an official of the CFMEU since 1996 and to be a delegate if they are end for them. an admitted solicitor. going to be victimized, the subject of attention from the builder or the I suppose the CFMEU is the favourite whipping sub-contractor. boy of the Right, the conservatives. We had the $66 million Royal Commission into us, which We have also had to commit to the delegates gave rise to the Australian Building & Construc- that we must do whatever we can when they are tion Commission. It is now the Fair Work Build- shifted, when they are terminated. We will fight to ing and Construction, FWBC, and it’s still pretty the end for them. active, although Labor did make some improve- We’ve had a few of those issues. Recently there ments in that regard. was a delegate on a job in the south of Sydney The Bob Carnegie case in Brisbane reflects the who was put on another job because he’d raised forces against us. The big end of town don’t even issues of safety. The organisers went down to site, rely on the FWBC now, they are using corporate we had a campaign, and he’s now back on that laws again to try to sue us out of existence. first job. The legal attacks against us are taken in the civil In our Lend Lease dispute last year, we had the courts at the big end of town, and these cost us a workers directly employed by Lend Lease on a lot of money to defend. picket line, fighting for their enterprise agree- ment. That was an achievement for us, it is not The current CFMEU Construction leadership in what you normally see from construction workers NSW has only been in office for a year. We see the who are employed by big builders. key to our success will be workplace delegates. We have made a concerted effort to be out on the We’ve continued with our campaign on asbestos job. Our members want to see us, and that is how and safety at Barangaroo. We’ve spent a lot of we win and recruit people. time at Barangaroo, not only to win the confi- dence of the workers and the members we want We are trying to elect delegates wherever we can to recruit and retain, but also to demonstrate and build the training of those delegates. It was relevance in the community. very hard to get workers off the job with Work choices. We lost our capacity in Enterprise Agree- We do try to get stories in the media to show ments to get paid time that the union is there for our members, as well We see the key for union meetings. as showing our wider to our success relevance. We’ve built I know we got Work will be workplace Choices lite in some Our industry has ties with many delegates. We regards, but some of changed, with a chang- communities have made a those changes in the ing demographic. – the Korean Fair Work Act did concerted effort In NSW we are moving community, actually allow us to put to be out on the from a Southern Euro- the Chinese those conditions back job. Our members pean and Anglo work- community – as into our EBAs and we force to a much more want to see us, were able to start getting we see the next Asian, Middle Eastern and that is how 70-80 delegates back wave of immigrant workforce. That creates we win and to a monthly delegates’ labour into the cultural barriers, and meeting. I’ve got three recruit people. so we’ve got union offi- industry. 133 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Strategies for Stronger Trade Unions We’ve been cials in our office who speak are passionate about. With the right conditions criticized for dozens of languages. and an upswing in the industry, we might be able to win some of those things back. our position on We’ve built ties with many Visa 457 but it communities – the Korean We still do what we always do: safety. And we is too simple community, the Chinese must ensure that our members are safe at work. community – as we see the We still see a high number of people die in our in- to criticize next wave of immigrant dustry. That is still very much a focus of our work. it as a racist labour into the industry. campaign. Another thing we are very proud of is our his- The construction industry tory of Green Bans. Last week our Committee has always been very diverse of Management endorsed a Green Ban on the in terms of ethnicity and culture. We’ve been Parramatta Female Factory, the remnants of a criticized for our position on Visa 457 but it is convict female factory of the late 1700s. We will too simple to criticize it as a racist campaign. Our work with the community there – a lovely bunch members express to us a concern for the loss of of women there, who keep a 24 hour watch on the job opportunities for themselves and their kids site, check to see what’s going on. Unfortunately when you have temporary labour being used by that site has been left to fall apart to make saving the likes of Gina Rinehart to push down wages it harder. and conditions, and to lock off opportunities for We are also working with the community in Rich- local workers. mond who want to save the Thompson Square We won’t resile from that position, despite cop- site. ping a bit of criticism. It is not a racist campaign, We try to build coalitions broader than just our there is nothing about the CFMEU that is racist. industry. It is not easy but it comes down to be- We have become passionate and offended about ing on the job, and trying to protect and educate that kind of attack on us, because our members our delegates and politicise our membership. want secure jobs, we want robust permanent Through that we hope to not only maintain our immigration. We don’t want the exploitation of membership but to grow it. foreign labour to reduce wages and conditions. We do fight for Visa 457 A group of Korean workers. Last week we Visa 457 workers had a picket in Canberra had not been paid where our Korean or- for weeks by the ganiser Chikmann Koh was on the front line. builder and the A group of Korean Visa sub-contractor. 457 workers had not Another thing we are very The union won been paid for weeks by proud of is our their entitlements the builder and the sub- history of Green Bans. for them in a contractor. The union Last week our Committee public way. won their entitlements for them in a public way. of Management endorsed a Green Ban on the We see our success in our delegates, and taking it back to the workplace. Parramatta Female Factory, We do consider ourselves a militant union and we the remnants of a do want to take the fight up on the job. We have convict female factory to do it smart, because the forces against us are of the late 1700s. pretty strong. We have been stung by some mas- sive fines. You do need money and resources to fight. So in NSW we have also levied our members and we are now building on this. That takes a lot of education of our members - we have still to do a lot of that. There is pressure on us. There are conditions that were lost – site allowances – that our members

134 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 14 30. U.S. Missile Shield Plan Seen Stoking China Australia, the US-China Fears (Wall Street Journal)...Brian Spegele, Confrontation and the James Hookway and Yuka Hayashi. The U.S. decision to expand its missile-defense Asia-Pacific shield in the Asia-Pacific region, ostensibly to defend against North Korea, could feed Chinese fears about containment by the U.S. and encour- age Beijing to accelerate its own missile program, Peter Hayes analysts say. 31. Patrol Vessel Heads To Hawaii For Joint Peter Hayes is Professor of International Exercises (China Daily)...Shi Yingying and Zhao Relations, School of Global, Urban and Social Shengnan. Studies, RMIT, and Director of the Nautilus Institute in San Francisco and of Nautilus at The Haixun 31 maritime patrol vessel, one of RMIT. China’s biggest maritime patrol ships, will set out for its first visit to the United States on Saturday. Scheduled to depart from Shanghai at 10:30 am, 1. US-China confrontation Haixun 31 is expected to arrive in Hawaii on Sept 4. With China and the USA we have a rising-declin- ing power transition. 32. China Eagerly Buying Up U.S. Assets (Los Angeles Times)...David Pierson and Don Lee For realists, war is more or less inevitable in ad- justment and mutual adaptation to redistribution The increase in investment, already at least $8 of relative power in what China sees as an ineluc- billion this year, comes despite lingering Ameri- table emergence of multi-polarity, and pattern of can anxieties about “northern decline, southern rise”. Great power potential breaches of Any escalation of relations are complex, and the global strategic national security and military conflict game is getting stronger. loss of technology to the powerful Asian over Taiwan would In reality, shared interests are paramount; but competitor. go nuclear – so the ideology and organisational interests in the re- Taiwan Straits is spective political systems or the USA and China This was followed the most critical obstruct the requisite cooperation. shortly after by a Pen- tagon study declining flashpoint. The default position in security is to worst case: the notion that China’s prepare for war. investment in US secu- 2. Mutual assured economic rities is not a security threat! interdependence Bloomberg.com Economic interdependence US- I recommend that folks read the Pentagon’s clip- China, deterrence September 10, 2012 ping service, Current News, Early Bird, Septem- China’s U.S. Debt Holdings Aren’t Threat, Penta- ber 9, 2011: http://ebird.osd.mil/ebird2/index. gon Says, By Tony Capaccio and Daniel Kruger, html Bloomberg News From Sept 2011, a classic juxtaposition summa- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-11/ rized the contradictory elements of the relation- china-s-u-s-debt-holdings-aren-t-threat-penta- ship: gon-says.html 29. China Is Said To Be Bolstering Missile Capa- 3. Taiwan bilities (New York Times)...Keith Bradsher Any escalation of military conflict over Taiwan China is moving ahead with the development of would go nuclear – so the Taiwan Straits is the a new and more capable generation of interconti- most critical flashpoint. nental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched missiles, increasing its existing ability to deliver The US-China standoff is already focused on the nuclear warheads to the United States and to Taiwan Straits because this conflict is where US overwhelm missile defense systems, military ana- and Chinese forces could come head-to-head, lysts said this week. immediately, and where China might feel most obliged to escalate to nuclear weapons to stop US 135 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Australia, the US-China Confrontation and the Asia-Pacific conventional forces from intervening effectively; Nonetheless, China is turning the screws, Chi- and the US might feel obliged to attack first to nese-style. They stopped the flow of oil in Febru- disable Chinese mainland forces attacking Taiwan ary; they are inspecting DPRK ships in Chinese or US naval forces in the Taiwan Straits or East. ports with radiation monitors. It’s simply the most dangerous possible conflict in And most importantly, a strong political message the region, and far surpasses the threat posed by was sent today via the authoritative voice of the the DPRK in terms of potential to bring US and Chinese Communist Party, People’s Daily online, China into direct conflict. see: 4. North Korea http://english.peopledaily.com. Here’s the basics: cn/90883/8202601.html There are strict limits to Chinese influence in China will do what it can to bring the two warring Pyongyang. First, China did not insist that the US parties, the USA and the DPRK, to the table. They cross-recognize the DPRK when it recognized the cannot force either of them to negotiate in good ROK (South Korea) in 1991. The faith and on the core issues. The US cannot out- There are DPRK has never forgiven China source this problem to China to solve, knowing strict limits for this sacrifice of DPRK to Chi- that it has neither the influence nor the interest to to Chinese nese interests. do so. influence in Second, the moment that a 5. Conventional force China Pivot Pyongyang. small power lets an elephantine China has the perception of encirclement, but the big power come into its patch US threat is less and less credible. It’s a race be- of grass, it never stops and the tween US military tech innovation in submarines grass gets trampled. This is a fundamental North and drones, to overcome Chinese access denial Korean belief. It was stated recently (KCNA, April etc vs budget shortfalls that reduce US ability to 8, 2013) referring to the Balkans and Libya, “any project force, versus Chinese access denial de- retreat and concession in the issue related to ployments, especially ballistic missiles. the life of the nation precisely leads to submis- sion, subjugation and self-destruction.” Thus, China’s habit of collocating Intermediate Range the DPRK’s threats are directed in all directions, Ballistic Missiles with nuclear and conventional including China. warheads, and the use of a common command and control system, is very ambiguous and dan- Third, the US decision to send B2 bombers was gerous. It invites preemption in a crisis. tailor-made to set off Chinese alarm bells, given the stealth bombing of the Chinese Embassy in 6. Power sharing Belgrade during the Kosovo crisis. Whether in- We all face a big choice: regional decision making, tended or not, the message that was sent was the institutions, and power sharing versus a balance US was sidelining China, and exercising power of power, realist, military-led competition, force unilaterally - embodying thereby the Chinese on force: “Concert” (Hugh White). worst fear about the US policy of “rebalancing” military force around China’s periphery. 7. Australia-China and Pivot The nett result: China shut down the internal Darwin: The main reason the US Marines are in debate on what to do with the DPRK and has al- Darwin is not China or Australia, but because that lowed trade to continue and exchanges to expand. is a way for the Marines to embed themselves into Indeed, Chinese companies view the crisis and an alliance relationship and make budget cuts to increased sanctions as an opportunity, because, the Marines harder in the brutal competition in as one put it, the North Koreans still have to eat, Washington. This deployment moves Marines and “Sino-DPRK economic cooperation is the away from, not closer to China! only channel for the DPRK’s external coopera- Australia should open active military-to-military tion, and China is its only destination country of relations with the Chinese People’s Liberation import and export.” Army. The DPRK’s dependence on oil and coal is high; Bases: what role can Australia play to help but it is almost impossible to translate that power Chinese have good intelligence and understand- resource into influence, because doing so would ing of US forces, especially missiles? What’s good hurt China more than sticking with the status for the US is also good for China when it comes to quo, uncomfortable as it might be. crisis stability. 136 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 14 Korea: Australia should open up an independent Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone: angle of approach to Pyongyang instead of stand- ing behind the US. The South Pacific Nuclear Weapons Free Zone is a salient experience. Conclusion A Northeast Asian NWFZ (NEA-NWFZ) requires: 1. Civil Society Organisations and China: • Termination of the state of war; build individual and organisational • Creation of a permanent council on security relationships with China to monitor the agreement Personally, I have attempted to do so ever since • Mutual declaration of no hostile intent; joining the first Green Australian delegation to • Provisions of assistance for nuclear and other China in April 1975. energy; We need to hook our wagons to the immense • Termination of sanctions.1 forces of generational change in China. The mod- 3. ANZUS ern Chinese rising leadership is transnational, cosmopolitan, multilingual, and globally net- Australia’s military should have ‘interoperability’ worked, inside and outside China. China is a truly not just with the US, but also with China (who global force. We have to support China’s transfor- will attend Pacific Rim Naval Exercise this year mation, and we have to learn from it. in Hawaii). Australia should ensure that our own inter-service (army airforce navy) interoperability The world has: isn’t being fragmented by each service integrating • National leaders:190 with their counterpart US service (replicating the • International NGOs: 50,000 US service’s difficulties in achieving interoperabil- • CEOs: 125,000 ity across Navy, Marines, AF, Army). • Cities larger than 5000 people: 23,000 Australia needs to emphasise peace keeping, and protection of our coastal zone, not long-range In this world, agents of change at every level are operations as support elements for American networked. We need to be swarming, agile, direct armadas. and potent. We cannot wait for lumbering, slow and ham-fisted states to resolve problems or to (Endnotes) create security. Let’s find people we want to work 1 See M. Halperin, “Promoting Security in Northeast with, and commit. Asia: A New Approach,” NASPNet Policy Forum, Australians should be building long-term civil so- October 30, 2012, at: http://nautilus.org/napsnet/ ciety links with Chinese counterparts. The world napsnet-policy-forum/promoting-security-in- northeast-asia-a-new-approach/#axzz2PNfMmZqO is changing incredible speed. 2. Australia should work with the Chinese to create a comprehensive security settlement and Northeast Asian

We need to hook our wagons to the immense forces of generational change in China. The modern Chinese rising leadership is transnational, cosmopolitan, multilingual, and globally networked, inside and outside China. China is a truly global force. We have to support China’s transformation, and we have to learn from it.

137 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Australia, the US-China Confrontation and the Asia-Pacific the largest economy in Today, for many the world. By area of of the countries in Peter Jennings extent, it was one of the largest empires ever South East Asia, in history. China sees the fear of China is How South East Asia Feels About their rise as a world counterbalanced the China Vs USA Confrontation superpower today as by their distaste just the return to the for the USA and natural order. Peter Jennings is Executive Officer of Union Aid their sorry history Abroad – APHEDA, the overseas aid arm of the I believe that because of imperialism ... ACTU, where he has worked for 25 years. Prior of the economic inter- to that, Peter worked in the Philippines for 10 dependence between years from 1972 until 1983. China and the USA, there is only a low possibility of direct conflict – both countries would lose too much from a war. However, there will almost One of the greatest dangers confronting some of certainly be differences arising on the periphery, the countries of South East Asia (and Australia) among the various countries seen to be aligned in the intermediate future is a potential conflict with either of the two superpowers. between the USA and China, between the waning Today, for many of the countries in South East empire and the rising superpower. Asia, the fear of China is counterbalanced by their In any conflict between the two, Australia would distaste for the USA and their sorry history of be sandwiched and would have great difficulty in imperialism (land wars in Korea and Vietnam, in- remaining neutral. stalling repressive dictatorships in the Philippines and Indonesia, etc). Since World War II, the USA has been our secu- rity ally, the one to whom we offered subservience There are a number of potential flashpoints in return for protection from the “communist between China and her neighbours which could hordes” or the “Asian invasion”. involve the USA. China, on the other hand, is now our greatest Potential Flashpoint 1 – Territorial Disputes trading partner and export destination, hence a in the South China Sea country on which we increasing rely for our eco- The Spratly Islands and Exclusive Eco- nomic wellbeing. nomic Zone dispute with the Philippines, It is postulated that by 2030, in just 17 years’ Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei & Taiwan time, if current growth trends continue, China If one were to combine all 650 atolls, reefs, rocks will have a larger economy that the USA. Of and islets that constitute Spratly Islands into one course, trends never continue in a straight line, landmass, it would barely make up five square and it is impossible to look 20 years into the kilometres. future, but there is no disputing that China’s Scattered over a vast area of ocean, this archipela- economy is growing at a much faster rate than go might seem insignificant. However, because of that of the USA. international politics, they have become the cause Eventually, parity will be reached, and then China of a dispute between six countries. will become the world’s No 1 superpower. For various reasons China, Taiwan, the Philip- Global geo-politics is always in a state of tension, pines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have all but this is especially so as one empire wanes and laid claim to these islands, some countries have another rises, and the new superpower tries to established a military presence on them, and test their strength against, and exert control over, other countries have even attempted colonisation the empire in decline. This is all the more so as of them. China remembers their history when they were These islands, and others in the South China the world’s greatest power, and sees the years Sea (eg the Paracels and also the Scarborough from 1894 to 1948 of Japanese, British and other Shoal) are important in establishing international foreign imperial rule as a brief aberration. boundaries, and hence, national economic zones. For example, during the Qing Dynasty, at the time Along with economic zones goes the rights to the of the 6th Emperor, Qianlong, China ruled more rich fishing grounds, and more importantly, the than one-third of the world’s population, and had expected oil and gas reserves believed to lie there. 138 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 14 Five of the six countries are prepared to negotiate Declaration on Security Co-operation signed in these international boundaries collectively. Some 2007, that may be a reality. (The Age 15 Feb 2013 discussions have already taken place under the – Richard Tanter). (What is the way forward for United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea territorial disputes in the East China Sea by Go (UNCLOS) guidelines, and some discussion is on- Katayama, New York University 25 March 2013). going. The sixth country, China, is claiming the Potential Flashpoint 3 – Taiwan whole of the South China Sea for themselves. Potential Flashpoint 2 – Territorial Disputes A third potential flashpoint is Taiwan. While most in the East China Sea of the countries of South East Asia acknowledge to some degree or other that Taiwan is a province The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands of China, and many Taiwanese businessmen are dispute with Japan not opposed to this view, the neo-conservatives in the US Congress believe otherwise. They are only Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan all share too willing to arm Taiwan and encourage them the East China Sea, yet there are also disputes to fight for independence. Under the current US here over the location of maritime boundaries President, conflict over this issue is highly un- and territorial sovereignty – especially over the likely, but remember, the USA voters have in the joint claims to the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands by past, elected a man with George Bush’s brains, Japan, China, and Taiwan. controlled by a man with Dick Cheney’s morals, Acquired by Japan during its colonial expan- and could well do so again. sion in the 1880s, the Senkaku Islands are under Conclusion – Where will Asia go? Japanese de facto control. China (and Taiwan) call them the Diaoyutai, and have long claimed Many of the countries of South East Asia have them as Chinese territory. Japan simply main- a grudging respect for China as the “Asian boy tains there is no dispute, and refuses to enter into made good”, but fear the Chinese method of any discussion. arbitrary decisions regarding borders. That said, China does not have a history of invading other Both sides base their claims on historical associa- countries, other than Tibet. The USA, on the tion, with both being at the very least plausible. other hand, has colonised the Philippines in the The Chinese government has called for arbitra- past, and in more recent times, has waged war tion under the Convention on the Law of the Sea against Vietnam, which spilt over into Laos and 1982 (UNCLOS). Cambodia. If there was goodwill between the various parties, Wary and fearful of both, the countries of South the UN could play a key role. Japan, China, and East Asia will probably do what they do best: try South Korea have ratified the UN Convention on and walk the tightrope between both superpow- the Law of the Sea, which reviews the scientific ers, playing one against the other when possible, grounds for exclusive economic zone claims. and try and keep both at arms’ length. Island disputes such as these could also be sub- jected to third party mediation. Implications for Australia The idea that China and Japan could be slipping towards war over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands territorial conflict is puzzling. How could the world’s second and third largest economies even ... could Australia be drawn consider the possibility of war over half a dozen into the absurdly dangerous uninhabitable islets? conflict between its two For Australians, the question is more serious largest trading partners on still: could Australia be drawn into the absurdly the side of Japan because of dangerous conflict between its two largest trad- its defence agreements with ing partners on the side of Japan because of its Japan and because of the defence agreements with Japan and because of pull of the ANZUS alliance? the pull of the ANZUS alliance? The RSL would tear their hair out at the thought of Australia going to war to defend Japan, but since the comprehensive Japan-Australia Joint 139 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Australia, the US-China Confrontation and the Asia-Pacific human security. The traditional repressive na- tional security ideology dominates more collec- Jane Corpuz-Brock tive and progressive security ideas that have been given lip-service in the White Paper. 1. US Hegemony Australia’s Neighbours and the The White Paper states – Asian Century White Paper We consider a strong and consistent presence by the United States in the region will continue to Jane Corpuz-Brock is a Philippine-born be as important in providing future confidence human rights activist, community educator in Asia’s rapidly changing strategic environ- and organiser for more than 30 years in the ment as it has in the past. We will support this Philippines, Switzerland and Australia. through our alliance with the United States. The White Paper approves expanded US military expenditure and presence, and includes a graph In her introduction to the Asian Century White showing US domination of military expenditures. Paper, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said – The US presence has a role in all three emerging History teaches us that as economic weight security challenges identified in the White Paper - shifts, so does strategic weight. • It is a counterbalance to the emerging big Thriving in the Asian century therefore requires Asian powers, and will ensure security of our nation to have a clear plan to seize the eco- resources, supply routes, protect capitalist nomic opportunities that will flow and manage “global economic governance” and the secu- the strategic challenges that will arise. rity of energy, resource and food inputs to Chapter 8 of the White Paper deals with “building capitalist ‘development’; sustainable security in the region”. • It will reinforce the existing strategic order; The White Paper describes three emerging chal- • It will address the threats posed by individu- lenges: als and groups described as “terrorists, people • The systemic impact of Asia’s economic traffickers and smugglers, pirates, transna- growth: requiring assuring access to resourc- tional criminals and hackers”. es, security of supply routes, food security 2. Comprehensive national, collective and and mitigating the adverse impacts of climate human security change. The White Paper says ‘sustainable security’ • The impact on the established strategic order “encompasses our own national security, the of the economic growth and broader interna- collective security interests of the region, and the tional interests of Asia’s large powers, espe- human security needs of its people”. Nice words. cially China and India. But the actual description in the White Paper is • The threats arising from the growing em- not so nice. powerment of individuals and non-state The elements of sustainable security are – actors. 1. Military capability According to the White Paper, managing the stra- tegic challenges that arise from economic trans- 2. US alliance – “the cornerstone of our defence formation and growth means continuing and ex- and security policy” panded US hegemony in the region, and “compre- 3. Cooperation with military and security hensive national, collective and human security”, forces of the countries of the region, includ- which is largely cooperation with the security and ing against terrorists, people traffickers and military apparatuses in the region with a history smugglers, pirates, transnational criminals of repression, in the name of security and devel- and hackers opment. Sounds familiar! Has anything changed in the past 60 years!! 4. Engagement – e.g. the Indonesia–Australia Defence Alumni Association (IKAHAN), and The underlying ideological frame promoted is continued and expanded military training, that of a comprehensive national, collective and cooperation and aid.

140 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 14

5. Threats to Australia’s people or institutions • Kraft Foods regional chief Rebecca Dee- from non-state actors like terrorists, traffick- Bradbury ers, pirates, hackers or other transnational • RMIT vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner criminals must be addressed with partners in and the advisers who oversaw the Asian other countries in South-East Asia. Century report last year – 6. Efforts against terrorism through continued • former Treasury secretary Ken Henry collaboration among security agencies. • Telstra chair Catherine Livingstone 7. Collective security: global and regional insti- tutions will be central to efforts to develop • Corrs Chambers Westgarth chief collective security in the region. executive John Denton 8. The need to form energy, food and water • Australian National University emeri- security policies and tackle climate change in tus professor of economics Peter a holistic and integrated manner. Drysdale. 9. Strengthening governance, security, justice The overemphasis on business leaders and econo- and the rule of law in all our societies assists mists reflects the nature and purpose of the White in managing and resolving conflict without Paper. violence. The absence of anyone with a human rights, Soon after the release of the White Paper, the people-to-people or grass roots perspective shows Prime Minister made her statements about the these issues are not a priority concern. Reference temporary skilled worked program (“457” visas) to comprehensive or human security is lip-service and the threat posed to “Aussie jobs” and “Aussie or window-dressing. workers”. This is an extension of the threat paint- The specific paper on the Philippines for the ed in relation to “people trafficking” and “asylum White Paper process gives an insight into the un- seekers”. The mix of language and images in the derlying concerns we should have with the Aus- White Paper demonstrates that fear of a ‘threat’ tralian Government’s perspective on ‘Australia in from Australia’s north dominates the thinking of the Asian Century’. the Government and the ruling class exploits this The specific paper discusses the links between for its political and hegemonic advantage. Australia and the Philippines, such as 225,000 We also can see the nature of the White Paper Australian with Filipino ancestry; 10,500 Filipino process from the people appointed to the strategic ‘457’ visa holders in Australia; and Australia being advisory board to help implement the plan – the largest bilateral aid donor to the Philippines, allocating almost $129 million of official develop- • Leighton Holdings chief executive Hamish ment assistance for 2012–13. It then highlights Tyrwhitt will chair the board and members counter-terrorism and investment in oil and gas will include - and mining. 141 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Australia, the US-China Confrontation and the Asia-Pacific On counter-terrorism, the paper says – The challenges that confront us are how to “The Philippines continues to respond to a effectively: multifaceted Islamist separatist movement, • Intensify community education, organizing as well as Asia’s longest-running communist and community action to stop exploitation insurgency. Australia supports and cooperates and oppression of the working class. closely with the Philippines’ security agencies in their ongoing efforts to counter terrorism. The • Fight the imperialist multinational firms and two countries’ law enforcement, defence, border banks, the IMF, World Bank and WTO as control and port and aviation security agencies tools of neo-colonialism and the US-instigat- continue to collaborate closely”. ed neoliberal policy of imperialist globaliza- tion and unbridled plunder. On oil and gas and mining the paper states – • Fight the unilateral efforts of the US as well as “Oil and gas exploration in the Philippines is the collective efforts of the imperialist powers likely to lead to the development of productive to escalate the oppression and exploitation of fields by 2025. If the Philippines can increase the people. market certainty in this sector, Australia’s role will expand. Australian oil and gas companies, • Stop the imperialists and their puppets from including BHP Billiton, Nido Petroleum and categorizing as “terrorist” revolutionary lead- Otto Energy, are already exploring in the Philip- ers, national liberation movements and gov- pines’ waters. Mining also has the potential to ernments assertive of national independence. generate significant economic and development • Oppose the US policy to step up war produc- benefits for the Philippines, and Australian tion to revive the US economy and to equip companies are well-positioned to assist in these US military forces for wars of aggression and efforts”. grabbing economic territory for plunder. The reality on the ground in the Philippines is • Expose and oppose the spread of repression that there are vicious campaigns against those and fascism under anti-terrorist laws, mili- who oppose destructive mining and resource tary intervention and wars of aggression be- exploitation on grounds of protection of com- ing unleashed under the pretext of a perma- munities and the environment, the sovereignty of nent “war on terror” by the real terrorists, US the Philippines, as well as opposition to plunder imperialism and puppet governments. by foreign corporations and local capitalists who • Condemn the doctrine of ‘pre-emptive war’ pay miniscule tax and royalties and make super as barbarism and flagrant violation of the UN profits. Charter. These vicious campaigns include falsely branding activists and community members as terrorists • Campaign against the US for perpetuating and criminals, arrests and extra-judicial killings. aggressive bilateral and multilateral military agreements, for stockpiling weapons of mass On October 18, 2012, Juvy Capion, a woman destruction and establishing more mili- member of the tribal Blaan group in the southern tary bases, forward positions and outposts Philippines, and two of her children were shot throughout the world. dead by soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. • Engage in all forms of political struggle for national liberation, democracy and social Juvy, her husband and tribe opposed the devel- liberation. opment of the massive Tampakan mine on their land. This mine project is owned by Xstrata Min- • Support the national liberation movements. ing and Indophil Australia. Whilst the massacre • Expose and oppose the various types of re- was carried out by 27th Infantry Battalion, com- formists associations (like those in the World manded by Lt. Col. Noel Alexis Bravo, a retired Social Forum and other imperialist-funded military agent employed by the local company formations) that seek to undermine and frus- owned by Xstrata and Indophil visited the village trate the people’s revolutionary struggles. and Capion in the three days before the massacre. Local residents believe this agent had a role in • Unite, cooperate and coordinate with all intelligence gathering that allowed the massacre forces that are desirous of a broad anti-impe- to take place. This is the reality behind ‘Australia rialist united front. in the Asian Century’ unless the Australian people change the reality! 142 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 15

A Left Response to the From moral hazard to Global Financial Crisis government ownership: Public control of strategic banks, splitting up banking Graham Larcombe monopolies, including Economic policies for a secure, restoring public ownership ... prosperous and sustainable 5. States should run banks as public utilities: cut future down on massive credit charges, eliminate speculation & channel funds to needed areas Graham Larcombe’s work is primarily concerned with creating sustainable jobs and 6. Financial institutions super profit tax empowering communities. 7. Special funds/institutions for regions/innova- tion/SMEs/community housing 8. Address currency speculation 9. Heavy penalties for fraud, prohibit financial 1. Sovereignty and institutions funding political campaigns and global solidarity reduce influence of credit agencies Extraordinary concentration of economic power 10. Reform of super funds (Scargill case) and wealth eg Gina Rinhart, Ann Pickard 3. Re-industrialisation and innovation Trans-Pacific Partnership • Manufacturing, industrial planning • An independent foreign policy and economic • Financing businesses orientation • Importance of markets and planning • Building our resource base (State owned en- terprises, sovereign wealth tax) – eg Norway’s • Diversity of business, role of community as- pension scheme, taking on global corporates sets • Deepening relationships with China, India, 4. Reversing the long redistribution Brazil, Indonesia etc. as well as the Pacific • Focus of the most vulnerable (indigenous, and Timor mental illness, disabilities, aged) 2. A financial system to support • Tax reform (corporate taxation, wealth tax, a real economy financial transaction, high income earners) 1. Strengthening global financial governance: • Inquiry into wealth and income distribution Abolition/ restructuring of Washington Con- Job guarantee/income guarantee, precarious sensus institutions. unemployment 2. Global Financial Transactions Tax eg on trades • Community infrastructure initiatives of stock at 0.25% could raise US$500 billion per year 5. Deepening democracy 3. Australia: Bringing the financial system under • Shifting terrains for struggles – industrial, control – bringing Reserve Bank under demo- community (eg rebel cities) cratic control and directed to promote full • Devolving democracy – resources and re- employment, ensure $A is not over-valued, sponsibilities price stability • Mobilising and engaging communities eg 4. From moral hazard to government ownership: compare with poor politics of MRRT, super Public control of strategic banks, splitting reform, carbon taxes up banking monopolies, including restoring public ownership (compare with Citibank in • Making sustainability operational – Com- the United States, Anglo-Irish Bank in Ireland, munity investment of superannuation into and Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland). regional green jobs and renewables. 143 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... A Left Response to the Global Financial Crisis homes, social hous- For people on ing investment etc. the Left this For those long-time Jean Parker opponents of Labor’s combination of accommodation to Rudd’s stimulus economic rationalism/ spending with Stimulus spending and essays neoliberalism, this was his ideological on social democracy: did Rudd’s a hopeful combina- intervention – response to the GFC tion. particularly his break with neoliberalism? It seemed possible nearly 8,000 that at long last Labor word Monthly might be coming to its essay The Global Jean Parker is a member of Solidarity, active senses and breaking in the campaign against the NT Intervention with neoliberalism in Financial Crisis – and is in the final year of her PhD at UTS which the face of one of capi- seemed immensely explores the politics of Rudd Labor’s stimulus talism’s greatest ever promising. response to the crisis of 2008. global crises. Rudd’s response to the crisis was not entirely unique. No other head of state sole-authored “The current crisis is the culmination of a a theoretical essay, but many did mount fiscal 30-year domination of economic policy by a stimulus programs. In fact so globally synchro- free-market ideology that has been variously nised was the fiscal turn that it became known as called neo-liberalism, economic liberalism, “the Keynesian moment”. However, as “moment” economic fundamentalism, Thatcherism or suggests, even as it was coined the global embrace the Washington Consensus” (Rudd 2009, p. of fiscal largesse was turning rapidly to waves of 22) fierce austerity, particularly in Europe. “The time has come, off the back of the cur- In Australia the Labor government did not make rent crisis, to proclaim that the great neo- deep budget cuts (in no small part because it has liberal experiment of the past 30 years has been in an unenviable global position of having failed, that the emperor has no clothes. Neo- avoided technical recession). However, it is also liberalism, and the free-market fundamen- clear with hindsight that Rudd’s call for a social talism it has produced, has been revealed as democratic response to the crisis was not the little more than personal greed dressed up as game changer for Labor that the Left had hoped an economic philosophy.” (Rudd 2009, p. 25) for. Then Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd respond- Parliamentary Labor emerged from the crisis still ed boldly to the economic crisis that hit Australia unanimously supporting cut-backs to areas like with the “Lehman Brothers moment” of mid- welfare to balance the budget, and forcing schools September 2008. Rudd launched an ideological to compete for funding etc. attack on neoliberalism, arguing that the crisis made the case for a revitalized social democracy. Even five years after Rudd’s “Keynesian moment” At the same time he oversaw the rebirth of inter- there is still debate about how to understand it. ventionist fiscal policy with stimulus spending of I argue that we must start from an understand- more than $70 billion injected into the economy ing that Rudd’s essay in the Monthly and Labor’s over the course of three years. stimulus spending are two sides of the same coin. Rudd’s essay was released in early February For people on the Left this combination of Rudd’s 2009, exactly contemporaneous with the launch stimulus spending with his ideological interven- of the $42 billion Nation Building Jobs Plan on tion – particularly his nearly 8,000 word Monthly February 3rd. essay The Global Financial Crisis – seemed im- mensely promising. I make the case that Rudd’s fiscal intervention- ism exemplifies his vision of the social democratic Not only was the Labor Prime Minister prepared state – which is essentially a re-branding of the to identify “neo-liberalism” as responsible for the Blairite Third Way. Rudd strips the term “social Global Financial Crisis (GFC), but there was ac- democracy” of all of its traditional content. Gone tion attached – money for school infrastructure, is any commitment to protecting workers and the fully subsidized roof insulation for millions of poor from the injustices and inequalities created 144 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 15 by the market. Neither is there commitment to However, for making a Having defined progressively increase the weight of the govern- case in support of unprec- neoliberalism ment in the economy or move towards nation- edented fiscal stimulus, alization of key sections of capitalism (however this definition serves as essentially defined). Rudd’s purposes perfectly. anti-state, Rudd This is why the crisis is of then suggests Rudd defines social democracy as equating to such import to Rudd’s call government intervention into the economy in that social “…to recast the role of the the interests of improving the operations of the democracy state and its associated so- market. is simply any cial democracy as a com- To understand what Rudd is arguing in The Glob- prehensive philosophical politics in al Financial Crisis we need to look beyond his framework for the future” support of ability to wax extremely lyrical about the crimes (Rudd 2009, p. 25). the state. of the “unrestrained free market”. In essence the According to Rudd, since essay consists of a re-interpretation of neoliberal- neoliberals necessarily ism and social democracy. Rudd starts by estab- reject government intervention of any sort, there- lishing the view that neoliberals have used their fore it can only be social democratic governments hegemonic control of decision making these past that are prepared to rise to the historical chal- thirty years to free the market from all forms of lenge of bailing out the banks and constructing government interference. That they have sought stimulus spending: to remove of the regulation of markets (Rudd 2009, p. 22), and limit governments’ “… capac- “Not for the first time in history, the international ity … to invest in education, health and economic challenge for social democrats is to save capital- infrastructure…” (Rudd 2009, p. 22) through ism from itself…” (Rudd 2009, p. 20) consistent rounds of tax-cuts. The historical record gets Rudd into all sorts of However, this cardboard cut-out version of neo- tangles however. Even by February 2009[1] it liberalism bears no relationship to what neolib- was clear that the “Keynesian turn” had infected a eral governments have actually done. range of governments that could not be described as even ostensibly “social democratic”: The rhetoric of the “free market” has never been seriously aimed at eliminating government, or Overview of global economic stimulus in indeed the regulation of markets. If it had been response to the 2008-09 we would not see the sustained (or in many cases Crisis (as a % of 2008 GDP, weighted increased) level of government spending since the averages) 1970s that we do in Australia, the US, and many other OECD countries [a point made in response Source: (EC-IILS Joint Discussion Paper Series to Rudd’s essay by commentators on the neoliber- No. 5 A Review of Global Fiscal Stimulus 2011) al Right and the radical Left (Battin 2009; Cahill Pink Batts and school halls – the politics of 2009; Costa 2009; Henderson 2009)]. Rudd Labor’s stimulus packages: Further, markets are no less regulated, even if I argue that while the “Keynesian moment” saw a those regulations are now more profit-friendly genuine break with the previous norms of neolib- then previously. “Really existing” (Cahill 2009) eral economic management – the preference for neoliberals have not attempted to demolish the monetary fine-tuning over fiscal intervention – it state, but rather to transform it. did not break with the broader tenets of neoliber- Source: (Architecture of Australia’s tax and alism. In fact what we see is the rapid construc- transfer system 2008, p. 192) tion of a “neoliberalised fiscalism” in response to However, what is really at stake in Rudd’s ac- the apocalyptic financial crash of 2008. count of “neo-liberalism” is his definition of social Rather than this globally coordinated government democracy. intervention leading to the collapse of the neolib- Having defined neoliberalism as essentially anti- eral paradigm, instead that paradigm is updated state, Rudd then suggests that social democracy to feature the imperative for the state to save is simply any politics in support of the state. This capital from itself. is woefully inadequate. As mentioned above, it Rudd Labor’s stimulus package conforms to the strips social democracy of its class perspective, global trends of generous fiscal spending targeted and of all content. to the sections of capital hardest hit by the crash, 145 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... A Left Response to the Global Financial Crisis and those most central in the maintenance of of PPPs (Public Private What we find GDP. The stimulus packages can therefore be Partnerships) under the is a frightening seen as an application of the goals of neoliberal- rubric of National Competi- ism to the novel magnitude of the crisis: tion Policy introduced by snap-shot 1. Stimulus programs are specially designed to the Keating Labor govern- of what temporarily hold up flagging industries, rather ment in the early 1990s the “state” than targeted to social need or employment. means that programs may consists of be ostensibly “government” 2. Under the mantra of “timely, targeted and after decades but nevertheless they are temporary”[2] the majority of the stimulus of neoliberal designed and implemented spend is directed to specially designed discrete by for-profit corporations. restructuring. projects (that don’t encourage the perception that the Labor government will meet chronic Government service deliv- social needs such as public school funding, ery has been transformed into the administration public transport etc). of taxpayer’s funds to private corporations or the 3. Stimulus programs are delivered, (and many administration of cash payments to the gen- times designed and project-managed) through eral public through the tax system or the social the market with Public Private Partnerships, security system. The stimulus spending is there- rebates and direct cash payments. fore delivered through a range of public private partnerships: 4. Despite the largesse of the programs, no at- tempt is made to use them to begin to reverse $14.7 billion Building the Education Revo- the erosion of capacity for direct government lution (BER): service provision that has resulted from neo- Federal money administered by states and ter- liberal restructuring. ritories through either 5. Rudd Labor consistently maintains an ideo- logical opposition to deficit-spending and sup- a) Public school system: port for its opposite – budget surpluses (quite “Managing contractor model” with the respective despite the contrary impact of the stimulus Department of Education contracting construc- spending). tion firms including Bovis Lend Lease, Reed 6. Australia’s stimulus spending gains the sup- Construction, Abigroup, and Brookfield Multiplex port of the domestic and global economic to oversee and run the program. elite: The Australian Industry Group (AIG), b) Private school system: The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), the Federal Treasury (who State or Territory Department of Education hands designed the overall program), the Reserve funds to specially created Block Grant Authorities Bank of Australia (RBA), the International of non-government schools. Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Organisation $2.4 billion Home Insulation Program for Economic Coordination and Development (HIP): (OECD). At the advice of private law firm Minter Ellison, Fiscal activism meets the privatized state: Peter Garrett’s Department of Environment (DE- Over $70 billion of government spending within WHA) moved from a managing contract model the course of three years, Rudd’s stimulus spend- (such as that used under the BER) to a Medicare ing “turbo-charged” the operations of government administered rebate system. The rationale for this at all level, or “stress-tested” the state as Tim model includes the incapacity of DEWHA to man- Roxburgh has described it (Roxburgh 2012). The age major contracts, the need to “out-source” the programs were highly scrutinized, and some, such financial and legal risks of the program away from as the Home Insulation Program and the Building DEWHA, and the idea that the market is the best the Education Revolution (school halls) program way to ensure the “probity” of the scheme. became public scandals that generated a spate This model allowed the HIP to over-reach its of inquiries and reviews. This material provides stimulus targets, with the number of insulations near-forensic detail of the assumptions inbuilt completed per month doubling the number pre- into the stimulus programs. dicted. What we find is a frightening snap-shot of what However, the program is terminated after the the “state” consists of after decades of neoliberal death of four young workers, 120 house fires, and restructuring. The legacy of the proliferation 146 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 15 the realization by Garrett that the government’s Cahill, D. 2009, ‘Is neoliberalism history’, Social alter- previous three attempts to increase safety regula- natives, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 12-16. tions under the scheme were having little impact Costa, M. 2009, ‘Rudd on a dangerous, ill-informed on the work practices of workers employed by crusade’, The Australian, February 6 2009. third-parties. EC-IILS Joint Discussion Paper Series No. 5 A Review of Global Fiscal Stimulus 2011, INTERNATIONAL $23 billion Cash Payments: LABOUR ORGANIZATION INTERNATIONAL IN- October 2008 Economic Security Strategy: STITUTE FOR LABOUR STUDIES, . • $1000 to 7.7 million recipients of Family Tax Henderson, G. 2009, Rudd neo-liberal with the facts, Benefit A and B with dependent children Gerard Henderson’s Weekly Column, vol. 2012, no 3 February 2009, The Sydney Institute. • $14,000 to people purchasing a home under IMF 2009, The State of Public Finances: Outlook the First Home Owners Grant, and $21,000 and Medium-Term Policies After the 2008 Crisis, to people purchasing a newly constructed INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, . February 2009 Nation Building Jobs Plan: A review of global fiscal stimulus, EC-IILS Joint • $900 taxpayer bonus goes to 8.7 million tax- Discussion Paper Series No. 5 2011, International payers who earned under $80,000 in the pre- Institute for Labor Studies. vious financial year. Those earning $80,000 Roxburgh, T. 2012, Public works need public sector – $90,000 were eligible for a $600 payment, skills: the lost lessons of the BER program, Centre and those earning $90,000 – $100,000 for for Policy Development. $250. Rudd, K. 2009, ‘The Global Financial Crisis’, MONTH- LY, February 2009, pp. 20 – 29. • $900 “Training and Learning Bonus” to Footnotes people receiving: Youth Allowance, Austudy, Sickness Allowance, Special Benefit, Family [1] The International Institute for Labor Studies(A re- Tax Benefit A (21 to 24 year olds) view of global fiscal stimulus, EC-IILS Joint Discus- sion Paper Series No. 5 2011, p. 5) showed that the • $900 “Farmers Hardship Bonus” overwhelming bulk of stimulus had been deployed in the first five months of the crisis – i.e. it had been • $900 “Education Entry Supplement” was announced if not deployed by the publication of paid to Youth Allowance recipients who are Rudd’s essay. not full-time students. [2] See the table on the final page for the temporary • $900 “Back to School Bonus” paid to families nature, and types, of stimulus packages in G-20 for each child between 4 and 18 who qualifies countries. for Family Tax Benefit A. The prominence and promise of Rudd’s ideo- logical and economic responses to the crisis of 2008 offer us important insights into the limits of Labor’s social democracy. Rather than a break Rather than a break with with neoliberalism, Rudd’s response to the crisis neoliberalism, Rudd’s response represents its entrenchment in Labor and in the to the crisis represents its very operations of government after three dec- ades of restructuring. entrenchment in Labor and Sources in the very operations of government after three IMF 2009. decades of restructuring. Architecture of Australia’s tax and transfer system 2008, Treasury, Canberra. Battin, T. 2009, ‘Is the Left Ready to Displace the Right?’, Social alternatives, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 30-36.

147 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Summary of Workshops Reports

Workshop 2 Workshop 4 Empowering Aboriginal Equality, Race and and Torres Strait Islander Refugees in Australia communities Leadership should not fall in behind the leftovers of white Australia and their racism. • Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution and Campaign Priorities removal of race clauses in the Constitution • Remove the ‘no disadvantage’ test for asylum is vital, and must be driven by community seekers who reach Australia, establish their forums and trade union support. right to be processed and to work, and to have • Compulsory income management is here to equal rights with Australian citizens to appeal stay until we force its repeal. The NT Inter- adverse ASIO security assessments. vention has failed on important employment, • There should be no offshore processing and incarceration, education and child protection no mandatory detention, and those asylum measures. seekers on Manus Island and Nauru must be • The destruction of TAFE is having a huge im- immediately brought to Australia. pact on education of Aboriginal people. TAFE • Programs for people recently settled here and needs a new perspective related to Aboriginal for multiculturalism in its broadest applica- context, history and lifestyle. tion should be reevaluated and upgraded. • Land Rights is a way to empower local com- • Family Reunion rights for refugees should be munities but is being undermined by the neo- restored. liberal perspective for individual gain through corporate investment.

Workshop 5 Workshop 3 Learning From Elsewhere Feminist solutions are A united Left with a clear socialist feminist eco- logical agenda must be part of the alternatives to Collective the programs and policies of the International Poverty and policies that control women are Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, major challenges, and the feminist movement and to counter the threat of far right nationalist/ needs to promote equality, rights and a non- fascist/racists that take advantage of the crisis. discriminatory income support system, using the new online energy such as Destroy the Joint to go The Left has to use novel attractive language to offline and into the suburbs. We need to build a clearly explain the neoliberal framework in order better organised and coordinated movement, that to fight it, and it must engage in international can integrate humour, with research, lobbying dialogue and solidarity as part of this effort. and direct action. The movement needs to consult properly with women, really encourage the building of the F- Workshop 6 Collective and continue to develop international links. Stronger Public Sector and a Fair Tax System

148 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Our model of social movement unionism is vital based Lock The Gate movement should be a to project public services as positives for our so- major focus for support from urban move- ciety and to attack myths about the public sector, ments. and to develop a progressive framework for taxes • Profits from resource exploitation are priva- and public services. tised, but the costs are socialized, especially The Left must expose the political tricks of Coali- health and loss of ecosystem. The Left needs tion governments to use ‘audits’ to impose cuts on new language about the value of the environ- the public sector. ment and the services of eco-systems, as part of the collective good. The communication problem has to be solved in a creative way, because the neo-liberal strategy is sophisticated. The carbon tax and the Renewable Energy Target Workshop 9 are two ideas the Left can use to mobilize, with a focus on economic security and ecological sus- Progressive Futures tainability. • Increase youth voter enrollment and engage- ment Workshop 7 • Mobilise people to take back power for them- selves through an open grassroots organis- ing model, which would force the political Free Trade Agreements process to be more transparent. vs Jobs and the Public Interest • Create awareness by writing letters to the media and to Members of Parliament, build- Workshop 10 ing the Australian Fair Trade & Investment Network (AFTINET). Sustainable Futures • Take part in international days of action on The Left should promote the concept of Super the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Renewable as a genuine investment of retirement World Trade Organisation and other corpo- savings in renewable energy, encouraging fund rate-driven trade forums. members to make a switch. 100% Renewables Australia is a grassroots or- ganising movement for direct action to mitigate Workshop 8 climate change in industry and the community, and the Left should support it. Food and Resource The Left above all should explain in clear lan- guage the need to live within our ecological limits, Security in the capitalist and how positive change is a better guarantee of job security and income support than the carbon- crisis based economy. Food and Resource Security issues are at the heart of all problems, but only some of them are Practical solutions for renewable energy for all seen as open to political action. kinds of urban and rural situations need policy support, while perverse subsidies to the fossil fuel • Small farming is more productive than large- industry need to be cut. scale farming, but Australian policy is against this as we are food exporters. Permaculture, A network for renewable energy and energy ef- land care and other alternative frameworks ficiency investment needs to be built and trans- are available. formed into a broader network for sustainable living, dealing with food, waste, and energy. • Soil and water quality are strongly impacted Corporations which oppose sustainability need to by coal seam gas extraction via fracking, and be identified and targeted. by large scale open cut coal mining. This industry needs to be stopped, and the farmer- 149 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Workshop 11 With class conscious political leadership, unions can fight for and win much better labour laws with stronger rights for workers and their unions, Campaigning for a especially the right to strike, and better national Green Future OH&S. Much more public protest is needed nation-wide From the Your Rights at Work campaign we know to assert the ecological alternatives. how to fight on our values and how to create an agenda for change, with unions as the agents for Government Procurement for equipment of change. We know that good campaigns restore public housing and other public buildings must workers’ belief in their value. The new ACTU Se- not become part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership cure Work campaign needs to build on the experi- Free Trade Agreement if we want government to ence of the Your Rights At Work campaign. use products developed by the Earthworker Coop initiative. The mining industry should be nationalised under workers’ control, and an effective mining super Workshop 14 profits tax needs to be revisited. There must be a moratorium on the clear felling Australia, the US-China of high-value mixed-age ecologically important Confrontation and the forests, and support for alternatives such as paper from non-wood resources. Asia-Pacific Government should support investment in large- The Left should promote an Australian people’s scale solar energy plants. alternative to the government’s Asian Century White Paper. This is an urgent task. The Left should campaign for the establishment of the Earthworker Coop in each state and terri- As well, a longer term education campaign is tory. needed on the proposed US drone base in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and the significance of the 2,500 US Marines based in Darwin. Workshop 12 Instead of looking for corporate profits in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia should focus on Secure Work in a poverty alleviation and genuine development. This will really help create a peaceful and sustain- Green Future able future, compared to the neoliberal and US The Left must translate existing policy and plans strategic policies now being implemented. for industry sustainability into campaigns and or- ganise links between unions and the community. A transition plan needs industry involvement, Workshop 15 resources and training. It must address deep con- cerns about insecure work on the one hand, and A Left Response to the better productivity on the other. Global Financial Crisis The Left must work to neutralize state attempts to co-opt civil society to support its ‘budget surplus’, Workshop 13 ‘low debt’ austerity programs. Instead, the Left must promote the public sector for service deliv- Strategies for Stronger ery, and demand fair trade not free trade. Given the need for international organisation and Trade Unions resistance to the corporate drive for elimination The Left can help make stronger unions by of workers’ rights and social programs, the Left developing and educating workplace delegates, must broaden the understanding of the global promoting workplace democracy, and organising capitalist crisis, promote deeper democracy as the cross-union solidarity. Strong workplace leaders alternative, and mobilise big protest movements. will develop through this process. 150 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... 2010 National Left Renwal Conference From Global Crisis to Green Future .... University of Technology Sydney, May 29-30 2010 Conference Declaration A Left Action Plan: From global crisis to green future …

The Australian people are caught in the We are living in a time of profound ongoing global economic, social and crisis requiring audacious and profound political crisis and an even more profound change in our global society and in the global environmental crisis. The federal Left itself. We need deep ongoing debate Labor government responded quickly of our ideas and practices. and positively to the initial impact of the Great Recession of 2008-09 but, having The Left in Australia has a proud failed to effectively regulate the market record of promoting: like most governments, it is back to neo- • the rights of working people to decent liberal ‘business-as-usual’. However, wages and conditions, and union and there has been a complete failure to political organisation, and extended address the environmental challenge. workplace democracy Australia gave away the opportunity to • equality for women play an international leadership role on • respect for lesbian, gay, bi-, and the threat of global warming. transgender sexuality Political leaders failed to seize the • universal access to public health, moment to tackle the root causes of education and welfare services these crises – global over-production, • the rights of Indigenous Australians unregulated finance markets, corporate and improvement of their living power and war - or to redress the standards inequities of the long preceding period of • the rights of immigrants, refugees and neo-liberal policies, including privatisation migrant workers of key public assets and de-regulation • of markets. Marginalised communities, international solidarity against poverty, dictatorship, war and the especially Aboriginal and Torres threat of nuclear weapons Strait Island peoples, are left behind, discriminated against and often vilified. • a genuine multicultural society • environmental protection and green On global warming and many other policy bans areas, the Australian people remain • captive to an agenda that is built around dynamic community arts sustaining profits in the interests of the • a vigorous, innovative and free media wealthy and privileged few, rather than • defending and extending democracy building a fair and sustainable economy in Australia. and society for future generations.

151 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... We renew our commitment to this collective 11. support international struggles for peoples approach to meet today’s national and global economic, political and cultural rights, and for challenges, encouraging younger generations ecological sustainability. of social activists to rebuild left and progressive 12. join local campaigns to cut back carbon emis- movements. sions and build renewable energy systems We call on all parts of the Left in Australia to: preferably under democratic collective owner- 1. value and renew our democratic and militant ship. heritage of struggle for human and social lib- 13. work for a transition to an ecologically sus- eration, recognising the deep promise it holds tainable society, including education as a key for humanity and our planet. strategy. 2. commit to democratic social ownership and 14. support election candidates who are commit- control as the alternative to both corporate ted to left and environmentally sustainable capitalism and state socialism. Oppose priva- policies. tisation. The new society will democratically combine public ownership, community and We strive for practical unity with all left traditions cooperative ownership and private enterprise. who wish to work together in achieving these The new economy cannot be based on an outcomes and commit to ongoing discussion and engine of limitless growth. collaboration based on this declaration. 3. recognise that capitalism has been unable to Adopted May 30, 2010 address inequality, war, and ecological degra- dation, and must be replaced by a democratic At the Australian Left Renewal system that puts human need before greed, Conference, UTS and socialises wealth instead of debt. 4. embrace the principles of democracy, social justice and environmental sustainability, as the basis for the renewal of the left, socialist and progressive movements. 5. support the struggles of Indigenous Austral- ians for land rights, cultural rights and ending discrimination. 6. rebuild, educate and network the worker and student movements, strengthen the diverse community and neighborhood movements, and build even stronger ties with the activist environment movement. 7. work to empower people who experience poverty, the elderly and young, those with disability, and those isolated through location and lack of opportunity, with the aim of ending inequality. 8. work with immigrants, refugees and migrant workers’ groups and organisations to end discrimination and disadvantage. 9. expose and reduce the power of the blocs of capital which inflict the greatest damage on people and the planet – especially the energy, finance and corporate media sectors. 10. use new means of campaigning and technol- ogy to win community support, create local organisations and mount effective policy debates.

152 Secure Jobs in a Green Future ... Left renewal The SEARCH Foundation conducted a series of ‘Roundtables’ on topics ranging from ‘Re-imagining the Good Society’, to the tension between ‘the market’, the state and the common good, to the challenge of an ecologically-sustainable economy, privatisation, the impact of the Great Recession of 2008-09, and democracy, national identity and racism. These Roundtables have been held in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, Launceston and Brisbane, from 2007 to 2010, and culmi- nated in the first Australian Left Renewal Conference at UTS on 29-30 May 2010 at the University of Technology Sydney. The papers from this conference are at http://www.search.org.au/projects/ from-global-crisis-to-green-future-australian-left-renewal-conference. Following the 2010 federal election the SEARCH Foundation worked to implement the conference declaration, and held a further series of Roundtables, covering taxation, and job security issues, and also conducted a national speaking tour by UK economics campaigner, Ann Pettifor, on why we can really afford to build an ecologically sustainable economy. All presentations are available on the SEARCH website at www.search.org.au/projects/roundtables The 2013 National Left Renewal Conference was convened by an organising committee created by the participants in the 2010 conference, in November 2012. The presentations from the first Roundtable topic were published in hard copy: Shared Values, Shared Future: Re-imagining the Good Society, Collected papers 2007-08. 104pp. $10.00. Other SEARCH Foundation publications Enemies of a Fair Society, Mapping the Right in Australia, the USA and UK SEARCH Foundation, 2013, booklet, $2. Greed or Survival? By Max Bound, 2012, $15 Australian Communism in the 20th Century, a graphic history SEARCH Foundation 2011, $15 Project for a 21st Century Democratic Ecological Socialism SEARCH Foundation, 2010. $5.00 The Last Great Cause - Volunteers from Australia and Emilia-Romagna in defence of the Spanish Republic, 1936-1939 By V.G. Venturini, 2010. $45.00 Never Give In - Three Italian Anti-Fascist Exiles in Australia 1924-1956 By V. G. Venturini, 2008. $45.00 The CPA - Lessons for the 21st Century Proceedings of a seminar at UTS, October 22, 2000. 23pp. $5.00 Ecological Sustainability in Australia, Achievements and Challenges By Vanessa Jackson, 1997. 118pp. $15.00 How Green has Australia Become? an assessment Vanessa Jackson, ed David Hudson, 1997, 36pp. $5.00 Community over Market Solutions, Report to Participants May 1996, 32pp. $10.00

Also on sale: ASIO: The Enemy Within By Michael Tubbs, 2008, 275pp. $30

SEARCH Foundation, 128 Chalmers St, SURRY HILLS NSW 2010. Ph: 02 9698 4918. Email: [email protected] Website: www.search.org.au