Despite the best efforts of the men in yellow…
Dazzling Magpies fly to the top of the ladder… Pies smash Saints… Pies flaunt premiership credentials…
Collingwood 4.4 7.7 11.7 15.10 (100)
St Kilda 1.4 3.5 4.11 6.16 (52)
Official Crowd: 81,386 at the MCG.
Update : Unions unite to support Kennon Auto workers, Sue Bolton & Anna Maidstone, Green Left Weekly, July 17, 2010. See also : NOT A GOOD FEELING, TCFUA Media Release, July 13, 2010.
The industrial dispute @ Kennon Auto Pty Ltd (32-46 Chifley Drive, Preston, VIC 3072: (03) 9474 0300), which began several weeks ago, has entered into a crucial stage, with production having stopped, stockpiles having been liquidated, and management now attempting to bring in new supplies (having already hired a large number of new, casual workers to replace those on strike) in order to meet contractual obligations with Toyota Australia. Today (Friday), management attempted to truck in new supplies, but the trucks were stopped by picketers — this despite the company having enlisted members of the Tactical Response Group (!) as well as having the otherwise unremarkable assistance of uniformed police.
Kennon is a former Nylex factory, and manufactures supplies for Toyota Australia. The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) has coverage at the factory, and has organised a campaign in support of striking workers (you can make a donation to the workers here). The company has recently undergone a change in ownership, and the new management is attempting to institute a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA), one which attacks existing pay and conditions. Further, workers at Kennon have not received a wage rise in almost three years (for moar infos, please see : Workers denied pay rise for three years, Ron Guy, Green Left Weekly, July 3, 2010).
The next few days would appear to be crucial ones in determining the outcome of the dispute, and management is again expected to try and bring in new supplies tomorrow morning. For this reason, members of the general community are being encouraged to join striking workers on the picket line from 6am tomorrow morning, Saturday July 17…
Maybe.
Maybe not.
But with a Federal election due any day now, I thought it was about time I again surveyed the local Trotskyist* scene, and thus ascertain: Who looks forward to this historical opportunity to seize state power by way of the ballot box?
To begin with, the latest addition to the Guide: the Revolutionary Socialist Party.
Oddly, given her impeccable** feminist and Marxist credentials, the communist Van Thanh Rudd has thrown down the gauntlet at the feet of the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and will be drawing her into the elaborate performance piece Rudd has given the provisional title of Lalor Election 2010. Otherwise, in early 2010, the RSP announced that Hamish Chitts would be going into battle against The Rudd Formerly Known as the Australian Prime Minister in the seat of Griffith (see : RSP federal election campaign: No racism! No war! For a working people’s government!, Kathy Newnam, Direct Action, No.22, May 2010).
The RSP’s evil Siamese twin is the Socialist Alliance. It will be fielding a range of candidates this year — about two dozen, in fact.
Socialist Alternative (SAlt) is not standing any candidates at the election — and I don’t remember it, or its precursors within the iSt, having done so at any electoral contest in the past — but does urge anyone who cares to put the Tories last on the ballot:
In the coming elections Socialist Alternative advocates giving a first preference vote to either Labor, the Greens or others who are genuinely left-wing, like socialist candidates, and putting the Liberals last. However what really matters is not what we do in our five minutes in the polling booths, but what we do day in and day out to build a fighting movement that can begin to turn the tide in our favour.
The other groupuscule most closely allied to SAlt is Solidarity. As far as I can tell, it’s position is more-or-less the same as SAlt’s: vote for leftist and/or Green candidates where possible, but put the Liberals (Coalition) last. This also appears to be the position of the Socialist Party (SP), who have the rare distinction, along with the SA, of having experienced some success at the ballot box.
Along with SAlt, Solidarity, and the SP, the other explicitly Trotskyist party in Australia is the Socialist Equality Party. Federally-registered, it regularly participates in bourgeoisie elections, and regularly comes last.
The two main non-Trotskyist Marxist parties are the Communist Party of Australia and the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist). In early 2009, the CPA was the primary (and perhaps sole) initiator of the Communist Alliance, which has since fielded one candidate, Bob Briton. Briton was very happy at his success in the SA seat of Lee (Great result for Communist Party in Lee says candidate, March 24, 2010). The CPA’s cousin in the CPA (M-L), meanwhile, do not appear to stand their own candidates, tho’ former members have assumed high office (see : Stalin! FARK! Avakian! Mao! Rage! Muzak!, January 30, 2008).
Otherwise…
The Freedom Socialist Party was once a member of the Socialist Alliance, but left several years ago. They will almost certainly not be standing a candidate, but will presumably advocate voting for somebody else. The Progressive Labour Party, on the other hand, was once registered, and contested elections under its own steam, but is now seemingly defunct (or perhaps merely resting). According to Trotskyist Platform, “If You Support Socialism then You Must Defend North Korea!”, but If You Support Socialism then Who Must You Vote for in the Upcoming Election?
Given the above, a more significant ‘progressive’ challenge to the ALP will likely come from the Greens. In Melbourne, widely considered to be The Seat Most Likely, law-talking guy Adam Bandt will square off against former union hack Cath Bowtell — an ”inner-urban progressive family woman”, presumably. A member of the Socialist Left faction, despite making all the right noises, Bowtell’s job has not been made any easier by party policy on gay marriage (against) and on locking up asylum seekers in foreign countries (for).
See also : What happened to the Left? (February 27, 2010) | The Long Strange Posthumous Life of Leon Trotsky (September 1, 2009).
A few weeks ago, British QUANGO the Parades Commission gave the go-ahead to a “Cultural Demonstration” by the Blue Man Group followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh the Orange Order (LOL No 647 Earl Of Erne) in Ardoyne, Belfast.
And the rest, as they say, is over 400 years of History.
And ah, screaming headlines.
And er, riot pr0n.
Anyway, the media is doing its bit to bring about a peaceful resolution to the centuries-old conflicts in Northern Ireland/The Six Counties. (Paola Totaro, Fairfax corporation’s Europe correspondent, summarises the political situation as follows: “The great majority of the British Army, seemingly ever-patient and self-controlled, stood for years as Irish kids baited and yelled, shoved and provoked. A handful of soldiers used well-placed butts while guns were fired only in response to the vandalism.”) Thus ‘The Mirror describes it as “wanton violence for the sake of it”. The Irish News calls it “shameful”. For the News Letter, the blame lies with dissident republicans “who have nothing to offer this community”.’
Otherwise, The Guardian‘s reportage on the mere fact that police intend to publish photos of persons of interest (Northern Ireland police chief to publish images of Ulster rioters, Henry McDonald, July 13, 2010) singularly fails to match the enthusiasm with which The Age undertook the task in 2006. On the other hand, the devastation the G20 protests brought to Melbourne that year easily overshadow the 82 police injured in 48 hours in rioting in Belfast and Co Armagh (Belfast police, Catholic rioters clash over parade, Shawn Pogatchnik, The Washington Post (The Associated Press), July 12, 2010).
See also : Ardoyne Sit Down Protest Attacked by PSNI | A personal account of the annual Orange Order parades from Belfast to Bangor (2009) | The Orange Order & sectarianism in Ireland.
It’s not just the name of a Flipper album.
As part of an elaborate plot involving the shipment of massive amounts of KGB gold hidden among mountains of bagels — a mad dash across the globe made at the behest of an Athenian dog whose er, tentacles (if she had them) would extend deep into the heart of the famous anarchist quarter of Wellington — I’m taking a break from blogging for a few days, or maybe even a week or two.
In the meantime:
Anarcho-blogging roundup
Phil DickensI’m currently away from home (and thus my own PC) in London.I will be home tomorrow, and normal blogging service will resume therafter. Whilst I’m on this – extremely brief – blogging hiatus, though, here’s a quick roundup of other worthwhile anarchist and left-libertarian reads.The Cactus Mouth Informer tells us why ending povery isn’t like changing the fuse in a plug.The Liverpool Solidarity Federation congratulates German anarcho-syndicalists FAU-B on their court victory. Brighton SolFed have an emergency budget special edition of their newsletter out.Their local No Borders comrades offers some comment on recent forcible deportations both here and here. They also ask “Just Who Is Responsible For UK’s Worsening Treatment Of Migrants?“Adam Form has excellent reviews of both The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists and Simon Pirani’s The Russian Revolution in Retreat, 1920-24. The latter offering historical context on the Russian revolution which ties in nicely with my Property is Theft post on Communism and the State.Seán from The Soul of Man Under Capitalism lifts The Veils of Illusion from Tory cuts and dissects the budget. Julia at 10 Minutes Hate has a similar assesment of the budget as well as a warning to children not to bully the weird kids.Slackbastard @ndy has coverage of Kiwis arrested in Toronto, as well as the continuing misadventures of Australia’s fascists here, here and here.To round everything off, whilst contemplating the ConDem government’s policy of “dis a disabled,” Bendy Girl is suffering Oxycontin withdrawal.There are more than a few good reads in there, which should tide things over until I return to Liverpool. If you still end up lacking anything to fill that time, I’d suggest that you’re not really using the internet properly.
Otherwise:
Intensive surveillance of ‘violent radicalisation’ extended to embrace suspected “radicals” from across the political spectrum.
Tony Bunyan
Spectrezine
June 30, 2010
Chronicle of a Riot Foretold
George Ciccariello-Maher
Counterpunch
June 29, 2010
“As the trial of former transit cop Johannes Mehserle for the murder of Oscar Grant rushes at breakneck speed toward its conclusion, spurred by the insistence of Judge Robert Perry and political imperative, ominous clouds of injustice begin to crowd the political horizon in anticipation of a verdict, which could come as soon as this week. But while it is this injustice that we should most fear, too many are focusing their fear and the fear of others on the possibility of a repeat of last year’s street rebellions should Mehserle be acquitted or convicted of a lesser charge…”
The first war on terror
Laura Miller
Salon.com
June 20, 2010
Miller reviews “A new history of bomb-throwing anarchists and conniving intelligence agents in the 1800s”; it is “chillingly familiar”. Three months earlier, so did Stuart Christie (The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists and Secret Agents, The Guardian, March 27, 2010). I think The Slow Burning Fuse: The lost history of the British Anarchists by John Quail is neat, while the Kate Sharpley Library continues to find bodies buried beneath the mounds of bourgeois history. The International Campaign Against Anarchist Terrorism, 1880-1930s (Richard Bach Jensen) provides some historical context for the antics of the anarcholocos…
Word on the street is that there’s a 24-hour picket at the former Nylex factory in Preston (32/46 Chifley Drive), now home to a company (?) manufacturing textiles for the automotive industry (Toyota). The TCFUA has coverage at the factory, the workers have not had a pay increase in 3/4 years, and numbers are apparently needed in order to help stop trucks going in. Management is not being helpful, and cameras are being used to film the picket.
Or so I’m told.
The second installment in the Scott Hull (PIG DESTROYER, AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED) curated series of compilations, ‘This Comp Kills Fascists Vol. 2’ collects the very best from today’s sprawling underground grindcore, hardcore and punk scenes. ‘This Comp Kills Fascists Vol. 2’ features new and exclusive material from legends like DESPISE YOU, LACK OF INTEREST, CROM, and APARTMENT 213 as well as material from NOISEEAR, OWEN HEART, EXTORTION, and more that must be heard to be believed. ‘This Comp Kills Fascists Vol. 2’ is an indispensable look at the worldwide underground, and fast becoming the crucial compilation series of this generations grind scene.
Note that the most recent fascist entry into the local metal scene was conducted by way of Gareth Sansom’s ‘White Noise Productions’ [www.myspace.com/whitenoiseaustralia]. Despite the *nudge nudge / wink wink* name, normally, budding entrepreneurs of this kind have the noûs not to parade their views too openly, but Sansom made the mistake of promoting local neo-Nazi network ‘Blood & Honour’ on his MySpace page.
D’oh!
The fact that the Victorian organiser of ‘Blood & Honour’, Justin O’Brien, is the man behind the counter at Hold Fast Body Art in Burwood, or that he’s promised to violently put an end to my blogging activities, does not appear to have resulted in any significant downturn in trade, however, so maybe Sansom should have simply stuck to his guns… or is there really no Lebensraum for fascists in heavy metal these days?
See also : This Comp Kills Fascists Vol. 2 on Facebook | Metalheads Against Racism | This Comp Kills Fascists | “What Will The Nazis Think?” (I don’t care!) (April 28, 2010) | N – – – – r lovers and faggots // Bullets in your head! (December 29, 2009).
A journalist on assignment for The Guardian newspaper was arrested and beaten by police officers at the site of a peaceful demonstration on The Esplanade near the G20 security fence in downtown Toronto at approximately 11:00 p.m. 26 June 2010. Having been punched in the stomach and elbowed in the back by officers, it is believed that Jesse Rosenfeld, a 26-year-old writer from Toronto, was then taken to the temporary detention facility on Eastern Avenue in Toronto.
~ TVOntario journalist Steve Paikin witnesses beating and arrest of Guardian reporter at G20 protest, Chris Davenport, The ACTivist Magazine, June 27, 2010
Pretty much, yeah: same old story. Media demonisation; monitoring, infiltration and intimidation of activist groups; establishment of security perimeters; introduction of new / suspension of established laws; peremptory arrests; deliberate targeting of organisers and independent media; use of excessive force… blah blah blah. Now that the protests are officially over, the same events produce the same analyses. Otherwise, ruling elites agreed with one another that governments should increase taxes and reduce expenditure, cutting deficits in half by 2013. See : Sticking the Public with the Bill for the Bankers’ Crisis, Naomi Klein (The Globe and Mail), June 28, 2010 | UK budget 2010: New era of austerity in Europe?, Ben Quinn, The Christian Science Monitor, June 22, 2010 | wsws.org on World Economy.
ground zero
one
Toronto is burning! Or is it? Black bloc tactics play into the state’s hands
Links
It was a perfect storm. A massive police presence who were primed for “dangerous anarchists” after a week of peaceful protests. No more than one hundred, probably fewer, young men who think violent confrontations with the police will create a radicalisation and expose the violence of the state. A new generation of young people who are becoming activists believing they live in a democratic society and are shocked by the degree of police violence arrayed to stop them.
But it is the police that let the handful of people using Black Bloc tactics run wild and then used the burning police cars and violent images as a media campaign to convince the people of Toronto that the cost and the excessive police presence was necessary. They knew what would happen and they knew how it would happen. It is the police that bear the responsibility for what happened last night. They were responsible for keeping the peace and they failed to do it.
two
Toronto G20: The brutal face of capitalist reaction
Fightback Canada (International Marxist Tendency)
“The police and the black bloc are, in fact, two sides of the same coin.”
three
Toronto police violently suppress G20 protests, arrest over 600
wsws.org
“A police car was vandalized and set alight. A reporter noted that the gas cap for the car had been removed prior to the “Black Bloc’s” arrival. Shortly thereafter, at the corner of Bay and King—the centre of Canada’s financial district another police car was set ablaze.”
wsws.org : Divisions in G-20 open on summit eve, Nick Beams, June 24, 2010 | Massive police build-up for Toronto G20 summit, Paul Franklin, June 26, 2010 | G20 summit: Leaders try to paper over differences, Nick Beams, June 28, 2010.
A mostly-reasonable account of wtf is the black bloc:
McNally refers to an incident in Montebello in Quebec in August 2007, in which three police infiltrators taking part in a black bloc were uncovered; the police were attempting to provoke others into violence, thus justifying — or, at least, providing a better pretext than might otherwise be the case — a police crackdown on the protests as a whole. See : Québec Police. Not Big. Not Clever. (August 25, 2007). Otherwise, see : The Black Bloc Papers: An Anthology of Primary Texts From The North American Anarchist Black Bloc 1998-2005, Edited and compiled by David Van Deusen & Xavier Massot of The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective and The Subversion of Politics: European Autonomous Social Movements and the Decolonization of Everyday Life, George Katsiaficas, 1997/2006.
See also : Appeal for broad political support for the G20 arrestees (Movement Defence Committee) | 40 Kiwis arrested in Toronto! (June 28, 2010) | Photo of the now / Toronto : G20 // G8 Summit Protest Reporting (June 27, 2010) | “Anarchy in Vancouver” (May 20, 2010).
∞
Anarchy! Linchpin | Anti-Capitalist Convergence (CLAC 2010) | l’Union Communiste Libertaire (French) … Miaow! Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) | Revolutionary Communist Party (Canada) … Reds! Communist Party of Canada / Young Communist League of Canada – Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada (YCL-LJC) | Socialist Voice … Trot! International Socialists | Socialist Action / Ligue pour l’Action socialist … Also! “Upping the Anti is a radical journal of theory and action which provides a space to reflect on the state of political organizing in Canada.”
