On May 3, Vote Against War, the Cost of Living Assault and Censorship!

27-03-2025: As Australia heads to the polls in a federal election on May 3, the dark shadow of world war hangs over a decidedly lacklustre campaign from the Labor (Australian Labor Party – ALP) and Liberal (Liberal Party of Australia – LPA) “uniparty”. The grey clouds of a horrendous cost of living crisis hitting working people the hardest loom large. On top of this, Australian citizens are likely to undergo a dramatic reduction of free speech online, or indeed anywhere, when the right to it is already hanging by a thread. In an election campaign all but deliberately held over the period of the Easter and Anzac Day public holidays to limit public participation, the Labor and Liberal major parties are rattling cardboard swords at one another, in a contest over what amount to trifling differences. Both major parties wholly back the alliance with the US (United States of America) and its preparations for catastrophic wars against Iran, Russia and China. Both major parties will do nothing substantial to arrest the worst cost of living crisis in history, and both major parties universally stand for online censorship and the restriction of basic democratic rights. The vast majority are unenthused.

System failure

Late-stage capitalism offers a bleak outlook, and little hope that living and working conditions will improve in future. A disastrous war on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is being prepared on the back of Trump’s 245% (!) tariffs on the Asian superpower. The Australian ruling class has thrown its weight behind the dangerous AUKUS (Australia, the United Kingdom, US) military bloc, which is a straightforward alliance for war on China – Australia’s largest trading partner by far. The north of the Australian continent is littered with US military bases and fuel depots, along with the Pine Gap spy base[1] which facilitates US wars overseas. Australian politicians, including the Australian Greens, relentlessly push for war on Iran, and weigh their own set of sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The ALP government, with the support of the Liberal Party and the Greens, have sent weapons and Bushmaster military vehicles to Nazi battalions in Ukraine to “aid” NATO’s proxy war on Russia. The West’s regime change war preparations threaten a nuclear fuelled World War III in which perhaps hundreds of millions of innocent people would die agonising deaths. This agenda must be stopped.

Australia is in the grip of a dire cost of living crisis, with the worst decline in living standards than at any time since 1959.[2] The fall in disposable income eclipses the past four major recessions, including the 1970s inflation crisis and the fraudulent “Covid” operation of 2020-2022. Housing is a major problem, with homelessness rife across the country, and unaffordable rents common in all major cities and most regional towns. The cost of basic utilities – water, electricity and gas – are more expensive than ever, as a result of being almost entirely privatised. The cost of basic food and groceries are out of control, with the Coles and Woolworths duopoly raking in billions of dollars profit, even surpassing the billions of dollars in profit the private banks pocket each quarter. The economy “grew” a laughable 0.3% in the September quarter of last year, but actually contracted 0.3% per capita as the amount of economic activity per person fell.[3] Needless to say, this is a deep recession, with working people and the poor bearing the brunt – with many living from paycheck to paycheck. Economic activity is also constantly affected by repeated climate disasters, especially major flooding and bushfires, as a result of centuries of almost unchecked greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of pollution. Fossil fuel burning continues regardless, while 56% of Australia’s gas is given away[4] to global corporations royalty-free, where billions in tax revenue could be collected.

Both major parties have passed a staggering social media ban[5] for under 16-year-olds, which breaches basic human rights. To enable this, an age verification process will need to be in place. In other words, it is likely that adults will have to submit ID to use social media, which will end online anonymity. A Bill making supposed “misinformation and disinformation” illegal, which sought to force social media platforms to police speech online – was narrowly defeated last year.[6] No doubt another attempt at censorship will be made in line with the social media ban for under 16s. This blatant censorship of civil and democratic discussion is the world’s worst and must be pushed back until it is completely taken off the table. Both the left and the right should combine to ensure that basic social communication is an unfettered right, which can never be removed. A system which cannot allow its own citizens to discuss and debate, online or elsewhere, is one which has completely failed.

The “left”

In the face of a situation taylor made for socialists to point the way forward to a better world, what does what passes for the Australian left provide? The Trotskyist Platform (TP) advises no vote for any of the parties in parliament or any independent that accepts capitalism, in order to stop both the wars being prepared and the massacres of Palestinians in Gaza.[7] However, a few short years ago, not only did TP “accept capitalism”, they actively fought for it under the guise of a nonsensical “health emergency”. During the Covid civil war, they dutifully labelled anyone questioning lockdowns and insane vaccine mandates as “far right”, displaying an alarming lack of self-awareness. The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) have been denied electoral registration under the undemocratic electoral laws now put in place to effectively block minor parties taking part in elections. The SEP will thus run candidates in their own name.[8] However, the SEP were the most avid “Covid” enforcers, even going so far as to campaign for the closing of children’s schools !!

Socialist Alternative (SAlt) is running in the election under the Victorian Socialists formation.[9] SAlt were aggressively pro-lockdown during Covid, nullifying their claims to anything approaching progressive politics. Moreover, SAlt do not oppose the major imperialist wars of regime change in the pipeline, led by Washington with its sidekicks in Canberra. They strongly support war against Iran, Russia and China, dressed up in all kinds of excuses about “totalitarianism”. The same pro-war and pro-Covid positions were taken, though with slightly different wording, by the Socialist Alliance (SAll). They are running candidates in most states, though not Western Australia – where they will be fully supporting the capitalist Greens.[10] SAll are the most pro-Greens of all the nominally left parties, which raises the question of why they organise separately at all. Given their capitulation on Covid, and their backing of imperialist wars on Iran, Russia and China (to say nothing of Syria, where they both backed ISIS and Al Qaeda who now form the “government”), Socialist Alternative and Socialist Alliance cannot be supported by workers in any way in this election. SAll mouth some opposition to AUKUS but have shocked even some of their own supporters with their unremitting support for NATO armed Nazis in Ukraine. SAlt even go so far as to advocate for imperialist weapons being shipped to Ukraine! These warmongers cannot be trusted on other issues if they are ambiguous about a potential World War III.

The Revolutionary Communist Organisation (RCO) claim not to be a second Socialist Alliance with their strategy of attempting to unite the “left” on programmatic issues – but then go on to advocate a vote for them! They correctly criticise the minimum program of the Victorian Socialists (Socialist Alternative), but then call for a vote for them also.[11] They can see that much more radical positions are needed for the left, such as the nationalisation of banking and utilities, a living minimum wage, a huge expansion of public housing and rent fixing, the establishment of state-owned grocery stores and a workers’ republic. All this is very good, but then it is washed away by driving workers towards “socialist” parties that do not stand for any of this. Unfortunately, the RCO sees no contradiction here because they also have the same pro-war positions as the “socialist” parties they are urging workers to vote for. In fact, the RCO are arguably more in favour of regime change in Iran, Russia and China than any other left organisation. The RCO are in the same saucepan as those they chide for reformism.

Red Spark outdo even the RCO, as they not only call for a vote for the “socialist” Victorian Socialists and Socialist Alliance – they outright call for a vote for the Greens![12] Red Spark are slightly more anti-war than the left parties they call for a vote for, to give them some due. They do warn against a war on China, do not openly back a war on Russia via Ukraine, and do not sing the praises of the Al Qaeda headchoppers who have been installed by imperialism in Syria. But they claim that whatever disagreements they have with Socialist Alternative and Socialist Alliance, these discussions are for “another day”. They call for a vote for the Greens on the basis of the Greens’ supposed speaking out for Palestine, but this is very muted. They must know also that the Greens have directly called for a domestic missile and drone building program in Australia to “replace AUKUS”.[13] Unfortunately, Red Spark see no obstacles to calling for a vote for the Victorian Socialists, Socialist Alliance and the Greens because they agree wholeheartedly with them on Covid repression. True, Red Spark (and their predecessor Red Ant) were less vocal about Covid, but nonetheless they backed the capitalist state during its most oppressive phase in Australian history. Workers will not forget this.

No one is more gung-ho in advocating a primary vote for the treacherous “socialist” parties than the Spartacist League (SL). After decades of sectarianism during which they barely spoke to other left organisations, the “re-born” SL now makes the error of going way too far in the other direction with their headlining of the reformist parties. SL seems to believe that their former sectarianism was the reason for their implosion in early 2020. Rather, the implosion was more likely due to a massive capitulation to imperialism with its phony “pandemic” which the SL swallowed wholesale along with the self-described left parties they correctly criticised for reformism in the decades prior to 2020. 12 months after the fact, the SL adopted a position against lockdowns only, while taking on the entirety of “Covid” propaganda as good coin. After the extraordinary political repression of the Covid era, the SL went on to effectively join hands with the opportunist left on NATO’s proxy war on Russia via Ukraine. It’s disastrous “defeatism on both sides” in practice aids the NATO armed Nazis in Ukraine and pushes the world closer to a nuclear ignited World War III. The Victorian Socialists and the Socialist Alliance also firmly back the NATO directed proxy war on Russia with Nazi proxies such as the notorious Azov Battalion. This is why the SL today can call for workers to “fight tooth and nail” for these reactionary parties during the elections.[14] However, the working class has zero in common with any party which even gives off-handed or even apologetic support for NATO armed Nazis – this is an absolute.

The freedom parties

In the absence of a genuine left-wing and a real socialist party running the elections, workers have little option but to electorally turn to the parties which bravely stood against almost three years of Covid terror. Thankfully lockdowns and vaccine mandates are (hopefully) a thing of the past, but the vast scope of freedom movement of that time spawned a collection of parties that now continue to at least stand for free speech and the retention of basic democratic rights which were abolished during a false “health” reign of fear. A critical vote for these parties is one step that may make it more difficult for the next Labor/Liberal/Green government to move to suppress them. At the last election, hot on the heels of several years of unremitting Covid tyranny, the United Australia Party (UAP) – despite themselves – largely opposed the Labor/Liberal/Green triumvirate from the left. Since then, billionaire Clive Palmer deregistered the UAP and is this time running under the comical name of Trumpet of Patriots (TOP). TOP aim to emulate Trump style politics from the US, calling for a home-grown Department of Government Effficiency (DOGE). Unfortunately, they are climate denialists, but they do stand for free speech, for 3% home loans and for high-speed rail networks for 120 kilometres outside major cities.[15] One Nation did stand against the worst Covid excesses, but when it comes to the crunch, they will do anything to stay in parliament. They have betrayed the freedom movement many times, such as when they voted against a motion to exempt under 14-year-olds from the horrendous “hate speech” laws[16] – meaning children could potentially be jailed for “causing offence”.

Both TOP and One Nation have refused to join a freedom party unity ticket, which now takes the form of the Australia First Alliance.[17] It comprises three parties: People First, the Heart Party and the Libertarian Party. People First is the best available of this lot, led by Gerard Rennick who was hounded out of the Liberal Party for opposing vaccine mandates on principle. People First are calling for a public bank and insurance office, an infrastructure bank, for childcare payments to be paid direct to parents, for the raising of the tax free threshold to $40 000 – all of which are significant cost of living measures.[18] They also stand for free speech, vow to rescind social media age restrictions, and they are for reforming electoral laws to make it easier for minor parties to compete against the major parties. The Heart Party is calling for a much-needed Bill of Rights.[19] The Libertarian Party calls for free speech to be enshrined in the constitution but have deep illusions about a capitalist “free market”.[20]

For a workers’ republic

In the context of parties running in the federal election, the Workers League recommends working people cast a critical vote for People First, followed by other freedom parties while placing pro-war and pro-censorship parties such as the Greens, Labor, Liberal, Teal Independents and fake “socialist” parties last. Such a vote should not be cast with full confidence, as the climate denialism of the freedom parties is a critical shortcoming, as are their own forms of nationalism and anti-socialism. They are also silent on the major imperialist wars being prepared against Iran, Russia and China, of which the Australian state serves as a lackey for the US empire.

However, voting in an election will not address, let alone fix, the crucial problems which today face the toiling masses. Elections under a capitalist state are deliberately cross-class, where workers and the oppressed “vote” under the same terms as their employers and corporate magnates! This is why Marxists emphasise that only class and not national institutions can begin to solve the mounting crises which dying capitalism repeatedly produce but cannot solve. Only public ownership of the major means of production with a planned economy overseen by a workers’ republic has the possibility of piloting humanity safely towards the next century. In the face of a dire capitalist economic recession, endless wars, relentless poverty and ecological collapse, history has called on the working class to fulfil its historic duty of steering society towards socialism through revolution. Key to this path is the urgent recombination of the parts of internationally linked Leninist vanguard parties which can guide the working masses towards a final victory over the forces of dark reaction.

Workers League

www.redfireonline.com

E: workersleague@protonmail.com

[1] www.australianforeignaffairs.com/articles/extract/2020/02/silent-partners (23-04-2025)

[2] www.cathnews.com/2024/11/25/australia-suffers-worst-decline-in-living-standards-since-1950s/ (23-04-2025)

[3] www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/worst-in-the-oecd-grim-warning-for-australias-living-standards/news-story/f44e9d3bab959ae16d242797e85346b0 (23-04-2025)

[4] www.australiainstitute.org.au/post/gas-exports-56-given-to-corporations-royalty-free/ (23-04-2025)

[5] www.mediated-trust-arts.sydney.edu.au/news/will-the-australian-social-media-ban-for-under-16s-work/ (23-04-2025)

[6] www.hrla.org.au/a_win_for_free_speech_as_misinformation_and_disinformation_bill_abandoned (23-04-2025)

[7] www.trotskyistplatform.com/how-we-can-resist-the-australian-regimes-participation-in-israels-terror/ (23-04-2025)

[8] www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/04/22/gpkm-a22.html (23-04-2025)

[9] www.redflag.org.au/article/why-you-should-vote-for-the-victorian-socialists (23-04-2025)