Red Report Back - Week Ending 08/05/2022

Drawing the Line in the Sand

In the wake of the disgraceful yet predictable acquittal of Zachary Rolfe, a national day of action has been called by Yuendumu Elders and the Warlpiri Nation. The day of action is to take place on the 28th of June, a date marking 15 years since the commencement of the Northern Territory Intervention. The NT Intervention was when the Australian government sent the military into First Nations communities across the territory over racist claims that have since been disproven.  The capitalist government has not only continued this military occupation to the present day, but has strengthened it with multiple laws over this period.

It is now 35 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, during which time over 500 First Nations people have died in custody with not a single conviction. As a result, the Walpiri Nation is calling for karrinjarla muwajarri, a police ceasefire to be implemented indefinitely.

The community is also calling for the NT Police to be defunded, with funds redirected into community-controlled alternatives, such as night patrols and community mediation. Additionally, they are calling for Walpiri governance and authority in their own communities and an end to the discriminatory powers and laws introduced by the Intervention. There are also demands for the restoration of laws and structures that respect local community control and to adopt youth incarceration with a program of Kids on Country.

There are many other demands centred around achieving justice in the deeply flawed legal system of the Northern Territory and Australia at large. However, there is only so much that can be accomplished through a one-off protest. As we saw when actions occurred following Walker’s death, the potential for radical change these events contained were stymied by the actions of moderates that appeased the police, as well as the lack of further building in the community.

One need only look at where previous First Nations campaigns have gained success to see what is needed now. The Gurindji strike succeeded because of a prolonged campaign that utilised the forces of organised labour to bring the oppressors in capitalist Australia to its knees. Further back in history, these communities succeeded because they united against the oppressors that murdered them and occupied their lands. Now is the time for allies and supporters to unite around the most oppressed people in Australia, if not the planet. Yapakurlangu Warnkaru Matters. Let us not express this merely in words, but in action. See you on the 28th of June.

A full list of the demands can be found here.

No Teachers, No Future

Teachers are refusing to back down in the face of staff shortages and deteriorating working conditions in Australian schools caused by government inaction. Thousands of public school teachers across New South Wales took action this week, with members of the NSW Teachers’ Federation hitting the streets across New South Wales.

Teachers are calling out the government over its refusal to address the pitiful 2.5% wage increase cap in NSW, while at the same time funnelling hundreds of millions into elite private schools, as public schools are left to suffer.

Actions were not limited to Sydney, but were held all across the state from Coffs Harbour to Dubbo. So long as the government remains in the pocket of elite private schools, it is working class people who will suffer from poor quality education and unsafe conditions for teachers. This saga is not merely a pay issue, but a broader class issue. Everyone deserves the right to a good education, not just those in sandstone grammar schools.

Labor Dogs Nurses and Midwives

In another opportunistic move that perfectly represents the anti-worker, performative streak of the modern Labor Party, Labor politicians have backtracked on their earlier election promises to implement nurse to patient ratios. In a Parliamentary regional health inquiry last week, Labor refused to recommend the central claim that Nurses and Midwives have been striking over for the last two years.

Over two years of industrial action, members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association have been at the forefront in demanding mandatory ratios that meet the safety requirements and standards required for both healthcare workers and their patients. Despite earlier showboating promises, Labor revealed itself to be on the side of capital when push came to shove, and is refusing to back these essential frontline workers.

This whole episode, when paired with Labor’s support of the recent draconian anti-protest laws that all but abolish industrial action, exemplifies how Labor’s words and hollow promises rarely match their actions. Unions must break free from this stale electoral fetishism if they wish to improve workers’ conditions. Any who stand in the way of these improvements is an enemy, and must be treated as such regardless of the colour of their tie.

No Real Justice in High Court

Qantas lost its appeal in the High Court earlier in the week, being found guilty once again of having illegally outsourced 2000 ground workers. Despite the Transport Workers Union managing to defeat Qantas, the workers will not be reinstated to their previously held positions. Nevertheless, the TWU has vowed to fight for a fair compensation package for the 2000 workers that were illegally sacked.

This case perfectly represents the viciousness of neoliberal capitalism. Once a publicly owned business, Qantas was privatised by the Keating Labor government in 1992 in a move typical of the time. Since then, it has become increasingly exploitative in cutting corners and pinching pennies to maximise profit for its shareholders.

This has led to the current situation, wherein Australian workers can be illegally sacked so that cheaper labour can be introduced. Similarly, the same actions of Australia’s neoliberal political leaders have made our labor laws so that these workers aren’t even able to get their jobs back, and probably not even fair compensation. This is what “justice” amounts to under the capitalist system of modern day Australia.