The bosses back Labor – the Liberals split
The bosses back the Labor Party. They have found in Kevin Rudd a man to carry out John Howard’s policies without the divisiveness. This lack of divisiveness partly reflects the illusions millions have in Labor as a party of workers, as a progressive party. It also reflects a deeper trend in the trade union and working class movement - class collaboration over the last 26 years. This is the idea that workers and bosses have common interests and should work together to achieve common goals. In practice this means accepting that profit is sacrosanct. The Accord between the Hawke Government and the trade union movement was the cornerstone of this ap

Canberra’s equal love demo – the struggle has just begun
150 people demonstrated for equal love in Canberra today. There were really good speeches, with some of the speakers emphasising that civil partnerships were not equality. Then we marched on our streets to the Legislative Assembly demanding equal rights for all. As we marched, we chanted, we laughed and we hoped. It was a good demonstration – vibrant, committed and with a good political understanding of what is going on. I learnt why we should oppose the local ACT Government’s civil partnership law. To quote Rodney Croome: Regardless of whether civil union ceremonies are “legislative”, “

Why is society so homophobic?
To many people today, especially young people, the ban on same-sex marriage is an anachronistic denial of a basic civil right – a throwback to a bygone age of intolerance and anti-gay bigotry. But the hostility of both Liberal and Labor governments to same-sex marriage is not simply the product of the prejudices of a few homophobes or the malevolent influence of the institutional churches. Despite a façade of tolerance and acceptance homophobia remains entrenched in modern capitalist society because it directly serves the interests of the rich and powerful who dominate our lives. Just like nationalism, racism and sexism, homophobia serves to keep working class people divid

War criminal Ehud Olmert welcomed in Canberra
Former Israeli Prime Minister ordered the invasion of Gaza. He is a war criminal. This is just not the ravings of a mad leftie like me. The UN Goldstone report found that Israel and Hamas had potentially committed war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity. This is how Ian Black from the Guardian put it: The development of universal jurisdiction has been boosted by the Goldstone report, which urged Israel to conduct an independent inquiry into alleged war crimes. Failing that, other governments were advised to try suspects using universal jurisdiction. Ano

Labor are the real enemy
I celebrate the destruction of the Liberal Party. But that is a side game. The real enemy is Labor. Historically the ALP has been a party of reaction – reacting to the pulls of the bourgeoisie and the working class. Today it is a dual party of reaction – reacting to the wishes of the ruling elite and to the conservative sections of society. In other words it has moved, or is continuing to move, from being a bourgeois workers’ party to a bourgeois party. The self-immolation of the union movement over the last 26 years – the class collaboration exemplified by the Accord, the concentration of power in the hands of the bureauc