Australia is currently the third wealthiest country in the world. Most Australians would probably feel like that statement cannot be correct. And that’s median wealth, so overall a lot of Australians are wealthier than most…
How much would be a ‘reasonable’ amount of money for a government to spend on three navy warships? A couple of billion, maybe more? 27 billion dollars is the figure cited in the recent Labor party budget.
The Australian political scene has been subject to a shake-up never seen before. The once steady Labor-Coalition duopoly has become massively discredited in the eyes of the working masses. Labor has failed to improve the lives of workers at home and has backed the Israeli state while it carries out its genocide on Gaza and atrocities in the West-Bank, while the leadership of the Liberal-National coalition have floundered about. Consequently, One Nation has seen a serious bump in the polls, primarily due to its anti-establishment veil.
The crisis of capitalism has many expressions: new wars and inter-imperialist conflicts, environmental destruction, the growing chasm between rich and poor, the decline of science and culture, etc. One especially conspicuous symptom of capitalism’s failure is its inability to meet the basic human need for adequate housing, even in the wealthiest countries.
The speed at which events have unfolded since our last publication has fiercely intensified. In this uncertain and seemingly upside-down world, where the liberal world order’s veneer of respectability and international law has all but vanished, it is vital that we arm Communist cadres with the necessary tools: revolutionary theory and Marxist analysis!
August 23rd marks the 60th anniversary of the Wave Hill Walk-off where 200 Indigenous cattlemen, domestic servants and their families went on strike and walked off the Wave Hill Cattle Station in the Northern Territory (NT), led by Gurindji man Vincent Lingiari.
AI is seeing a huge growth of investment due to stagnant growth in the global economy generally. It is largely an attempt by industrial monopolists to lower the cost of production and remain competitive as the global market marches towards decline. The short-sighted nature imposed by private ownership and competition leads our economic overlords not to actually solve the crises, but to put off the effects until a later date, ‘kicking the can down the road’. Contradictorily, the massive investment undermines the very consumer base these profits are realised from by cutting jobs in the pursuit of profit and thus reducing the purchasing power of the average worker, not to mention the inflation eroding real wages due to its lack of meaningful use to the economy.
There are over two-thousand mining companies in Australia, with more than a thousand in Western Australia alone. The most prominent being Rio Tinto, BHP, and Fortescue Metals. Under this capitalist system, the exorbitant profits line…
The Australian trade union movement today finds itself in a peculiar position. It remains, despite everything, the largest organised expression of the working class in this country. More than a million workers remain union members.
On 14 April, the Australian Liberal party announced a new immigration policy, which would elevate acceptance of “Australian Values” to a legal requirement for entry. The Department of Home Affairs already publishes an Australian values statement which can be optionally included when applying for a visa, but is not a legal requirement.
The economic and social consequences of US and Israeli imperialism’s war on Iran continue to rip through Asia and the Pacific. Australia, formerly a bastion of stability in the region, is facing its worst economic crisis in years, and the ruling class is becoming increasingly desperate. What for many was previously unthinkable has now become reality. Alarm bells are sounding across the ‘Lucky Country’.
The US-Israeli war on Iran exposes the depth of Australia’s integration into the global imperialist order. Behind the language of ‘security’ and ‘human rights’ lies a ruling class whose interests are tied directly to the global dominance of American capital.
