Tasmania's newest political party will establish a Launceston branch at a meeting this Saturday.
Tasmania's newest political party will establish a Launceston branch at a meeting this Saturday.
Socialist Alliance state convenor Kamala Emanuel said: "The establishment of a Launceston branch of the Socialist Alliance is one more sign of the advances being made by the socialist movement in Tasmania."
"It has been a long time since there has been an ongoing organised socialist presence in the north of the state," said Emanuel. "Our decision to establish a branch here is based on a genuine enthusiasm for a radical alternative in the north," said Emanuel. "In addition to our campaigns against Australian involvement in the so-called 'war on terror' and for an end to mandatory detention of refugees, we will also be campaigning for an expansion of publicly-funded abortion services in the north of the state and for better public transport such as the re-establishing of a Launceston-Hobart passenger train service," said Emanuel.
"One priority for the new group will be organising a Launceston contribution to the national weekend of action for refugees to be held June 23."
In other news, the word "socialist" will appear on ballot papers in the coming Tasmanian state elections for the first time since 1976.
The Socialist Alliance has now been registered by the Tasmanian Electoral Office - one of only six officially registered parties in Tasmania - and will be running candidates in Denison, Franklin and Bass.
"We are very proud to announce our registration as a political party and we are looking forward to a vigorous campaign in the coming state elections," said Socialist Alliance spokesperson Alex Bainbridge. "The Bacon government claims to represent working class people but nothing could be further from the truth," said Bainbridge, who was a Socialist Alliance senate candidate last year.
"Labor is thoroughly committed to economic 'rationalism' - just like the Liberals - which is a complete disaster for workers, pensioners, students and the unemployed," he said. "We believe that socialist solutions are going to become more and more popular as we get further into the 21st century."
"All around the world, more people are turning to the left as the realities of capitalist globalisation become clearer - the unprecedented 10% vote to revolutionary socialists in the first round the French presidential elections is one sign of this."
"The fact that we have been able to achieve electoral registration in Tasmania, which requires that over 100 members agree to have their name and address published in the three daily papers, is a testament to the growing support for a radical alternative in this state also," said Bainbridge.
Although socialists have run in previous state elections, this has seldom been officially recognised by the Tasmanian Electoral Office. The only exception since party registration was introduced is the 1976 election campaign by the Socialist Workers Party (now called the Democratic Socialist Party).
John Tully, one of the Socialist Workers Party candidates in that election, has welcomed the registration of the Socialist Alliance. "I am delighted that after 25 years socialists are once again recognised on the ballot in Tasmania," said Tully - previously a well-known socialist activist in Hobart and currently a Melbourne-based member of the Socialist Alliance affiliate Solidarity.
"The coming state elections will be the first state or federal elections that Socialist Alliance has contested with our party name on the ballot since the Alliance formed last year. The very formation of the Socialist Alliance last year was a major step forward for Australia's previously divided socialist movement. The Alliance was founded by eight separate socialist parties but the Alliance's total membership - almost 3000 nationally - has more than tripled the membership of the original eight groups," said Bainbridge.
"This election campaign will be another step forward. As far as we're aware, there has never been a socialist campaign targeting as many as three seats in a Tasmanian state election before," said Bainbridge.
For further information contact: Alex Bainbridge 0413 976 638 (9-11am, 1-2pm, after 4pm) Kamala Emanuel 0417 319 662 Darren Jiggens 0438 691 125.