Socialist Alliance Policy

The Socialist Alliance is in the process of updating our policy web page after our 2010 national conference.

Existing policies can be found in the right-hand column or in the list below.

We are also constantly updating and redrafting our policies. If you would like to contribute to this process, feel free to visit the Socialist Alliance Wiki Hub.

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There are 14 comments on this article

By kuaomueezt

Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! tdhwwdliip

By Chananbanana

Thankyou, i also believe that young people (under the age of 18)should have the right to vote. I believe that as soon as people of all ages a able decide what political leaders will run their country Australia will become a truly democratic nation.
Thanks.Chanan Bannana

By quezacotle

well, i dont think anyone who doesnt listen to whats going on in the country should be allowed to vote. what about all those votes where people dont care who they vote for. i know that when i was 16 i didn't even know who was Prime Minister.

By Miles

I support optional voting for 16 year olds, made compulsory at 18. That way, the youth who actually care about how the country is run have a say, and the ones who don't care, don't need to vote.

By Left but pro life

A lot of this sounds good except for supporting abortion. I am not conservative but see abortion as another form of violence. I believe to oppose violence means to oppose war, capital punishment, abortion WMD domestic violence and all othe acts which destroy life. I know many on the left who are uncomfortable with the promoting of abortion.

By sam

Left but pro life, as well as i respect your views on this subjected i fine that your back up point w a little miss lead.

How can you suggest that a woman should not have the right to choose her future? a fetus isn't just a living human growing inside a body, its a scenario that could destroy a women's life. what if the women was half way through her VCE? she's just expected to give up her dreams and aspirations because of one silly mistake?

I support the policies to bring the voting age as a optional thing down to 16. I also believe that it still should be optional until you are 21 (most people are in a full time job of some sort and are starting to realise shit doesn't just happen). As a result of this I think politics should be a compulsory subject for everyone in year 9 and 10 (not humanities with a term on politics but proper full on politics) this should include history on both main parties (who did what) and educational about the other voting options (like SA)

By Alex B

Personally I can't imagine anything more cruel than to bring an unwanted child into the world.

Like it or not, throughout history, women have found ways to control their fertility, including abortion. If you make abortion illegal, you won't stop it, you will only make it less safe (whereas legally conducted it is one of the safest medical procedures there is). There is no way to force a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term that does not involve coercion (that is violence!). Therefore to oppose abortion (taking away someone's rights) in the name of preventing violence is a nonsense.

Leftists should support women's right to abortion.

By Arthur Mavor

Opposing ties between Australian and Indonesian military arrangements does not make sense solely based a moral high ground. Since when has self-determination been a significant part of any Socialist scheme?

By hegemony&socialist_strategy

Don't the rhetorics of 'choice' and 'life' resound with the neoliberal worldview a little too much? Many a good scholar have questioned the notion of 'free choice' by interrogating the social conditions that give rise to the choices people make. e.g. many pre-teen girls 'freely choose' to buy Bratz dolls and dress accordingly, or do they?

Shouldn't both [so-called] pro-life and pro-choice groups, instead of attacking the women at the vulnerable point of their decision on what to do, look at the social conditions + pressures that compel them to go either way? (in particular, the unjust income distribution in society and poor health care)

Perhaps an unlikely alliance may even be conceived.

By garry

Being a young person, I strongly disagree with voting being open to 16 year olds, if anything it should be much higher, maybe to 25 year olds. Unfortunately most people are extremely nieve, and easily swayed in political opinion. this is extremely true of young people. This site's youth section illustrates this perfectly. Give young people a biased yet upbeat story, and they'll believe it all the way.
btw socialism doesn't work, just like unions don't work. Just look at russia.

By dale

I agree with Left but pro life. What you are talking about is a "consistent ethic of life" - ie no taking of innocent life, whether through imperialistic militarism or profit making abortion clinics. We are right to oppose selfish individualism/ utilitarianism that is contrary to the common good, collective social wellbeing and civic responsibility. We ought to oppose it's expression in the economic marketplace (neoliberalism) and also it's expression socially in public square (extreme social liberalism). Exploitative capitalists view removal of individual oriented laws against socially destructive activities (whether killing the unborn, sale and consumption of tobacco or high % alcohol drinks by under 18 year olds, pokie machines, prostitution, unclassified pornography etc) as deregulation which enables more profit for the abortion, tobacco, sex etc industries.

By Bell

I dont think voting should be influenced by age, re quezacotle, you would be surprised how many adults don't know anything about politics or vested interests. 16 is a good age because you havn't quite been assimilated into the status quo of the dominate group and you can think for yourself and identify what you wan't (not what the dominant elite wants)

By aamir riaz

what is ur stand regarding soviet and chines style of revolutions and governance from 1917 till today. do u think there is a non-capitalist path? if yes explain. do u support anti-democratic regimes? whats ur point of view regarding revolution through military support? explain it w.r.t. soviet intervention in east europe and afghanistan,hope u will answer soon.
aamir riaz
editor awami jamhori forum( people's democratic forum) pakistan. www.awamijamhoriforum.org
a left liberal magazine

By Peter Boyle

The Socialist Alliance has not adopted positions on these matters, though individual members and affilate groups do have positions on these questions. So far the Alliance is united on a platform of class struggle positions on the various campaigning issues directly facing us in Australia. we deliberately put aside adopting a more complete program so as not to set up a barrier to beginning left regroupment.