Athens Meeting 8-10 October 2004, Contribution of CP of
Australia
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From: SolidNet, Monday, October 18, 2004
http://www.cpa.org.au, mailto:cpa@cpa.org.au
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International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Party
8-10 October 2004
Contribution of Communist Party of Australia

I also thank the Comrades of the KKE for once again
facilitating, organizing and investing a huge amount of
resources to this forum of Communists parties.

The only way forward, comrades, is to fight for real change
not for reform, for revolution not revision.

This forum is an opportunity for us to develop our
understanding of the current state of the struggle, our
relative place in that struggle and through criticism and
self criticism where we collectively with the people must
be in the future.

We live in a world dominated by the Transnationals.

In our analysis of the current struggle can we say whether
their domination is accelerating or is the movement we
participate in turning the crisis of capitalism, a system
of anarchy and greed towards a society that will support
and nourish the workers and vast majority of the people.

Do the massive rallies and strikes we have seen reflect a
reaction to the extremes of exploitation and opportunism of
the monopolies and their state representatives or are they
a building wave, a consensus for advancement and real
change.

The attack of September11 for the Bush administration and
imperialists of the world reflected the barbaric history of
imperialist state terrorism lead by US against so many
nations through direct armed intervention or indirect
murderous subversion.

September 11 should always be in our memory as the day the
US over through comrade Salvador Allende and killed so many
activists and people in Chile, Panama, Cuba, Iraq, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Nicaragua, Al Salvador, Philippines, Indonesia,
Afghanistan, Iran, Guatemala, Columbia, Yugoslavia and so
may more countries.

Which is the greater criminal the state intent on
plundering or their agents who now bites its master.

The list is long and the victims number many many times
more than those that were killed in New York.

This suspicious and convenient event has been the
justification for the ramping up and adoption of the
illegal doctrine of pre-emptive strike and war. It came at
a time of a malaise and treat to the economic power of the
US and swelling of the world wide movement against the
economic domination of the TNCs and their push to adoption
neo liberal policies and a free trade agenda.

The capitalists hoped it would distract the people redirect
their fear and anger, but the people have not been deterred
or distracted.

Imperialism has justified the new heavy burden of
repressive laws that restrict the democratic rights and
freedoms of the people in the name of the war against
terrorism.

The reality is that the terrorist is the state and the
victims as always is the people and their right to struggle
for a better future.

Australia participated in the biggest ever world wide
demonstrations against the threat of the US government to
lead a maverick invasion of Iraq.

The demonstrations and rallies were the largest ever held
in Australia and reflected the disbelief of the people in
our governments and the governments of Britain and US's
lying reasons for war and the subsequent atrocities against
the Iraqi people which was put forward as part of the war
against terrorism.

The Government of Australian was the most vigorous
supporter of the US and its war.

It screamed abuse at the UN's inaction and demanded that it
be bypassed.

Prime Minister John Howard did not need to give the public
any qualification, explanation or ask for its approval to
go all the way with the US administration. It told the lie
and now answers as a parrot using the US's rhetoric when
its crime has been exposed.

A former leader of the Prime Ministers own conservative
party said Bush, Blair and Howard have committed the most
appalling crime under international law and should be
arrested and tried.

Now some background information on the developments in
Australia.

Comrades will remember the Multilateral Agreement on
Investment (MAI) negotiated in the OECD between 1995 and
1998 , at the beginning in secret.

When its ramifications, the stripping of governments right
to control trade, investment from abroad, currency movement
and giving the multinationals the right to sue governments,
the people and democratic organizations began a world wide
movement against it.

The people of the world turned out to be unwilling to
surrender their national governments, even their national
existence, to the transnational corporations (TNCs) and
banks.

The MAI was referred to the WTO to be tidied up and
resubmitted.

The ongoing failure within the WTO to implement trade
liberalization has come from the strong and determined
opposition of the representative of the underdeveloped and
developing world who reject the significant threat of the
developed world in putting economic repression,
exploitation and domination of the TNCs ahead of the
people.

Following Seattle, Washington and Davos a meeting of the
World Economic Forum started on September 11 2000 at the
Crown Casino in Melbourne Australia, ironic as this it is
the biggest casino in the pacific region.

The S11 brought thousands of people to the streets in
opposition to the insatiable greed, brutality and arrogance
of capitalism, its corporations and the governments that
serve them.

Over the three days of actions at least 30,000 people took
part, many of them young, many unionists and from other
organizations, some individuals.

They came to condemn corporate globalisation, to speak out
for the poor and oppressed, to fight for a better future
and as their immediate aim to shut down the WEF meeting.

More and More people are coming out against Nike, Nestle,
Shell, RioTinto, Heliburton and the many other
transnationals with their criminal exploitation and abuse
of workers, peasants and the environment upon which we all
depend for our survival.

The right wing Premier of Victoria first provoked violence
by criticizing the police for not being forceful enough.
After the police violence he praised them for doing what he
called an excellent job.

The right wing premier of New South Wales, described the
demonstration as Bully- boy fascism while he found unity
inside the WEF rubbing shoulders with Bill Gates and other
corporate capitalists. Both of these Premiers are from the
Social Democratic, Australian Labor Party.

In the last six months the Australian government has
entered into a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US,
which poses a most significant threat to the sovereignty,
independence, economic prosperity and security of the
people of Australia and is a sellout to US corporations.

This was a secret deal promoted with vague details and
exaggerated prospects.

The full agreement document is 900 pages long with
significant details and references that not even the
negotiator can agree on the final meaning off.

Representatives of the US congress and Senate called it a
wonderful deal for US farmers and industry and its Trade
Officers proudly declared that it would increase exports to
Australia by US$2 Billion.

During the negotiation there was a heavy input by the large
US Pharmaceutical industry who have for a number of years
been trying to break the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefit
Scheme which provides cheap generic medications to the
people of Australia and is considered by them as an
unwanted example to the governments of the world of how to
provide affordable medications to their people and breaking
the domination of the international Pharmaceutical
industry.

This agreement reduces significantly tarrifs against US
industries and only gradually provides access to the US
markets for Australian farmer, over a period up to 18
years.

Directly before this a similar agreement was finalized with
Thailand and the next is an agreement with China.

These agreements bypass the log jam in the WTO and rather
than promoting a fair world wide Multi Lateral agreement
that protect the weak under developed nations and workers
of the developed countries it ties governments into a
secret Bilaterial agreement of TNC greed.

The FTA covers much more than just trade in manufactured
goods: it also cover "trade in services", that is the
provision of education, welfare, health, financial
services, transport, telecommunications, energy, water,
entertainment, media, audio visual and other services. It
also goes beyond trade to cover foreign investment,
securities markets, quarantine regulations, customs,
industrial laws, environmental, intellectual property,
competition policy, deregulation, health and safety, and
other issues.

An example is the thresholds for acquisitions by US
investors in nearly all sectors are raised significantly,
from A$50 million to $800 million which exempts nearly 90
percent of US investment transactions from government
screening.

The FTA threatens the sovereignty and independence of
Australia. It undermines the right of the elected
governments to regulate the Key aspects of essential
services, investment, industrial development and
environmental protection.

The Decisions for all these will now be transferred to
boardrooms in New York.

The FTA is based on NAFTA between the US, Canada and
Mexico.

The Mexican government told the people that NAFTA would
result in an export led growth and give economic security
for 50 years.

Mexican workers face quite a different result, distorted
trade flows, loss of productive capacity, a stagnant
economy and foreign investment largely in the form of
takeovers and mergers. The workers bore the brunt of NAFTA.
There were job losses and wage reductions. Prices rocketed;
unemployment rose and somewhere between 25 and 40 million
Mexicans now live in extreme poverty.

Was it enough just to mobilization or is it essential that
we run an anti imperialist ribbon through all of our work
that links these struggles to the ultimate objective of
socialist change.

The call and history of the de-politicization of struggle
and campaigning, has been successful in breaking the
development of a sustained and vigorous mass movement lead
by the working class.

We need to focus on the political nature and politics of
these struggles. To challenge the lie of the many groups
campaigning to weaken them by using the illusion of a pure
moral action without the foundation of political principle.

There has been some mention in the contributions to date of
the need to develop our work and the struggle against the
imperialists internationally yet there has been no
discussion of the organizations establish during the Soviet
period, the world federations of workers, women, peace and
youth.

Their focus as mass organisations was not only to develop
solidarity, campaigns and rally people and organizations in
support of their cause and demands but also to highlight
the role of the imperialist, and link their actions to the
boarder struggle of the workers of the world.

These organizations still exist and continue to represent
millions, they remain strongly anti imperialist.

Are they to be left when we already recognize that there is
a need to campaign for peace and highlight the only real
threat is the barbaric imperialists war mongers.

When the focus of the capitalists is to rally support in a
vast generation of enthusiastic and energetic youth for its
illusion of a prosperous materialist future through
cultural domination, non permanent work and social
division and political isolation.

Where the TNCs play worker against worker and shift
industries to the countries with the lowest wages and
condition and the most compliant governments exist.

We have seen how successful the mobilization of the workers
can be if they are supported by international solidarity
and in campaigns against the multi nationals.

Yet these organizations remain neglected and operate in a
way reminiscent of the soviet era.

The anti imperialist message remains vivid and relevant but
their tired methods have to be swept away so they can
compete with more dynamic movements that pedal limited
politics and have liberal budgets. We don't have to start a
new just update and energize our existing pillars.

I appreciated the message from our Philippine comrade and
can say I am representing a solidarity organization at the
ILSA conference he referred to which is being held in the
Netherland in November. Further the trade union solidarity
organization I'm representing has a long history of support
for the Philippino KMU and in the state I am the secretary
of we work closely with these extreme Maoists forces from
the Philippines. They do not represent themselves as
extreme but in the context of the Australian struggle they
make a constructive contribution. How in the current
circumstance do we recognize and address this relationship.

The Asia Pacific Region is not well organized and a clear
understanding of the progressive forces in the region is
distorted by the influence of a well resourced Trotskyist
movement that regularly has its comrades working in
countries, interfering in the political and union movements
and dividing any progressive development or organisation
that is unwilling to follow their line.

A regional organization will give us the opportunity to
address the absence of a cohesive worker, student, peace
and political movement in an area known as the centre of
the new capitalist tigers.

The contribution that can flow from this regional body will
address the need to spread responsibility and reflect a
stronger and broader understanding of opinion and forms of
struggle of the Communist and Worker movements and will
enhance and build the unity and political level of these
conferences.

Once again I thank the KKE for providing this opportunity
to contribute and comrade delegates for listening.