By Max Lane
"The mid-'90s herald the beginning of a new period in Australian politics", Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) national secretary John Percy told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly. "Never before has the rejection of traditional politics been so great." A key discussion at the 15th national conference of the DSP in January will be on a report aimed at summing up the political situation and making some projections about immediate possibilities.
"A draft of a report on this has already been circulated to our members throughout the country so that the discussion at the conference can be as rich as possible", said Percy.
One of the fundamental ideas in the report's analysis is the ALP government's strategy of coopting the leaders of 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ of society being badly affected by government policies.
The report calls this the "Accord strategy", after the Prices and Incomes Accord between the ALP and the ACTU in 1983. This agreement tied the trade union leadership to accepting ALP government policies even when those policies reduce the living standards and democratic rights of trade union members. The ACTU has become a major force in getting these kinds of policies implemented.
"Similar policies of buying off leaderships have been used in relation to the peak bodies of the environment movement, 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ of the women's movement, and perhaps the same thing is happening with 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ of the Aboriginal leadership", says Percy.
"It means the government and its big business backers have been getting their way without having to confront and defeat the trade union movement as a whole. That's why you can still get 200,000 workers mobilising against Kennett, even when the trade union bureaucrats don't throw their whole weight behind such protests. It's the leaders who have been bought off, not the membership who have been crushed."
The Accord strategy is also escalating political disillusionment with the system. "Whether it's anger against the femocrats among women activists, concern about the ATSIC leadership's eagerness to get the non-land-rights Mabo bill passed before it has been discussed by the community, or opposition from rank-and-file unionists, such as just happened in the Public Service Union in Canberra, the signs of disillusion turning into action are more and more frequent", says Percy.
The conference will last for six days and include other reports on the international situation and experiences of movements in other countries. Political leaders and activists from the USA, Europe, New Zealand, the Philippines and Sri Lanka will be attending to give reports. DSP activists will also be discussing aspects of the Australian situation and how the DSP should respond.
"The DSP must get involved wherever struggles take place", says Percy, "supporting and encouraging all moves to the left. That is the only way we can defend our conditions and rights against the policies of the ALP and Liberal governments."
But Percy thinks that such defensive struggles are not sufficient. "Our concept of a party is a democratic combination of persistent and conscious activists who want to help change the system altogether.
"If all of us just accept that ordinary people with these concerns about rights and conditions must always be in opposition, then the environment will not be saved, women will never win full liberation, and the living conditions of people will get worse and worse. By building a party of their own, people can indeed force Liberal and Labor to back off on some of their policies, but that also starts to aim for a genuine government of the people in the future."
Percy says that a process "of rethinking, regrouping and rebuilding is going on throughout the left internationally, and we are finding ways to be a part of that as well. We are publishing a new international journal in collaboration with South African, US, New Zealand, Sri Lankan and Filipino progressives. We will be holding a rally to launch this new magazine, Links, at the conference."
Percy expects 300 or more DSP delegates, activists and supporters to attend the conference, being held near Sydney, January 3-8.
[For more information, see the advertisement on page 21.]