We want good government that brings benefits to us as a
people.
But we are continually frustrated by a recurring electoral
cycle of hope that Labor will do the right thing by its electoral base;
frustration and anger when it gets into office and betrays those hopes; an
electoral win for the conservatives; and then a return to the hope that Labor
gets re-elected and can be trusted….”this time”.
We live in a country where you and I and Clive Palmer and
the CEO of Qantas all have one vote.
But the reality of property ownership under capitalism means
that we are fated to be a client state of “big and powerful friends”; that
there is a mismatch between our existent political democracy and our
non-existent economic democracy; that we do have a ruling class that exercises
continuing power regardless of which
political party gets into temporary office.
We can only break out of this self-defeating cycle of
electoral hope and despair when we make some basic and fundamental changes in
this country.
Firstly, we must
properly address the original sin of the colonial unsettling of the continent’s
First Peoples. This requires a Treaty
between the Australian government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders. That Treaty must acknowledge
more than the prior existence of ATSI peoples.
It must recognise that they exercised prior occupancy, custodianship and
ownership of the continent. It must
acknowledge that the unsettling of their relationship to country was a crime
that occurred through violence or the threat of violence. It must acknowledge
their inalienable right, through their communities, to Land Rights and to
self-determination.
Secondly, we must
jettison the Constitution, that weak and obstructive compromise between the
British imperialists, the separate colonial elites and the developing forces of
nationhood. A new Constitution must be
republican, democratic and national.
Thirdly, we must have
our rights and liberties – those catch-cries of the Eureka Stockade – enshrined
in a Bill of Rights. Human rights in
Australia are poorly defined and not well protected. International conventions and treaties on
human rights to which Australia is a signatory are not enforceable under
Australian law. The Bill of Rights must be located within the new Constitution
and not be subject to the whims of the government of the day.
Fourthly, we must
decisively reject the suffocating embrace of the neo-liberal agenda. We stand for the restoration of the social
purpose of government. The so-called
“free market”, dominated by imperialist finance capital, leads directly to the
path of nation-wrecking. Why should the
Board of Qantas, for example, not be sacked and the company
renationalised? We are an island nation
that requires the security of controlling the means by which our citizens may
depart from or return to the country. We
cannot place ourselves at the commercial or political mercy of foreign-owned
carriers.
Fifthly, we must
prioritise the five pillars of our people’s livelihood as the foundation of
good government. They are housing,
transport, health, education (public and free), and employment. The prioritising of the needs of capital by
both major parties must stop. Capital
can either be harnessed for social purposes or be freed to wreak a destructive
path through our people and our communities.
Our agenda for these five pillars will be built in the suburbs of the
working people through strong community organisations committed to a long-term
alternative form of service provision.
The spirit of Eureka is one of defiance of out-dated and
self-serving power structures.
The spirit of Eureka is one of struggling against the odds
for extending democracy and justice to all.
The spirit of Eureka is one that stands for a just,
democratic and sovereign Australian republic.
…………………
“I call on my fellow
diggers, irrespective of nationality, religion or colour, to salute the
‘Southern Cross’ as the refuge of all oppressed from all countries on
earth.” (Rafaello Carboni, November 1854)
“We swear by the
Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and
liberties.” (Eureka rebels’ oath, November 1854)
………………….
Contact information:
Spirit of Eureka, PO
Box 3119 Rundle Mall, SA 5000
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