Immediate Demands, National Independence and Socialism

Vanguard May 2011 p. 6
Bill F.

How do Immediate Demands relate to the Vanguard slogan “For an Independent Australia and Socialism”?

Firstly, immediate demands should cover the most prominent issues of concern to the working class and many broader sections of people in society. They should cover areas where the people are engaged in the day to day struggle for improvements and reforms in their living and working conditions, for protection of the natural environment, for equality and justice in society, for decent social services and community facilities, for an independent foreign policy based on peace, fairness and integrity.

Immediate demands also look after the well-being of the people, build unity, and strengthen the capacity to struggle.

The mass line
A list of Immediate Demands was formulated by the CPA (M-L) and represents an attempt to apply the approach outlined by Mao Zedong in his essay, Some questions concerning methods of leadership (1943) “…all correct leadership is necessarily ‘from the masses, to the masses’. This means: take the ideas of the masses (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them (through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas)... Thus, immediate demands arise from the people, from campaigns and mobilisations have already been initiated around the conditions of life, but are expressed in a way that points to progressive alternatives that are both realistic and to some extent, reveal a vision of the future.

Narrow the target, broaden the base
Secondly, the immediate demands formulated by the CPA (M-L) sharply target the large foreign corporate monopolies and multinational companies that are the core of Australian capitalism. The most powerful and influential monopolies are American. Together with its political and military influence, this economic influence means that the interests of US imperialism underpin Australian capitalism.

Small Australian capitalists, entrepreneurs and producers are being wiped out every day by the inroads of foreign imperialism. Working people face job insecurity, loss of wages and conditions, rising living costs, and poor public amenities and government services as a result of ever-increasing attacks to serve the interests of foreign imperialism, especially US imperialism and its partners in Australia.

Paving the way for US imperialism are the foreign and local collaborators in the Business Council of Australia. They manipulate and bully State and Federal governments, and finance mass media campaigns to promote more foreign investment, more dismantling of Australian industries, more subservience to so-called ‘globalisation’.

The link to socialism
It is impossible to talk about winning socialism in Australia without confronting the dominant core of capitalism in this country – US and other foreign imperialist interests. The path to socialism lies in expelling foreign imperialism and winning real and genuine national independence.

It is fundamental to uphold the leadership of the working class in this revolutionary struggle, but it would be wrong to think that the working class can achieve victory on its own. It needs and can win allies from other sections of the people also oppressed by imperialism. The demands reflect the interests of these sections as well, and flow in the direction of building a united front against imperialism, a people’s movement for national independence.

Test ideas in practice
Finally, and critically, as Mao Zedong says, we need to “... go to the masses and propagate and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as their own, hold fast to them and translate them into action, and test the correctness of these ideas in such action.”

This means systematically and diligently promoting these immediate demands at an appropriate time, and in an appropriate manner, in the struggles taking place. What is important is to promote the ideas behind the demands, not just focussing on the words alone as if that is all that is necessary.