Woolworths and Coles face working-class backlash

Written by: Leo A. on 16 January 2025

 

(Source: Wilderness Society | Protecting nature and wildlife)

Within the past two months, the retail companies Woolworths and Coles have both faced serious backlash in response to decisions made by the ruling boards of both entities.   Late November and early December saw more than 1500 Woolworths warehouse staff in both New South Wales and Victoria go on strike, seeking better pay and safety conditions. Unsurprisingly, government-imposed administrators of the NSW CFMEU told corporations they “wouldn’t defend any worker sacked for striking”. 

At around the same time, the Wilderness Society – an environmentalist organisation with a nationwide presence – performed a campaign of activism against Woolworths’ and Coles’ policies contributing to deforestation. Australians shouldn’t have to worry that their groceries are coming from the destruction of our forests and bushland, but every day these supermarkets are exposed to deforestation, from some of the beef mince they sell being raised on recently-cleared land, to some of the timber pallets the products arrive on. 

Such action is critically important in the context of the ongoing environmental crisis across Australia. As a reminder of the severity of the crisis, as recently as late November it was revealed that a whopping 35 known species of freshwater fish that aren’t yet on Australia’s threatened species list should be. And we can’t pretend that our ecosystems exist in isolation from one another.  

Who is really in charge?  
 

Of course, Woolworths, Coles, and similar companies couldn’t care less about that. In fact, we should consider the fact that, despite being headquartered in New South Wales and Victoria, these companies aren’t as “Australian” as most of their customers believe. The three largest shareholders of both are Blackrock Group, State Street Corporation, and Vanguard Group – American banks, all headquartered an easy drive from each other in the Northeastern

This is technically public knowledge, although like much “public knowledge” it’s carefully buried in reports that the average person isn’t going to hear of. While it’s far less subtle than, say, the construction or expansion of an American military base, it is still an element of the ongoing contradiction between the greed of American power and the struggle for Australian sovereignty.  

Woolworths and Coles are two of the most hated corporations in Australia, because they squeeze farmers and whole primary industries for the lowest wholesale prices, while hitting customers with higher prices and pretended price cuts. The Wilderness Society could tap this opposition in a united front targeting them.    

It must be noted that some opposition to Woolworths and Coles has come from the right, who are exploiting the ongoing contradiction for their own gain. We must remind ourselves that, as Mao explained in 1937, the existence of a common opponent does not erase the fundamental contradiction between revolutionary and reactionary forces. If we keep this in mind, we can exercise a healthy level of caution when assessing the groups claiming support for the working-class movement against these companies.  

 

Profits first, ethics second: Foreign corporations financing Russian imperialism’s war of aggression

Written by: Nick G. on 14 January 2025

 

A report just released by three Ukrainian organisations has revealed the foreign corporations whose taxes on earnings in Russia are helping to fund Russian imperialism’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

Non-Russian companies are contributing to Russia’s war on Ukraine through the taxes they pay, the supply chains they support and the technology and training they provide. This report focuses on one specific angle: multinational company revenue and taxes associated with operations within Russia.

The Report found that in 2023, 1600 multinational corporations played a pivotal role in strengthening Russia’s economy, contributing to its illegal war of aggression in Ukraine.  They paid an estimated $21.6 billion in total tax, bringing the total estimated taxes paid to $41.6 billion since the full-scale invasion in 2022. $41.6 billion is equivalent to just under one-third of Russia’s estimated military budget for 2025,

According to the Report, banks were the largest contributors to Russian tax revenue. Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), in particular, was found to be the largest single corporate taxpayer in Russia by far in 2023. RBI’s Russian tax contributions in 2023 totalled $491m - more than twice those of the second-largest corporate taxpayer, China’s Chery Automobile, and more than the tax contributions of all other international banks put together. 

On a country basis, American firms generated the largest total revenues in Russia and emerged as the Kremlin’s most substantial contributors through profit taxes, paying $1.2 billion in 2023. Germany follows, with its companies paying $692.5 million in profit taxes to Russia in the same year.

Although many foreign corporations pulled out of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, Chinese companies moved to capture market share and boost revenues, particularly in the automotive and technology sectors. Yet despite gains in these areas, it is still companies headquartered in G7 and EU countries who were cumulatively the highest profit taxpayers in Russia in 2023, representing 16 of the top 20 contributing countries. Companies from China - which is considered as a ‘friendly’ country by Russia - reported higher revenues than those from Germany, but their profit tax contributions remain lower. 

Chinese companies in the Top 20 List of foreign tax-paying corporations in Russia were Chery Automobile, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Haval Motor. Together their tax on profits in 2023 amounted to $328m, still lower than the Austrian bank’s payments.

China’s 3 companies in the Top 20 compared with 8 from the US.

Revelations of US, European and Chinese firms supporting Russian aggression through their taxes on profits in Russia are a stark reminder of companies that invested in Nazi Germany and continued operating after the beginnings of Nazi aggression and the outbreak of World War 2.

They included Ford and General Motors, both owned by anti-semitic admirers of Hitler, Coca-Cola, IBM and IT&T. Ford factories and those of GM’s German subsidiary Opal, switched to war production after 1939. After the war, GM was compensated $32 million by the U.S. government because its German factories were bombed by U.S. forces during the war. A large sum was also paid to Ford, although the exact amount was never revealed, and despite the fact that slave labour from concentration camps was used at its Ford-Werke plant.

Imperialist finance capital, throughout its history, has always placed profits over ethics. It may be one thing for corporations to pay taxes to their “own” aggressor nation, but it is scaping the bottom of the barrel of ethics when they work with and support governments to which their own are opposed or actually fighting.

Greenland: The United States and its isolationist path

Written by: Alan Jackson on 12 January 2025

 

Greenland: Inuit, and not for sale or takeover.   Source: Flickr Commons

With the expansion of counter-hegemonic imperialist powers, Russia and most notably China, America is rapidly on the decline and racing to fascism as it tries to consolidate its position at the top of Imperialist domination especially against its enemies in the same market of exploitation.

On Tuesday, the 7th of January, with less than two weeks before taking office, Donald Trump has gone full mask off once again for American Imperialism in a press conference at Mar-a-Lago. Although this is not the only time Trump has been so honest about his, or rather the ruling class of America’s plan for the world, this press conference was especially isolationist and Imperialist in its rhetoric. 

First off Trump declared military action will be used if necessary to take control of both Greenland and the Panama Canal. While doing this we learnt the one thing Trump knows about ex-president Jimmy Carter, in his words, “The Panama Canal is a disgrace, what took place at the Panama Canal. Jimmy Carter gave it to them (Panama) for $1, and they were supposed to treat us well. I thought it was a terrible thing to do,”. (1.) Along with this Trump also humbly declared that the Gulf of Mexico should be changed to the “Gulf of America”. (2.) it doesn’t end here though. Trump also repeatedly declared that America’s settler-colonial neighbour to the north, Canada, should become the 51st state of the United Settler-Colonial States of America! What a roll. 

Now, let’s try and examine why Trump felt so compelled to go on an hour and a half rant that sounds like America reclaiming ‘Manifest Destiny’ from Germany for itself. While doing this we will also try to explain the historical conditions behind these decisions and the importance of the areas that America has their claws out for.

Greenland’s history, much like Australia’s, is very much a history of settler-colonialism. Greenland and its indigenous population the Inuit, made up of three major indigenous populations, have been subjected to colonialism and neo-colonialism by Denmark for centuries. Blaringly a showcase of this colonialism is that although being an autonomous part of Denmark rated 2nd for the happiest country in the world by the World Population Review (3.), Greenland has the world’s largest suicide rate. (4.) Outside of Denmark due to both its important geographical position and abundant resources Greenland has been at the grabs from keen-handed Imperialists the world over, most notably, America, Russia and China. The United States has had military presence in Greenland since WWII (5.) and has had Trump again earlier in 2019 trying to buy Greenland due to its importance. (6.) America trying to purchase Greenland has been consistent for decades, since even 1946. (7.) This is representative of the fact that Americas imperialist ambitions have been present and loud since long before Trump and that Trump is not the “great man” in Americas Imperialist past and future ambitions, Trump is merely the great puppet of the American capitalist ruling class. 

The importance of Greenland geopolitically, as I mentioned previously, is not one sided and not lost on the minds of the other great Imperialist power, China. Chinas interest has been recent but nonetheless is clear with visits from Chinas Minister of Land and Resources to the purchasing of stock in Greenland Minerals and Energy which develops a Uranium and rare-earth site at Kuannersuisut (Kvanefjeld). (8.) Both the US and China have been competing by proxy through two Australian mining companies most notably Greenland Minerals Australia’s holding company and Ironbark in extracting many valuable resources from Greenland for the competing Imperialist powers. (9.) this case is quite similar to Chinas export of finance capital through Australian mining companies in Africa. 

What is clear is why Greenland is so valued by the Imperialist powers. The problem is that it contains an indigenous population which does not wish to be dominated by Imperialism. The Inuit have not had the right of self-determination of their own country and have had to suffer the subjugation of colonial powers for hundreds of years. America, China and not even Denmark have the right to determine who controls Greenland, this right belongs to Greenland and its masses.

The posturing and absurdity of Donald Trump in his most recent press conference, let alone the history of imperialism and how It continues today, puts a clear cut through the idea and the relied upon verbiage from the ruling class of a rules-based order. There is no rules-based order, there is only Imperialism and its necessity for profit seeking abroad and the slicing up of the globe into outposts of Imperialism. There is only one rule, and it is profit. This is the inevitability of a capitalist society in its dying stages. The only solution is the scientific solution.

The only solution is the struggle of the world’s masses against Imperialism for Socialism and independence. Nothing else can bring humanity forward. 

 

Sources – 

(1.)  - Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago press conference. 7th January 2024. 

(2.)  - Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago press conference. 7th January 2024.

(3.) - Happiest Countries in the World 2024 

(4.) - Greenland Has The World's Highest Suicide Rate, And Teenage Boys Are Especially Vulnerable : Goats and Soda : NPR

(5.) - Greenland, Denmark, and U.S. Relations

(6.) - Greenland, Denmark, and U.S. Relations

(7.) - Greenland: what is China doing there and why? | Presence before power

(8.) -Greenland: what is China doing there and why? | Presence before power

(9.) - Australia, China, and US in the Greenland Precious Metals Rush - Resource Erectors

Book Review: Juice, by Tim Winton

Written by: Josh S. on 10 January 2025

 

Juice is set in a bleak future, severely damaged by climate change, ravaged by fire, heat and increasingly unreliable weather. The population is largely ground down, demoralised and compliant. Meanwhile, the environmental destroyers- ruthless, profiteering corporations, gangs and clans, hole up in luxury in heavily fortified citadels. 

Some (in fact many more than are apparent on the surface) rebel and fight back, motivated by anger, morality and hope. A sophisticated, international, underground organisation- the Service, exacts revenge by attacking and eliminating environmental corporate criminals.  However, over time, the Service loses its way; it becomes complacent, and unclear about its purposes, objectives and strategies.

 

Juice is beautifully written, and quite breathtaking in the breadth and depth of its imagined detail.

 

Some valuable points can be drawn from this novel.

 

1. Our climate is being changed and the planet damaged inexorably by rapacious, profiteering capitalism. How bad it will get before socialist societies rein in the damage and start the repair process is anyone’s guess.

 

2. The fatalism and docility of the bulk of the population is akin to the imposed ignorance, superstition and fatalism of medieval peasantry, under the pressure of feudalism and the fear-imposing spiritual domination of the church.

But, there is still life and light. People are resilient. They can lift their eyes, imagine a better future, and look to fight back. 

 

3. But anger and hope are not enough (as Winton seems to grasp, intuitively at least). Nor are acts of sabotage, terrorism or elimination, divorced from broad mass political agitation and organisation. (The recent assassination of the CEO of a US health insurance company is hardly going to bring down the vast, vicious, profiteering US health exploitation industry).

 

A scientific ideology to guide the revolt; a political program to chart the way forward to build alternative power and structures; and agitation among, and mobilisation of, the people to win support for fundamental change, are required. 

 

4. This last point should give pause for thought to the impatient and fervent, who are attracted to seemingly revolutionary Gueveraist and Gonzaloist notions that the militarisation of all revolutionary organisations, and purely military actions, will spark uprisings and engender political support for revolution. This has never been successful, nor is it at all likely.

 

5. Equally, those who laud pure spontaneity need to understand that unorganised, sporadic uprisings are no match for experienced, extensive, extortionate evil. Sustained political organisation, strategy, patience and, discipline are required, to challenge and replace capitalism.

US Biden government's parting weapons "gift" to Israel and Australian government's silence.

 Written by: Ned K. on 7 January 2025

 

In the dying days of the Biden Democrats government, a $12.9 billion (Australia currency) weapons package has been agreed to be sent to the Israeli Government. The weapons being sent include thousands of bombs, missiles and precision munitions. This is one of the largest weapons packages sent from the USA to Israel since 7 October 2023. The $12.9 billion has to be rubber stamped by Congress.

A Biden administration official announced the latest "gift" to Israeli Government saying, "We will continue to provide the capabilities necessary for Israel's defense."

"Defense" in real terms means the continued bombing of hospitals and all kinds of buildings in Gaza resulting in daily reports in the 24-hour news cycle of deaths of hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza but now extending to Yemen and Syria.

The Australian Government is complicit in this continued weapons supply from the US Government to the Israeli Government through its continued support of the Zionist Israeli state, its silence on US weapons "gifts" to Israel and by allowing Australian-based weapons and weapons-related component companies to supply the US and Israeli war machines.

The Democrats government in the US and the ALP government in Australia parade as the mass parties for the worker in their respective countries! Their actions pave the way for greater attacks on the Palestinians and attacks on workers in the US and Australia when there is a change in government to Republican or Liberal parties in the US and Australia respectively. 

In the US, the Democrats have been strong backers of the Israeli state since at least 1948 when the Democrat leader Truman was elected to government on a platform committed to Israel. 

In Australia, the ALP has consistently supported the US position on Israel through the US-Australia Alliance. The ALP leadership at the moment is more concerned about being re-elected in the coming federal parliamentary election. The Palestinian people's situation will only be viewed by the ALP leadership as important if it perceives it will win it a few election votes. That is the reality of parliamentary politics of capitalism in Australia.

2025 has just begun and is sure to see continued resilience of the Palestinian people against the Israeli Zionist regime and continued solidarity with Palestinians from the peoples of both the US and Australia and indeed the whole world.

 

Chinese aid to Cuba: Aid as imperialism is as old as imperialism itself.

Written by: (Contributed) on 5 January 2025

 

The UK-based and revisionist-backed Friends of Socialist China website headlined an article, "China donates 70 tons of equipment to help Cuba restore its electric system."

FOSC, run by Danny Haiphong and businessman Keith Bennett , would be better named Publicity Agents for Capitalist China. Nonetheless, their post could not hide that the gift was an example of a typical PRC ploy: negotiate a big commercial deal with a country, tack on a dollop of pure aid, and publicize the latter.

This tactic was used, for example, when Chinese companies exported COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic. The donated first batch would arrive, and the Chinese side would arrange a publicity photo. The bulk of the deliveries on commercial terms would follow.

The FOSC post conceded, "The (Cuban) deputy minister also stated that the island government estimates that this donation will benefit about 53,200 homes in the country." The rest of the iceberg is hinted at: "The donations are part of agreements signed between Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, seeking to expand cooperation in strategic initiatives such as energy, transportation, food security and trade."

Two months ago a news report had more about these "strategic initiatives."

Chinese company bullish on Cuban solar drive, executive says (excerpts)

Reuters, November 4, 2024

Havana - Hangzhou Duojia Technology, which distributes solar technology to Cuba, called a Cuban plan to dramatically boost solar generation a win for both countries, touting China's manufacturing heft and the island's sunny climate.

Qiaoming Huang, president of Hangzhou Duojia Technology, told Reuters in an interview that
his company, which sources solar technology from China for small-scale commercial projects of up to 20 kilowatts in Cuba, had 10 containers of solar panels and lithium batteries on their way from China.

Cuba agreed in April for China to help it boost solar power's role in its grid, though neither government elaborated on financing details. After the October nationwide blackout, Cuba's top leadership appeared to double down on the plan, at least partially financed with Chinese development credits, according to state-run media.

Note that HJT "sources solar technology for small commercial projects." The company is a trader, not manufacturer of solar panels nor lithium batteries. HJT's principal business is as a global distributor between "more than 3000 auto parts manufacturers" in China and retailers in 50 countries. It has a large warehouse in Hangzhou for spark plugs, steering wheel covers, etc.The company obviously wants to get into green energy distribution, hence the Cuba deal.

Any donation to Cuba to break the U.S. embargo is a good thing. But let's not fool ourselves that the PRC is ambiguous between socialist solidarity and capitalist commerce. It's 98% the latter – as, for example, 53,000 homes in ratio to perhaps three million Cuban households.

South Korean instability a problem for US imperialism

 Written by: (Contributed) on 5 January 2025

 

Above; December 2024 and South Koreans take to the streets to demand  Yoon Suk-yeol's resignation

While government investigators sift through piles of evidence for use by the South Korean Constitutional Court following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol, one outstanding matter will be his agenda for attempting to implement martial law in early December.

From available evidence it would appear Yoon Suk-yeon was likely to have been pursuing a longer-term agenda in order to buttress his highly unpopular conservative and business political position, against an increasingly assertive and popular and well organised opposition which have proved problematic for decades.

During his election campaign in 2022, Yoon Suk-yeol stated if elected president his administration would abandon the traditional Blue House for suitable premises elsewhere. The Blue House, however, has a highly symbolic place in the political culture of most South Koreans: having experienced political turmoil and upheaval, the presidential palace is the institution through which they have been governed since the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948. While other ROK political leaders have expressed concerns about the Blue House, none had ever managed to muster enough support to abandon the vast, sprawling estate.

After winning the presidency with a very small margin, Yoon Suk-yeol announced he was making the former Defence Ministry headquarters his new presidential residence. It was to prove highly unpopular with many South Koreans; during the earliest days of presidential administration a massive public petition of 3,600,000 signatures opposed the move. (1)

The choice by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration to use the Defence Ministry premises, likewise, were to prove unpopular with many South Koreans for reasons the presidential administration appear to not have even considered as relevant.
 
Most South Koreans, while expected to serve National Service in the country's vast military apparatus, have unhappy memories of military involvement in political and civilian affairs which are regarded as darker days in the country's history. It has been noted, for example, that 'military officers … are by now fully educated about the deep unpopularity of earlier decades of martial law … and that … South Koreans have a deep embrace of democratic values'. (2) The choice of Defence Ministry for the official presidential premises can, therefore perhaps, best be viewed as strangely incongruous; that is, if the choice is to be regarded as straightforward and above board.

What, however, proved a particular matter of concern for many South Koreans were the expensive upgrading of various facilities in the Defence Ministry premises. Security concerns had been raised although it has remained curious how such an important defence facility could be regarded as so vulnerable by those making the assessments. While upgrades were taking place Yoon Suk-yeol used his own home as the presidential premises.

With plummeting popularity ratings Yoon Suk-yeol appeared to have developed a bunker-like mentality even before moving into his Defence Ministry compound, seemingly oblivious to what was taking place in the country as a whole. Government investigators will, no doubt, have a field-day assessing the role of the country's intelligence services and their working relations with the presidential administration; the reliability and nature of the intelligence assessments and those providing the sensitive information, and whether the presidential administration took any notice of what they were being told, has yet to be established but will inevitably be called into question.  

Popularity ratings of President Yoon Suk-yeol continued to plummet to under twenty per cent of the population as his administration pursued policies of closer diplomatic involvement with the US and Japan. The US Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) rests upon its diplomatic relationship with Japan as part of a global alliance; co-ordinated involvement with all US regional allies, including the ROK, remain a US political and military obsession. (3)

The April elections saw the political opposition, centred around the Democratic Party, win 192 seats in the 300-seat parliament. While regarded as a landslide victory, it fell just short of a super majority although rendered the presidential administration as little other than a 'lame duck'. (4) Despite attempting to label his political opponents as being North Korean agents, Yoon Suk-yeol provided no credible evidence of any northern involvement in the growing dysfunctional nature of ROK political developments. They remain mere allegations.

The ROK, however, still has legislation from the previous Cold War concerning any relations and contact with the northern DPRK. It remains highly controversial and part of the US-Japan alliance of which the ROK is a component part, for rapid deployment elsewhere in time of crisis. (5) While unpopular, attempts by then President Roo Moo-hyun over twenty years ago to repeal the National Security Law proved highly controversial. (6)

The 1948 law has been seen 'as a legacy of the military dictatorships that dominated South Korea for most of the Cold War'. (7) Fears that President Yoon Suk-yeol would resort to using the draconian legislation against political opposition figures was to become a common concern following their April electoral success, until his demise with impeachment in December.

President Yoon Suk-yeol later announced his move into the new Defence Ministry premises in early November in a manner of being under siege, less than a month before attempting to implement martial law under cover of darkness on the night of 3 December. (8) Why it took those providing the required upgrade over two years to complete the construction and security work has yet to be established. The whole matter, however, looks suspicious and requires clarification, although attempting to implement martial law from inside facilities so closely associated with the ROK's darker history is revealing, in itself.

Nearly 300 ROK uniformed military personnel were subsequently directed by President Yoon Suk-yeol to seize control of the country's parliament, paving the way for full control of the political system; some arrived by helicopter on the roof of the parliamentary buildings.  

Opposition political figures barricaded themselves into the parliamentary building and sprayed fire extinguishers at the soldiers, while huge numbers of protesters lined the streets.

Government investigators later established Yoon Suk-yeol had actually authorised the military to 'fire their weapons' at those resisting the attempted coup, in a ten-page report. (9) The personnel concerned, however, refused to accept the order and the Defence Minister subsequently attempted to commit suicide, presumably from disgrace.

And the farce was all over in a mere six hours: the presidential administration appears to have completely misread both the mood of the people and those residing in the state and military apparatus over which they were supposed to have direct and total control.

As ROK government investigators collect legal evidence for forthcoming Constitutional Court proceedings, they will obviously have to consider the longer-term agenda of President Yoon Suk-yeol and his decision to use military force to deal with political opposition on 3 December. It is difficult to accept the decision was taken on the spur of the moment or a planned quick solution to a long-time problem affecting class and state relations in the ROK stretching back decades.

The subsequent impeachment of Yoon Suk-yeol's replacement, Acting President Han Duck-soo, for 'actively participating in the insurrection', likewise, has already revealed the deeper and close-knit nature of their conspiracy. (10)

The tentacles of the attempted coup conspiracy may reach very deep indeed.

1.     Explained: Why South Korea's president-elect wants to relocate the presidential palace, The Indian Express, 23 March 2022.
2.     Real-life political Squid Game offers compelling viewing, The Weekend Australian, 28-29 December 2024.
3.     The reasons behind Washington's push for GSOMIA., Hankyoreh, 12 November 2019.
4.     Weekend Australian, op.ci.t, 28-29 December 2024.  
5.     North Korea's behaviour could threaten Australian security, Australian, 27 December 2002.
6.     See: Uneasy Korea braced for America's big squeeze, The Guardian Weekly (U.K.), 10-16 December 2004.
7.     Ibid.
8.     See: Yoon moves into new presidential residence, The Korean Times, 8 November 2024.
9.     South Korea's Yoon authorised 'shooting' during martial law bid, prosecutors say,   ABC News, (and AFP), 28 December 2024.
10.   S. Korean acting leader impeached, The Weekend Australian, 28-29 December 2024.