Parliament is a committee that manages the affairs of the wealthy and powerful

Vanguard December 2013 p. 1

Nick G

The momentous trivia comprising the fallout from the September Federal election continues to unravel.

There is the unexpected success in the Senate of Clive Palmer’s private political party.

There is the unexpected emergence of the various right-wing grouplets who have formed an alliance with Palmer’s people.

Nonsense and rorts

There was the will-he-won’t-he win a seat shenanigans focussing on Palmer in the House of Representatives.

There was the long drawn out count in Western Australia and the disappearance of 1375 Senate ballot papers – “never to be recovered” according to special investigator Mick Keelty. 

There was the cynical resignation, just six weeks after his re-election to a six-year term, of Senator Bob Carr.  Three weeks later Kevin Rudd walks from the Parliament to which he was so recently elected.

There were the various travel claim rorts.

Such nonsense as this helps to explain the disenchantment with politicians.

Disenchantment

Something like 500,000 or so people aged between 18 and 24 did not register to vote; almost 740,000 Australians voted informal. That’s over 1 million eligible voters who did not feel sufficiently committed to vote for the major parliamentary parties. 

Enough people voted for non-mainstream grouplets which, with their sophisticated interlocking preference deals, gave them a voice outside the two major parties, reflecting one aspect of the disenchantment that many feel with the mainstream choice that was on offer.

Another was the frequently heard complaint: “I just don’t know who to vote for…I don’t like Abbott, but I can’t vote for Labor”.

While the disenchantment with the main parties and their candidates runs strong, so too does belief in parliamentary democracy. 

Independent working class agenda

Focus on individuals and grouplets is a fog through which the profound truth that governments are but “a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie” (Marx) struggles to make itself seen.

Unless the disenchantment is linked to that truth, it exists as a vacuum that can be preyed upon by populist right-wing and neo-Nazi types.

But it also offers us opportunities for our work in developing an independent working class agenda.

That agenda is not merely to seek certain democratic assurances, certain temporary concessions and short-term gains, but must also serve to tear away from the naked class rule of the exploiters the fig leaf of their parliamentary system.

It promotes working class demands that are expressed in the struggles that go on every day in real life well beyond the musty halls of parliament – struggles for decent, secure jobs, affordable housing, quality healthcare and education, fair and compassionate social services, efficient and reliable public transport, fairly-priced utilities, clean and sustainable energy and agriculture, etc.

All these struggles of the people are part of building a movement that will move beyond the musical chair game of parliament and challenge the power of the corporate monopolies and multinationals that really call the shots.

GMH workers have a go

Vanguard December 2013 p. 2
Bill F.

General Motors Holden workers at the engine plant in Fisherman’s Bend in Melbourne have dared to show a bit of fighting solidarity as some faced the prospect of losing their jobs at the end of the year.

More than 150 workers walked off the job on Thursday 14 November when the GMH bosses announced that they would get a maximum of 52 weeks redundancy pay, regardless of years of service.

This was an unexpected kick in the guts for some 30 workers who had seen 70 of their mates take a voluntary package which paid 4 weeks for each year of service, plus another 3.5 weeks.

Having earlier voted to support a three year wage freeze along with cuts to sick leave, overtime and work breaks, the workers had reached their limit. They were hopping mad and just walked off, disgusted at the greed and cunning of General Motors, which had stock-piled engines at Elizabeth plant in South Australia in case of trouble at Fisherman’s Bend.

Of course, GMH scurried off to the Unfair Work Commission to scream "wildcat", "illegal", "outside the EBA bargaining period" and so on. And of course, the Commission duly ordered the workers back to work. But, unfazed, the workers took a few more days off before returning the following week.

At the time of writing, negotiations are continuing between GMH and the Australian Metal Workers Union and some sort of deal will be worked out. Regardless of this, GMH workers everywhere know what to expect if and when the company decides to cease manufacturing motor vehicles in Australia.

Even if it’s only a rearguard action, if you don’t fight, you lose!

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Further reading:

We reprint below a newsletter that references struggles by General Motors and Opel (German subsidiary) in Europe and elsewhere:

From the representatives of the international corporate cooperation GM / PSA
International Newsletter GM-PSA
No. 3 – October 2013
Dear colleagues, dear friends,
herewith you are again receiving current information from our international corporate cooperation at General Motors and PSA:

1. At Opel in Bochum (Germany) a 17 hour-long works meeting took place on 9 and 10 September and was  followed by a 6-hour self-organized strike against the closure. It was the longest works meeting in the factory's history and until now the climax of active resistance of the workforce. With this the staff foiled the attempt to get them to surrender in the face of the closure plans. The colleagues express their thanks for the solidarity messages from Brazil, Spain, Russia, USA and Switzerland. The statement of the trade union at GM St. Petersburg (Russia) states: “It is time for the struggle! Let us fight together! Let us join against the attacks of GM!”
This militant action gave an important signal for the path of the working-class offensive shortly before the federal elections in Germany. It was kept almost completely quiet in the largest media, but this censorship was partly broken through by special editions of the corporate newssheet “Blitz” (“Flash”) and with the help of the public relations work of the MLPD. This action in Bochum was a great encouragement for the militant workers in Germany. In Bochum the plant management made a first concession and postponed the closure of plant 2. The solidarity circle for the strike of the Opel workforce has meanwhile collected more than 30,000 euros for the strike cash box and offers strike payments for the self-organized strike.
Women of the Bochum women's committee “BASTA!” organized a protest action during the International Motor Show in Frankfurt/Main at the exhibition stand of Opel on September 19. The media reported quite a lot about this action and the workers were enthusiastic.

2. After the actions on 10 September against the government pension plans a corporate-wide day of action against the “anti-social compensation plan” of the chairman of the board Varin was carried out at PSA in all of France on 18 September. The colleagues are fighting against wage freezes, unpaid work on Saturdays and further attacks. Another day of action took place on 11 October, and on 15 October the PSA colleagues again participated in the national day of action against the pension plans.

3. In Brazil the struggle against the anti-social policy of the government is continuing. After a national day of action of the trade unions in July new actions are planned for October.

4. The factory for gear units Strasbourg (France) was sold and is now called  Punch Powerglide Strasbourg. The trade union CGT tells us that it will maintain the connections of solidarity and will continue to be available under the address cgt67punch@gmail.com.

5. The trade union CGT at Opel in Saragossa (Spain) refuses to accept that the relocation of production from Korea to Spain (model “Opel Mocca”) is supposed to be bought with concessions and further wage sacrifices.

6. In this context are the plans of General Motors to cut back production in Korea step by step. It is an outrageous anti-union policy of GM that attempts to shift the blame on the militant Korean trade unions. It is a fact that GM is afraid that its comprehensive production in Korea is dependent on the strong Korean working-class movement.
We have expressed our solidarity with the Korean metal workers' union (KMWU) in its struggle against this policy of blackmail.

7. In South Africa 31,000 workers of the entire auto industry of the country went on strike for wage increases on 19 August. GM colleagues also participated.

8. At the beginning of August our colleague Frank Hammer visited the struggling colleagues of ASOTRECOL in Bogota (Columbia) on the second anniversary of their struggle. The colleagues who were dismissed by GM Colmotores have been camping for two years in front of the US embassy to achieve their reinstatement through GM. Frank Hammer's visit is an expression of a solidarity movement for this struggle, which already collected more than 10,000 dollars in donations in the US alone.

9. GM achieved new record sales of more than two million cars on the Chinese market from January till August. This gives cause to reflect that a further increase of production and sales of cars with combustion engines is not compatible with the future of the world climate, the preservation of the natural resources and therefore incompatible with the future of humankind. We auto workers must stand up for a future in accordance with nature with all our strength. If this is not compatible with capitalism, then it must be correct what Evo Morales (President of Bolivia) said: “Either capitalism will die or our Mother Earth”. We would indeed prefer the first.

Furthermore we would like to draw your attention to the website of the International Automotive Workers' Conference to exchange information during the preparation of the International Automotive Workers' Conference in 2015: www.iaar.de

Phryne surprisingly raises an issue....

Vanguard December 2013 p. 2
Nick G.

Some weeks ago the highly improbable “lady detective” Phryne Fisher was called upon to investigate the murder of the lead actor and the director of a local silent film.

“Framed for Murder” was set, as is the entire series of murder mysteries, in 1929 in Melbourne.

This was the time when the octopus of US film corporations was extending its tentacles throughout the globe.

Australian film-makers had been pioneers of the silent film era.  The Tait brothers produced The Story of the Kelly Gang in 1906. It lays claim to having been the world’s first full-length feature film.  It was a popular success in large part because of its subject matter.



(Above: a working class woman of courage and strength: Ned's mother Ellen takes on Constable Fitzpatrick after he has made untoward advances on her daughter Kate.  A still from the 1906 film)

Despite Kelly having been hanged a quarter of a century earlier, the bourgeoisie would not allow the celebration in the new medium of the lives of those who stood against respectable society and the law.

“While Australians took to bushranger stories, the censorship boards of the day did not. South Australia banned the screening of bushranger films in 1911, Victoria followed in 1912. The NSW police department banned the production of bushranger films in 1912,” records an Australian government website.

Despite these prohibitions, the demand for films that expressed an identity that asserted our separateness from the “British people” that the ruling class insisted us to be resulted in productions like For the Term of His Natural Life (based on the convict novel of Marcus Clarke) and vernacular poet C.J. Dennis’ The Sentimental Bloke.

In “Framed for Murder” the film being shot has none of these positive attributes.  It is, frankly, a piece of rubbish, a sad reflection of the fact that by 1929 much of the filmmaking was an attempt to replicate what the imperialist-controlled market deemed to be successful and suitable as subject matter.  However, it represents a corner of that market in which the Hollywood octopus faced some competition, so the plot revolves around the attempts of US film distributors to trick local cinemas into a deal that would guarantee exclusive screen rights to the US product thus putting the Australian filmmakers out of business.

The same Australian government website quoted from above concludes: “In spite of the fact that Australian audiences were interested in seeing their own stories on the screen the industry went into decline in the 1920s. The ever expanding U.S. and British production companies took over the Australian distribution and exhibition chains and Australian features were often excluded from cinemas. The state of the industry was so dire that a Royal Commission was held into the film industry in 1928, but it did little to stop the decline.”

This is summed up in “Framed for Murder” as “invasion”.

However, it is an invasion that has never entirely succeeded. 

While proletarian class content cannot be expected to feature in cultural productions created under conditions of capitalist financing and distribution, there is an occasional reminder of the resilience of Australian national identity and its survival under the conditions of our cultural domination by US imperialism.

If for the time being that has to be through a vehicle for the celebration of the wit and charm of bourgeois femininity, such as the Phryne Fisher series, then so be it.

Genuine cultural independence will come with anti-imperialist independence, and progressive working class content with the elevation of the workers to power in and over society.

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Extra Info:  Watch surviving portions of the 1906 Kelly film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk1ZunbY7Xc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqbiWCjwk_Y

The legacy of Ted Hill

Vanguard December 2013 p. 3

Twenty-five years have passed since the death of Comrade E. F. Hill, founding Chairperson of the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist). His contributions to the development of revolutionary theory and its application to the particular circumstances of Australia continue to guide us through changing times and the intensification of the struggle against imperialist domination.

Comrade Hill analysed the history of Australia from the British invasion and conquest of indigenous lands, through the colonial era and into the modern era of imperialism.

His celebrated book Looking Forward, Looking Backward, which was published in 1964, looked at the role of the Communist Party in Australia, the role of parliamentary politics and the state apparatus, and the struggle for a proper application of Marxism to Australian conditions.

In the years following Khrushchev’s 1956 speech to the 20^th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the struggle in the international movement against modern revisionism, Comrade Hill played a leading role in standing firm to the principles of Marxism-Leninism.

From his research, from extensive discussions with close comrades and contacts with all sections of the working class, Comrade Hill was able to formulate a radically different assessment of Australian society and a new analysis of the path to socialism.

In 1964 he led the way in forming the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) with a programme of revolution by stages: An anti-imperialist democratic revolutionary stage directed at the dominant imperialist power in Australia, US imperialism, setting the conditions for continuing into the second stage of revolutionary struggle to win and implement socialism.

This two stage revolution would be led by the working class, but would develop from a popular united front against imperialism which would embrace other struggling classes such as the small farmers and producers also oppressed by imperialism. His legacy continues to inspire us.

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Links to some works by E.F. Hill:

 

Speech of E.F. Hill to the Central Committee, Communist Party of Australia, February 1962
http://www.marxists.org/history/erol/australia/hill-62.htm

Letter of E.F. Hill to R. Dixon 9 May 1963
http://www.marxists.org/history/erol/australia/hill-letter.htm

E.F. Hill, Looking Backward: Looking Forward (2nd ed. May 1968)
http://www.marxists.org/history/erol/australia/hill-looking/index.htm

E.F. Hill, Australia’s Revolution: On the Struggle for a Marxist-Leninist Party (August 1973)
http://www.marxists.org/history/erol/australia/hill-a-rev/index.htm

E.F. Hill, Imperialism in Australia: The Menace of Soviet Social-Imperialism (April 1975)
http://www.marxists.org/history/erol/australia/hill-ssi/index.htm

E.F. Hill, The Great Cause of Australian Independence (Nov 1977)
http://www.marxists.org/history/erol/australia/hill-great-cause/index.htm

E.F. Hill, Communism in Australia: Reflections and Reminiscences (1989)
http://www.marxists.org/history/erol/australia/hill-last/index.htm

E.F. Hill, Miscellaneous publications
http://www.reasoninrevolt.net.au/biogs/E000379b.htm

Who owns and controls Australia's banks?

Vanguard December 2013 p. 3
Max O.

Once again the Big Four 'Australian' banks’ profitability is doing quite handsomely. A key measure of bank profitability is the net interest margin, the difference between the cost of borrowing and income from lending. The net interest margin is 213 basis points (2.13%), down from 217 basis points from last year. It is the lowest number on record.

However, the Australian Bank Full Year Profits for 2013 are the following:

Westpac $6.8b 14% up

CBA $7.7b 8% up

ANZ $6.3b 11% up

NAB $5.5b 34% up

That’s a total of $26.2b with an average 16% increase from last year

What are they worth you might ask? Well they have a market value of approximately $100b each. More than 80% of all loans are owed to the big 4 banks, which amounts to $1.5 trillion. More than 85% of all home mortgage debt owed to the big 4 banks, which amounts to $1.0 trillion. 79% of all deposits are with the big 4 banks, which amounts to $1.3 trillion. They hold 20% (297)of managed funds. Off the shelf products sold by them make up almost 1/3 of the market. Nearly 40% (6,600) of all financial planners are on the big banks’ payrolls.

What is very interesting and concerning is the concentration of ownership and control.

Whilst Australia’s Big 4 feign competitiveness amongst themselves, they are essentially owned by the same (mostly foreign) financial interests; namely HSBC Custody Nominees, J P Morgan Nominees Aus Ltd, National Nominees Ltd and Citicorp Nominees Pty Ltd.

Unexpectedly, smaller competitors like St. George and Aussie Home Loans – who declare they offer consumers a 'fair go', are subsidiaries of the same corporate giants. The chart below was sighted at the following website address:

http://topinfopost.com/2013/08/25/australias-big-4%E2%80%B3-banks-are-all-owned-by-the-same-financial-interest

 

The Australian Institute's study called, "The rise and rise of the big banks" provides another set of interesting and concerning statistics of the concentration of bank ownership and control in Australia.

The Australian Institute makes the following observation about the pattern of bank ownership in Australia.

"An inspection of the top 20 shareholders in the big four banks reveals a very interesting pattern. On average, over 53 per cent of each big bank is owned by shareholders that are among the top 20 shareholders in all the big banks. Most of the owners, and certainly the top four shareholders, are nominee companies. Nominee companies hold shares on behalf of other entities that for some reason want to hide their identity. They tend to be both foreign investors and fund managers; increasingly they are investors acting on behalf of superannuation funds.

"The common ownership of the big four banks seriously challenges the idea that there are four separate big banks in Australia. Given the common ownership of the big banks, it is to be expected that the owners will put pressure on the banks to act as one and reap the monopoly profits. That seems to have been the motive of the investors who encouraged the NAB to move back in line with its competitors. Moreover, ownership figures for the second tier banks, the big three regionals, show they are also owned by the same organisations that own the big four."

Never forget the great October Revolution of 1917!

Vanguard December 2013 p. 4

A comrade from the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) delivered this talk at a meeting held in Melbourne to commemorate the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. The meeting was organised by the Communist Party of Australia and hosted by the Democritus Club.

“I’d like to thank the organisers and the hosts for this opportunity to say a few words about the Great Russian Revolution of 1917.

“Throughout history oppressed classes have launched revolts and revolutions against their rulers and against the economic and political systems that supported them.

“The Bolshevik revolution in 1917 was the first where class conscious proletarian workers were the leading force, supported by allies in the peasant class and more far-sighted elements of the petty-bourgeoisie and intellectuals. The core of revolutionary organisation was the Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin.

“This revolutionary core was able to mobilise the working class and build the necessary alliances with the peasants, with the soldiers and sailors, with other progressive forces that carried the revolution to victory. What started earlier as a popular demand for “bread, peace and land” became a political-scientific demand; “All power to the Soviets!”

“After the seizure of state power, Lenin and his comrades worked tirelessly to consolidate the new working class state – to meet the expectations of the people in a country devastated by feudalism, autocracy, war, famine and social unrest. At the same time, they had to resist and defeat organised counter-revolution and the intervention of foreign armies.

“Yet, against all odds, the Soviet people were able to build an advanced industrial base and establish an efficient system of collective agriculture and mechanised farming. Education, art and culture flourished, and were accessible to every citizen. Even then, the Soviet state faced sabotage and slander from the imperialist powers and various attempts to derail the revolution from within.

“The hatred of the reactionary forces culminated in the massive Nazi invasion of June 1941. The Soviet Union was alert, and able to conserve enough strength and resources to frustrate the German advance and to stall it on the approaches to Leningrad and Moscow. When the heroic defenders of Stalingrad broke the siege and counter-attacked, the Red Army routed the fascists. The die was cast, and the Red Army moved forward to liberate half of Europe.

“Quite rightly, the Soviet Union was an inspiration to all oppressed and struggling working people. It showed that a revolution led by the working class could not only destroy the old power structures of a bankrupt ruling class, but also build and defend a socialist system where working people could enjoy a better life. It raised the vision of a future world based on the dignity of collective work and freeing the potential of humanity.

“Of course, the Soviet Union made mistakes, and there are still different opinions among communists and progressives about the ideological and political role of leading persons such as Stalin, Khrushchev, Gorbachev and others, and the way socialism can be won and consolidated.

“But that’s enough history for now. I will finish with a few words about our country.

“Revolutionary change in Australia will take a much different path. The core of capitalism in Australia is dominated by imperialism – the economic and finance/banking sectors service the needs of the largest US, European and Asian corporations, while the parliamentary leaders and military hierarchy sell themselves to US imperialism.

“The CPA (M-L), which celebrates its 50th year in March next year, has long had a program of revolution by stages; the first stage being the struggle for anti-imperialist national independence and the expulsion of imperialist economic, political, military and cultural domination, the nationalisation of the key industries and resources, and the establishment of participatory democracy led by the working class.

“We see these as the necessary steps to create the material and social conditions for the revolution to continue on to the stage of socialism. Defeating US imperialist domination of Australia is the most effective contribution the Australian working class can make to internationalism.

 

“We believe there is great potential for unity around these objectives and in facing the reactionary onslaught being rolled out by the Abbott government. The great Russian revolution showed that fundamental change for the working people is indeed possible.”

The battle for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter

Vanguard December 2013 p. 4
Duncan B.

Warrnambool Cheese and Butter has been in existence since 1888. This old-established company whose products include well-known brands such as Cracker Barrel and Coon, is currently the subject of a three-way take-over battle

Two of the three contenders are Australian owned. Bega Cheese and farmer-owned co-operative Murray Goulburn are taking on the third contender, Canadian food giant Saputo, which is one of the ten largest dairy processors in the world.

Saputo is seeking a shareholding of at least 50.1% in WCB. The situation is complicated for Saputo by the fact that its rivals are already shareholders in WCB.

Bega has an 18% share in WCB. Murray Goulburn owns 17% of WCB, and Lion (owned by Japanese firm Kirin) owns 10% of WCB. Further to this, New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra recently bought a 6% share in Bega, and is trying to bump this up to 10%.

The stakes are high in this take-over battle. WCB produces basic dairy products, but it is also one of only two Australian dairy companies that produce milk extracts.

These are the main elements in products such as baby formulas and bone supplements. Milk extracts are part of the nutraceutical market which is set to be worth $80 billion in the Asia-Pacific region by 2017. It is easy to see why the dairy giants are all after WCB.

Dairy farmers are divided in their opinions about the proposed take-over of WCB. Some support Saputo, but many want to see WCB remain in Australian hands, a desire shared by all Vanguard readers. Many farmers and dairy industry leaders are advocating the strengthening of farmer-run co-operatives.

Treasurer Joe Hockey has announced that the Saputo bid for WCB can go ahead without any conditions imposed by the Government. This is in contrast to Murray Goulburn which still has to convince the ACCC that a take-over of WCB by Murray Goulburn would not be anti-competitive.

Despite this, Murray Goulburn announced in mid-November a fresh offer which is higher than Saputo’s offer. Saputo immediately followed MG’s offer with a higher offer.

Who will be victorious in this struggle for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter, and what will be the final outcome for all of the players in this dairy industry drama remains to be seen.

More bad news in food processing industry

Coming on top of the job losses at Simplot and McCain is the news that Golden Circle (owned by Heinz) is to cut 123 jobs from its Victorian juice plant in Mill Park, with the work going to the company’s plant in Brisbane. The company claimed that the plant is too costly to continue to operate.

Deadline looms for GrainCorp takeover decision

Treasurer Joe Hockey has until December 17 to make a decision whether or not to allow the take-over of grain handler GrainCorp by US grain giant Archer Daniel Midland. The National Party is opposed to the take-over, as are many country-based Liberal MPs. Opinion among grain growers is divided.

Following Hockey’s approval of Saputo’s bid for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter, Vanguard readers will be most surprised if he puts a stop to ADM’s take-over bid for GrainCorp. If successful, a major Australian grain handling company would pass into foreign hands along with control of grain-handling infrastructure and grain export ports on the east coast of Australia.