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novembre 2, 2009 - lundi

Trade unionists show the way against Rudd's inhumanity towards refugees

Three leading trade unionists - Dave Noonan, national secretary of the construction division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, Paul Howes, national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, and Tim Gooden, secretary of the Geelong Trades Hall Council - have spoken out against the Rudd government's callous line on asylum-seekers.

They are showing the way in the ongoing struggle for a humane refugee policy, against the bipartisan war between Labor and the Coalition over "toughness towards people-smugglers".

The Socialist Alliance supports the three unionists' call for a humane refugee policy, and calls on individual unions and the ACTU to pressure the Rudd government to change its callous approach to boat people seeking asylum. The union movement should also commit to helping rebuild the movement for refugee and asylum-seeker rights.

Dave Noonan (The Australian, October 20)

"We would hate to see a situation where the major parties get back into a bidding war to be seen as to who can take a more strident line on the issue of boat arrivals. I think Labor's always been concerned about getting outflanked on so-called border protection and national security issues. We saw that during the Tampa election, where Labor got forced into, or allowed itself to be pushed into, a me-too position.

Paul Howes (PM, ABC Radio, October 19)
In the same way that Malcolm Fraser did several decades ago in dealing with the boat people crisis after the fallout of the Vietnam War. There was much community resentment and opposition to Vietnamese refugees being brought into our country.

But now several decades later no-one could dispute the fact that it has been a positive thing for our nation, a positive thing for those individuals and the Vietnamese boat people of the 1970s have made a lasting and incredibly valuable contribution to the development of our nation...

Of course we don't want to see illegal syndicates profiting from the smuggling of people. I mean that is an abhorrent issue, but the fundamental point is is that what message is this sending to the Australian community about those individuals who are on the boats?

Not the men driving the boats but the individuals on the boats: those children, those women, those men fleeing circumstances of which most Australians couldn't even imagine.

Geelong Trades Hall: ‘Howes right on refugees’ (October 25)
The following statement is by Geelong Trades Hall Council secretary Tim Gooden.

Geelong Trades Hall Council (GTHC) backs Australian Workers Union (AWU) national secretary Paul Howes 100% in his call for Australia to roll out the red carpet for refugees.

It's a relief that a union movement figure of Howes' importance stands up and rejects the miserable competition between the Rudd government and the Coalition on who can be “toughest” on “people smugglers”. Howes is completely right when he says that the issue “brings out the worst in our politicians”.

How ironic that the Rudd government's refusal to let a few boatfuls of people fleeing death and persecution in Sri Lanka enter Australia coincides with the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Snowy River Scheme. The Chifley Labor government helped build this country by welcoming people fleeing war and persecution, but Rudd Labor increasingly resembles the previous Coalition government of John Howard, one of the most racist in Australian history.

The government is even sending furnished shipping containers from the Baxter detention centre — suspected of dangerously high formaldehyde content — to Christmas Island to house asylum seekers there.

GTHC calls on the entire trade union movement to follow the lead given by the AWU national secretary, and for it to mobilise public opinion against Canberra's bipartisan bullies of refugees.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions must stand up against the inhumanity of the politicians.

GTHC will be doing all it can to make that happen.

8:10

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Socialist Alliance Illawarra

novembre 2, 2009 - lundi

Make public transport free and people will make the switch

Wollongong free shuttle bus shows: Make public transport free and people will make the switch

Monday October 26, 2009 - The success of the free shuttle bus in Wollongong has stirred the Socialist Alliance to renew calls for public transport to be made free across the state of NSW.

Illawarra Socialist Alliance convener, Chris Williams, said: 'Wollongong's free shuttle bus has been used over 1 million times now - an amazing uptake. It proves that when public transport is made free and frequent, people will make the switch. Given the success of the shuttle, the NSW government should commit to a publicly owned and upgraded, free public transport system. It's a socially just answer to the chronic problem of traffic congestion, lack of parking and lack of mobility for poorer sections of the community'

'Encouraging people to leave their cars at home by providing a real alternative would also greatly assist efforts to reduce global warming. Transport is responsible for 14% of Australia's greenhouse-gas emissions, and road transport accounts for around 90% of that share. Trains are 40 times more energy efficient than cars, so enabling people to make the switch would have huge implications for Australia's emissions reduction targets.

'Making public transport free would also massively reduce costs associated with air pollution, car accidents, traffic congestion, motor vehicle waste disposal, noise pollution and road maintenance. It would more than pay for itself in addition to the social and environmental gains. Our health and environment demand this kind of action; the outstanding success of Wollongong's free shuttle shows it's viable', Williams concluded.

For more information or interviews contact Chris Williams on 0425 329 963

8:09

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08 9331 6331 or 0412 751 508

novembre 2, 2009 - lundi

First socialist elected to Fremantle Council

New councillor for Hilton Sam Wainwright thanks his supporters

Newly elected Hilton councillor Sam Wainwright summarised what he saw as the significance of his election to Fremantle Council, "It’s a victory for all those like me who believe that the council can and should play an active role in involving people in decision making, protecting the environment, campaigning for workers rights and making a place in the community for people who are too often left out, such as indigenous Australians or people with disabilities."

Wainwright is a Co-convenor of Socialist Alliance in Western Australia and activist in the Maritime Union of Australia. He said, "I think I’m the first socialist elected to public office in WA for a long time, if not ever. Most candidates for council try to appeal to the middle ground and keep their political affiliations quiet. I don’t believe in that approach. I think it’s better to be upfront about your beliefs. Throughout the campaign I emphasised that I was a staunch socialist, unionist and environmentalist."

He added, "I didn’t expect everyone to sign up to everything I stand for. But I did ask people to believe that I would be a hard working campaigner for their rights. I’m really grateful and humbled that so many people have shown their confidence in me and saw my background as a positive."

Wainwright thanked the diverse range of people that supported his campaign, "Active support came from all sorts of places: members of Socialist Alliance, the Greens and the ALP all pitched in; many unionists and community activists helped out; and last but not least, everyday residents who don’t wear a political label but want to see the sort of change that we talked about in the campaign. The election result belongs to these people and I know that the hard work now begins."

Commenting on the mayoral election Wainwright said, "With three different Greens members running for mayor I was worried that they would takes votes from each other and allow a more conservative candidate to win. However Brad Pettit’s win was emphatic and I extend my congratulations to him for his strong and vibrant campaign. There has been a real changing of the guard on the council and I expect there will be some passionate and intense debate about the future of Fremantle. I think this is a good thing and will be arguing my case like everyone else. At the same time I pledge to work constructively with the rest of council where we can find common ground on the way forward."

www.samforhilton.blogspot.com

For more comment:

Sam Wainwright

samuel.wainwright@yahoo.com.au

8:07

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novembre 2, 2009 - lundi

Come to our Seventh National Conference!

Towards sustainability, justice and people's power

Fighting for socialism in the 21st century

January 2-5, Women’s College, University of Sydney

From this week, registrations will open for the Socialist Alliance's Seventh National Conference.

This will be the Alliance’s biggest and best ever conference, as is already clear from the draft agenda (click here to read it as a PDF).

The full conference program and publicity materials to promote the conference more widely will be available soon.

The registration fees for all conference participants (including delegates) are:

Whole conference: $60 solidarity /$50 waged / $30 concession

Two days: $40 solidarity /$30 waged /$15 concession

One day/one session: $20 solidarity /$15 waged /$5 concession

We urge all those interested to register as soon as possible: this will help the conference organisers get a clear idea of numbers and therefore what is needed in the areas of accommodation, workshop rooms, catering and all the rest that a big national conference entails.

In addition, the usual travel levy will apply to conference delegates. This levy has been used since the founding Socialist Alliance national conference to equalise travel costs for all delegates.

The conference registration form, which includes accommodation, meals and childcare booking information, is downloadable from the conference wiki site here.

If you have any questions about registration, please get in touch with Lisa Macdonald on 0413 031 108 or Aaron Roden on 0434 540 903.

8:06

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novembre 2, 2009 - lundi

Cancer medicine ‘too expensive’ for Rudd

Gregory Rowell

10 October 2009

You might be aware there has recently been a breakthrough in the treatment of cervical cancer, the second biggest cancer killer of women in the world. A vaccine has been developed that has the potential to save many lives, as well as reduce the dreadful suffering that cervical cancer causes women.

The vaccine acts on two strains of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), HPV16 and HPV18, which cause 70% of cervical cancers. HPV is the number one sexually transmitted disease in the world. Seventy five percent of women will be infected at some point in their lives.

Recent research by the University of New South Wales, along with other research around the world, concluded HPV is also found in some breast cancers. Previous research had found HPV in penile, vaginal and anal cancers, and in mouth, throat and some head and neck cancers.

Even though the vaccine is a great step forward, there are things we should be outraged about with regards to its introduction into health systems here and in other countries. The Rudd Labor government is in fact worsening the health of women.

Two transnational drug companies produce the vaccine: Merck (brand name Gardasil) and Glaxo Smith Kline (brand name Cervarix). These vaccines have the potential to reduce the cases of cervical cancer around the world by 70%.

But they won’t, because profit is the primary goal of the big pharmaceutical companies. Vaccinations of many young women in developing countries will not occur because the vaccine will be unavailable or available at an unaffordable price.

But what about Australia? Isn’t the Australian government providing vaccinations to young women? Well, it was.

The Rudd government, through the National Immunisation Program, provided the vaccination to young women up to the age of 26 for free. This year, this program ceases for women over the age of 13.

Some experts suggested boys and young men should also be vaccinated, as men are the vectors of the disease. But this idea has also been dismissed.

Surely we should be actively engaged in the elimination of HPV and hence cervical cancer from our society?

The government will tell you that women (and men) can still get the vaccination, but they would have to fork out $450 — the vaccine isn’t even on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. What an outrage that a medicine of such significance isn’t available at a subsidised rate!

Of course this is no skin off their nose, or that of the rich. But what about the poor, unemployed, single parents or low-income families? Where do they get the money to protect themselves?

It seems subsidising the big carbon polluters or buying Joint Strike Fighters is more important to the ALP than providing for women’s health.

This demonstrates once again the immorality of capitalist social priorities. Essential medical care that can save lives and reduce suffering is being withheld, only to maximise “shareholder value” for multinational drug companies. And the government is allowing it to happen.

Socialist Alliance believes in a better and fairer health system, a fully funded and publicly-owned healthcare system that puts the needs and welfare of the people first.

We need a system that develops vaccines available to all at little or no charge. A system where essential medicines are put before the profit margins of the multinationals.

A good approach of course, but how would we fund it? For starters, by renationalising the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories. Its privatisation was described by University of Sydney professor of accounting Bob Walker as one of the biggest rip-offs of the century.

The Australian health system could start to free itself from the blackmailing power of the Mercks and Glaxo Smith Klines of this world.

The system also needs a radical shift in budget priorities. Cut out pointless military expenditure and billions in subsidies to the big polluters and pump those billions into funding a health system capable of guarding and improving the health of all.

[Gregory Rowell is a Socialist Alliance national executive member and a current student in pathology at TAFE. References for this article are available from gregoryrowell@optusnet.com.au.]

8:05

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novembre 2, 2009 - lundi

Afghanistan: Eight Years Of War — Bring The Troops Home

Socialist Alliance members will be participating in protest events - including rallies, speak-outs and marches - across the country to mark the eighth anniversary of the US-NATO war and occupation of Afghanistan. We will be joining the call on the Rudd government to withdraw the 1550 Australian troops.

The protests across Australia form part of an international month of action on Afghanistan, with rallies and protests being organised in the US, Britain and Europe.

There is consensus among the major parties - Labor and the Coalition - that Australia has to support this so-called "good war". But polls show that a majority of Australians disagree with the two parties of war. The recent election fiasco, in which the puppet president Hamid Karzai was "re-elected" by a minority, the huge number of civilian casualties, and the clear wish of democratic Afghan people, such as MP Malalai Joya, for the foreign troops to leave, have all contributed to a shift in public opinion.

There is also a growing concern that the White House will send up to 40,000 more troops to join the already 68,000 US-NATO troops already in Afghanistan. This will lead to more devastation and loss of life in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The White House’s quest for greater political and economic influence in the region has not wiped out al-Qaeda — the reason given for going to war. If anything it has assisted the cause of the fundamentalists, while inflicting devastating losses — both on Afghan civilians and the occupation forces.

Clearly too, the foreign troops have not curbed the influence of the Taliban. In fact the opposite has been the case, as poor farmers and others seek protection and struggle to sustain themselves and their families. The move to counter-insurgency tactics also allows the warmongers to spread by stealth into Pakistan.

The case against the war can also be made by scutinising the social indicators, all of which have worsened over the last eight years. Just 31% of households have access to water; adult literacy is just 24%, and 50% of children are malnourished. Nor have the invasion and occupation not liberated women.

The Rudd government’s commitment to the Australian-US alliance means that, if asked, it is likely to send more troops. Foreign minister Stephen Smith is studiously taking orders and avoiding a public discussion about Australia’s involvement in this war. Meanwhile, as a result of domestic pressure, several countries are talking of pulling their troops out (including Holland and Italy). The German left party, Die Linke, increased its support in recent elections after campaigning on the demand that troops be withdrawn.

The mood shift against Australia’s involvement in this war is reflected in the numbers of endorsees for the Melbourne and Sydney protest rallies. Significantly, in Melbourne, a number of unions and Victorian Trades Hall council and the Geelong Trades Hall Council have signed on, some after some debate. In NSW the Greens have also endorsed the protest.

Socialist Alliance is calling on all members and supporters to spread the word and attend these important rallies:

Sydney: October 8, 5.30pm, Sydney Town Hall;

Melbourne: October 10, 12 noon, City Square;

Perth: October 10, 12 noon Wesley Church corner;

Hobart: October 13, 5.15-6pm Newtown High School (outside Rudd community cabinet meeting).

In addition, the Socialist Alliance will continue to campaign for the Rudd government to:

* Immediately and unconditionally withdraw all Australian troops, military personnel, bases, contractors and mercenaries from Afghanistan and Iraq;

* End all Australian support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the ongoing siege of Gaza and the Palestinian people;

* End Australian support for sanctions, threats of war and attacks against Iran, North Korea, Somalia or any other nation whose right to self-determination is under assault from the US. We also oppose interference in the internal affairs of these and other countries targeted by the US for political destabilisation. We condemn the Australian government for being one of only a handful not to speak out against the coup in Honduras.

* Investigate allegations of Australian citizens being tortured in Egypt and Guantanamo. The government must repeal, not strengthen, the terror laws which unjustly target people of Middle Eastern background and rely on hearsay as evidence despite no terror acts having been committed.

The Socialist Alliance supports the right of all oppressed nations and peoples to self-determination, whether in the Middle East or in other parts of the world.

Socialist Alliance stands in solidarity with working people and demands that the billions spent on wars and the military be diverted into the shift to renewable sustainable energy, including retraining and the creation of masses of new green jobs, and maintaining and expanding urgently needed social programs.

For further information on rallies:

Melbourne: http://troopsoutofafghanistan.blogspot.com/2009/10/media-release.html

Sydney:

Contact: Pip Hinman, Socialist Alliance anti-war spokesperson: 0412 139 968

8:03

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novembre 2, 2009 - lundi

High time to fight for pay equity

Katie Cherrington

26 September 2009

Equal pay for equal work: it’s a pretty straightforward concept. So why is pay equity for women so hard to achieve, and why has the gender pay gap been getting wider?

In May 2009, the Australian Bureau of Statistics calculated that the gap was 17.4% — meaning that on average women earn only 83 cents for every dollar men earn. In some industry sectors, the gap can be as large as 30%.

These statistics were based on workers employed full-time. Taking into account part-time and casual work, the total gap is actually 35%. Over a lifetime, this gap compounds into a big impact on women’s earnings.

On top of this, even as more women become governor-generals and government ministers, the pay gap for the mass of working women is widening. This reality was “celebrated” on September 1, which around 180 trade unions and women’s organisations in the Equal Pay Alliance marked as “Equal Pay Day”.

Equal Pay Day marks the point in the financial year that an Australian woman must work to in order to earn what a man made in the previous financial year. The gap widened in the past year — women now have to work 14 months on average to earn what men earn in a year.

Why is it so? We can rule out educational differences straight away. Only 26% of male workers have tertiary qualifications compared to 31.1% of women, while 36.5% of women are employed as professionals, as against 24.8% of men.

The immediate reasons are easy to find.

Firstly, gender pay inequity is largely caused by the chronic undervaluing of the professions where women workers predominate, such as teaching, childcare, cleaning and nursing. Forty-six percent of women work in education, retail and health and community services, while for men the figure is 20%.

The 2002 State of Working Victoria Project said workplaces with a high proportion of female employees have lower rates of pay.

More than 90% of workplaces with more than two-thirds women workers had average hourly pay of less than $18 per hour for the main job category, while only 72% of workplaces with more than two-thirds men had an hourly rate of less than $18.

Then there’s the shape of casual employment, which has been growing as a proportion of total time worked. Women workers in Victoria comprise two-thirds of casual workers, three-quarters of whom are also part-time.

Women workers are also more likely to have more than one job. While only 2% of male workers with dependents had more than one job, 8% of women workers with dependants are in this situation.

The underlying cause of these trends is the 25-year retreat of the trade union movement on wage justice. It began when the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) signed up to the wage-cutting Accord with the Hawke Labor government.

This retreat has coincided with the turn to “labour market deregulation” — producing more billionaires at the top of society and more poverty at the bottom.

As a result, while the union movement has over the years increased lip service to the issue of gender wage equality, it has in reality abandoned the main weapon it had to actually bring it about.

This weapon is industry-wide wage bargaining with specific demands on the issues that most affect women workers — work value, child care, maternity and paternity leave and equal rights in all workplaces, industries and professions.

In the 1970s and early ’80s, industry-wide wage campaigns aimed at improving award conditions helped to improve pay equity. However, the Accord and the advent in the early ’90s of enterprise bargaining as the basic wage-setting mechanism reduced awards to “safety net” arrangements for workers without bargaining power in the workplace — especially women.

The result is that today women workers’ greater dependence on awards is one of the main factors affecting the gender pay gap. State of Working Victoria Project said workplaces with more than two-thirds female employees are also more likely to be covered by awards (67%) than workplaces with more than two-thirds male employees (46.2%).

The gap also widens with the movement towards more individual and performance-based pay systems, promoted in certain industries including the finance sector. For example, in May 2004, the gender pay gap under awards was 22.58%, while under individual contracts the gap was even worse — 31.74%.

The widening of the gap is an extreme example of the general trend under “economic rationalist” wage policy — the trend to the vast increase in income inequality.

The last decision of the Fair Pay Commission to leave the federal minimum wage unchanged this year, along with the ACTU’s acceptance of it, will only worsen this shameful state of affairs.

In 1969, working class activist Zelda D’Aprano chained herself to the doors of the Commonwealth Arbitration and Conciliation Commission in Melbourne to draw attention to the equal pay campaign. Forty years later, new Zeldas must step forward to renew the struggle.

[Socialist Alliance member Katie Cherrington is active in the Community and Public Sector Union.]

8:01

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novembre 2, 2009 - lundi

Who is really protecting power industry jobs?

Ben Courtice, 20 September 2009

Tony Maher, national president of the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union, says "green jobs" is a "dopey term". Quoted in the September 14 Australian, he said: "By mid-century we'll be using twice as much coal and a lot more steel and plastic and concrete that aren't the flavour of the month with environmentalists and green groups."

He said: "A coalminer or a power station worker isn't going to leave their job on $120,000-plus with well-regulated shift arrangements and decent conditions to install low-wattage light bulbs or insulation."

Has Maher heard of climate change? With the latest dire forecasts that global temperatures could rise by up to 5° Celsius this century if CO2 emissions continue unchecked, we have no choice but to head for zero emissions as fast as possible. Meanwhile, "clean coal" is yet to power a single light globe anywhere.

But Maher is not just out of touch on the climate science. Assuming he is not just acting as a swindler for the coal companies, he seems to completely misunderstand renewable energy. He also seems out of touch with the membership of his own union.

On September 9, I chaired a meeting in the Latrobe Valley town of Morwell, just next to Hazelwood power station. The meeting was called by the group organising the "Switch off Hazelwood" protest. It was called "Clean energy or coal? What future for Latrobe jobs?"

The 20 or so workers from Hazelwood who showed up never questioned two basic points: if they could get good jobs in the renewable energy industry they would be happy to take them, and that “clean coal” would not come online in time to save their jobs — most predictions give it 20 years to come into fruition, if it works at all.

They also knew they would need new jobs before too long. Victoria’s power industry privatisation in the 1990s destroyed not just thousands of jobs but also plans to upgrade the state's power generators. The plans for a new coal power station at Driffield to replace Hazelwood were abandoned.

A new, more efficient replacement may have provided some security for Latrobe jobs, albeit still burning coal. Now, Hazelwood management is making offers to the government to close the plant under the emissions trading scheme. Where does that leave the workers?

Since the Latrobe Valley is unsuited for wind or solar energy harvesting, the best prospects for green jobs are in manufacturing components for wind and solar plants, and related infrastructure like rail transport.

It is important to note that government assistance, including investment and perhaps ownership, is likely to be needed to get this manufacturing industry running. Like most hi-tech industries, renewables are highly concentrated in ownership and manufacturing tends to be done on a large scale. A genuine push from government to convert the grid to renewables is needed, regardless of whether the manufacturing and generation facilities are owned publicly, privately or co-operatively.

Public ownership is essential in at least one part of the transition: a fair outcome for coal and power workers. New industries set up under the ownership or regulation of a state power company could re-train and re-deploy the workers without changing their pay rates, years of service or entitlements.

According to Greenpeace’s August 2009 report Working for the climate, the renewables are Germany’s second-largest industry, second only to automotive. It also notes that "for the first time in 2008 both the United States and the European Union added more capacity from renewable energy than from conventional sources". And it points out that ongoing maintenance jobs in wind are four times as many as in coal power.

There is plenty of scope for this industry to grow in Australia, and climate change means it has to. This is an opportunity for unions to act to create new jobs and save the livelihoods of workers in precarious situations such as at Hazelwood. It could also provide a job-rich transition for the whole coal industry.

The Socialist Alliance hopes that unions will take this challenge head-on: the future of our planet and the future of many both depend on it.

Download Socialist Alliance's Green Jobs leaflet (PDF)

7:59

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septembre 24, 2009 - jeudi

Australia must act for democracy in Honduras!

Below is an open letter from the Socialist Alliance to Australia's foreign affairs minister, Stephen Smith, calling on the Australian government to act for the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of President Manuel Zelaya, and the restoration of democracy in Honduras.

Please assist the Honduran people's struggle for justice by inserting your own contact details and signing it, then emailing or faxing it to the minister as soon as possible.

Download this letter as a PDF here or read on ...

Australia must act for democracy in Honduras

An open letter to the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs

To: Stephen Smith

Minister for Foreign Affairs

PO Box 6022, Parliament House

Canberra ACT 2600

Tel: (02) 6277 7500 Fax: (02) 6273 4112

Email: Stephen.Smith.MP@aph.gov.au

Cc: Electorate office

953A Beaufort St

Inglewood WA 6932

Tel: (08) 9272 3411 Fax: (08) 9272 3477

September 24, 2009

Dear Minister Smith,

The people and nation of Honduras urgently need the support of democratic governments and peoples around the world.

The current military dictatorship in Honduras, which on June 28 overthrew the elected government of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales in a coup d’etat, has unleashed a wave of repression against tens of thousands of people who have taken to the streets demanding Zelaya’s immediate restoration as president.

Zelaya re-entered Honduras on foot on September 21 and was given asylum by the Brazilian government in its embassy in Tegucigalpa. However, on September 22, as thousands of people assembled outside the embassy to welcome Zelaya home, the coup regime headed by Roberto Micheletti cut electricity and water to the embassy and tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed and fired on the president’s supporters, seriously injuring some.

With Zelaya’s return, the incessant violations of human rights and fundamental liberties perpetrated by the dictatorship over the last 85 days have significantly increased. Hundreds more civilians have been arrested and images have emerged of large numbers of protesters being rounded up and detained in a sports stadium in Tegucigalpa. The military has now imposed a total curfew in the country – an attempt to prevent the Honduran people from expressing their wish for the restoration of democracy in their country.

Speaking to international media on September 21, Zelaya called on Honduras’ armed forces to “respect the human rights of the Honduran people … To the commander general of the armed forces ... I peacefully make a call for sanity, so that there is no violence on the streets. The people here are unarmed, shouting for joy.”

It is a fundamental human right of all peoples to determine their own government and political future and during the last three months the people of Honduras have made very clear what they want with peaceful protests, strikes and road blockades, on a daily basis. On September 15, three million people rallied in more than 20 cities and towns across Honduras demanding an end to the coup.

We join with the nine governments of Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, the Organisation of American States, the UN General Assembly and the Rio Group in their call for Zelaya to be immediately reinstated as the legitimate president of Honduras and for the democratically elected government to be able to resume its duties. We note also that the European Union and almost every government in the world have officially condemned the coup, and call on the Australian government to urgently:

* Demand that the coup leaders respect the integrity of the Brazilian embassy and immediately stop the repression against civilians;

* Actively support the reinstatement of democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya, including supporting all calls for his reinstatement made at the 64th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly this week;

* Demand the immediate release of all political and social movement activists who have been detained by the military;

* Support President Zelaya’s and the Honduran people’s rejection of the terms of the “Arias agreement”, which would legitimise the coup leaders’ actions, and work for the reinstatement of Zelaya to the presidency without conditions of any kind, in accordance with the will of the people of Honduras.

* Not recognise the results of Honduran elections in November if those elections are carried out while the coup government remains in power, the position of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

* Support the calls of the Honduran people for the coup leaders to be arrested and tried for their crimes.

* Pressure the United States administration to end its training of the Honduran military.

We applaud the millions of courageous Hondurans who have peacefully protested for three months to defend democracy, despite severe intimidation and assault by the military, and pledge our active solidarity with them until the coup is overturned and democratic rights are assured in Honduras.

Yours in support of the democratic rights of all peoples,

Bea Bleile, Margarita Windisch, Dick Nichols

National Conveners, Socialist Alliance

3:45

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