Warm Greetings to The Socialist Alliance and Its Federal Candidate
I am here to pass on warm greetings to the Socialist Alliance and its candidate comrade James Vasillopoulos at the coming federal election. Why do I support the Socialist Alliance?
As a migrant to Australia, I have the chance to compare what has happened in Sri Lanka with what is happening in Australia right now.
In the 1950s, the people in Sri Lanka started to polarise due to many reasons. I can see that sort of polarisation happening here today. And I am deeply concerned about such division. As all of us could see, Sri Lanka is in an abyss. The governments have been discriminatory, corrupt, totalitarian, bourgeois-feudalistic and lacking in leadership. When I read or listen to news nowadays, though it is not as bad as in Sri Lanka, I can see the seeds of division growing up. And I am frightened to think of a future where our children and grandchildren as Australians facing a situation comparable to that of Sri Lanka. It does not take long for such things to happen. Once gone down that pathway, it will take great efforts and extended times to come out of that abyss.
What am I talking about?
When One Nation - Pauline Hanson, David Oldfield and David Ettridge commenced spreading racist slur, I was pretty sure that Australia's socio-political landscape will start changing unless the working people here resist such trends. For saying that in public a section of the expatriate Sri Lankan community in Australia, mainly comprising Sinhalese, charged me saying that I was denigrating Sri Lanka. They isolated me, sent many petitions against me and tried to sack me from my job. Now all can see the Liberal Party and in competition, the Labour Party adopting One Nation policies.
Due to time constraints, I cannot go into great detail, but I have to say that deep divisions based on race, religion, colour and language are becoming visible in the Australian social fabric. In the immigration policy, Liberals have adopted One Nation and Labour has followed the Liberals. The Democrats have wavered.
In refugee policy, Liberals have adopted One Nation and Labour has followed the Liberals.
The gap between the rich and the poor is increasing at an alarming rate. We measure development in terms of how rich the capitalists can get and how squeezed the working people are? How much profit have they acquired through capitalist globalisation at the cost of humanity? When we talk about per capita annual economic growth rate that is what the governments trying to hide behind general statistics. In the meantime, public service is downsized; education, research, health, training, social welfare are basic investments in our national human resources, but those budgets are trimmed. All this in the name of efficiency, productivity, competition and rationalism and tensions within the social fabric gather momentum. When social tensions rise, fertile is the ground for divisions among the working people themselves using race, colour, language, gender and religion as pretexts. That way, attention of the working people can be diverted from the widening gap between the rich and the poor due to the vast economic privileges enjoyed by a few.
And the vicious cycle starts. Why have these Asians and Blacks come here? Why are they taking our jobs over? Send them back! Cut down immigration! No more refugees! World should be made ridden of evil! And we should declare war on evil, the terrorists! Behind all this rhetoric, military machines get oiled; defence forces get expanded, repressive power of the security agencies are widened, and more investments are made in defence industry research! And the real scourge of the society is forgotten by the majority of the working people!! And bourgeois parties will do any dirty work to stay in power until the whole capitalist base will be at risk.
This is exactly the path, many countries in the world have traversed. In my lifetime, I have seen this happening in Sri Lanka. I believe the working people of Australia do not need to take that path. But the signs are some Australians are trying to pull Australia along that path, which is very sad.
The Socialist Alliance has been very clear on many of these issues, and I am grateful to them for taking such an unwavering stance.
They have taken several clear policy positions. Unlike the Liberals and the Labour, the Socialist Alliance has not made its policies on the run. Placing humanity before profits! Equitable distribution of resources! Rejecting racism in toto! Rejecting war and advocating negotiations! And the Socialist Alliance has endeavoured through its activities to make the Australian working people aware of the importance of these policy positions. And as a migrant, I appreciate it.
My support to the Socialist Alliance has many more aspects to it, which I cannot outline in detail. But I will mention a few more.
My experience in Sri Lankan politics involved adventurism. Certain putschist nature in the way we operated. In attempting to become the saviour of the working people, we became acting on behalf of them. This is different because the working people themselves are the saviours, and they should come forward and take the lead. The Socialist Alliance is not putschist. It believes in People's power, rather than it becoming the saviour of the Australian working people by acting on behalf of them. It is willing to lead and also learn at the same time. Providing leadership does mean providing vision and guidance, which I find many other political organisations are lacking.
On behalf of progressive Sri Lankans, I wish the Socialist Alliance success in its electoral contest, and we will put our support behind comrade James Vasillopoulos contesting the seat of Fraser.
With you are our warmest comradely greetings.
Thank you.
18 Oct 2001
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