“If they do me in, I ask you to publish my notebook: Marxism on the State (it got left behind in Stockholm). It’s bound in a blue cover ... There are a number of remarks and notes ... I believe it to be important”.
Bigotry had a setback on 11 February with the indefinite shelving of the Religious Discrimination Bill. This is to be celebrated.
The most left-wing city in Australia has for months been blighted by large far-right protests that have consistently mobilised thousands. The movement is not losing momentum; it is attracting more participants through each new issue it latches on to. And it is expanding its base into the mainstream right and the Liberal Party.
In a frightening show of force, marauding fascist mobs have taken over the streets of Melbourne for three days running. They have smashed up union offices and occupied major arterials for hours. This is a disastrous development.
Australia is on the brink. Coronavirus case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths are mounting, and show no signs of abating. The obstinate refusal of the New South Wales government to impose measures commensurate with the seriousness of the crisis facing the state and the country has become a matter of life and death.