One of the goals of my new book Indigenous Liberation & Socialism is to highlight the often ignored story of how, throughout the history of this country, the struggles of Indigenous people have overlapped with the socialist movement. Much of this rich history has been either dismissed or significantly downplayed by traditional academic research.

“It looked like an earthquake had struck the Jenin camp. The roads were completely obliterated, ambulances could not get through, wounded people had to walk. People inside their homes were crouching down and peeking out from the windows. You could just see the top of people’s heads because they were trying to avoid being shot through the windows.”

Allyship presents itself as a way that people can show support for the rights of an oppressed group that they themselves are not a part of without “taking the space” of those who are oppressed. Marxists, conversely, argue that solidarity is the key way we can win reforms for, and ultimately liberate, the oppressed. Allyship and solidarity might sound like much the same thing, but there are important differences in these strategies for social change.

Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton announced earlier this month that the Liberals will join the Nationals and One Nation in formally opposing the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament, binding his frontbench to the No case in the upcoming referendum. The decision has led to the resignation from the Liberal Party of Ken Wyatt, former minister for Indigenous Australians in the Morrison government, and the frontbench resignation of shadow attorney-general Julian Lesser.