# Red Flag
> A socialist magazine.
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- [2026 student magazine](https://redflag.org.au/2026-student-magazine.md) - Articles 1.Who is Socialist Alternative? 2.Capitalism is sociopathic 3.What do we mean by revolution? 4.Worldwide revolution is possible and necessary 5.The socialist alternative to the capitalist economy 6.The Marxist alternative to parliament 7.Why did the Russian Revolution fail? 8.The Marxist a…
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- [Banner sidebar](https://redflag.org.au/banner-sidebar.md) - Help us build the socialist movement New editions of Red Flag are released fortnightly. Subscribe to a print or digital subscription. Subscribe to Red Flag
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- [Managing an existing subscription](https://redflag.org.au/subscription-help.md) - We migrated our Red Flag subscriptions to our new subscription system in January 2026. If you made updates to your subscription prior to this date and they have not been carried over to our new subscription platform, please contact us at subs@redflag.org.au with details. Marxist Left Review subscri…
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- [Welcome to Red Flag](https://redflag.org.au/welcome-to-red-flag.md) - Red Flag is a left-wing alternative to the mainstream press. But we’re more than just independent media. Capitalism is all about making the rich richer and the poor poorer. We want to help rebuild a socialist movement in Australia, get rid of capitalism and create a society that is run to meet huma…
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## Posts
- [Royal Commission puts pro-Palestine protesters on trial](https://redflag.org.au/article/royal-commission-puts-pro-palestine-protesters-on-trial.md) - The Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion held a one-day hearing block on protests and policing on 4 August. Like the rest of the commission, it was more a prosecution than an inquiry: the Palestine solidarity movement was on trial, and its opponents were invited to act as judge, j…
- [‘Ready to fight for a socialist future’: eight hundred attend Victorian Socialists’ campaign launch](https://redflag.org.au/article/ready-to-fight-for-a-socialist-future-eight-hundred-attend-victorian-socialists-campaign-launch.md) - On 1 August, 800 people turned out to the Aborigines Advancement League in the northern Melbourne suburb of Thornbury to help us launch our campaign for the 2026 state election.
- [Europe boils and burns: capitalism’s climate hellscape](https://redflag.org.au/article/europe-boils-and-burns-capitalisms-climate-hellscape.md) - If you want to know how many lives our rulers are willing to sacrifice to defend the fossil fuel industry, you could start by looking at Europe.
- [Victorian Socialists launch statewide election campaign](https://redflag.org.au/article/victorian-socialists-launch-statewide-election-campaign.md) - The following is the text, edited for clarity, of a speech by Victorian Socialists secretary Corey Oakley at the party’s state election campaign launch on Saturday, 1 August. The launch, held at the Aborigines Advancement League in the Melbourne suburb of Thornbury, was attended by around 800 party…
- [Hanson’s middle-class army assembles for Victorian state election](https://redflag.org.au/article/hansons-middle-class-army-assembles-for-victorian-state-election.md) - Imagine Christmas family lunch, but everyone there is your racist uncle. Or try this: Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 masterpiece Seven Samurai, but instead of skilled swordsmen, it’s people who have spent years honing the art of giving people the creeps—and there are eight of them. Last Monday, Pauline Hans…
- [By ditching Jacinta Allan, Labor has bent the knee to the bosses again](https://redflag.org.au/article/by-ditching-jacinta-allan-labor-has-bent-the-knee-to-the-bosses-again.md) - After over a year of relentless campaigning by the capitalist press, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan is history. Few on the left will mourn her passing. Yet her departure marks a shift to the right.
- [Security treaties advance Australian neocolonialism in the Pacific](https://redflag.org.au/article/security-treaties-advance-australian-neocolonialism-in-the-pacific.md) - Since 2024, Australia has also concluded a string of security agreements of varying form. All are aimed squarely at maintaining Australia’s dominant position as a neo-colonial power in the south-west Pacific.
- [Melbourne tells Hanson where to go](https://redflag.org.au/article/melbourne-tells-hanson-where-to-go.md) - On the evening of 3 August, around 250 protesters gathered outside the Tower Hotel in Melbourne’s inner east. Inside, the far-right One Nation party was announcing its candidates for the Victorian state election to be held in November. A large police presence was sent to protect the event and preve…
- [‘Never again is now’: anti-fascist resistance in Germany](https://redflag.org.au/article/never-again-is-now-anti-fascist-resistance-in-germany.md) - GERMANY—On 4 July, the 100th anniversary of the Nazi Party’s second conference in the German state of Thuringia, the far-right Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) held its federal party conference in a neighbouring city in the same state. Putting the anti-fascist slogan “Neve…
- [Indian students shake Modi’s regime](https://redflag.org.au/article/indian-students-shake-modis-regime.md) - Earlier this month, more than 20,000 supporters cheered as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood triumphantly with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium. Modi, who has ruled India for more than twelve years, was repeatedly described by the press during his vi…
- [Victorian teachers strike again](https://redflag.org.au/article/victorian-teachers-strike-again.md) - At 1.44pm on 21 July, the news broke: Australian Education Union (AEU) members had once again voted to reject a substandard offer put to us by the state Labor government and our union leaders. It was a brilliant moment, even if at the time I was in class and not with my colleagues. Students eating…
- [More strikes on the table after Pilbara drought broken](https://redflag.org.au/article/more-strikes-on-the-table-after-pilbara-drought-broken.md) - An eight-hour strike on 16 July in Port Hedland, Western Australia, has broken a decades-long drought in the Pilbara iron ore industry. About 100 workers at BHP’s port downed tools, including members of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU), Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, and the Western Mine…
- [Hanson is hardening up a far-right base—we need to organise against her](https://redflag.org.au/article/hanson-is-hardening-up-a-far-right-base-we-need-to-organise-against-her.md) - Hanson is making no attempt to sanitise her politics for the sake of broad appeal. On the contrary, she is hardening her political positions, becoming more unapologetically fascistic, and encouraging her supporters to follow.
- [Victorian Socialists to run biggest campaign yet](https://redflag.org.au/article/victorian-socialists-to-launch-its-biggest-campaign-yet.md) - The Victorian Socialists are running a bigger election campaign than anything attempted by socialists in Australia for generations.
- [‘A crack of light through the door’: founding the Australian Socialist Party](https://redflag.org.au/article/a-crack-of-light-through-the-door-founding-the-australian-socialist-party.md) - Delegates elected from among the more than 5,000 members of the newly formed Australian Socialist Party gathered at venues across Australia (linked via Zoom) for the party’s founding conference over the weekend.
- [Royal commission: Israel supporters rationalise child killings, denounce critics as racist](https://redflag.org.au/article/royal-commission-israel-supporters-rationalise-child-killings-denounce-critics-as-racist.md) - The universities block of the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion is over. One of the key throughlines in the testimonies of students, lobby groups and vice-chancellors was that criticism of Israel is antisemitic. The first day ended with a witness claiming that the murder of Pal…
- [A Jewish socialist responds to the Murdoch press](https://redflag.org.au/article/a-jewish-socialist-responds-to-murdoch.md) - Jewish socialist and Palestine solidarity campaigner Yasmine Johnson was not only grilled at the royal commission, she was then slandered in the press. Here, she responds to the critics.
- [Melbourne vice-chancellor undermines his own attempt to slander the Palestine movement](https://redflag.org.au/article/melbourne-vice-chancellor-undermines-his-own-attempt-to-slander-the-palestine-movement.md) - Sometimes a little bit of the truth slips out amid the lies at the royal commission. So it was in this week’s testimony from the acting University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Glyn Davis.
- [FROM THE VAULT: Zionist group admits making false accusation of antisemitism against student activists](https://redflag.org.au/article/from-the-vault-zionist-group-admits-making-false-accusation-of-antisemitism-against-student-activists.md) - The following article was first published on 4 April 2016. The author, D. Taylor, is a Jewish socialist and at the time was leading Palestine solidarity activism at Monash University in Melbourne. We republish it today not only to show that there has always been a campaign of lies and slander, on t…
- [Brisbane protest stands against One Nation](https://redflag.org.au/article/brisbane-protest-stands-against-one-nation.md) - Loud cries of “Racist, sexist, anti-queer, Hanson is not welcome here!” resounded through the streets as more than 1,000 people marched against One Nation in Brisbane last weekend. It was the first protest in Brisbane against Pauline Hanson since her recent rise in the polls. It was called in respo…
- [Fighting One Nation’s far-right insurgency](https://redflag.org.au/podcasts/fighting-one-nations-far-right-insurgency.md) - The latest episode of Red Flag Radio is all about the breakthrough of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party.
- [Pilbara workers prepare to shut down BHP ports in historic strike](https://redflag.org.au/article/pilbara-workers-prepare-to-shut-down-bhp-ports-in-historic-strike.md) - Workers at BHP’s ports in Port Hedland, in Western Australia’s Pilbara, will down tools for eight hours tomorrow. Around 200 electricians, boilermakers, fitters and shiploaders will strike from 2pm to 10pm. Iron ore will not be loaded. The ports will grind to a halt. They will reportedly cost the l…
- [The socialist who schooled the royal commission](https://redflag.org.au/the-socialist-who-schooled-the-royal-commission.md) - The university block of Australia’s Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion is designed to provide a platform for pro-Israel students to denounce the Palestine solidarity movement on Australian university campuses. So lawyers at the commission thought they were going to “gotcha” Yasm…
- [The day the royal commission got schooled by a Palestine solidarity activist](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-day-the-royal-commission-got-schooled-by-a-palestine-activist.md) - Lawyers thought they were going to “gotcha” student activist Yasmine Johnson. But by remaining steadfast, she made them look foolish.
- [The fight over Palestine in a Canadian museum](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-fight-over-palestine-in-a-canadian-museum.md) - The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is the most striking piece of architecture in Winnipeg. Traversing the seven floors with irregular spaces and varied lighting, the visitor is meant to “progress upwards from darkness to light—reflecting our hopes for human rights education”, according to the mus…
- [The first half day of the royal commission in Melbourne was risible](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-first-half-day-of-the-royal-commission-in-melbourne-was-risible.md) - The royal commission’s witnesses are unreliable and prejudiced, and the commissioner seems to accept that supporting a religious/ethno-supremacist apartheid state is essential to Jewish identity.
- [A Jewish socialist defends the Palestine movement at the royal commission](https://redflag.org.au/article/a-jewish-socialist-defends-the-palestine-movement-at-the-royal-commission.md) - This article by Yasmine Johnson, a Jewish student, socialist and one of the national coordinators of Students for Palestine, is based on her testimony at the royal commission.
- [Responding to the lies against the student Palestine solidarity movement](https://redflag.org.au/article/responding-to-the-lies-against-the-student-palestine-solidarity-movement.md) - Two central lies have been leveled against the pro-Palestine student movement. Jasmine Duff refutes them.
- [Albanese’s favourite fascist](https://redflag.org.au/article/albaneses-favourite-fascist.md) - The Prime Ministers of India and Australia embraced in front of 20,000 people at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium on 9 July. Some might interpret this as a moving statement of inclusivity in a time of rising anti-immigrant hate. Except Narendra Modi is a fascist and the crowd greeting him were Hindu n…
- [Israel’s long war on Gaza: from 1948 until today](https://redflag.org.au/article/israels-long-war-on-gaza-from-1948-until-today.md) - While Israel has greatly accelerated its efforts to ethnically cleanse Gaza since 7 October 2023, the settler-colonial state has long desired the expulsion of all Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
- [We won’t stop Hanson by rallying around Labor](https://redflag.org.au/article/we-wont-stop-hanson-by-rallying-around-labor.md) - Labor politicians and the trade union leaders allied to them have undermined working-class cohesion and consciousness. In doing so, they have severely weakened the very forces that could have blunted Hanson’s impact.
- [The world is changed through struggle, not civility](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-world-is-changed-through-struggle-not-civility.md) - Once the tear gas had lifted from, and targeted students were punished for participating in, Palestine solidarity encampments across the United States, universities returned to the pretence that they welcome “dialogue” between political opponents. College administrators across the country are now f…
- [Far-right warriors for the capitalist class](https://redflag.org.au/article/far-right-warriors-for-the-capitalist-class.md) - Behind all the culture war bluster and appeals to rural reaction, Pauline Hanson’s key function in Australian politics is to popularise policies and measures that guarantee the further enrichment of the capitalist class and its authoritarian power. Her main enemy, then, as much as migrants and Musl…
- [Myths of the US constitution](https://redflag.org.au/article/myths-of-the-us-constitution.md) - If there is one part of what might be called the US’s “civic religion” on which liberals and conservatives agree, it’s the fundamental importance of the US constitution, passed in 1787. Perhaps that’s understandable, given that the constitution lays out the blueprint of the government that has rema…
- [Wollongong Uni corruption the product of a corporate sector](https://redflag.org.au/article/wollongong-uni-corruption-the-product-of-a-corporate-sector.md) - Our universities are run by corrupt, entitled grifters. While the key reports from the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s (ICAC) investigation into the University of Wollongong (UOW) are yet to be released, the hearings have made this abundantly clear. The probe into UOW was sparked by que…
- [What to do about One Nation](https://redflag.org.au/what-to-do-about-one-nation.md) - Australian politics is at a turning point. One Nation is in a position to form coalition governments in several states and, possibly, even at the federal level. But it’s not just the polling: the party is establishing branches, recruiting wealthy backers and attracting support from every corner of…
- [The four biggest lies they tell about US history](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-four-biggest-lies-they-tell-about-us-history.md) - On the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, two US socialists dispel the myths about American history and outline the truth that President Trump and his enablers would like to bury.
- [German students continue to mobilise against militarism](https://redflag.org.au/article/german-students-continue-to-mobilise-against-militarism.md) - Germany’s students are mobilising in their tens of thousands against the government’s war drive and the looming threat of conscription.
- [Hanson’s shadow looms over Victoria: a serious socialist campaign can galvanise a fightback](https://redflag.org.au/article/hansons-shadow-looms-over-victoria-a-serious-socialist-campaign-can-galvanise-a-fightback.md) - A key question in the November election will not be who wins, but how many people the socialist movement can organise.
- [Why are Australia’s union leaders the most enthusiastic defenders of the status quo?](https://redflag.org.au/article/why-are-australias-union-leaders-the-most-enthusiastic-defenders-of-the-status-quo.md) - The ACTU acts as a lobby in reverse: rather than lobbying the government on behalf of its members, it lobbies its members on behalf of the government.
- [The US’s strategic defeat in the Gulf](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-uss-strategic-defeat-in-the-gulf.md) - Donald Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Tehran marked a defeat for Washington. For all the death and destruction it rained down on Iran, the US was surrendering and suing for “peace”.
- [What happened to ‘social cohesion’?](https://redflag.org.au/article/what-happened-to-social-cohesion.md) - The phrases “social cohesion” and “psycho-social safety” seem to have magically disappeared as Hanson goes mainstream.
- [Keir Starmer and the banality of evil](https://redflag.org.au/article/keir-starmer-and-the-banality-of-evil.md) - Starmer’s assignment as leader was to sanitise the Labour Party and present it as a viable option for the ruling class.
- [The economics of US imperialism, part one: from boom to AI bubble?](https://redflag.org.au/the-economics-of-us-imperialism-part-one-from-boom-to-ai-bubble.md) - American economic resilience, imperialist aggression and class polarisation have far-reaching implications for socialist perspectives in the US and elsewhere. In this guest piece for the anti-empire notes newsletter, G. Stewart, a New York-based socialist journalist and activist, examines the dynam…
- [Students and the Soweto uprising](https://redflag.org.au/article/students-and-the-soweto-uprising.md) - One of the great uprisings of the twentieth century occurred 50 years ago this month. In this piece, Sandra Bloodworth reflects on some lessons from the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.
- [The British state’s plot against Palestine Action](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-british-states-plot-against-palestine-action.md) - British courts have upheld the proscription of Palestine Action and sentenced four of its activists as terrorists. A series of abuses of legal process ensured these outcomes were all but predetermined, writes Jonathan Cook.
- [Why Victorian teachers rejected the union-government contract](https://redflag.org.au/article/why-victorian-teachers-rejected-the-union-government-contract.md) - Last week, 58 percent of Australian Education Union (AEU) members in Victoria made history. Going against our union leaders’ advice, tens of thousands of school staff voted down an in-principle agreement the union had reached with the state Labor government.
- [Protesting Pauline Hanson then and now: what we can learn from the 1990s movement](https://redflag.org.au/article/protesting-pauline-hanson-then-and-now-what-we-can-learn-from-the-1990s-movement.md) - But how should the socialist movement organise against the new far-right menace?
- [Speaking out for Palestine is still illegal in Queensland](https://redflag.org.au/article/speaking-out-for-palestine-is-still-illegal-in-queensland.md) - The banning of pro-Palestine speech in Queensland has resulted in the arrest of another seven activists at a “Six Words for a Free Palestine” rally on 14 June. They join around 30 people in Queensland now facing up to two years in prison for reciting or displaying “prohibited phrases”. Sam Woripa W…
- [Hundreds shut down Wollongong factory for Palestine](https://redflag.org.au/article/hundreds-shut-down-wollongong-factory-for-palestine.md) - Hundreds of Palestine activists in Wollongong held a 72-hour blockade of the Bisalloy Steel factory in Unanderra on 14-17 June. Bisalloy has been a target for the Palestine campaign in Wollongong since 2017. It is the only Australian manufacturer of high-strength quenched and tempered steel suitabl…
- [Canberra teachers strike](https://redflag.org.au/article/canberra-teachers-strike.md) - On 11 June, every public primary school, high school, college and specialist school was shut down across the ACT by a full-day strike of the teachers’ union. Coming after an initial two-hour work stoppage in May, these were the first industrial actions of the Canberra Australian Education Union in…
- [Cannibal capitalism eats the World Cup](https://redflag.org.au/article/cannibal-capitalism-eats-the-world-cup.md) - FIFA has managed to turn the beautiful game into an ugly spectacle. With the US playing host to the World Cup alongside Mexico and Canada, Trump has discovered the power of sports to wash away the blood and dirt of empire. This month, billions of people will watch men kick a ball around a field as…
- [Data centres: enriching tech giants at our expense](https://redflag.org.au/article/data-centres-enriching-tech-giants-at-our-expense.md) - Instead of building much needed public infrastructure, developing green spaces in working-class areas and rapidly transitioning to renewables, politicians are handing over precious water resources and continue burning fossil fuels to enable the profits of giant tech corporations.
- [‘When Palestinians get killed, the world doesn’t even blink’: Interview with Stephen Heydt](https://redflag.org.au/article/when-palestinians-get-killed-the-world-doesnt-even-blink-interview-with-stephen-heydt.md) - Stephen Heydt, a 73-year-old retired psychologist, is an anti-Zionist Jewish activist who has been fighting for a free Palestine for more than five decades. He spoke to Red Flag about the genocide in Gaza and the crackdown on free speech in Australia.
- [A tale of two Banyules](https://redflag.org.au/article/a-tale-of-two-banyules.md) - There is a corner of Melbourne’s Banyule City Council that is sliced in two, the major arterial of Bell Street marking its middle. North of that divide is West Heidelberg, home to a diverse working-class community. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, West Heidelberg has a median weekl…
- [Mater privatisation proves deadly](https://redflag.org.au/article/mater-privatisation-proves-deadly.md) - In a private room at the Mater Hospital in Newcastle, a mother listened to her daughter’s anguished cries: “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe!” The daughter later died. “Her room had towels over the windows. I asked the nurse why, and she said, ‘It’s because of the mould’”, the mother related. This…
- [Victorian Socialists gain ground in Thomastown](https://redflag.org.au/article/victorian-socialists-gain-ground-in-thomastown.md) - While One Nation climbed the polls to be the most popular party in the country, something else was stirring in the Melbourne suburb of Thomastown: a grassroots campaign to elect socialist activist Sarah Garnham to the Whittlesea City Council. In a nine-horse race, Sarah won 18.4 percent of the vote…
- [The socialist movement needs money](https://redflag.org.au/article/2026-socialist-alternative-fund-drive.md) - From the genocide in Gaza to the relentless, profit-driven climate crisis and the rise of the far right, world capitalism is truly horrifying. But there is hope amidst the horror. A new generation is responding with anger and looking for an alternative. And for many, that alternative is socialism.…
- [One Nation needs to be fought, not just analysed](https://redflag.org.au/article/one-nation-needs-to-be-fought-not-just-analysed.md) - It’s one thing to talk about resisting the far right. But what does it mean in practice?
- [Rebellion in Bolivia against austerity](https://redflag.org.au/article/rebellion-in-bolivia-against-austerity.md) - Since early May, the Bolivian government has been on the ropes. Workers and peasants have blockaded roads, protested and struck against a series of austerity programs pushed by the newly elected government of Rodrigo Paz. On 8 June, Paz prepared to escalate state repression by passing a law that wo…
- [No good news: an interview with Martin Hirst](https://redflag.org.au/article/no-good-news-an-interview-with-martin-hirst.md) - Martin Hirst started his career in journalism at the University of Sydney student newspaper Honi Soit during the heady years of student radicalism in the mid-1970s. From 1984 to 1990 he worked at the ABC, before joining the SBS press gallery team. One of the most impressive achievements of his care…
- [Why Stalinism should stay dead](https://redflag.org.au/podcasts/why-stalinism-should-stay-dead.md) - Stalinism equates socialism/communism with state-controlled industry and a one-party dictatorship. Nothing could be further from genuine socialism and Marxism.
- [Protesters stand against Hanson in Melbourne](https://redflag.org.au/article/protesters-stand-against-hanson-in-melbourne.md) - Up to 1,000 people joined an anti-fascist rally in Melbourne’s Moonee Ponds on 12 June.
- [Perth takes the fight to One Nation](https://redflag.org.au/article/perth-takes-the-fight-to-one-nation.md) - Hundreds of people turned out to protest against a far-right fundraising event for Pauline Hanson in Perth on Wednesday night.
- [Public housing demolitions in NSW a disgrace](https://redflag.org.au/article/public-housing-demolitions-in-nsw-a-disgrace.md) - Late last month, the NSW Labor government began fencing off the first block of 150 homes at the Waterloo South public housing estate as part of the first stage of its redevelopment plan. At least three tenants were still living on site, and none of them knew the fences were going up until they woke…
- [Rebellion in the AEU: officials prevent debate as vote approaches on terrible deal](https://redflag.org.au/article/rebellion-in-the-aeu-officials-prevent-debate-as-vote-approaches-on-terrible-deal.md) - Australian Education Union members across Victoria will meet on 15-18 June to make a crucial decision: to accept or reject an in-principle agreement our union leaders have reached with the state government. They claim it is the best we can get, but it is far from it. Socialists in Schools, a campai…
- [People’s Inquiry details widespread crackdown on campus free speech](https://redflag.org.au/article/peoples-inquiry-details-widespread-crackdown-on-campus-free-speech.md) - A new report finds that Australian universities have systematically suppressed criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
- [Why the US government is destroying Cuba](https://redflag.org.au/article/why-the-us-government-is-destroying-cuba.md) - The indictment of 94-year-old Raúl Castro by the US Justice Department last month is a prelude to “regime change” in Cuba. The US is positioning military assets for a possible attack on the island, following its blockade of oil shipments to the country (itself an act of war)—a move that has led to…
- [Greens vs Socialists: a response to Jonathan Sriranganathan](https://redflag.org.au/article/greens-vs-socialists-a-response-to-jonathan-sriranganathan.md) - What’s the difference between the Greens and the Socialists? It’s a common question, one that was the subject of a recent lengthy blog post by Queensland Greens member and former Brisbane City councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan, “Queensland Greens vs the new Queensland Socialists: How different are…
- [The concerns of Gen Z women are legitimate—sexism means no-one cares](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-concerns-of-gen-z-women-are-legitimate-sexism-means-no-one-cares.md) - Conservative UK rag the Telegraph is worried about young women. In her article “Forget the manosphere. It’s angry Leftie women we need to worry about”, Rowan Pelling speaks of the concern she feels as a mother of boys and auntie to nieces: “On both sides of the Atlantic, polling shows young women a…
- [One Nation breaks ground in Fremantle, but not without opposition](https://redflag.org.au/article/one-nation-breaks-ground-in-fremantle-but-not-without-opposition.md) - One Nation has established a new branch in Fremantle, its first in Western Australia outside a primarily rural area. The first branch meeting was held on Saturday 30 May and was protested by the WA Socialists, who wanted to send a message that migrants are welcome in Freo, racists are not. The laun…
- [Australian activist speaks about flotilla experience](https://redflag.org.au/article/australian-activist-speaks-about-flotilla-experience.md) - Neve O’Connor, a Melbourne student and support worker, was one of eleven Australian activists imprisoned by Israel after trying to sai to Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla. She spoke to Red Flag about the experience.
- [Whingeing slobs run the country](https://redflag.org.au/article/whingeing-slobs-run-the-country.md) - In Australian capitalism, those who work the most end up with the least. The slobs who work the least end up with the most—but never tire of sooking.
- [Reform UK is the new normal](https://redflag.org.au/article/reform-uk-is-the-new-normal.md) - The recent electoral deluge that resulted in Reform gaining more than 1,450 seats across Britain’s local councils was a devastating advance for the party’s momentum. But it was not unexpected.
- [Two years on from the Gaza solidarity encampments](https://redflag.org.au/article/two-years-on-from-the-gaza-solidarity-encampments.md) - It has been two years since university students across Australia set up Gaza solidarity encampments as part of a global student movement for Palestine. Sleeping in tents to draw attention to Australian universities’ ties to Israel’s genocidal campaign, we confronted university administrations, the…
- [The rich chuck a sook about CGT (+ understanding the middle classes)](https://redflag.org.au/podcasts/the-rich-chuck-a-sook-about-cgt-understanding-the-middle-classes.md) - Our latest episode is a fun one, responding to the chorus of whingers and sooks from the business class (though they call themselves ‘founders’ and ‘entrepreneurs’), crying about having a few of their tax dodges taken away. We explain why they’re full of shit, why Labor can barely defend their own…
- [The Left Front in Argentina grows in popularity](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-left-front-in-argentina-grows-in-popularity.md) - Argentinian Trotskyists are showing that socialism can become a popular force without abandoning or watering down its revolutionary principles.
- [Boost for LNP in Stafford byelection despite Labor win, and a solid start for Queensland Socialists](https://redflag.org.au/article/boost-for-lnp-in-stafford-byelection-despite-labor-win-and-a-solid-start-for-queensland-socialists.md) - Labor has crawled to victory in the Stafford byelection in Brisbane’s inner north. Labor came a distant second to the LNP on primary votes, but narrowly won the seat thanks to Greens preferences. Despite the victory, this result is a harsh reality check for Labor and an encouraging result for the L…
- [Business community has a big sook](https://redflag.org.au/article/business-community-has-a-big-sook.md) - The screaming about “tax grabs”, “death taxes”, “class war” and “communism” from the sorry brigade of start-up shysters, investors, small businesses, big capitalists, right-wing journos and politicians is an absolute festival of reaction.
- [Itamar Ben-Gvir is Israel](https://redflag.org.au/article/itamar-ben-gvir-is-israel.md) - “We have been beaten, every single one of us has been beaten with electric shocks all over our bodies. We have bruises. Many people have broken ribs. Many people cannot walk.” —Paneli Greek activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla Israel’s assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla participants is an int…
- [Japan’s hidden history of anti-imperialist protest](https://redflag.org.au/article/japans-hidden-history-of-anti-imperialist-protest.md) - Young people singing and dancing, chants of “No war!” and posters reading “Don’t change Article 9” have accompanied tens of thousands of protesters mobilising around Japan since February. The most recent protest was on 3 May, the country’s Constitution Day public holiday. The protests include peopl…
- [WA Labor gives up on emissions targets](https://redflag.org.au/article/wa-labor-gives-up-on-emissions-targets.md) - The Western Australian Labor government has ditched plans to reduce carbon emissions, according to a report by the ABC. In 2023, Roger Cook’s government was supposed to legislate interim targets to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions on the way to 2050. This was going to happen in the Clima…
- [Chancellor Bishop is out of ANU, but the fight must continue](https://redflag.org.au/article/chancellor-bishop-is-out-of-anu-but-the-fight-must-continue.md) - Australian National University chancellor Julie Bishop recently announced that she would step down. She had become so unpopular that she could no longer remain the university’s ceremonial head. While this development is welcome, the emphasis from the mainstream media, the student union and the staf…
- [What's wrong with identity politics?](https://redflag.org.au/podcasts/whats-wrong-with-identity-politics.md) - Chloe and Emma discuss identity politics, the dominant framework on the left for opposing oppression. They debunk ideas like privilege theory, autonomous organising and centreing "lived experience",
- [Edition #301 | Build the left to fight the right](https://redflag.org.au/article/edition-301-build-the-left-to-fight-the-right.md) - So much budget bluster | Australia’s royal commission is a show trial | Victorian teachers and school staff deserve better and must fight for more
- [Victorian teachers betrayed by union agreement with government](https://redflag.org.au/article/victorian-teachers-betrayed-by-union-agreement-with-government.md) - An in-principle agreement reached between the Australian Education Union (AEU) and the Victorian state government is a betrayal of Victorian teachers and their legitimate demands for above-inflation pay rises and improved conditions. The agreement must be rejected and further strikes called to forc…
- [Starmer’s Labour punished in UK local elections](https://redflag.org.au/article/starmers-labour-punished-in-uk-local-elections.md) - The collapse of the UK Labour Party’s vote in a series of local elections this month has amplified the existing crisis for the government and provides further evidence of the polarisation gripping British politics. The results confirm what the polls have been signalling: that the century-long domin…
- [‘ISIS Brides’ is an Islamophobic slur: Where’s the outrage?](https://redflag.org.au/article/isis-brides-is-an-islamophobic-slur-wheres-the-outrage.md) - The Murdoch press is directing a straight-to-video thriller about Australian citizens returning from Syrian displaced person camps, where they have been languishing since 2019. Dozens of media outlets were waiting at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport to film the arrival of the handful of women and ch…
- [Australia’s royal commission is a show trial](https://redflag.org.au/article/australias-royal-commission-is-a-show-trial.md) - Now, more than ever, we need a fighting left and a strident movement for Palestinian justice. The commission is an attempt to intimidate the left and to make resistance to war, fascism and racism more difficult.
- [‘May in the minds of men’: 100 years since the British general strike](https://redflag.org.au/article/may-in-the-minds-of-men-100-years-since-the-british-general-strike.md) - The 1926 British general strike is best known as one of history’s most excruciating betrayals. For those seeking to understand the frequently treacherous actions of modern union officials, the story remains an important one to study and remember.
- [Teachers and school staff fight back against imminent union sellout](https://redflag.org.au/article/teachers-and-school-staff-fight-back-against-imminent-union-sellout.md) - When the leaders of the Australian Education Union (AEU) emailed members to announce that they were cancelling two weeks of planned half-day regional strikes—without the government having met our demands—they presumably thought school staff would passively accept this retreat. But the AEU leaders a…
- [Nakba: understanding the Palestinian catastrophe](https://redflag.org.au/article/nakba-understanding-palestinian-catastrophe.md) - In this piece from the Red Flag vault, first published in 2021, Kim Bullimore explains the violence and ethnic cleansing at the heart of Israel’s founding.
- [German high schoolers strike against conscription](https://redflag.org.au/article/german-high-schoolers-strike-against-conscription.md) - BERLIN—Tens of thousands of German high school students skipped class on 8 May to protest against conscription and militarism. In total, 45,000 took part in demonstrations in 150 towns and cities across the country. “In my class, there’s barely anyone left”, a year 9 student at the Berlin rally tol…
- [Melbourne council workers strike for better pay and a collective contract](https://redflag.org.au/article/melbourne-council-workers-strike-for-better-pay-and-a-collective-contract.md) - Workers across eight Melbourne local councils went on strike for 24 hours on 5 May to demand higher pay and a multi-enterprise bargaining agreement. That’s a contract covering workers at all eight councils, rather than each council having its own agreement with different conditions and rates of pay…
- [So much budget bluster](https://redflag.org.au/article/so-much-budget-bluster.md) - The government’s talk of fairness and tackling inequality is empty noise. Yet in some ways, the budget is ambitious: it is characterised by an ambition to keep Australian capitalism’s winners rich and its losers poor.
- [We have to fight, not accommodate, One Nation and the far right](https://redflag.org.au/article/we-have-to-fight-not-accommodate-one-nation-and-the-far-right.md) - One Nation must be fought relentlessly. That has to be the lesson the left and the working-class movement takes from the victory of Hanson’s far-right racist party in the Farrer by-election.
- [Strike wave in India shows workers’ power](https://redflag.org.au/article/strike-wave-in-india-shows-workers-power.md) - The industrial workers of India, so often written off by academics and paternalistic union bureaucrats alike, are once more proving themselves to be a fighting force.
- [Greens’ unprincipled stance at Queensland by-election shows party’s true colours](https://redflag.org.au/article/greens-unprincipled-stance-at-queensland-by-election-shows-partys-true-colours.md) - Prominent member of the Australian Greens, Jonathan Sriranganathan, a twice-elected councillor in South Brisbane, recently published a long piece on his website, “Queensland Greens vs the new Queensland Socialists: How different are they?” While welcoming the emergence of a new left-wing force, Sri…
- [Gordon Crane: a Marxist intellectual in Australia](https://redflag.org.au/article/gordon-crane-a-marxist-intellectual-in-australia.md) - A bright, working-class boy, then Christian patriot during World War I, Gordon Crane became a star university scholar concerned about the condition of the working class. As a 1922 graduate of the University of Queensland with first class honours in history, he could have had a lucrative and success…
- [The long fight for civil rights in Queensland](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-long-fight-for-civil-rights-in-queensland.md) - The arrest of more than 20 activists in Brisbane on 18 April for saying six words calling for Palestinian liberation was shocking, but it was not unusual in Queensland’s history. The pretext for repressing social movements has shifted—whether public order, patriotism or, more recently, “social cohe…
- [The savagery of Trump and Netanyahu](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-savagery-of-trump-and-netanyahu.md) - Three months in, the numbers emerging from the latest war waged by Israel and the US are harrowing. More than 1,600 civilians have been killed in Iran since 28 February, and 3.2 million people are internally displaced.
- [The best decision you could make at university, or anywhere else, is to become an activist](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-best-decision-you-could-make-at-university-or-anywhere-else-is-to-become-an-activist.md) - The world is getting increasingly violent and irrational. The horror in Gaza has been followed by yet more death and destruction in Iran and Lebanon. The right is ascendant almost everywhere, with the surge in support for One Nation here just the latest example. If you think something needs to be d…
- [The emancipation of labour is still the hope of the world](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-emancipation-of-labour-is-still-the-hope-of-the-world.md) - As we take stock of our forces on May Day, working-class power, international solidarity and socialist politics are still forces that can move the whole world. In fact, they are the only true sources of realistic hope.
- [May Day, a celebration of workers’ struggle](https://redflag.org.au/article/may-day-a-celebration-of-workers-struggle.md) - May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, commemorates the commitment and sacrifice that millions of people have made in the name of the workers’ movement. It is also a time to raise the demands of today. On no other day are the proud traditions of the working class celebrated by so many p…
- [Rosa Luxemburg on the origins of May Day](https://redflag.org.au/article/rosa-luxemburg-on-the-origins-of-may-day.md) - Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) grew up in Russian-ruled Poland and was involved in underground activism while still in high school. She became one of the most formidable theorists and organisers of her generation, penning a major critique of Marx’s Capital, sparring with Russian revolutionary leader Vl…
- [Why we carry the red flag](https://redflag.org.au/article/why-we-carry-the-red-flag.md) - In 1913, two years before he was executed by the US state of Utah in a frame-up, Joe Hill wrote the song “Should I ever be a soldier”. The chorus goes: Should I ever be a soldier, ‘Neath the Red Flag I would fight, Should the gun I ever shoulder, It is to crush the tyrant’s might. Joe Hill and the…
- [‘28% is a joke’: Victorian school staff must keep fighting](https://redflag.org.au/article/28-is-a-joke-victorian-school-staff-must-keep-fighting.md) - The 28 April leak from the Victorian state government about an alleged pay offer for teachers is a transparent attempt to undermine the school staff’s industrial campaign. It claims the government is preparing to offer teachers a 28 percent pay rise over four years, but provides no details about wh…
- [The NDIS shouldn’t be gutted to pay for war, but people with disabilities deserve better](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-ndis-shouldnt-be-gutted-to-pay-for-war-but-people-with-disabilities-deserve-better.md) - At a National Press Club address on 22 April, Health Minister Mark Butler announced major cuts to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. They included a plan to reduce the number of participants to 600,00 by the end of the decade, an overhaul to the eligibility criteria from a diagnosis-based mo…
- [Cold front forecast for Newcastle’s left as right-wing weatherman wins mayoral election](https://redflag.org.au/article/cold-front-forecast-for-newcastles-left-as-right-wing-weatherman-wins-mayoral-election.md) - Did you know that on a hot day, scattered cumulus clouds in the morning will probably mean rain in the evening? Similarly, the election of a right-wing former weatherman as Newcastle’s mayor will probably spell gloomy weather for the city’s left. Gavin Morris, a self-described independent, received…
- [Don’t believe the hype: NSW nurses and midwives’ pay deal is a disaster](https://redflag.org.au/article/dont-believe-the-hype-nsw-nurses-and-midwives-pay-deal-is-a-disaster.md) - The pay deal given to public sector nurses and midwives in NSW on 16 April is an historic defeat and proof of the failure of the arbitration strategy. It is a wake-up call for all trade unionists that this strategy, favoured by the leaders of most unions around the country, is not enough to win the…
- [Liberal Party copies One Nation’s homework](https://redflag.org.au/article/liberal-party-copies-one-nations-homework.md) - The Liberal Party’s “Australian values migration plan”, announced last week, is a far-right wish list of racist anti-migrant politics. Greens Senator David Shoebridge is right to compare it to the White Australia Policy. But it’s not just some throwback to the past. It’s a sign of the future: far-r…
- [Arrested for standing with Palestine, now running for parliament](https://redflag.org.au/article/arrested-for-standing-with-palestine-now-running-for-parliament.md) - Liam Parry was arrested last month for using a Palestinian liberation slogan at a student protest. Now, he is standing in Brisbane’s Stafford byelection for the Queensland Socialists.
- [Setting sail for Gaza: Australian student speaks from the Global Sumud Flotilla](https://redflag.org.au/article/setting-sail-for-gaza-australian-student-speaks-from-the-global-sumud-flotilla.md) - Roughly 40 boats have set sail from Barcelona to participate in the flotilla to Gaza. Neve O’Connor, a Melbourne student and support worker, spoke to Red Flag from on board one of the vessels.
- [Socialist Party activists build an anti-Hanson fightback](https://redflag.org.au/article/untitled-2.md) - Ellie noticed something striking during a recent doorknock she helped organise in Melbourne’s west to build local opposition to the rise of the far right. “On one street in West Footscray, every person I spoke to said they were angry or concerned about One Nation”, she recounts. But they were also…
- [RMIT University backs down on suspension of Palestine activist](https://redflag.org.au/article/rmit-university-backs-down-on-suspension-of-palestine-activist.md) - In an important victory for Palestine activism, Melbourne’s RMIT University has been forced to drop a discipline case it brought against me because of my pro-Palestine political activity. Last year, I filmed a video standing outside RMIT’s Sir Lawrence Wackett Defence Centre in which I explained th…
- [War on Iran shows continuing fossil fuel dependency](https://redflag.org.au/article/war-on-iran-shows-continuing-fossil-fuel-dependency.md) - The oil shock caused by the US and Israel’s war on Iran has provided another depressing reminder of the continuing failure of the global “green transition”.
- [Imperialist war is class war](https://redflag.org.au/article/imperialist-war-is-class-war.md) - Imperialist war is an extension of the class war waged by capitalists against workers in the world’s industrial heartlands.
- [Twenty arrested at Brisbane Palestine rally](https://redflag.org.au/article/twenty-arrested-at-brisbane-palestine-rally.md) - Cries of “Shame!” rang out in Brisbane CBD on 18 April as Premier David Crisafulli’s police stormed the stage to arrest activists at a Palestine solidarity rally. Their crime? Calling for liberation for Palestinians between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Edward Carrol, a Jewish anti-Zi…
- [Queensland: beautiful one day, police state the next](https://redflag.org.au/article/queensland-beautiful-one-day-police-state-the-next.md) - Queensland once again feels like a police state. Laws outlawing pro-Palestine slogans introduced by Liberal National Party Premier David Crisafulli are being aggressively enforced by the Queensland police. Just 20 minutes after the laws came into effect on 11 March, dozens of riot cops massed outsi…

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