Victorian Socialists officially launch election campaign
More than 600 people turned out to the Grace Darling Hotel on 12 May for the Victorian Socialists campaign launch. Organisers had to open another room to accommodate more people, and the candidates repeated their speeches to those waiting downstairs.
Comedian-turned-lawyer Corinne Grant was MC as leaders of community organisations spoke of why they support the campaign, followed by speeches from the candidates.
The main message of the night was delivered by the lead candidate for the Northern Metro upper house seat, Stephen Jolly.
“The first thing that most people say when we talk to them about the Victorian Socialists is, ‘It’s about time’. It’s about time we saw some political opposition to the one-sided class war that we’ve had by the 1 percent – or the 0.1 percent actually – against all of us over the last 10, 20, 30, 40 years”, Jolly said.
“Privatisation, user pays, deregulation, cuts to services and the rolling back of all the gains that we made … in the postwar period. That’s what this is about: building a political alternative to the Greens and to the Labor Party and to the Liberal Party. We’ve got policies that will take them on front and centre.”
Lavanya Thavaraj from the Tamil Refugee Council spoke about how both Liberal and Labor governments conspired with the Sri Lankan government to murder Tamils and torture them in detention when they fled their country. “A socialist voice in parliament will give us an opportunity to have our voice heard”, she said. She committed to organising forums and helping letterbox to get the message into the community.
Brad Marsh of the West Alphington Residents Association said that Steve Jolly “serves no-one but the community – not lobbyists, bureaucrats or big business”.
Public housing is a major issue for the Victorian Socialists, who have pledged to support all efforts to resist Daniel Andrews’ plan to evict people from nine inner-city estates and sell the land to developers.
William Gwynne of the Walker Street public housing estate said the other parties have left residents behind.
It was an electrifying start to the campaign. “We need to build a people-powered campaign”, said candidate Colleen Bolger. “Our opponents will rake in millions of dollars from corporate donations. But what we have are people and ideas, and social movements stand and fall on those two things.”
The coordinators of the local groups signed up many new members, and turn now to establishing groups in each of the lower house electorates.
More than $5,000 was raised on the night. Victorian Socialists encourage anyone who can to donate to help us print the hundreds of thousands of pamphlets needed to saturate the electorate with their message.
The Victorian Socialists acknowledge the support of the owners of the Grace Darling Hotel, who donated the use of the venue, and Amos Roach, the Intellectuals and Easy Brown’s Truckstop Chicken Jam Band, who performed on the night, and those who generously donated to the raffle.
