We are issuing this statement because a number of people have written to us to ask if the expansion of Victorian Socialists (taking the form of the creation of similarly named state groups) is an initiative of ours, or if it is a united electoral project between ourselves and Socialist Alternative.
The short answer is that this has not been initiated by Socialist Alliance, nor is it a united socialist project.
In the first week of May, a leading member of Socialist Alternative requested a meeting with Socialist Alliance to discuss the plans to expand the Victorian Socialists. A delegation from Socialist Alliance met with their delegation on 8 May.
At the meeting the comrades from Victorian Socialists/Socialist Alternative confirmed their intention to expand the organisation and that this would be discussed at the Victorian Socialists conference in June.
They also advised that they have no immediate desire to seek greater unity for a national electoral project, but instead proposed an agreement in which the two parties seek to avoid standing candidates in the same seats. They further indicated that they would formally write to us to both outline their plans. We have yet to receive this.
The comrades from Victorian Socialists/Socialist Alternative also asked for an assurance that Socialist Alliance would not block a request by them to change their name with the electoral commission. As the longest-standing federally registered party with “socialist” in the name, Socialist Alliance has first rights to its use.
Regardless of Australian Electoral Commission rules, Socialist Alliance does not claim exclusive right to the use of the word “socialist” and has never blocked other parties with “socialist” in their name from registering.
While Victorian Socialists is proposing to change its name to Socialist Party, in its expansion publicity it refers to itself simply as the “Socialists”. This amounts to a de facto claim to exclusive use of the word and creates a real basis for confusion, especially if used on ballot papers. We remain open to further discussion about how to advance cooperation and greater unity.
Socialist Alliance is committed to building the self-organisation of the working class and the oppressed. We are active in campaigns for workers’ rights, women’s rights, justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, for refugees and against racism, and we help build solidarity with those fighting oppression, such as Palestine.
We have also run successful socialist election campaigns, including the election of Sue Bolton as a Merri-bek Councillor four times, in Leichhardt in regional Queensland in the 2022 federal election, and achieving a 50% increase in our vote in the recent federal elections.
We encourage supporters of Socialist Alliance to join us.
[This statement was adopted by the Socialist Alliance National Secretariat on May 18.]
Leave a Reply