"As they beat the patriotic drums of war through the media, the imperialist rulers are seeking to advance their self-proclaimed 'right' to launch military assaults on any countries they choose to place on their hit list," Poulsen said October 8, the day after the imperialist bombing of Afghanistan began. "At the same time, the rulers are using the creation of a war atmosphere domestically to try to expand police powers, curtail political rights, and use patriotic calls to blunt workers' resistance to the bosses' attacks."

Poulsen explained that "the Howard government rapidly invoked the ANZUS treaty with support from the Labor Party as it committed warships, planes and hundreds of troops to the U.S.-led military buildup in Central Asia. Even as Canberra joins the war on the Afghan people that is creating millions more refugees, the Howard government, with Labor support, has tightened already draconian laws to justify forcible denial of entry, or detention in remote prison camps, for asylum seekers."

In response to the sinking of an overcrowded vessel and the subsequent deaths of more than 350 asylum seekers on October 18, Poulsen released a press statement that was picked up by a number of newspapers in Sydney (see Militant issue no. 43 for the text of the statement).

"While Canberra brutally turns away desperate working people from the shores of one of the richest countries in the world," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Poulsen as saying, "it is sending troops, warplanes and warships to join in the assault on the peoples of Afghanistan who live in one of the poorest countries in the world. This criminal course of attacking working people around the world is also aimed at working people at home, as the capitalist rulers try to squeeze more profit from the labour of workers and working farmers, and to push back our political rights won in decades of struggle."

The Torch, a local community newspaper, quoted from the statement in an article headlined "Refugees need support." The biweekly national Arabic-language paper An-Nahar translated the whole press statement and ran an ad for Poulsen's campaign as well. The Valley Times, another community paper, also ran a short article on Poulsen's campaign.

Campaigning against imperialism and its war against the peoples of Afghanistan and defending the rights of refugees and immigrants have been at the heart of the Communist League election campaign activities heading towards the November 10 polling day.

Campaign supporters have set up tables in the streets and knocked on doors in and around the working-class neighborhoods of Campsie and Lakemba, the district in which the new Pathfinder bookstore and the campaign headquarters of the Communist League election campaign are located. During these efforts they collected the 50 signatures of electors needed to get Poulsen on the ballot.

The area has a large immigrant population, particularly from the Middle East and Asia. Working people and youth responded to the campaign tables featuring placards opposing the imperialist war in Afghanistan and calling for Australia to open its borders, with 130 signing to support the campaign. Half a dozen of Poulsen's co-workers at Port Botany who live in the electoral district also willingly signed.

The petitioning effort and the many campaign street stalls set up since have served to lift the profile of the communist movement and the new bookstore. Many workers are keeping an eye out for the tables where they can get their hands on revolutionary literature. Four subscriptions to the Militant have been sold from them.

Poulsen and other members of the campaign have also participated in several antiwar demonstrations. Held over successive weeks, the protests have attracted growing numbers. Around 3,000 attended a rally and march on November 4. Many protesters have been attracted to Poulsen's campaign and the weekly campaign newspaper the Militant, with its news reports opposing the war in Afghanistan and background articles about imperialism's exploitation and historical domination of the Middle East and Central Asia. To date, five participants in the protests have bought subscriptions to the Militant.

Poulsen and campaign supporters also attended a meeting on October 28 organized by five organizations in the Arab and Muslim community to discuss racist attacks over recent weeks.

Poulsen is a wharfie [dockworker] at Port Botany, and a member of the Maritime Union of Australia. During the campaign he has visited a picket line at Ansett airlines and joined thousands defending Ansett workers' entitlements and protesting the loss of their jobs. Poulsen also attended a rally at University of Western Sydney in support of Aboriginal students who have occupied the Goolangullia building to oppose the threatened closure of the Aboriginal education unit there.

Election campaign supporters also took part in a recent stop-work rally organized by nurses, 24,000 of whom walked off the job in protest at chronic staff shortages and increasing workloads.

Poulsen explained that "these fights, like those by potato farmers in Tasmania and Victoria to defend their livelihoods, are all part of the resistance by working people to the capitalist offensive at home, the biggest obstacle to the rulers' war drive abroad."

Alasdair MacDonald is a member of the Young Socialists. Linda Harris is a member of the Australasian Meat Industry Employees' Union.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home