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Socialist Aotearoa

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Socialist Aotearoa (named Socialist – People Before Profit on the ballot)
General SecretaryAnu Kaloti
Co-founderJoe Carolan
Founded2008
IdeologyRevolutionary socialism
Marxism
Tino rangatiratanga
Neo-Trotskyism
Political positionFar-left
International affiliationInternational Socialist Tendency
Slogan"All Power to the People"
MPs in the House of Representatives
0 / 120
Website
https://socialistaotearoa.org.nz

Socialist Aotearoa (SA) is a revolutionary socialist organisation based in Aotearoa/New Zealand. SA formed as a split from Socialist Worker in 2008.[1] They are based in Auckland and are part of the International Socialist Tendency.[2] Joe Carolan, a Unite Union employee[3] and former Mana party candidate,[4] is a co-founder[5] and the current Campaigns Officer, while Anu Kaloti of the Migrant Workers Association is the General Secretary.[6]

SA has been involved since its inception in organising and participating in campaigns against privatisation, corporate globalisation, racism and war.[7] These campaigns have ranged from Aotearoa Not For Sale[8] to Love Aotearoa Hate Racism,[9] to the movement against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).[10]

Founding Principles

Socialist Aotearoa ratified the following statement of its principles at their foundation hui on May 10, 2008.[11]

Five Fingers for a Fist: Founding Principles of Socialist Aotearoa

1. One Solution, Revolution!

Socialist Aotearoa is a revolutionary, socialist, anti capitalist group.  We fight for socialism from below, system change not climate change, and Rosa Luxemburg’s battle cry that “Revolutionaries are those who fight the hardest for reforms in the here and now!”

2. Workers of the World, Unite

Socialist Aotearoa is an international socialist group.  We oppose all imperialist wars and occupations, and support all genuine national liberation struggles for independence.  We demand the immediate withdrawal of New Zealand colonial troops from Afghanistan and the Pacific.  We support the struggle for Tino Rangatiratanga and self determination for Maori in Aotearoa, fully aware of the bloody history of the New Zealand state’s past and the dispossession of Maori today.  We welcome refugees and immigrants to Aotearoa, and fight against racism wherever we find it.

3. Equality For All

We oppose all oppressions based on race, gender, sexuality and religion.

4. United Fronts

Socialist Aotearoa will co-operate with other left wing parties, unions and movements, but maintain its organisational independence and state its politics honestly and openly.  We will work in United Fronts, but reserve the right to publish and contribute our own socialist ideas within them.

5. For a Rank and File Network Within the Trade Union Movement

The working class movement is the force we believe will change the world.  As demonstrated by general strikes and revolutions throughout the decades, it has the power to shut down the system and replace it with a better world based on sharing and direct democracy.  As such, Socialist Aotearoa members are active in our unions as volunteers, members, delegates and organisers.

We are with the union leaders when they fight, but believe that union bureaucracy acts as a negotiating layer between the workers and the bosses.  In order to counteract the influence of the Labour Party’s union bosses, rank-and-file union members and delegates must organise a cross-union, cross-industry network of solidarity and struggle.

Mt. Albert by-election

In 2016, Joe Carolan announced his intention to stand in the 2017 Mount Albert by-election.[12][13] SA chose to call itself "Socialist – People Before Profit" on the ballot paper. They received 189 votes, or 1.4%,[14] in the context of low voter turnout, as the incumbent National Party did not stand in the election.[15]

SA's platform in the by-election included:[16]

  • Making the minimum wage a living wage of $20
  • Rent controls, the building of 100,000 state houses, and a tax on empty homes
  • Making transport and education free
  • A "liveable" universal basic income
  • Abolishing the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
  • A "Robin Hood Tax" of 1% on all financial transactions
  • Rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)
  • Stopping the deportation of the eleven Indian students who had been victims of a fraudulent tertiary education provider.[17] SA members had been helping lead the campaign to keep these students in the country.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Open Letter to Socialist Aotearoa (May 2008)". Workers Party New Zealand. 1 May 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Groups Affiliated to the IST". http://internationalsocialists.org/wordpress/. International Socialist Tendency. Retrieved 14 December 2018. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  3. ^ Owen, Catrin (13 February 2017). "Mt Albert by-election candidates have housing on their mind". Stuff. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Mana names Auckland candidates". Stuff.co.nz. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  5. ^ Carolan, Joe (9 August 2017). "The Mettle of Metiria". https://socialistaotearoa.org.nz. Socialist Aotearoa. Retrieved 14 December 2018. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  6. ^ Kaloti, Anu (25 October 2018). "Democracy For Sale". https://socialistaotearoa.org.nz. Retrieved 14 December 2018. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  7. ^ "Who We Are". Socialist Aotearoa. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  8. ^ Admin (7 May 2012). "Thousands say: "John Key, you've got mail, Aotearoa is not for sale"". FightBack. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Love Aotearoa forms to counter Canadian race ranters". waateanews.com. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  10. ^ "After the Blockade- a Marxist analysis of the TPPA and a movement against Capitalism (at18mins in)". After the Blockade- a Marxist analysis of the TPPA and a movement against Capitalism (at18mins in). Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Founding Principles". https://socialistaotearoa.org.nz. Socialist Aotearoa. 10 May 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2018. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  12. ^ "Aotearoa/New Zealand: A new working-class, pro-Maori political voice". Socialist Aotearoa. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  13. ^ "Is it time for some Community Communism in Aotearoa?". Unite.org.nz. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  14. ^ "Mt Albert by-election official results". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Mt Albert by-election: Low turnout blights massive win for Jacinda Ardern". Newshub. 26 February 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  16. ^ "Our Demands". Socialist Aotearoa. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Indian students facing deportation from NZ claim sanctuary in Auckland church". Stuff. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
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