Socialist Alliance (Australia)

Not to be confused with Socialist Alternative (Australia).

Socialist Alliance
Abbreviation
  • SA
  • SocAll
  • The Alliance[1]
Co-Convenors[2]
  • Jacob Andrewartha
  • Sarah Hathway
  • Sam Wainwright
FoundedAugust 2001; 23 years ago (2001-08)
Registered5 June 2007; 17 years ago (5 June 2007)[3]
Preceded byDemocratic Socialist Perspective[4]
HeadquartersUltimo, Sydney, New South Wales
NewspaperGreen Left
Youth wingYoung Socialist Alliance
Membership (2021)Increase 1,650[2]
Ideology
Political positionLeft-wing[6][11]
Colours  Red
Slogan“For the billions, not the billionaires!”
House of Representatives
0 / 151
Senate
0 / 76
Merri-bek City Council
1 / 11
Website
Official website
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Socialist Alliance (SA) is an Australian socialist political party and activist organisation. It was founded in 2001 as an alliance of various socialist organisations and activists, initiated by the Democratic Socialist Perspective and the International Socialist Organisation.

Engaging in a combination of grassroots activism and electoral politics, as of October 2023 Socialist Alliance has three elected officeholders across Australia, all of whom serve on the local government level. They are councillors Sarah Hathway (City of Greater Geelong), Sue Bolton and Monica Harte (both serving in the City of Merri-bek).[12][13][14][15]

The party is involved with the trade union, environmentalist and student movements in Australia. It takes strong left-wing stances on numerous issues, including refugee rights, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, anti-racism, and public ownership. Socialist Alliance also proposes nationalising the banking, energy and mining sectors. On workers' rights, the party supports raising the minimum wage, implementing wage theft and industrial manslaughter laws, increasing trade union bargaining to industry-wide status and reducing the working week to 30 hours. It opposes the building of new coalmines and any attempts to privatise public services such as Medicare. The party supports expansion of the public healthcare system to cover dental services and the cessation of public funding to private schools.[16] Policies of state branches include support for public housing, public transport, public education and publicly owned utilities, as well as advocating for less militarised and hard-line policing and justice systems.

The party participated within the Victorian Socialists electoral alliance in Victoria, until it withdrew from it in May 2020.[17]

  1. ^ Passant, John (December 2001). "Australia's New Socialist Alliance". Canadian Dimension. Vol. 35, no. 6.
  2. ^ a b Andrewartha, Jacob (19 January 2022). "Socialist Alliance 16th conference discusses collective pandemic response". Green Left. No. 1330. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Party registration decision: Socialist Alliance". aec.gov.au. Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). Archived from the original on 12 September 2021.
  4. ^ Evans, Bryan (1 May 2004). "Old endings, new beginnings: Realignment on the socialist left". Canadian Dimension. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021.
  5. ^ Lovejoy, Hans (7 May 2019). "Senate candidates for the federal 2019 election". echo.net.au. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b Henrique-Gomes, Luke (10 May 2019). "Australian election 2019: how to avoid voting for a terrible micro party in the Senate". Guardian Australia. Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  7. ^ Hennessy, James (11 May 2022). "Your Whirlwind Tour Of The Minor Parties Running At The Federal Election". PEDESTRIAN.TV. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  8. ^ "What is Marxism? | Socialist Alliance". Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  9. ^ "The revolutionary party | Socialist Alliance". Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  10. ^ Gentile, Emilio (15 August 2013). "Total and Totalitarian Ideologies". In Freeden, Michael (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Political Ideologies. Oxford University Press. p. 62. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199585977.001.0001. ISBN 9780191749759. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  11. ^ Testa, Christopher (28 May 2022). "Socialist Alliance candidate Pat O'Shane reflects on shifting the debate in far north Queensland". ABC News. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  12. ^ "New Councillor elected to Windermere Ward". City of Greater Geelong. 28 June 2023. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Mayor & Councillors". Cairns Regional Council. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Moreland City Council election results 2020". Victorian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Councillor Monica Harte sworn in as North-West Ward Councillor". Merri-bek City Council. 24 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  16. ^ "2016 Federal Election Platform | Socialist Alliance". Archived from the original on 24 April 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  17. ^ "Socialist Alliance withdraws from Victorian Socialists | Socialist Alliance". 14 May 2020. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2020.