Published below are statements from electoral members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), denouncing the Australian Electoral Commission’s (AEC) move to deny the party official status.
The SEP submitted a list of more than 1,500 electoral members, complying with draconian electoral laws imposed in 2021 by the then Liberal-National federal government, fully supported by the Labor opposition.
However, the AEC rejected the party’s application, after more than four months, claiming that several of those listed said they were not SEP members. Citing phoney “privacy” concerns, the AEC will not tell the SEP who these individuals are, making it impossible for the party to check the AEC’s assertions or amend its membership list.
The anti-democratic move means SEP candidates must appear on ballot papers without their party name. This is an attack on both the SEP’s capacity to advance its program and the right of voters to identify socialist candidates and cast an informed ballot.
The AEC’s decision is part of a broader effort to suppress opposition to all the major parties, including Labor, the Liberal-Nationals and the Greens, amid mounting anger over their program of austerity and war. It comes just weeks ahead of a federal election that poses the real possibility of a hung parliament, a “nightmare” scenario for the ruling class.
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Australia will hold an important public meeting on March 19, opposing this political censorship. At the meeting, the SEP will outline its campaign to build a socialist alternative to war, austerity, and attacks on workers’ rights. It will also provide a Marxist analysis of the deepening global crisis and the ruling elite’s increasing reliance on repression to maintain its grip on power.
Election ban on the SEP: An attack on democratic rights
WHEN: 7 p.m. (AEDT) Wednesday, March 19
WHERE: Lansdowne Rooms, Bankstown Library, Bankstown, NSW
Reserve your seat now!
For those unable to attend in person, the event will also be live-streamed via Zoom.
Read our statement against the decision here.
****
Gino, a construction worker from Townsville, wrote:
I’m writing to voice my outrage and concerns over the actions of the Australian Electoral Commission in denying the Socialist Equality Party the right to run under its own name, as an alternative to the two major parties.
As a supposed democracy we must have the right to select, form, establish, and allow new political parties. Especially when the Labor Party and Liberal-National Coalition do not support the working class!
We have seen, over the last several decades, the gap between wealthy and poor widen, all under the governance of the two major parties. We have seen our environment slowly degraded, once again for the benefit of the few. We have time and again seen the machinations and manipulation of the two major political parties for their own gain. We have seen the misappropriation of taxpayer monies, with no transparency or accountability.
To not allow the SEP to have a voice in our democracy is scurrilous to say the least and is anything but democratic! We must have the right to vote for an alternative to what currently exists.
I firmly believe the recent actions by the AEC to reject the SEP were founded on very flimsy and farcical investigations into the SEP membership. I firmly support the SEP’s registration, and I call on the AEC to ensure the SEP are fully registered for the upcoming federal election.
Anything to the contrary would be an attack on democracy itself!
Rob, a retired rural/construction worker living in the Australian Capital Territory, wrote:
Over forty years, from the time of [former prime ministers Malcolm] Fraser and [Bob] Hawke, I’ve watched the orchestrated dismantling of many of the gains the Australian working class achieved throughout the 20th century, by both the capitalist based major parties.
The anti-democratic AEC has the authority to arbitrarily and deliberately delay and refuse the registration of any real alternative to Labor or the Liberal-Nationals.
My adult children, [and others of their] generation, have little hope for a life free from the endless stress and anxiety, scraping through from payday to payday, all for the benefit of landlords, bankers and property developers. And then there’s their environmental future, which is so mentally debilitating for those who dare to wade through the misinformation and disinformation pushed upon them by the tech oligarchs just to uncover the facts.
We are told Australia is a truly rich country—so rich, in fact, that it can afford to treat its children with utter contempt.
The capitalist system has degraded humanity right around the world to a hopeless future. These are manmade existential problems with real and workable solutions. The Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International is the only alternative.
****
Election ban on the SEP: An attack on democratic rights
WHEN: 7 p.m. (AEDT) Wednesday, March 19
WHERE: Lansdowne Rooms, Bankstown Library, Bankstown, NSW
Reserve your seat now!
For those unable to attend in person, the event will also be live-streamed via Zoom.