This is what the "free market" results in when tied to healthcare.
Abolish Medicare and private health, let's do fully public health please.
No :( And when you consider that the only changes currently permitted are the ones that don't mess with the real power behind the throne (the über-wealthy), the answer is extra no.
I am a bit of a broken record on this, but there can never be democracy that won't backslide while we continue with capitalism.
Not all of the various agreements are released yet (some have already been finalised, others are only in principle agreements), but they'll be here when they are: https://www.fwc.gov.au/document-search?search-ui=agreements
Blame the government, in cases where workers are on strike, I'm willing to bet 95% of the time, it's the employers being shitty.
Don't blame your fellow workers, blame those in power.
Striking (even the very limited times were allowed to under laws brought in by the Labor party in the 80s) is one of the few ways working people can exercise power to get a fairer deal under capitalism.
Some context, but not very detailed: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-18/queensland-rail-reaches-deal-with-train-controllers/107051822
Ah righto, misunderstanding ony part. Appreciate the clarification
I have joined The Greens because it seems to be the only Left political voice in parliament and I can't see a revolution happening quite yet.
Yeah fair enough, I'm glad to see all left groups growing. Good on ya for getting involved.
And as always I'm of the opinion groups should work together on topics where they agree, and I do see that happening on a number of occasions at protests/rallies that the Socialists and the Greens go to, which I think is great!
There was a socialist group in the area I used to live in Sydney but they seemed to be so formulaic in their communication, it sounded (to me) like they were in the early twentieth century. If you can't connect on a human level then spouting in-group speak is not going to attract people.
Yeah this is annoying. I agree with you, personally I think (and is the main focus of VS policy) we're most effective in our communication when we focus on the problems of today, and identify why they are (i.e. housing crisis, cost of living, etc is primarily so bad because of all the profit seeking and that's a feature of capitalism).
There are all sorts of people identifying as socialist out there. There's even some people (luckily not visibly part of our party) who think China is socialist and to be emulated, which most in VS think is absurd.
"Left infighting" exists because "the Left" really is not a monolith haha, I really can't reconcile with people who think that Mao and Stalin were top blokes lol. We'll just show up to the same actions from time to time where our goals align
All the best with your launch mate :)
This is a little rude to me to be honest.
I'm not a member of SAlt, and just because you don't like them, doesn't mean this is remotely close to the truth: "if being lectured about Trotskyism by a Melbourne Uni student who is larping as a dangerous radical before going off to work for daddy's law firm is your thing"
repeatedly turning up to rallies like the Invasion Day march, where the organisers have specifically asked political organisations not to do any campaigning,
Yeah that sounds kinda shitty if true, can agree, though I couldn't verify this was specifically asked based on event information posted on various websites by the organisers.
Look, you don't have to like SAlt, but I kinda think it's a bit over the top to extend that dislike to people part of Victorian Socialists simply by association.
I'm not a member of SAlt, but the people I've met are very dedicated and very well-read. It's not like they're just regurgitating something they've been told to say.
I think they sometimes can come across a bit stronger than people are used to, mostly out of a genuine desire to win you to a socialist point of view.
I've personally had no reason to dislike them, and all of the criticism I've seen so far hasn't really made sense to me (from a socialist perspective, I obviously know why One Nation voters wouldn't like them, lol)
I'm just not part of them because the requirements (mostly regarding time commitment and membership dues) from members is a bit more than I'm currently willing to do.
I'm happy in VS (Victorian Socialists) and happy to have them around in VS.
Yeah I hope the Greens do well at expense of the major parties, since I want to see politics move leftward. Just that I don't like how top-down the party is in structure (regarding how leadership is decided, and how policy is formed), and that they're not anti-capitalists.
I just don't fit the niche they are trying to steer the party in
May I ask what direction that is, by the way? I'm not a Socialist Alternative member, and they don't even represent a majority of the membership, it's just they're the most dedicated members and hence show up more than the average member.
From what I can tell, they're a revolutionary organisation, making the argument that reforming our way to socialism is impossible, and I agree with them on that.
Even if we have socialists (be that from Aus Socialists, the Greens if they go further left, or whoever) representing more than 50% of Parliament, does anyone seriously believe the ruling class is going to let us usher in socialism?
They couped Gough Whitlam for far less.
In the average Australian Socialist (the party, I can't speak for "socialists" who are part of micro-parties) believes that the only way we can get to socialism is by mass democratic action, that is, building a movement, making the arguments to everyone and winning enough people over that the current system needs to be replaced. And then going and doing that outside of Parliament (i.e. a revolution), so that we can set up more democratic bodies, and decentralise decision making.
Contesting parliamentary elections is just one way we get our message out.
I think Johnny Harris' (certainly not a socialist) video on democracy actually sums things up fairly well. The ruling class only let us make decisions that not affect the status quo: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O7LvhSQ5Te4
I just can't help myself, even though I'm not a member of the Greens, and would prefer anti-capitalists to come join the Socialists instead, here's the link that I searched for ya haha
Morning mate!
The 4 hands one is pretty cool
I don't think you're mistaken. Jess Wilson has promised to crack down on pro-palestine protests if elected, making it illegal without a permit.
They're all moving in lockstep
Can't sleep. But sometimes, ya just gotta get up the same time the next day, and just relax into the tiredness, get a good night sleep the next night.
Is what I tell myself.
I think there should be regs about making UV and recommended sun protection hours more prominent on the news and on websites and apps.
It feels like the average person doesn't know the UV index that day, or even what is considered high (or even what UV index even is), and people still believe the myth that it's correlated with how hot it is.
Spring is the worst time, because UV is quite high, and it's not that hot yet.
Yeah it's a bloody farce isn't it?
When the punishment is a slap on the wrist, it's no wonder stuff like this keeps happening.
The problem is that moneyed interests is what keeps the punishment a slap on the wrist.
I'd love this if they would endorse another party, but this seems like really stupid brinkmanship.
Fuck the Labor party, but just campaigning against the Labor Party during an election and not endorsing more left wing parties is pretty dumb.
Hmmmm why is it that a single lever isn't curbing inflation??
It's almost like consumer spending isn't the cause of this inflation 🫠
This is why "centrism" and the Labor Party chasing centrist voters is a scourge and the Labor party should be abandoned.
This just fits in to my view that the only way to fight Liberal and One Nation is to go further left and actually make peoples lives better by providing public services, nationalise natural resource extraction, increase company and wealth taxes, and, not capitulate to the right wing rhetoric.
Instead Labor go after competing unions (RAFFWU), put funding into and lend credence to the nonsense that is "tough on crime", don't fund our schools and hospitals properly even after relentless campaigning by the unions. They are demolishing our public housing and replacing it with community housing (often fewer units) and selling off the rest as private dwellings - literally selling of public land and assets...
And they have no counter to people complaining about the debt because a number of the projects are dumb, and frankly corrupt (Transurban no-bid contract). Big road projects really should be a thing of the past, we have enough roads, to make them work better we need more public transport, so that commercial and emergency vehicles and transport for disability don't have to compete with people who could take PT. No, Metro Tunnel, SRL, and especially the LXRP which is a project for road users, is not enough. The PTUA have a great list of things they ought to have done https://ptua.org.au/advocacy/)
They allow the dismantling of Cohealth, and don't bother stepping in to bring it back under community control when the board pilfer the rescue package https://archive.li/2026.10.06-193602/https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/cohealth-splurged-on-a-recruiter-then-it-chose-an-internal-applicant-20261007-p612gz.html, because the Labor party are not for public health, they think the current private subsidy system of Medicare is good.
The Labor party hasn't been the party of the working class for a long time, and are directly responsible for the death of membership in our unions via the Accords in the 80s.
We need to rebuild the left in this country, and the only party doing that is the Socialists (and to an extent, the Greens, but they're pro-capitalism, which is why we're in this mess to begin with)
In conclusion, this is the Labor Party's fault, but the UFU is still very silly for essentially endorsing the LNP and One Nation above the Labor Party by saying they should be last.
If any of what I've said is convincing to you, I encourage you to get involved:
Ther a a lot to hate about AI datacentres, but as Nath also points out, they don't run always on diesel.
Don't let them strawman us.
We don't have a productivity problem when viewed through a human lens, rather than the absurd idea there must always be "growth".
We have a problem that that excess productivity has been captured by those who already have amassed wealth, to grow it even further.
Our massive productivity gains have been eaten up by the billionaire/owner class.
Does no one seem to remember that you used to be able to support a family of 5 on one modest income?
Now people can barely support a couple of 2 with two fairly good incomes.
The problem is inequality and ever increasing wealth of the rich, who then use that outsized influence over legislation and regulation so that they can amass even more.
We have a capitalism problem where our excess value is being stolen.
This idea that we need to fix our productivity is a strawman in my opinion.
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