HOW TO VOTE LEFT IN NSW ELECTIONS Wednesday 24 February 1999 The Democratic Socialists will be running an upper house (Legislative Council) ticket and fielding candidates in 10 lower house (Legislative Assembly) seats in the March 27 NSW elections (for platform, candidate profiles and media statements, visit <http://www.peg.apc.org/~stan/ds>). Other left organisations likely to field candidates are the Communist Party of Australia and the Progressive Labour Party. NSW Coalition leader Kerry Chikarovski shameless wielding of a $5.2 billion electricity privatisation pork barrel confirms the total moral bankruptcy of the major parties, DICK NICHOLS, the Democratic Socialists' lead candidate for the Legislative Council, said in Sydney today. While Labor Premier Carr has so far failed to force electricity privatisation on his own party, the Coalition is offering householders $1000 or $1100 of shares from a possible $25-28 billion electricity privatisation. The Coalition is also offering another $2.6 billion from the privatisation proceeds for regional projects. "Chikarovski is aping the most corrupt practices adopted by governments in Eastern Europe and Russia to sell privatisation. Those governments have wreaked social and economic vandalism and the Coalition threatens to do the same here. "Chikarovski thinks she can buy votes at $1000 a household, but people -- especially in regional NSW -- are well and truly sick of privatisation. They know from bitter experience that it means you lose your local school, hospital, post office, bank and CES, and, if you haven't already, your job! "Coalition and Labor government share a pro-privatisation agenda but they are badly out of touch with public opinion today", said Nichols. The Democratic Socialists, who obtained the ninth highest vote in last year's NSW Senate election, are campaigning for reversing the Coalition-Labor privatisation drive. "Privatisation is theft and the public has the right to resume ownership of of privatised assets with compensation only to small shareholders." Dick Nichols, 53, has worked in the printing industry and on the railways, where he was the Secretary of the Combined Unions at Eveleigh Loco railway workshops. For many years he was involved in the struggle against the privatisation of railway workshop work and, as a branch councillor for the Australian Railways Union (now Public Transport Union), also fought the anti-public transport policies of the Wran and Unsworth Labor governments. He is presently the Democratic Socialists' national industrial convenor. For interviews contact Peter Boyle 02-9690 1230 Democratic Socialists candidates for the 1999 NSW elections: Newcastle: Geoff Payne Campaign office: Resistance Centre, 19/509 Hunter Shopping Village, Newcastle. Tel: 02-4926 5328. Lismore: Bernie Wunsch Campaign office: Tel: 02-6622 0103 Illawarra: Dr Margaret Perrott Wollongong: Angela Luvera Campaign office: Resistance Centre, 23 Central Chambers, cnr Crown St Mall & Church St, Wolongong. Tel: 02-4226 2010. Auburn: Shane Bentley Parramatta: Kylie Moon Campaign office: Resistance Centre, Suite 3, Railway Arcade, Darcy St, Parramatta. Tel: 02-9635 8449. Heffron: Dr Jim Green Marrickville: Dr Tuntuni Bhattacharyya Port Jackson: Marina Carman Strathfield: Stephanie Roper Campaign office: Resistance Centre, 23 Abercrombie St, Chippendale, NSW. Tel: 02-9690 1977. Legislative Council ticket: Dick Nichols, Dr Helen Jarvis. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink