The following Editorial was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, July 31st, 2002. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. ******************************
Editorial Turncoats Lees and Murray must resign The defection of Meg Lees and Andrew Murray from the ranks of the Democrats is about policy with Lees and Murray wanting to push the party to the right. It was for this reason that the membership of the Democrats removed Meg Lees from the leadership of the Democrats about a year ago. She had dragged the Democrats down following her highly unpopular deal with the Howard Government that enabled the Government to introduce the GST. The electoral decline of the Democrats can be traced to that decision. The Democrats had also enabled the Government to push through the Senate the equally unpopular and anti-trade union industrial legislation introduced by Peter Reith. Their support for the part privatisation of Telstra was another unpopular decision. In the days before her defection from the Party, Meg Lees had indicated that she was preparing to make yet another deal with the Howard Government for the complete privatisation of Telstra. The approach of the Democrats under her leadership was marked by a philosophy of "negotiating" with the Government rather than making a clear stand on fundamental policy issues such as the GST, the privatisation of Telstra and industrial legislation. The Democrat slogan of "keeping the bastards honest" begs the policy issues. What does the Party actually stand for? The lack of a clear or principled position under the umbrella of "having a discussion" or using the so-called "right" of members of Parliament to say what they like and do what they please, which appears to be the philosophy of Meg Lees and Andrew Murray, has proved unacceptable. Why should anyone support a party that does not have clear policies, which may then be further confused by the whims or opportunist interests of this or that leader or Parliamentarian? The statements of Lees and Murray raise another question that is not limited to the Democrats. It is the divorce of the Parliamentarians from the membership of their respective parties. This goes for the Labor Party and the Liberals just as much as the Democrats. Parliamentarians often claim their "right" to act differently and often completely opposite to policy decisions adopted by the Party membership at established Party conferences. When Meg Lees was called to account by the elected and established Party bodies for her statements she began talking about "thought police" and "intolerance" and claimed her right to "freedom of opinion". During the course of policy formation, opinion is one thing but once decisions are made the act of pursuing minority opinions in disregard of the views of the majority and the interests of the Party as a whole leads to anarchy. It disregards a fundamental democratic principle -- that the minority submits to the decision of the majority. No organisation can survive if anarchy takes over. In declaring her right to remain in Parliament as an "independent" she claims that the electoral votes were for her and not for Meg Lees the leader of the Democrats as she was at the time of the election. Under the leadership of Natasha Stott-Despoja, who has the overwhelming support of the membership of the Democrats, the Party was moving more and more towards a principled and firm stand on important policy issues. Neither Meg Lees nor Andrew Murray have any right to retain their Senate seats. They must resign and allow the Democrats to appoint replacement Senators. This is the established procedure for the replacement of Senators who resign during the course of a parliamentary term. They should follow the decision of Cheryl Kernot who resigned her Senate seat when she switched to the ALP. The call by Natasha Stott-Despoja that Meg Lees resign her Senate seat should be strongly supported. The announcement by both Lees and Murray that they will hold on to their Senate seats is unprincipled and opportunist and could give the Howard Government the numbers in the Senate to complete the full privatisation of Telstra and who knows what other legislation. This is how important it is. Write to Murray & Lees You can express your views by contacting the Senators at the addresses below. Senator Meg Lees Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electorate Office: 322A The Parade KENSINGTON SA 5068 Tel: (08) 8331 8111 Fax: (08) 8331 8499 Senator Andrew Murray Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electorate Office: 111 Colin Street West Perth WA 6005 Tel: (08) 9481 1455 Fax: (08) 9481 1679 *********************************************** -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink