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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 37, No. 10. May 22, 1974

Education for Y.S'ers

Education for Y.S'ers

Over the May vacation the Young Socialists held a successful educational conference in the Lounge and Smoking Rooms of the Student Union Building. The Young Socialists plan to hold such conferences as an annual event at Victoria.

Sixty-five people gathered to discuss important political issues ranging from Watergate to Women') Liberation and Abortion to a critique of the Labour Governments in both New Zealand and Australia.

It was generally agreed that the highlights of the conference were the addresses by two guests from overseas (Dave Holmes from Australia and Jim Little from the USA): Holmes spoke on the Labour Government in Australia — what it has and has not done; and Little gave an extremely interesting account of the implications of the Watergate scandal and how this has shown the incredible corruption in American politics.

Little spoke of the police-state methods used by the government authorities in trying to suppress anti-war activities and demonstrations: the planting of "agent provocateurs" in the ranks of the anti-war movement who tried to get activists to go beyond the law and then they incur heavy repression from the police and courts; the delaying tactics of the city authorities in the granting of demonstration — permits; and the general harrassment by the FBI, CIA and local police of persons opposed to the war in Vietnam.

Little explained that this harrassment and the overall governmental corruption was not confined to the Nixon administration. The Johnson and Kennedy administrations were also neck-deep in anti-democratic activities. In saying, "American politicians have utter contempt for democracy". Little effectively summed up the situation.

It became clear as Little's talk proceeded that "Watergating" was caused not by one or several corrupt administrations but that "the system itself leads directly to (events like) Watergate".

Little was of the opinion mat "despite the police-state tactics used by the authorities the radicalisation in the US is rising", which shows that no matter how repressive the federal administration becomes American people will fight for the democracy which only true socialism can give.

Dave Holmes exposed the myth of the Australian Labour Government being a true socialist government. Although' within hours of taking power Australian advisors were recalled from Vietnam, South African sports teams were banned, and the 27½% luxury tax on contraceptives was lifted", major issues have been left undecided or shelved by the Labour Government. For instance trade links were still retained with South Africa, the claims of the indigenous people of Australia to their land rights have been shelved, and foreign policy is just about the same as that of the former government, especially in relation to Australia's position with the military dictatorship in South East Asia. Thus Labour is "caught in the contradictory position of alienating itself from its labour or mass base by moderating its policies in order to get the support of Australian big business."

Immediately after Holme's talk Keith Locke, editor of Socialist Action, compared the New Zealand Labour Government to its Australian counterpart. The New Zealand Labour Government has used much the same tactics as the Australian Government especially in foreign policy and industrial matters. In all, Locke said, there was not "that much difference between the New Zealand and Australian Governments". Although both are traditionally workers' parties, they both have right-wing leaderships which try to appease big business at the expense of the workers which they purport to represent.

Another item on the agenda was a panel discussion entitled "How can women win their rights?" Speaking on this panel were women with a variety of views and backgrounds, consisting of Janet Roth of the Auckland Young Socialists, Claudia Mason of the Christchurch branch of the Socialist Action League, Deidre Milne from NOW, and Mary Bachelor a Christchurch MP who is also sitting on the Select Committee on Women's Rights. Out of this discussion came many interesting points and live participation from the floor added greatly to this.

George Jackson, national secretary of the Socialist Unity Party and Matt Robson of the Socialist Action League debated the question of the expulsion of Solzhenitsyn and the repression of dissidents in the Soviet Union. Basically Jackson look the position since Solzhenitsyn was against the principles of the Russian Revolution and the current Soviet Government he had "forfeited his right to (Soviet) citizenship."

Robson on the other hand stated that although Solzhenitsyn had renounced socialist principles, he still should have the democratic right to disagree with government policy, as citizens in fact have (albiet to a certain degree only) in many capitalist countries, Robson also explained that Solzhenitsyn's renouncement of socialist ideals followed from the distorted view of these ideals perpetrated by the Soviet bureauc racy.

Rounding off the conference was a social combining with an informal talk by Fred MacComish, President of the Pensioners' Association and Secretary of the Unemployed Workers' Movement during the depression.

MacComish reminisced about prominent, figures in the early Labour movement in this country. The main point of MacCormish's talk was that the well-known figures of the early Labour movement such as Savage and John A. Lee were not the true labour militants. MacComish maintained that the true revolutionaries of the time were people who are not widely remembered — people who were the real builders of the union and labour movements.

James A. Winton

(Young Socialists)

ACM next Wednesday, 12—2. You must come!!!