Today in Parliament, Abigail delivered an adjournment speech advocating for a new era of union militancy, emphasising internationalism, anti-racism, and economic justice through a united and empowered working class.
Abigail said:
For more than a week Britain has borne the brunt of a terrifying wave of racist violence targeting Muslims and migrants and organised by the far right. Those violent and fascist mobs have not appeared from nowhere; they exist in a context of a rising fascist movement around the world that is seizing on economic precarity and cultural anxieties fuelled by late-stage capitalism. They have been building strength and confidence for years, and they now feel sufficiently emboldened to perpetrate horrific acts of violence in broad daylight. Hotels housing asylum seekers have been set on fire. Muslim graves have been vandalised. Gangs of fascists have attempted to enact localised apartheid policies, blocking traffic down streets and into towns for cars driven by non-white drivers.
The scale and venom of this violence is terrifying, but it must be challenged head-on. The only way we can combat the organised fascist right is through the organisation and mobilisation of the left, engaging in and building a mass liberation movement grounded in class, racial and gender solidarity. We saw this in France. Faced with what appeared to be a surging fascist political movement, the people of France united to reject the far right. Offered the dangerous false choice between Macron-brand neoliberalism and fascism, they rejected both and voted for the newly formed left-wing coalition, New Popular Front. That movement brings together the progressive aspirations of the broadly defined left, led by strong and staunch socialist leaders and backed up with the muscle of a mighty, empowered and militant trade union movement.
It has been heartening to witness once again the positive social force of militant union leaders in Britain in the face of fascist violence. Anti-fascist counterdemonstrations have been set up or supported by unions in Britain, with union leaders calling on branches to make contact with threatened communities and challenging the new Labour Government to do more to protect the community. That is a commonsense position for the union movement to take. The labour movement is built on solidarity and collectivism and, in its best forms, can be the most powerful force for anti-racism and internationalism. We know that tougher policing will not solve this crisis. A government focus on disorder rather than fascism will do nothing to stop the waves of bile, hatred and violence. I echo the calls for a community and trade union led response to the riots from Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers leader, Mick Lynch. I also echo the calls by the Unite leader, Sharon Graham, who said:
Division and blame are the bosses' game. It's time to look up, not down.
Fascist movements are growing here in Australia as well; have no doubt about that. For years, the threat has been becoming more and more pronounced, and we saw nazis proudly marching in the street just earlier this year. We need to drop the neoliberal obsession with entrenched fiscal scarcity for public services and largesse for private business if we are to have any chance of rebuilding our communities and forcing out the reactionary right. Our only hope of achieving that aim is through a new era of union militancy and an empowered and unified working class. Working class movements and organisations serve a crucial public service not only in direct benefits to their members through improved wages and conditions but also through political education and building class consciousness.
Counternarratives to the mainstream and commercial media narratives are more important than ever. There can be no doubt about the role that tabloid media and commercial news networks have played in fuelling the latest rounds of fascist violence in Britain, where 14 years of conservative rule have seen minority communities used as a scapegoat for worsening inequality time and again, all with the support of the commercial media ecosystem. To quote Malcolm X:
If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.
As a society, we have been deeply careless. It is time to take back the narrative. I particularly acknowledge the militant bravery of the mighty Maritime Union of Australia, a division of the CFMEU. The Maritime Union of Australia has always been at the forefront of struggles for social justice here in Australia, and its associations through the International Transport Workers' Federation as well as its consciousness of its pivotal role in international supply chains have seen the union rank and file and leadership be staunch internationalists. It is shameful that our industrial relations regime in Australia does so much to curtail the industrial power of the union movement.
I was proud to stand with rank-and-file unionists last night in an action calling on the New South Wales Labor Government to drop the charges on Palestine activists, repeal the anti-protest laws, stop arming genocide by ending support for F35 production and weapons manufacturing in New South Wales, stop silencing Palestine supporters in schools and the public service, boycott Hewlett-Packard and cut all ties with Israel. The left has been revitalised through our international solidarity in condemnation of the genocide occurring in Palestine, and it is through that rebuilding of our relationships of solidarity and connections that we can build this movement into a one of broad internationalism, anti-racism and economic justice. A militant union movement will be a crucial component in rebuilding a strong and empowered left that is capable of taking on the fascist threat. Perhaps that is why the establishment political parties are so quick to attack and undermine union power.
Read the transcript in Hansard here.