News & Publications – Page 3 – Anarchist Communist Federation

The Workers, United – A case for anarchist participation in mass unions.

Trade unions have been part of the worker’s struggle in Australia for longer than Australia has been a unified state. Post-invasion and colonisation, unions played a vital role in struggles for fair compensation, suffrage, workplace safety, and worker’s rights, and this continued after federation and into the 20th century. While not explicitly socialist organisations, the role of unions as vectors for worker’s self-empowerment and self-determination is undeniable. Even though this work often falls far from the revolutionary tree, the growth that is required of the working masses in order to win against the forces of state and capital is central to the building of revolutionary capacity. The current form of mass unionism in Australia is not conducive to this process, and therefore it should be the role of specific Anarchist groups to participate in mass union struggles on the level of the rank-and-file, and to provide a ‘leadership of ideas’ and action that can challenge the status quo and be proven in the real world via horizontal and democratic organisation, rather than engaging with (or becoming) the bureaucratic elite of the trade union system (Kerr 2014) or settling for fractured individualist strategies. By looking at historical examples of specific Anarchist organisations from Bulgaria and Uruguay we can develop an understanding of how such groups function within mass organisations such as unions, and what work they were able to accomplish in that context. Key lessons can be drawn from these experiences, which have the potential to aid the work the Australian Anarchists must do.

Racists not welcome in Geelong

On the 15th of July a group of masked men gathered outside the City of Greater Geelong Council building and took a photo of themselves sieg-heiling with a banner that reads ‘Stop Immigration: Keep Geelong White’. The Geelong Advertiser irresponsibly published a front page article drawing attention to a publicity stunt by the National Socialist Network. If it wasn’t for the paper, the fascists presence would have gone unnoticed. These cowards attempted a sly media stunt on a quiet day in the city because they knew that any announcement of a public display of their politics would be met with community opposition. Geelong showed its anti-racist colours in 1997 when a massive community protest shut down a public meeting of One Nation and Pauline Hanson. Since then Geelong has only become more diverse and yet even more integrated.

While the Advertiser may have promoted the illusion that Geelong has a Nazi problem, the reality is that most of the men posing in the photo have been identified as fascist activists from Melbourne. Most National Socialist Network (NSN) members have been exposed in a series of articles entitled ‘Nazis Next Door’ published by The Age. Alongside the press, groups like The White Rose Society keep a constant eye on the activities of Australia’s far right.

Marand, Rheinmetall and Viva – the continued expansion of the defence industry in Geelong

In May we released an article documenting the developing links between Geelong City Council, local business and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in the form of the Geelong Defence Alliance (GDA). There have been rapid developments in the subsequent months, as investment into military manufacturing in Geelong rolls on.

The engineering and manufacturing companies Marand and Rheinmetall announced a 50 million dollar extension to their existing manufacturing partnership with the ADF and will now build more Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRV) for the Australian Defence Force and for ‘export orders’. (G, 2023) At the end of June, Viva Energy, who run a large oil refinery in Corio signed a 2.7 billion dollar contract to supply the ADF with high-flash jet fuel for the next 6 years. The contract also contains the option for another 6 year extension. (Lamacraft, 2023)

School’s Out! Deakin on Strike

Universities are vital elements of society, allowing people to further their skills and knowledge in areas of interest they find fulfilling. They are also centres of research and conceptual development, giving space to those who seek to enrich society with the production of new knowledge. For as long as there has been organised education, there have been universities in some form or another. Each successive generation of lecturers, tutors and researchers contributes to the development of their discipline, supported by the organisational and administrative work of non-teaching staff, who keep the university functioning how it should. Without this balance, universities cannot provide proper education and support to those who attend them, and their entire purpose is undermined.

Socialism Sundays!

From July onwards Geelong Anarchist-Communists will be hosting a monthly discussion group on socialist texts on the last Sunday of every month. For the first six months we’ll be running through introductory topics such as capitalism, the state, unions, imperialism, feminism, racism, strategy and organisation.

All are welcome and no prior reading is required. We will read through the texts together on the day.

Venue will be subject to change, so send us a message on facebook or email geelonganarchists@gmail.com and we’ll keep you in the loop.

Francesco Fantin and Italian anarchism in Australia

This article was originally published on redblacknotes.com in July, 2022. We republish it here because it is by a GAC member and relates to Geelong’s radical history.

Francesco Giovanni Fantin was an Italian anarchist who migrated to Australia in 1924. Less than twenty years later, in November 1942, he was murdered by a fellow detainee in Interment Camp 14A, Loveday, South Australia. Born in 1901 in the small town of San Vito in Northern Italy, Francesco Fantins life was exemplary of a number of migrant anarchists to Australia and their efforts to continue the anti-fascist and workers struggle abroad.

Council Cuts and Library Closures

Recently, the Geelong Council has handed down its draft budget, which contains an array of significant cuts to vital social services.

At least 19 workers in the Geelong community are at risk of losing their jobs, and in addition to this the Geelong Regional Library Corporation (GLRC) board have decided to close the Highton, West Geelong and Barwon Heads libraries due, according to them, to the cuts imposed on the GRLC’s budget allocation.

Both parties have attempted to pass the buck to one another regarding the closure of the libraries, but the GRLC board and the Geelong Council are two sides of the same coin. Each has chosen, without proper community input or notice, to target valuable and popular community services that every day benefit members of the Geelong Community who most need support.

The Geelong Defence Alliance – Local Government and the War Industry

The Australian Defence Department intends to increase its infrastructure spending over the next 15 years to $8 billion dollars. Hoping to cash in on this budget expansion, Geelong City Council (GCC), together with the Geelong Manufacturing Council (GMC) have established the so-called ‘Geelong Defence Alliance’ (GDA) in order to attract local investment.

A brochure titled ‘Geelong is defence ready’ boasts of Geelong’s strategic location, advanced manufacturing sector and Deakin Universities research facilities. Already, 32,000 square metres have been set aside in the Avalon industrial precinct for the Korean multinational corporation Hanwha’s $170 million dollar ‘Armoured Vehicle Center of Excellence.’ Recharge Industries will also be developing a $300 million dollar lithium ion battery cell production facility for the purposes of supplying the military.

The Geelong Times quotes Labor Defence Minister and member for Corio Richard Marles claiming the development of the Armoured Vehicle Center is about ‘maintaining peace, security and prosperity in our region’. History however suggests that ‘peace, security and prosperity’ means the maintenance of the interests of Australian and American imperialism in the Indo-Pacific. Nations such as Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands are treated as colonies by the Australian state.

May Day 2023 Statement

Today Geelong Anarchist-Communists commemorate the fighting spirit of the working class, and our victories and defeats throughout history. On the first of May we remind ourselves what we’re fighting for – socialism and justice. It is also a reminder to those that hold economic and political power that there remains a thriving, fighting class consciousness among workers. Designated as an International Workers Day in 1889, May Day has been observed by workers continuously for the past 133 years.

International Workers Memorial Day 2023

Every year the 28th of April marks International Workers Memorial Day, otherwise known as International Commemoration Day for the Dead and Injured. It is an occasion for the labour movement to stop and reflect on the lives damaged and lost by the capitalist pursuit for profit.

This year in Geelong the occasion was marked by a small gathering at midday outside Trades Hall on Myers Street, where a list of those lives lost this year was read, a minute silence was observed and wreaths for the fallen were laid. According to Safe Work Australia (likely a conservative estimate) 43 Australian workers have already died in 2023.

While workplace safety is always an issue, of particular relevance this year are both the ongoing Covid pandemic and the new campaign by construction unions to ban silica. Silica, used in engineered stone, turns into a fine particle when disturbed that causes significant damage to the lungs. It is considered the ‘new asbestos’.

We want to remind workers that we should not leave it to bosses, politicians or agencies like Worksafe to keep us safe. This is a task workers should take on themselves.

As the old union slogan goes “mourn for the dead, fight for the living.”