Pacer Plus:New Zealand and Australian exploitation in the Pacific

July 12, 2009 by

Byron Clark
The Spark July 2009

New Zealand and Australian trade ministers met with their Pacific counterparts in Samoa to negotiate an “enhanced version” of the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) dubbed “PACER Plus”. The negotiations have been controversial for two reasons, one is the exclusion of Fiji, which New Zealand and Australia currently have sanctions against. Fiji has been officially suspended from the Pacific Forum but not from PACER, which is a separate treaty.
The other reason is the likely possibility of increased exploitation of the Pacific by the regional powers. As Solomon Islands opposition leader Manasseh Sogavare told the Solomon Star News;

“As far as Solomon Islands is concerned, the arrangement would amount to opening up one-way traffic of trade benefits from here to Australia and New Zealand, which in any case is already in favour of these countries without the PLACER-PLUS arrangement” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Imperialism, Pacific

Spark Audio: Interview with Phil Ferguson

June 8, 2009 by

The Joel Cosgrove Variety Hour recently interviewed Phil Ferguson who spoke at Workers Resistance 2009 on Karl Korshe and Historical Specificity. As well as Korshe this interview includes discussion of the current economic situation and Marxist economics. Download the MP3 here.

Filed Under: Audio, Marxism

“That capitalism is in crisis.”

May 11, 2009 by

 First in Victoria University Debating Society 2009 series of public debates on topical public policy issues.  (Rutherford House, 6.30pm, 11 May 2009)

 Third affirmative speaker Don Franks

 Unfortunately capitalism is not on its deathbed, but it is in a state of crisis.  You don’t have to take the word of a communist union organiser – just listen to the despairing of senior capitalist mouthpieces.

 “Our world is broken—and I honestly don’t know what is going to replace it. The compass by which we steered as Americans has gone. The last time I saw anything like this, in the sense of disorientation and loss, was among my Russian friends when the Soviet Union broke up.” So said Bernie Sucher, Merrill Lynch operations head in Moscow, in the March 8th  Financial Times.

 In the same edition of the Financial Times Associate editor and chief economics commentator Martin Wolf despaired: “It is impossible at such a turning point to know where we are going… Yet the combination of financial collapse with a huge recession, if not something worse, will surely change the world. The legitimacy of the market will weaken. The credibility of the US will be damaged. The authority of China will rise. Globalization itself may founder. This is a time of upheaval.”

 In the midst of this time of upheaval, Wolf continued clinging to the old capitalist mantra: “no credible alternative to the market economy exists…” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics, Marxism

The flag is symbolic, imperialism is real

May 10, 2009 by

Victoria university members of the Workers Party are facing charges of serious misconduct after burning the New Zealand flag. This leaflet explains the political background to the act.

Why burn the New Zealand flag?

The New Zealand flag is a symbol of imperialism. This is most obvious in its design, a tribute to the British Empire. This design was adopted after the Second Boer War, which devastated South Africa but resulted in a surge of Kiwi patriotism.

Lest we forget

Lest we forget

A simple re-design, while reflecting our emergence from the shadow of the British Empire, would not change the imperialist nature of the flag. It’s a tool of the ruling class, inseparably linked with militarism. From the Boer War through WWI and II, right through to armed involvement in Vietnam and Afghanistan, the flag has marked New Zealand’s presence. Flags mark military conquest, the subjugation of nations.

Flags and borders divide the working majority. ANZAC soldiers had more in common with their Turkish counterparts than with the bureaucrats who sent them to Gallipoli. The working majority has interests in common worldwide, including an end to imperial war. Ruling class nationalism is a barrier to recognising this.

What purpose does ANZAC day serve? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Afghanistan, Fightback News, Imperialism, Iraq, NZ Imperialism, United States

This is no alternative? Partnership or struggle

April 23, 2009 by

There Is No Alternative?

A Workers Response to the Financial Crisis

A teach-in organised by the Workers Rights Campaign

Saturday May 2nd

1-00pm

Canterbury WEA, 59 Gloucester Street

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Industrial Relations Legislation, Marxism, Workers in Struggle
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