Global Peace and Justice Auckland forum 

Monday 3 Nov 7.30pm

Trades Hall 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn, Auckland 

Left alternative political parties standing in the election have been invited to address this forum and the discuss the best approach to the global economic crisis. Groups invited are: Alliance; Communist League; Green Party ; Maori Party; RAM; Workers Party; Everyone welcome.

Talk given by Daphna Whitmore at a candidates’ forum in Otahuhu, Auckland 28 October 2008

Thank you for the invitation to speak at tonight’s meeting. I’m a list candidate and also standing in this electorate.

Our party has no ties to religion, we consider religion is a private affair and should be separate from the state. Having said that, the theme tune of our election campaign is the hymn All things Bright and Beautiful.

Don Franks, who is our candidate in Wellington Central wrote some new lyrics to reflect our outlook.

All things bright and beautiful in every shopping mall

All the goods and services- the workers made them all

We sell our labour power for a bare subsistence wage

While bosses loll in luxury ­ its time to turn the page!

Workers of all countries ­ in lands both great and small

This earth and all we’ve made of it ­ let us reclaim it all

This election our party has one central message: that workers should be running the country.

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(Workers Party address to Labour Day left of Labour election forum in Wellington)

It’s a nice change to be at a meeting where the right is excluded instead of the left. This year many Wellington election meetings only invited candidates holding parliamentary seats. The New Zealand Council of Trade unions hosted such a meeting. When I complained about being excluded, while National and ACT were given a platform, the CTU organiser emailed back “You’ll have to ask Helen Kelly.” CTU president Helen Kelly didn’t have the courtesy to reply. Instead, the next email in my box was an urgent notice from the CTU organiser, asking me to support a union picket downtown. I wonder if he sent the same appeal to his National and ACT guests.

That small incident is a reminder that political action takes place outside parliament as well as inside. The Workers Party think struggle outside parliament is more important, but we see elections as a chance to fight for our ideas.

OK, I want to tell you what we stand for and how we’re trying to go about it.

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