The WA and Queensland elections herald a sea change in the Australian political scene. Whole political parties are liable to be wiped out in the period ahead and new formations are being established. The big vote for minor parties and independents show the great anger of voters. Workers, small business people and poor farmers have seen little of the economic upturn, and now a recession is in the offing. The theme of the voting is anti-imcumbant and anti-major parties. This was clearest in the WA election where the Liberals suffered a 11% swing against them, yet Labor only had a 1.6% rise in their vote. Labor won a landslide thanks to the preferences of the minor parties and independents, especially the Greens.

The Greens are picking up votes from younger voters and this reflects the early stages of a search for left-wing answers from workers and youth. Of course, once in any sort of power, their reformist policies are exposed - there is no way to save the environment or win permanent reforms for ordinary people on the basis for capitalism. Nevertheless the principled stance of Bob Brown on environmental and social issues and the very name 'Greens' means the Greens will pick up electorally in the year ahead. On the Right, the rebirth of One Nation is a disaster for the Coalition, as most of their votes are from the Nationals and Liberals - unlike last 1998 when one-third of their support was from ex-Labor voters.

The National Party's love affair with economic rationalism will see it destroyed or near destroyed in the federal election. There is a possibility of a merger of some kind between some National MPs and One Nation, creating Australia's most powerful far right party since the 1930s. The Democrats are also doomed. Their support of the GST is losing them votes and members to the Greens and ALP. One possibility is a take-over by Natasha Scott-Despoya who will drag them to the centre-left with big media backing. The ruling class would prefer such a party to fill the vacuum rather than the far Right, let alone the far Left. Labor will almost certainly find victory falling into their lap in the federal election and the Liberals could be reduced to a handful of seats-the so-called Canadian scanario where the major capitalist party there was left with two seats in the federal parliament after it had introduced a GST.

Labor in power during a recession will be guaranteed to disapoint the working class. Unlike the past, it will not only be the Liberals who can take advantage of this. The far Right can win the country seats won by Labor and even begin to get a base in urban Australia. What needs to be done is crystal clear: The left unions must stop backrolling the ALP. They must link up with community activists, left parties etc to create a new workers' party. Such a party would capture the imagination of millions of youth and workers particularly if it was organised on a democratic basis. The Socialist Party would participate in and actively build such a party, while campaigning for it to take on socialist policies. Expect sharp turns and sudden changes in the period ahead.

I have despised this system of failure for as long as I can remember like a lot of young people I know, though I was under the misconception that socialism was for highly educated individuals who love the sound of their own voices yet never follow up with any action. I was soon to find out how far from the truth this was at the S11 rally when a friend of mine who just happened to be a member of Socialist Party showed me the level of planning and involvement SP had put into the fight against the ruling class, not only at S11 but other victories such as Richmond Secondary College. I then signed up and have not looked back since!

Fabian Frost, 20, Melbourne

The party continues to grow with new members joining in the last month in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. A number of young women have joined the Melbourne branch laying the basis for the launch of our new womens' campaign in schools in the next couple of months. One of the goals of the SP branch in Melbourne is the recruitment of more women, especially young women.

The Socialist Party will be holding its annual conference over the Labour Day weekend at Trades Hall in Melbourne. The Conference takes on even greater significance this year with the visit of Niall Mullholland a member of the International Secretariat of the CWI. Niall will open the conference on Friday night with a stirring introduction on the case for Socialism. Other issues for discussion at the conference will be the looming world recession, the crisis of the capitalist parties, the revival of One Nation, the Greens, developments in the unions and amongst young people, the new Socialist Alliance initiative and thrashing out SP's strategies and tactics for 2001. For information about registering, phone (03) 9639 9111.

The Young Socilaist Leauge (YSL), the party's new youth wing, launched it's first campaign last month with a strong rally involving over 150 skateboarders in Melbourne. Skateboarders skated along Swanston St from the present Skateboard park to the Melbourne town hall. The Melbourne City Council is looking at banning skating in the CBD area with a $200 fine to accompany its proposed action. The other issue is the relocation of the skate park to accomodate a large building project and the skaters' demand for an alternative park at least as good as this one. For more information on this and other YSL campaigns see the YSL report on the back page or ring James at our office on 9639 9111. The YSL in Melbourne meets every Friday at 5pm outside Time Zone, cnr Swanston St and Flinders Lane, City. The YSL in Perth is organising for the M1 school student strike. Phone (08) 9272 5549 to get involved.

120 young people paid $1 to take out a card for the YWA at Melbourne's Big Day Out. Eight YSL members worked hard all day with a tent and stalls building support for our ideas. The YWA is a YSL initiative to organise young workers, offering them legal, industrial and health and safety advice and solidarity. Most young workers are outside the union movement. To join or get more information phone (03) 9639 9111.

Long standing Socialist party member Neil Gray recently stood in the WA election obtaining a modest but important vote. Gray recieved 259 votes (1.24%) a total that was higher than any other left candidate in the election. Considering that this was the first time that the Socialist Party had stood in WA we consider this to be a good result. The party recieved good coverage due to it's intervention in the Safe Injecting Rooms campaign in WA. For more details on the WA see opposite page.

We have been approached by the ISO and DSP to join them in a Socialist Alliance for the upcoming federal election. See page 6 for more details. In a nutshell, we are not confident these forces can attract enough union and fresh layers to make it worth us giving up our independent banner. However, we will watch developments closely.