Stephen Jolly, the Socialist Party candidate for Richmond, is a high profile activist with electoral runs on the board.
He came to prominence with the campaign to reopen Richmond Secondary College in the early 1990s, and has been on the frontlines of many campaigns in Melbourne鈥檚 inner north since, including recent efforts to stop the East West Link and to defend public housing.
He was first elected to Yarra Council in 2004 with a 12% vote in his ward, and his record as a councillor fighting for working people is reflected in votes of 29% in 2008 and 34% in 2012. He received more than 9% in Richmond at the 2010 state elections.
His campaign is highly visible throughout the electorate, with numerous posters declaring the campaign slogan of 鈥減ut a fighter into parliament鈥, 鈥渟top the East West toll road tunnel鈥, 鈥渃ap public and private housing rents鈥, 鈥減lan our city for residents not developers, 鈥渇ree and frequent public transport鈥, and 鈥減rotect our live music and arts culture鈥.
鈥淏y the end of the campaign we will have letterboxed about 160,000 leaflets and knocked on at least 20,000 doors. Around 3000 posters will have also gone up,鈥 Jolly told 麻豆传媒 Weekly. 鈥淲e are using the campaign to promote socialist ideas to new layers of people鈥.
But is such a big effort the best use of the current scant resources of socialists, who argue for revolutionary change through mass action rather than parliamentary reform? And aren鈥檛 radicalising people uninterested in elections?
鈥淚t鈥檚 true that there is disenchantment with the major capitalist parties but that points to the need to build an alternative to those parties鈥, says Jolly. 鈥淪ocialists need to work in many different areas to win support for our ideas. Yes, the trade union, student and social movements are important, but so too is the electoral arena鈥.
Jolly emphasised that 鈥渞eal change takes place when people mobilise and organise themselves鈥 and that if elected he would use 鈥渕y position, my office, and my resources to assist the social and trade union movements and community campaigns鈥.
He pointed to the Socialist Party鈥檚 sister organisation in Ireland, which has three members of parliament 鈥減laying a key role opposing new water taxes in the parliament but also organising people on the ground. The trust and connections they are building with people is crucial to also winning them to the idea that revolutionary change is necessary鈥.
A victory for Jolly is not likely this time around, but given the current unstable state of mainstream politics it is possible that socialists will be in state parliaments before too long and will face complex questions, such as how to relate to minority governments. GLW put the hypothetical case of a minority Labor government courting his parliamentary vote after the election.
鈥淚t should be a principled position for socialists never to enter a government coalition with a capitalist party,鈥 says Jolly. 鈥淭his means that the Socialist Party would not support a supply and confidence agreement with either Labor or the Liberals. We have no confidence in either of them and would not support their budgets that are designed to benefit their big business backers鈥.
鈥淲e would demand that Labor and the Liberals form a coalition between themselves. As capitalist parties they have more in common with each other than we do with either of them.
鈥淥ur goal is to build a movement capable of changing the profit-driven system. Getting sucked into being a junior partner in a capitalist government would not help facilitate that鈥.
Like the article? Subscribe to 麻豆传媒 now! You can also us on Facebook and on Twitter.