ILPS Australia holds national conference

There were two other speakers in the morning session. Chris Cain, the State Secretary of Maritime Union of Australia in Western Australia talked about the attacks on workers by capitalism. He called for solidarity with the workers in the struggle for better working conditions and workers’ rights. Sam Castro of the Friends of the Earth talked about the degradation of the environment and the need for unity to preserve ecology and create a sustainable economy for all.

The speeches in the afternoon session focused on the issue that faces the Asia Pacific region with the topic “Building resistance to the threat of war and reaction as US-China conflict escalates especially in the Asia Pacific region.”

The first speaker in the afternoon was Jose Maria Sison. He spoke on the history of the relationships between the US and China and explained the worldwide struggle against fascism and imperialism. He emphasised the need for international solidarity among the people. The second speaker, Shirley Winton of Spirit of Eureka, discussed how Australia is positioned in the ongoing conflict between Imperialist countries. She also talked about the role of the Australian people in resisting the possibility of war and the continuous budget depletion for social services in favour of military arsenal build-up. The third and the last main speaker of the conference was Sarogeni Rengam, the ILPS Vice President for Asia Pacific. Saro talked about the effect of the COVID-19 to the Asia Pacific region and the failure of imperialist countries to address the people’s health and security. Saro mentioned that the problems of various governments’ neoliberal policies were exposed by the pandemic.

The last session of the conference was the administrative duty of ILPS Australia. The amendments in the Constitution were discussed and consequently ratified. Fifteen resolutions were also discussed and passed.

Election of the Chairperson and the members of the National Coordinating Committee was conducted before the conference concluded. Kevin Bracken was elected as the new ILPS Australia Chairperson. The new members of the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) are Peter Murphy, Gill Boehringer, Jane Brock, Sr Patricia Fox, George Kotsakis, Warren Winton, Stephanie Rabusa, Dirk Van Dalen, Berlin Guerrero and Len Cooper as an ex-officio member.

The conference concluded with a brief talk by Kevin Bracken, who thanked the conference organisers, speakers and participants.