The launch of the ACT’s newest political party, the Canberra Socialists will be held from 3pm on 19 July at the Polish Club, located at 38 David St, Turner.
It will feature Victorian Socialists Senate candidate Jordan van den Lamb (aka. purplepingers), speaking alongside local pro-Palestine and union activists.
After the success of the Victorian Socialists’ campaign in the last Federal Election, socialists are setting up new parties in each state and territory.
The Canberra Socialists’ registration drive is already underway. More than 100 ACT residents have already joined, surpassing the target needed to register with the ACT Electoral Commission.
Canberra Socialists interim secretary Elliot Downes said Canberra was one of the most expensive cities in Australia to live in, including one of the most expensive for renters.
He said the ACT desperately needs a political force that stands up to the powerful, and stands with the people who are fighting back.
“Canberra is often described as Australia’s most progressive city, but well over a thousand people are homeless on any given night,” he said.
“For too long, politics in Canberra has been dominated by Labor, who have sold off vital public housing and offered nothing to the workers who make this city run. We need an openly socialist voice in Canberra politics, and that hasn’t existed until now.”
Victorian Socialists Senate candidate Jordan van Den Lamb said Canberra was a city built on the backs of workers.
“Yet it’s become a playground for developers, landlords and the bosses,” van Den Lamb said.
“We’re launching Canberra Socialists because the ACT needs a fighting alternative, one that won’t compromise with the property lobby or corporate donors.
“Whether we’re fighting skyrocketing rents, the gutting of public housing, privatisation, or record profits while it costs us more and more to simply survive, we’re here to organise tenants, workers and students to take power back.”
