Political Correspondence

political corres po n d e n ce

1. Is it time for a cease- re in Ukraine? 2. Premier Malinauskas has signalled his support for a uni merger, despite opposition from students, academics and the community. How important is it that South Australia has a top 100 uni, and do you think a merger is a viable way of achieving this status? 3. Have the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party become more similar or dissimilar in their politics/policies in recent years?

SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE

1. Wars happen because capitalism is a competitive system and the ruling classes use wars to gain a geopolitical advantage over their rivals. Ideally, Russian troops would defy their generals’ orders and Russia would immediately hand back any seized land, but this is obviously unlikely. However, a cease re and negotiation with Russia will mean a permanent partition if Russia still has troops on Ukrainian land. So, what is the way out of this con ict? A historical example to point to is the Vietnam war that was ended through prolonged Vietnamese resistance and mass rebellion in the West, and the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people and brave anti-war movements within Russia’s borders indicate another way to end this imperialist con ict without the escalation from Russia or the surrender of a defeated Ukraine. Ultimately though, wars will continue to happen in the future and if we are to be rid of them we need to be rid of capitalism. 2. Mergers have only ever meant course and sta cuts, bigger classes, overworked sta and to ensure the University can be run as e ciently as possible - a Uni merger is no di erent. Universities should be an institution available for all people to study whatever they please, not an institution with the sole purpose of making pro ts and creating skilled workers for the free market. A top 100 university is irrelevant if you can’t study what you want and Malinauskas’ support for these mergers just highlights how right wing the Labor party is. 3. The conclusion made from the Labor party after Bill Shorten lost the election in 2019 was that their agenda was ‘too radical’. Since then the Labor party have posed no challenge to the Liberals’ $95 million tax cuts that disproportionately bene t the rich; have supported the Liberals’ racist policies on “turning the boats back” for refugees; argued that the Liberals are too soft and should be more aggressive towards China and the Solomons; supported the transphobic religious discrimination bill, continued to support the expansion of the fossil fuel industry; and banned terms within their party such as “top end of the town” to not lose the support of the rich and powerful - Labor do support a rise in the minimum wage, unlike the Liberals, but only to match in ation levels. Labor are clearly no friend of the working class or ordinary people and have become somewhat indistinguishable to the Liberal party in recent years – bar being led from someone who shit their pants in McDonalds.

LABOR UNITY

1. It is time for the violence to end, yes. An end to the con ict is best for the globe. The Ukrainian people have outlasted and outsmarted Putin’s advance, our only worry is Putin and his Russia may not uphold the cease- re or use it as a chance to regroup and reorganise for the next stage of the invasion. 2. University mergers have been in the air for a while. Reaching a top 100 rank is achievable through this approach, but it is not likely. Flinders Labor Unity is against any uni merger for Flinders University. 3. The Australian Labor Party has not become more similar to the Liberal party. With many Australians concerned about a range of issues, from the environment, transparency in government, to aged care and health care the Labor Party will deliver,unlike the Liberal party which isn’t even interested in these issues. The Australian Labor Party is committed to policies that will bene t Australia and Australians- unlike the Liberals who only care about the policies of their corporate elite donor buddies.

Labor cares about social justice, the Australian people and transparency in government brought about via the ABC and an ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption). While Liberals have been attacking support for Australians such as Medicare, giving jobkeeper to millionaires like Harvey Norman, etc.

FLINDERS’ LIBERAL CLUB

1. A cease- re in Ukraine would provide relief to the people currently burdened by war in their region. However this is outside the control of the Australian government as Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been unreceptive to attempts at cease- re talks, while Ukrainian leadership has stated that they will not accept any cease re wherein they concede land to Russia. Australia’s concern now ought to be on reducing the likelihood that we are pulled into a larger con ict, given that NATO has been supplying Ukraine with materiels and there appears to be no peaceful end in sight unless further developments show something unexpected. 2. South Australian universities ought not develop tunnel vision for status or the opinions of others. While university rankings can uphold a standard for tertiary education institutions, it shouldn’t be thought of as a race. Leadership in a university should be focused on providing the best opportunities for both their students and academics, and fostering an environment where both learning and research can ourish. Decisions should be made on this basis, not on appeasing some list. If the recommendation from academics, the bedrock of a university, is that a merger is illadvised then that should be the most highly weighted consideration. 3. While both the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party have converged and departed from on several issues at both state and federal levels. This is a large scope across several levels that is di cult to comment on succinctly.

Volume 49, Issue 05