Socialist Aotearoa

Video by Billy Hania from last Sunday's protest against NZ troops in Afghanistan.

Our 2012 conference begins this Friday and continues over the weekend. We look forward to seeing you over the weekend at what we hope will be the premier conference of the radical left in Auckland this year. It's a chance to critically assess the key international and national struggles of the last year - the Auckland ports dispute, the education cuts, the Arab Spring, the challenge to asset sales; to examine contemporary political issues - new struggles against oppression, tino rangatiratanga today, Latin America at the crossroads, social media and social movements; and to refresh our theory - Marxism, women's liberation and socialist environmentalism. For new members and supporters this will be a fantastic introduction to the politics of Socialist Aotearoa. We look forward to seeing you this weekend. If you have questions about the weekend get in touch with us. ------- Socialist Aotearoa's 2012 conference - Revolution! - Friday 31 August and Saturday 1 S

Coal miners in Bamiyan Since the start of August five New Zealand soldiers have died in and around a small coal mining village in central Afghanistan whose name will enter the history books of this country, Do Abe. Do Abe, is a town on the old Silk Road that led silk traders from China to the Middle East and back since 100BC. It is a town in the central Afghan province of Bamiyan. Do Abe has a population of some 2000 or so residents, mostly ethnic Pashtuns in a province which is largely made up of the Afghan ethnic minority group Hazara. Its a place that has been fought over for centuries by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, The British Empire of the nineteenth century and Stalin’s Red Army in the 1980s. Now its the blood of New Zealanders staining the desert sands of these Afghan mountains. When Dominion Post journalist Vernon Small visited the town in 2011 he noticed ‘centuries-old forts dot honeycombed sandstone hills like disused human termite nests. Each has a chilli

A Maori gunner lay dying In a poppyfield north of Bamiyan, And he said to his pakeha cobber, "I reckon I've had it, man! 'And if I could fly like a bird To my old granny's whare A truck and a winch would never drag Me back to the Army. 'A coat and a cap and a well-paid job Looked better than shovelling metal, And they told me that Te Rauparaha Would have fought in the Afghan battle. 'On my last leave the town swung round Like a bucket full of eels. The girls liked the uniform And I liked the girls. 'Like a bullock to the abattoirs In the name of liberty They flew me with a hangover Across the Tasman Sea, 'And what I found in Bamiyan Was mud and blood and fire, With the Yanks and the Taliban taking turns At murdering the poor. 'And I saw the reason for it In an Afghan's blazing eyes - We fought for the crops of kumara And they are fighting for the poppies. 'So go tell my sweetheart To get another boy Wh

The South African Consulate in Auckland, attacked by activists angry at the Marikana Miners Massacre. See the 3 News coverage of the action HERE Joe speaks on Class or Nationalism in South Africa on Willy Jackson's Radio Show HERE Joe Carolan from Socialist Aotearoa, John Minto from Global Peace and Justice Auckland and Mike Treen from Unite Union speaking in solidarity with the families of the murdered South African miners. The ANC has blood on its hands, the Stalinist leadership of COSATU and the SACP have betrayed the workers movement. The South African revolution will rise again to fight its new enemies in the open.

Protest at 2pm tomorrow (Saturday) at corner of Kimberly Road and Manukau Road Epsom For the first time in 20 years New Zealanders will picket a South African government institution in Auckland tomorrow in protest at yesterday’s killing of striking mine-workers by South African police. The appalling scenes where up to 18 workers were shot dead are reminiscent of the darkest days of apartheid – the Sharpeville massacre of 1960 and the murder of black school children in Soweto in June 1976 come immediately to mind. The precise details of the killings are unclear but irrespective of this the blame lies squarely with the ANC government which has been in power for 18 years while conditions have become worse for most South Africans. The mineworkers strike and the struggle for decent housing, health, incomes and education are the same struggles the ANC once supported but have turned their backs on since gaining power. They have betrayed the core principles of the

Two years have passed since the Canterbury Plains was struck by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. Since that fateful night the city has suffered tens of thousands of aftershocks and dozens of earthquakes above 5 on the Richter Scale. The anniversary offers an opportune time to reflect on the responses from the national media, the government and our local community. By daybreak on September 4th the country was swamped in repeated images on television screens, news-bites from manicured news presenters came into our living rooms with information that was confused and conflicting. In the days that followed the country was left with the sense that all was surprisingly well and that the main focus should be on the businesses of the city. The truth was the media were no longer representing what was happening on the streets. Images of the army and police force being deployed into the city failed to note that it was the CBD they were sent to protect - not the people. We were left to dig si

Pita Sharples is inferring that the people of Glen Innes who are having their houses stolen from them by this National government are afraid of their own community. He lied!  On one hand he says those who are being evicted are scared to say that they want to leave because of the protests from residents when their homes are being removed. On the other hand he says that the community is being torn apart and people taken away are leaving behind not just their houses but their maraes, their kids schools their friends and whanau. If you would believe Pita Sharples, his slanted version is: remove old housing, take it out, put in new housing there, make more houses available and move other people in amongst the suburb. He also says there is an acute housing shortage – why then are the houses being removed? They are soundly built houses that are in excellent condition.  So do these people want to leave their beautiful solid state houses that they have loved and maintained for many yea