Socialist Resistance The Australian Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) has decided to end its existence as an independent party and becomes a tendency within the Australian Socialist Alliance. Here we publish an article by a DSP activist on the decisions of their conference. DSP prioritises left unity and building anti-war movement
Forging greater left unity through the Socialist Alliance and
building a mass movement in opposition to the US-led war against
Iraq were the two main priorities set for the coming year by the
Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) at its 20th congress, held in
Sydney between December 28 and January 1.
The congress was attended by 260 people, including 74 delegates
elected in mid-December by the party's membership at branch and
district membership meetings. Fifty-six percent of congress
participants were workers, involved in 19 different unions. A third
of the workers attending the congress were union delegates or office-
Congress delegates discussed the Bush administration's plans for war
on Iraq, following a report on the international situation presented
on the first morning of the congress by DSP national executive
The potential for building a mass protest movement against war was
discussed in a campaigns report by national executive member Pip
Hinman. There was a recognition of both the urgent need, and the
growing potential, to build genuinely mass movements on a scale not
seen in Australia for decades. Delegates also discussed plans for
building the movement for refugees' rights.
A counter-report on the DSP's campaigning work, presented by
national executive member Sean Healy, which argued for the party to
give greater priority to building a movement against the "free
trade" agenda of the World Trade Organisation, received the support
DSP national secretary John Percy presented an assessment of the
process of international left regroupment, and the contribution of
the DSP to the renewal of the international socialist movement. The
report looked at the discussions internationally on the relationship
between parties and movements, what sort of parties are needed, and
what international solidarity is required in the coming period.
A report by national executive member Kerryn Williams assessed the
situation facing women in Australia and projected making firmer
links with the struggles of working-class women.
DSP national executive member Sue Bolton presented a report on the
importance of defending militant trade unions, which projected to
strengthen the militant, class-struggle wing of the union movement.
There was extensive delegate discussion on the DSP's role in
building and strengthening the Socialist Alliance, following a
report by DSP national executive member and Socialist Alliance
national co-convener Dick Nichols. Delegates adopted a resolution
which outlines the DSP's approach to building the alliance in the
coming period. While agreeing to postpone the DSP's plans to put all
its resources into building the Socialist Alliance, the need to step
up the activity, and broaden the influence, of the alliance was
Chris Cain, Socialist Alliance national executive member and
militant in the West Australian branch of the Maritime Union of
Australia, and a guest at the congress, told Green Left Weekly that
it was "a fantastic gathering of true socialists". Speaking about
the Socialist Alliance, Cain said: "The DSP has played a major role
in forming a new, young and exciting workers' party. The next period
is critical. Everything should be up for debate at the May
[Socialist Alliance] conference; and issues have to be debated in an
open and fair manner. What comes out of that should move the
alliance forward, not stifle it."
"The political crisis, the vacuum on the left, makes a further
qualitative step for the Socialist Alliance absolutely critical - as
soon as possible", Jim McIlroy, a DSP member from Brisbane, told
GLW. "The swing to the Greens is a clear sign of the shift of a
significant section of the population to the left, but this very
fact makes the development of a united socialist left more critical
than ever, because the Greens don't provide a political or
theoretical framework for an alternative to capitalism - only
"The intensive discussion we've had in the lead-up to, and during,
our congress has focused on finding a path for taking the step
towards greater unity, while bringing along the greatest possible
section of the socialist movement."
Matthew Preston, a member of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) who
works on the editorial team of the party's newspaper, the Scottish
Socialist Voice, was one of a number of international guests at the
congress. Preston told GLW: "I have been impressed with the DSP,
listening to discussions at the congress on everything from
Indonesia and Korea, to the situation in Australia. The DSP's
proposals and hopes for the Socialist Alliance are the most honest
and committed for building socialism in Australia."
In a feature session, Preston and Sarah Peart, a DSP member who has
been living in Scotland since the beginning of 2002, outlined the
challenges facing the SSP in 2003, with the prospect that it will
have up to seven party members elected to the Scottish parliament.
Presentations by Caroline Lund and Dani Barley from the US socialist
organisation Solidarity gave congress participants a first-hand
account of the impact upon US working people of the Bush
Lee Jong-hoi, general secretary of the Power of the Working Class in
South Korea, spoke about the PWC's attempts to forge unity among the
revolutionary socialist organisations that have formed since the
1996-97 general strike. He also spoke about growing opposition among
South Koreans to the US military occupation.
The congress heard greetings from a range of left-wing parties
around the world, including the Communist Party of Cuba; the
Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist (Liberation); the Labour
Party Pakistan and the Saraiki National Party; the Philippines
Workers Party (PMP-Merger); the Peoples Democratic Party, Indonesia;
Lalit in Mauritius; the Workers Party of Bangladesh; the Communist
Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist); the Anti-Privatisation
Forum in South Africa; the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) and
the Communist Party of France; the Red Green Alliance and the
Socialist Peoples Party of Denmark.
On the final day of the congress, delegates approved a report
presented by DSP national executive member Peter Boyle which
reaffirmed the necessity of a well-organised party of dedicated
activists to carry out the tasks set by the congress.
Participants enjoyed an evening of inspiring film footage of the
million-strong march against war in Florence in November, as well as
the activities of the Scottish Socialist Party and speeches by SSP
parliamentarian Tommy Sheridan, and the November congress of the
Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist, compiled and presented by
Jill Hickson and Simon Tayler from Actively Radical TV.
Congress participants made pledges of more than $95,000 to the Green
Left Weekly fighting fund, which will be collected over the coming
year to help fund the production of the newspaper.
"The DSP has really grown in experience since I was first involved
in the party 20 years ago", said Dale Mills, a DSP member in Sydney
who rejoined the party after having lived in Britain for nearly 20
years. "What I found really exciting about this congress" he told
GLW, "was the participation of a trade union leader like Chris Cain,
and his appreciation of the DSP. Alongside the DSP's work through
the Socialist Alliance with union militants such as Craig Johnston,
this really indicated to me that the DSP is developing significant
support among an important layer of union activists in this country.
Combined with the DSP's increasing work in the Socialist Alliance,
it provides a real opportunity for creating a larger revolutionary
In her report on attendance at the congress, DSP national executive
member Lisa Macdonald remarked: "The attendance and contributions to
the discussion at the congress by a range of trade union leaders,
including Chris Cain, really brought home to us just how essential,
how timely, how significant the Socialist Alliance project is - to
strengthen the leadership of the organised working class, to win the
immediate battles, to stop the attacks and to qualitatively
strengthen the revolutionary pole, enable it to break out of its
isolation and win further victories.
"The potential disaster posed by imperialism's war drive and neo-
liberal attacks so clearly necessitates left unity in action, and we
leave this congress with a clear perspective on how to use the
current situation to push ahead with building the Socialist Alliance
as the active, radical, campaigning organisation that we know it can
The final, delegates-only, session of the congress, adopted a motion
empowering the incoming national committee to put into effect a
series of amendments to the DSP's constitution that would convert
the party into an organised political tendency operating solely
within the framework of the Socialist Alliance.
The party's national committee, consisting of 32 full and 20
candidate members elected by delegates at the final session of the
congress, re-elected John Percy as DSP national secretary and an 18-
member national executive to direct the party's work between its
From Green Left Weekly, January 15, 2003. To go to the Green Left web site click h ere .