AUGUST 2020 VANGUARD EDITORIAL: Staring down the barrel of the largest capitalist crisis in nearly a century triggered by the COVID-19 health crisis, the Federal government and the capitalist ruling class they represent moved quickly to prop up their system.

The JobSeeker and JobKeeper programs were always stop gap measures designed to stimulate spending, stave off the sudden collapse of the economy, and placate the anger and struggle of the ...

The 2020 Australia-US Ministerial Summit (AUSMIN) in Washington was dominated by an agenda of China-based issues and considerations and took place behind closed doors. Official media releases from the high-level diplomatic meetings were carefully worded.

Some highly significant information was, nevertheless, divulged about the so-called alliance between the US and Australia and the escalation of US-led militarism sweeping the Indo-Pacific region.

This statement was drafted by the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) on behalf of the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organisations (ICOR). It is still being circulated among ICOR members. The final version may contain minor changes.

The Indo-Pacific region, in recent times, has experienced a massive wave of US-led militarism.

As one military exercise ends, another begins, in a relentless campaign to dislodge China's influence as a competitor in the wider region.

The Federal government is reverting to its usual instincts to punish and impoverish unemployed and low-income Australians by tapering off the JobSeeker and JobKeeper payments over the next few months. 

Remember that the JobSeeker supplement of $550 a week and the introduction of JobKeeper were not about meeting needs, but about stimulating the economy in the face of full-blown recession (now likely to be a depression of 1930's scale). 

Problems have arisen with the upgrade of the US-led military plan for Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island which were to be front-line facilities for regional operations.

Diplomatic officials from Canberra and Washington did not follow appropriate and accepted procedures during the initial stages of implementing the military planning. Their behaviour, correspondingly, has revealed a callous indifference and disrespect toward the peoples of Papua New Guinea.

Across the world today we are seeing the effects that capitalism has left on the world with the BLM movement in the United States and here in Australia. Capitalism has without doubt played the major role in the racism that plagues postcolonial societies. It was the bourgeoisie’s need for resources to support their rising capitalism that drove the ships to new lands. Be it gold, spices or cotton, they came ...

by Alice M.

Whichever way we look at the Covid-19 Pandemic and its dire consequences for the people, especially the working class, we inevitably come up against the brutal profit driven capitalist system.

The Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) has learned with deep sorrow of the death of Ka Fidel V. Agcaoili, Chairperson of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines Peace Negotiating Panel.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) acquisition of an anti-ballistic missile defence system is further evidence of the Trump administration’s escalation of Cold War hostilities toward China.

In early July the Morrison coalition government announced the deployment of a US anti-ballistic missile defence system in Australia. The facilities formed part of the massive ten-year $270 billion defence budget. The official media release from the Defence Department specified the defence system would ...

The level of Australia’s economic integration and dependence on the United States has been made abundantly clear in two recently released reports.

The Covid-19 Virus is impacting on the capitalist economies in different ways. There is the near complete shutdown of some industries such as hospitality and restaurants in some parts of the country, especially Victoria at the moment. However, there are also examples of capitalism's continued revolutionizing of the way things are made and the way that services are delivered. 

One of rock band Midnight Oil's songs had the lyrics "when the Generals talk, you better listen to them". The "Generals" referred to US multinationals such as General Electric and of course General Motors. The song was highlighting the power and influence of these multinationals, including their influence on politicians and government policy.

The July 13, 2020 edition of the Communist Party (CPA) newspaper “The Guardian” continues their practice, in this, the centenary year of the Communist movement in Australia, of reproducing articles from years gone by that reflect some of the movement’s history.
In the main, the articles have contributed to an awareness of the achievements of the Communist movement in Australia, and the great struggles in which it has been involved. ...

A major survey of the social impact of compulsory income management (CIM) has found that the policy failed to achieve any systematic community level improvements in outcomes for the Indigenous population of the Northern Territory.
The study, released by the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) of the Australian National University on July 10, is an evidence-based indictment of a racist and punitive policy imposed on NT First Peoples ...

The recent Australian government Defence Strategic Update 2020 (DSU) position on national security and regional considerations is based upon three questionable criteria: Shape, Deter, Respond.

Nothing in the official position of the Defence Department is, however, what it appears; it is really about strengthening the 'alliance' with US imperialism and neo-colonialism.

The Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) endorses the response by the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) to the Australian Government’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update and Force Structure Plan. The IPAN website contains regular news items relating to the objective of an independent and peaceful Australia ( https://ipan.org.au/ ) .

More than 200 people gathered at Parliament House in Adelaide on Monday to protest the militarisation of the SA Police (SAPOL).
Last week, the Police Minister in the State Liberal government announced the creation of a new police unit, the Security Response Squad (SRS), comprising 48 specialist officers who will wear ballistic vests and carry semi-automatic assault rifles when on duty. They will also carry a pistol, a taser, some ...

An official media response from a government can often be revealing about inner workings of the corridors of power; diplomatic silence, by contrast, can often be far more revealing.
Recent moves by the Japanese government to not deploy a US anti-missile system, for example, has met with blanket silence from both the Trump administration and Pentagon.