The Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Organisation notes that campaigning is underway for the Queensland state election due to take place on the 26th of October. The incumbent Labor government under Steven Miles is widely anticipated to be swept out of office by the arch-conservative Liberal National Party. This would be the first LNP government in Queensland since the one-term Newman government was voted out in 2015. This government is to this day renowned for the cuts it made to Queensland’s public service, putting 14,000 public servants into retirement. This had a disastrous effect on public services that the state has yet to fully recover from.
Many members of the current LNP opposition, including party leader David Crisafulli, were members of this government. There has been no ideological shift within the LNP from the Newman period; it remains the same corrupt, decrepit institution as it ever was. This was most poignantly shown when they did not criticise the ALP state government’s budget and voted to approve it mere months before the state election. Nor in the months following have they provided a positive program for their economic policies. It is clear that more drastic cuts are in store for Queensland under Crisafulli.
Both the ALP and the LNP have turned to a campaign against the “youth crime crisis” to capture the votes of the petit bourgeoisie dominated rural and outer suburban areas. There is no interest among this layer of the bourgeoisie to take on the costs of solving the social crises and abuse that ultimately cause violent crime. Instead, campaign promises to create harsher punitive measures that further criminalise Aboriginal youth abound.
There are, however, some reforms promised with regards to the cost-of-living crisis. Whilst the LNP has promised nothing of note in this regard, the ALP in contrast has. The ALP have already introduced uniform 50 cent public transport fares and are promising to set up twelve state-owned petrol stations, with price rises limited to five cents a litre on any given day. Whether or not these moves are merely cynical attempts to beat a likely defeat, these are undoubtedly progressive measures that would help mitigate the cost of living on workers.
As the parliamentary representative of these sections of the capitalist class that want to keep working class social reproduction constant, the LNP has repeatedly voted against the liberalisation of abortion laws in Queensland that have been introduced over the life of the last Labor government. Whilst a Crisafulli government may not try to explicitly outlaw abortion, an informal restriction on access through reversing the recent expansion of abortion access through general funding cuts to health services is likely.
In the absence of our own party to back, the Central Committee supports an approach to this election of keeping the right out of power. Recognising the progressive reforms recently made by Labor, it is worthwhile to cast a vote for the incumbent government as opposed to protest voting. In this context, we call for preferencing the Greens and Labor ahead of all other candidates.
Regardless of the election’s outcome, the workers struggle will continue. In the event of an LNP victory, there is a greater likelihood that some aspects of this struggle, including women’s liberation and Indigenous liberation, will be brought to the fore. In the absence of a communist party, the ALP and the Greens will to some extent successfully recuperate these struggles into their own electoral projects. Both before and after this election, communists must strive to develop Marxist critiques of capital and power in Queensland. It is imperative that we participate in the various struggles playing out, particularly those that intensify in the coming years.
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