Unprecedented Times

By Charlotte Brady and Georgina Goddard

Crises do not equalize. COVID19 has fundamentally changed day-to-day living for the vast majority of us, but the burdens of this health crisis have not been carried equally. As other Unprecedented Times articles have addressed, this pandemic has served to augment existing inequalities, endemic to the capitalist system within which we live.

In late 2019 the Extinction Rebellion started organising in Western Syndey as part of their Spring Rebellion. Angelica Kross reflects on her experiences as an activist within that movement and the unique challenges presented by Sydney's west.

NSW Labor must prioritise rank-and-file participation in the wake of COVID-19

The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the limitations of the Labor Party’s organising habits and traditions. At precisely the moment we need to be growing and mobilising our movement the structures and rules of our Party are isolating rank-and-file members. To address both the immediate crisis and the long term decline of Labor’s primary vote we need to reimagine the way we organise. The decline of socially democratic parties across the globe is a timely reminder of the challenges facing our movement, and why we should be attentive to social connection and place based communities in the everyday practices of party organising. 

Kristina Keneally's call to reduce migration is a blatant dog whistle that plays on the fallacious idea that migrants 'steal' Australian jobs. Instead we should be talking about how we can extend and strengthen workers rights to everyone who works in Australia.

By Shannen Potter

The resurgence of white nationalism should be understood as a feature, not a bug, of Australian politics

Since the mid-2010's, the global prominence of white nationalist political activism and representation has increased significantly. In Australia, this has culminated in Pauline Hanson’s return to politics, the short-lived career of Frazer Anning, the birth and death of the Q Society and the United Patriots Front, and the ‘Reclaim Australia Rally’, to name a few of the more well-known occurrences. Mass media often treats personalities, groups, and events such as these with curiosity and disdain, pondering how in a multicultural society like Australia we could have such outspoken white nationalism.