Labor Tribune welcomes letters from across the socialist and labour movement. Unlike most of the left, we welcome open debate and discussion. Important disagreements should be thrashed out in front of the whole movement so that the working class learns the methods of Marxism and self-liberation and isn’t just given pre-prepared dogma. Email the editors at labor.tribune@proton.me.
Should Labor campaign to nationalise Optus?
I’m a member of NSW Labor and the NSW Left who identifies as a socialist because I believe in socialising industry and building a workers’ democracy. The recent 000 outage from Optus – the second in just a few years, with deadly consequences – shows again that penalties slapped on these corporations are little more than a cost of doing business. They aren’t real accountability.
That’s why I asked fellow ALP branch members online whether they’d be moving motions to call for the nationalisation of Optus. I know nationalising a company isn’t automatically socialism, but in this case it’s clearly a question of the public good. If critical communications infrastructure fails, lives are at risk.
Of course, the question is always raised: can we even do it? After the High Court’s 1948 Bank Nationalisation Case, constitutional barriers exist in Section 92 and Section 51(xxxi). But are socialists in the Labor Party willing to test that? Shouldn’t we be discussing how to push for a referendum to amend the Constitution so that governments can nationalise critical services when they are in the public interest?
I know bipartisan support would be hard to win, but the more important question is whether Labor’s socialist wing is prepared to fight for it. Are we going to make the case inside the party that corporate control over essential services costs lives, and that public ownership is the only guarantee of safety and accountability?
To me, that’s what being a socialist in Labor has to mean: putting nationalisation and democratic workers’ control back on the agenda.
Josh L.
Shellharbour Barrack Heights branch