Bolivia’s Coup: Was it a coup attempt, a rehearsal or a self-coup?
This article was originally published by Revolutionary Workers League for the Fourth International in Spanish After the failure of yesterday’s [June 26, 2024] coup attempt, the scenario remains open and unstable. The state crisis takes a leap, introducing itself into the Armed Forces and further delegitimizing the degraded Bolivian democracy. The Armed Forces became a […]
The Invasion of Ukraine
In 2021 Russia began to amass troops on its border with Ukraine and in Belarus to the north of Kyiv. On 24 February 2022 Russia began what it called a “special operation”, which was in actuality an outright invasion. Putin believed he could occupy Ukraine within just a few days. He did not expect the […]
The UK General Election: How to Prevent Disaster Under Starmer
After 14 years of ignominious Tory rule, Labour ousted the Conservatives by winning 411 to 121 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. On the face of it, this is massive victory for the left in politics, a welcome change from far-right victories that have come out of Europe, and an endorsement of Keir Starmer’s […]
Book Review: Burnout by Hannah Proctor
We are seeing and are actively involved in a recent up-tick of political activity, most noticeably the widespread, and thus-far sustained mobilisations in support of Palestine. Many new people are being drawn into political activity through marches and through organising activity including educational forums, direct disruptive action, building student and worker action groups, social media […]
Say No to AUKUS
In this piece I’ll be examining AUKUS and how it relates to, and is a product of, the system that the working class of the world currently suffers under. I’ll also be touching on some larger topics such as China, the relevance of AUKUS to us here in Aotearoa, and the big question – What […]
Jim Edwards, the Communist Party of New Zealand, and unemployment struggles in the 1930s
James Henry Edwards arrested in Norfolk Street after an Anti-Eviction occupation, 1931. The history of the Communist Party of New Zealand (CPNZ) is worth knowing. Although the Party was never more than small, it was the largest and most influential political formation there had been to the left of the Labour Party until the short-lived […]
Cost of Living, Interest Rates, and Now Jobs Cuts
On 10 April the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand agreed to hold the overnight interest rate, known as the Official Cash Rate (OCR), at 5.5 percent. The knock-on effect on retail borrowing will be the persistence of high interest rates. For example, Westpac offers a 2-year fixed mortgage rate of […]
The Unemployed: Cheap Labour On Tap
There’s an old Kiwi joke that in the 1950s unemployment was so low, down to a mere few dozen individuals, that the Minister of Labour knew the name of every person collecting the dole. In those days, Government policy had an eye towards the full employment of the working class. Today, state institutions refer instead […]
Why we stand for Palestine
Solidarity According to the Gaza health ministry, Reuters reported on 16 October, at least 2,750 Palestinians had been killed and 9,700 wounded in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip since 7 October. By the time of writing, the death toll was much more. Before this latest round of bombs and death most of Gaza’s […]
Vote Green or Te Pāti Māori, and Build a Socialist Alternative
The International Socialist Organisation’s position on the general election, in line with a decision at a membership conference, is summed up in the slogan: ‘Keep National Out, and Build a Socialist Alternative.’ The implication is to give the party vote to Labour, the Greens or Te Pāti Māori. In this opinion piece Grant Brookes puts […]
