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The Party Line Podcast
The Party Line on Labor’s leadership crisis
Season 1, Ep. 58
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Episode 58: The Party Line on Labor’s leadership crisis
This episode was recorded in the aftermath of the Federal ALP conference and the coup against Jacinta Allan in Victoria, so we decided to take a deep dive into the nature of the modern ALP. But first, we cover a few headlines: the wildfires sweeping France and Spain, the escalating aggression by Israeli forces in the West Bank, the theft of Venezuelan oil revenues, and the important victory won by Indian student activists this week. We assess the contribution Sally McManus and Michele O’Neil have made to the union movement (all negative) and break down the vile sexism of Pauline Hanson’s recent comments about DV victims and single mothers.
We then look at how Labor’s decision to ditch Jacinta Allan is a desperate attempt to neutralise right-wing attacks on the Victorian government—one that can only further embolden the right. We also examine how Ben Carroll’s policies are likely to represent another conservative shift, including by going after the CFMEU (again). On a more positive note, the Socialists in Schools launched their electoral campaign yesterday, generating strong media coverage and broader community support. It’s fantastic that 13 teachers are contesting the upcoming Victorian state election for Victorian Socialists, reflecting the widespread view that our public school system needs radical change.
Finally, we assess the political significance of the ALP conference in Adelaide over the weekend, and why "discipline" and "unity" are really code for conformity and a lack of principles. In particular, what does it say when the party could not even tolerate discussion on Ed Husic’s motion to slightly increase its criticism of Israel? And we make the case that the workers’ movement desperately needs a new political voice.
Hosted by Jordan van den Lamb (@purplepingers), Anneke Demanuele and Omar Hassan. Huge thanks to our tireless editor Charlie Wardrop, our graphic designer James Plested, and our occasional content producer Charlotte Tavan.
While we will always release our material for free, please support us on patreon if you can.
Headlines
Israeli settlers set fire to mosques, cars and farm land in West Bank, Palestinians say
US has collected about $19b of Venezuela’s oil money. Where is it?
India's Cockroach Janta Party claims significant and rare victory over Modi government
Forget crypto: Single motherhood is the best get-rich-quick scheme, according to Pauline Hanson
Further reading
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This is a podcast by members of the Socialist Party in Naarm (Melbourne). We hope to bring a radical perspective to a podcast landscape dominated by insipid liberalism (looking at you, The Daily). The pod will come out weekly, and aims to breakdown news and current events from a socialist point of view. While a lot of what’s going on in the world is fairly bleak, The Party Line will try and highlight voices of resistance and struggle.
If you like what you hear, please rate, subscribe and share with your friends, colleagues and comrades. If you are in a position to support us financially then sign up at patreon.com/thepartyline.
If you find yourself agreeing with us more often than not, please join your local branch of the Socialist Party at socialists.org.au. We need your help to build a fighting socialist movement that can take on both the far right and its centrist enablers.
(The views and opinions expressed in our show are ours and ours alone, and do not reflect on the Socialist Party or Victorian Socialists.)
This pod was produced on stolen land and we stand in solidarity with our Indigenous comrades in their ongoing fight against racism and capitalism.
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57. The Party Line on Hanson’s Eurofash Summer
01:08:22||Season 1, Ep. 57This ep starts with a celebration! Over the weekend your three hosts were part of a delegated national conference that officially voted to establish the Socialist Party as a national organisation. We discussed the crimes of the ALP, the structural injustices facing workers and the oppressed, the threat posed by One Nation, and the need to rebuild our unions and stand against imperialism from Gaza to the Asia-Pacific. We then discussed a few news items, including the extraordinary profits made from the World Cup, Angus Taylor’s unfortunate meet-up with Dave Hughes, Albo’s new office for datacentre approvals, and Collingwood’s glorious defeat of Carlton. But the substance of the show was a serious discussion about Hanson’s Channel 7 sponsored trip to Europe, where in between speaking to empty CPAC events and enjoying $8000 hotel rooms paid for by Gina, she chatted happily with nazis and far-right politicians of various stripes. The views she articulated in the UK - calling for mass deportations, a reversion to white australia, and so on - place her on the extreme-right fringe of the global far right. We then discussed the biography of Tommy Robinson, the UK’s premier nazi street thug. Hosted by Jordan van den Lamb (@purplepingers), Anneke Demanuele and Omar Hassan. Huge thanks to our tireless editor Charlie Wardrop, our graphic designer James Plested, and our occasional content producer Charlotte Tavan.While we will always release our material for free, please support us on patreon if you can.*****************This is a podcast by members of the Socialist Party in Naarm (Melbourne). We hope to bring a radical perspective to a podcast landscape dominated by insipid liberalism (looking at you, The Daily). The pod will come out weekly, and aims to breakdown news and current events from a socialist point of view. While a lot of what’s going on in the world is fairly bleak, The Party Line will try and highlight voices of resistance and struggle.If you like what you hear, please rate, subscribe and share with your friends, colleagues and comrades. If you are in a position to support us financially then sign up at patreon.com/thepartyline. If you find yourself agreeing with us more often than not, please join your local branch of the Socialist Party at socialists.org.au. We need your help to build a fighting socialist movement that can take on both the far right and its centrist enablers.(The views and opinions expressed in our show are ours and ours alone, and do not reflect on the Socialist Party or Victorian Socialists.) This pod was produced on stolen land and we stand in solidarity with our Indigenous comrades in their ongoing fight against racism and capitalism.
56. The Party Line on how the royal commission justifies genocide ft. Yasmine Johnson
01:20:19||Season 1, Ep. 56Episode 55: The Party Line on how the royal commission justifies genocideThe gang is back together this week! But more importantly, we welcome a special guest Yasmine Johnson, fresh from appearing before the Royal Commission into antisemitism (AKA the royal commission into the Palestine solidarity movement). Widely praised for her calm, incisive and principled defence of Palestinian solidarity movement on the stand, Yas gives us some insight into what happened behind the scenes, why it’s such a disgrace that no Palestinians are being allowed to appear thus far, and what the likely implications of this far-right, warmongering, echo chamber of a commission will be for the left and for palestine solidarity movement moving forward.Readings:A Jewish socialist defends the Palestine movement at the royal commission The day the Royal Commission got schooled by a Palestine activist Jillian Segal claimed Gaza death toll is 'grossly inflated'. Here are the facts. The first half day of the royal commission in Melbourne was risible Hosted by Jordan van den Lamb (@purplepingers), Anneke Demanuele and Omar Hassan. Huge thanks to our tireless editor Charlie Wardrop, our graphic designer James Plested, and our occasional content producer Charlotte Tavan.While we will always release our material for free, please support us on patreon if you can.*****************This is a podcast by members of the Socialist Party in Naarm (Melbourne). We hope to bring a radical perspective to a podcast landscape dominated by insipid liberalism (looking at you, The Daily). The pod will come out weekly, and aims to breakdown news and current events from a socialist point of view. While a lot of what’s going on in the world is fairly bleak, The Party Line will try and highlight voices of resistance and struggle.If you like what you hear, please rate, subscribe and share with your friends, colleagues and comrades. If you are in a position to support us financially then sign up at patreon.com/thepartyline. If you find yourself agreeing with us more often than not, please join your local branch of the Socialist Party at socialists.org.au. We need your help to build a fighting socialist movement that can take on both the far right and its centrist enablers.(The views and opinions expressed in our show are ours and ours alone, and do not reflect on the Socialist Party or Victorian Socialists.) This pod was produced on stolen land and we stand in solidarity with our Indigenous comrades in their ongoing fight against racism and capitalism.
55. The Party Line on how Modi conquered India
01:34:04||Season 1, Ep. 55Episode 55: The Party Line on how Modi conquered IndiaIt’s Anneke’s turn to have a week off, and she’s been replaced by our favourite temp, Jasmine Duff. Jasmine and Jordy go a little bit rogue during the headlines segment, and spend some time breaking down the horror of the catholic school system’s rampant sexual abuse against children, and the choice made by the Christian Brothers to artificially bankrupt themselves rather than pay reparations to their victims. The main part of the show is dedicated to discussing Modi’s visit to Australia, and how Modi has transformed India into an increasingly authoritarian and fascistic hellscape, where billionaires run amok and the poor are left to rot. With us is Sagar Sanyal, Victorian Socialist candidate for Bundoora and all-round India expert. Hosted by Jordan van den Lamb (@purplepingers), Anneke Demanuele and Omar Hassan. Huge thanks to our tireless editor Charlie Wardrop, our graphic designer James Plested, and our occasional content producer Charlotte Tavan.While we will always release our material for free, please support us on patreon if you can.*****************This is a podcast by members of the Socialist Party in Naarm (Melbourne). We hope to bring a radical perspective to a podcast landscape dominated by insipid liberalism (looking at you, The Daily). The pod will come out weekly, and aims to breakdown news and current events from a socialist point of view. While a lot of what’s going on in the world is fairly bleak, The Party Line will try and highlight voices of resistance and struggle.If you like what you hear, please rate, subscribe and share with your friends, colleagues and comrades. If you are in a position to support us financially then sign up at patreon.com/thepartyline. If you find yourself agreeing with us more often than not, please join your local branch of the Socialist Party at socialists.org.au. We need your help to build a fighting socialist movement that can take on both the far right and its centrist enablers.(The views and opinions expressed in our show are ours and ours alone, and do not reflect on the Socialist Party or Victorian Socialists.) This pod was produced on stolen land and we stand in solidarity with our Indigenous comrades in their ongoing fight against racism and capitalism.
54. The Party Line on how AI is Destroying the World
01:14:35||Season 1, Ep. 54Episode 54: The Party Line on how AI is Destroying the WorldThis week Omar was replaced by a megaphone - seems fitting! We were joined by Alma Torlakovic, NSW socialists Candidate for Granville and campaigner against data centres, to talk about the harmful community impacts of these huge centres. They emit noise, raise the heat of the surrounding area, and are storage centers for millions of litres of fuel. We discuss the successful campaign of Katoomba residents to stop the building of a centre in their community. Then, we are joined by Jess Lenehan, Victorian Socialists campaign coordinator, and resident tech bro, to discuss AI and what future we are headed for: Terminator, I Robot or The Jetsons. We hope you enjoy the show, and we promise that ChatGPT did not write this blurb. Hosted by Jordan van den Lamb (@purplepingers), Anneke Demanuele and Omar Hassan. Huge thanks to our tireless editor Charlie Wardrop, our graphic designer James Plested, and our occasional content producer Charlotte Tavan.While we will always release our material for free, please support us on patreon if you can.*****************This is a podcast by members of the Socialist Party in Naarm (Melbourne). We hope to bring a radical perspective to a podcast landscape dominated by insipid liberalism (looking at you, The Daily). The pod will come out weekly, and aims to breakdown news and current events from a socialist point of view. While a lot of what’s going on in the world is fairly bleak, The Party Line will try and highlight voices of resistance and struggle.If you like what you hear, please rate, subscribe and share with your friends, colleagues and comrades. If you are in a position to support us financially then sign up at patreon.com/thepartyline. If you find yourself agreeing with us more often than not, please join your local branch of the Socialist Party at socialists.org.au. We need your help to build a fighting socialist movement that can take on both the far right and its centrist enablers.(The views and opinions expressed in our show are ours and ours alone, and do not reflect on the Socialist Party or Victorian Socialists.) This pod was produced on stolen land and we stand in solidarity with our Indigenous comrades in their ongoing fight against racism and capitalism.
53. The Party Line on how Pauline embraced her inner fascist
01:13:47||Season 1, Ep. 53Episode 53: The Party Line on how Pauline embraced her inner fascistThis ep looks at two big events this week: the Victorian teachers rejecting the shitty deal pushed by the Labor government and their union stooges, and Pauline Hanson’s fascistic press club tirade. The teachers have voted 58/42 percent to reject Jacinta Allan’s offer, and the effort was a product of an enormous rank and file upsurge largely led by comrades in Socialists in Schools. We talk about the implications of this huge win and what comes next. Then we unpack the extreme speech that Hanson delivered at the press club which revealed that this so-called populist is an extreme reactionary who hates workers, women, migrants, parents, trans people, and everyone else who isn’t a corporate executive, a property developer, or a mining boss.Hosted by Jordan van den Lamb (@purplepingers), Anneke Demanuele and Omar Hassan. Huge thanks to our tireless editor Charlie Wardrop, our graphic designer James Plested, and our occasional content producer Charlotte Tavan.While we will always release our material for free, please support us on patreon if you can.*****************This is a podcast by members of the Socialist Party in Naarm (Melbourne). We hope to bring a radical perspective to a podcast landscape dominated by insipid liberalism (looking at you, The Daily). The pod will come out weekly, and aims to breakdown news and current events from a socialist point of view. While a lot of what’s going on in the world is fairly bleak, The Party Line will try and highlight voices of resistance and struggle.If you like what you hear, please rate, subscribe and share with your friends, colleagues and comrades. If you are in a position to support us financially then sign up at patreon.com/thepartyline. If you find yourself agreeing with us more often than not, please join your local branch of the Socialist Party at socialists.org.au. We need your help to build a fighting socialist movement that can take on both the far right and its centrist enablers.(The views and opinions expressed in our show are ours and ours alone, and do not reflect on the Socialist Party or Victorian Socialists.) This pod was produced on stolen land and we stand in solidarity with our Indigenous comrades in their ongoing fight against racism and capitalism.
52. The Party Line on how Capitalism Ruins the World Cup
01:07:43||Season 1, Ep. 52This ep features Roz Ward, enemy #1 of the Murdoch Press circa 2016, the Antoinette Lattouf of her era. We talk about the recent polling about One Nation, as well as the important anti-Hanson actions that took place over the weekend (and respond to some of the criticisms from tiny groups of sectarians). We then take a bit of a deep dive into the World Cup, looking at how Trump, FIFA, and capitalism have made this event a profiteering disgrace that marginalises working class people and undermines the beauty of the one truly world game.Reading:https://marxist.com/fifa-world-cup-2026-capitalism-is-ruining-sports.htmHosted by Jordan van den Lamb (@purplepingers), Anneke Demanuele and Omar Hassan. Huge thanks to our tireless editor Charlie Wardrop, our graphic designer James Plested, and our occasional content producer Charlotte Tavan.While we will always release our material for free, please support us on patreon if you can.*****************This is a podcast by members of the Socialist Party in Naarm (Melbourne). We hope to bring a radical perspective to a podcast landscape dominated by insipid liberalism (looking at you, The Daily). The pod will come out weekly, and aims to breakdown news and current events from a socialist point of view. While a lot of what’s going on in the world is fairly bleak, The Party Line will try and highlight voices of resistance and struggle.If you like what you hear, please rate, subscribe and share with your friends, colleagues and comrades. If you are in a position to support us financially then sign up at patreon.com/thepartyline. If you find yourself agreeing with us more often than not, please join your local branch of the Socialist Party at socialists.org.au. We need your help to build a fighting socialist movement that can take on both the far right and its centrist enablers.(The views and opinions expressed in our show are ours and ours alone, and do not reflect on the Socialist Party or Victorian Socialists.) This pod was produced on stolen land and we stand in solidarity with our Indigenous comrades in their ongoing fight against racism and capitalism.
51. The Party Line on how socialism hit the mainstream in Argentina
01:14:09||Season 1, Ep. 51The Party Line on how socialism hit the mainstream in ArgentinaThe crew are finally back together again, and start by reflecting on some of the listener feedback about the last episode with Jono Srinanganathan discussing the differences between the Greens and the Socialist Party. We then discuss the news, which is filled with mediocrity: Charlie Pickering chatting to a Nazi, Richard Marles celebrating second-hand submarines, and the Block’s Scott Cam complaining about only having $25 million bucks to pass on to his privileged spawn. The US-Israeli war in the Middle East is still continuing, and so we unpack some of the latest news about Israel’s appalling occupation of Lebanese and Palestinian territory, under the cover of a series of sham ‘ceasefires’. The rise and rise of Hanson in Australian politics is another talking point, with the new poll putting One Nation and Liberals way above Labor, as well as stories about Nazis getting gifted mansions by their millionaire mates. The substance of the episode is about the rise of the FIT-U, a radical socialist coalition in Argentina which has shot to prominence over the last 12 months or so. From winning around 2.5% nationally, they’re now at 10-15%, with their main leader being the most popular politician in the entire country. We ask Jordan Humphreys, who just returned from a trip to the country, to fill us in about how this happened and to draw out lessons for socialists in Australia.Reading:The Left Front in Argentina grows in popularity Hosted by Jordan van den Lamb (@purplepingers), Anneke Demanuele and Omar Hassan. Huge thanks to our tireless editor Charlie Wardrop, our graphic designer James Plested, and our occasional content producer Charlotte Tavan.While we will always release our material for free, please support us on patreon if you can.*****************This is a podcast by members of the Socialist Party in Naarm (Melbourne). We hope to bring a radical perspective to a podcast landscape dominated by insipid liberalism (looking at you, The Daily). The pod will come out weekly, and aims to breakdown news and current events from a socialist point of view. While a lot of what’s going on in the world is fairly bleak, The Party Line will try and highlight voices of resistance and struggle.If you like what you hear, please rate, subscribe and share with your friends, colleagues and comrades. If you are in a position to support us financially then sign up at patreon.com/thepartyline. If you find yourself agreeing with us more often than not, please join your local branch of the Socialist Party at socialists.org.au. We need your help to build a fighting socialist movement that can take on both the far right and its centrist enablers.(The views and opinions expressed in our show are ours and ours alone, and do not reflect on the Socialist Party or Victorian Socialists.) This pod was produced on stolen land and we stand in solidarity with our Indigenous comrades in their ongoing fight against racism and capitalism.
50. The Party Line on the Victorian Teachers' Rebellion Against their Union Bosses
52:54||Season 1, Ep. 50This episode is a special interview with two Victorian teachers and trade unionists about the state of play regarding their negotiations with the government. We talk about the fact that Victorian schools are the least funded in the country, despite nearly 26 years of Labor governments, and what that means for the conditions for both staff and students. ReadingVictorian teachers betrayed by union agreement with government Rebellion in the AEU: officials prevent debate as vote approaches on terrible deal Hosted by Jordan van den Lamb (@purplepingers), Anneke Demanuele and Omar Hassan. Huge thanks to our tireless editor Charlie Wardrop, our graphic designer James Plested, and our occasional content producer Charlotte Tavan.While we will always release our material for free, please support us on patreon if you can.*****************This is a podcast by members of the Socialist Party in Naarm (Melbourne). We hope to bring a radical perspective to a podcast landscape dominated by insipid liberalism (looking at you, The Daily). The pod will come out weekly, and aims to breakdown news and current events from a socialist point of view. While a lot of what’s going on in the world is fairly bleak, The Party Line will try and highlight voices of resistance and struggle.If you like what you hear, please rate, subscribe and share with your friends, colleagues and comrades. If you are in a position to support us financially then sign up at patreon.com/thepartyline. If you find yourself agreeing with us more often than not, please join your local branch of the Socialist Party at socialists.org.au. We need your help to build a fighting socialist movement that can take on both the far right and its centrist enablers.(The views and opinions expressed in our show are ours and ours alone, and do not reflect on the Socialist Party or Victorian Socialists.) This pod was produced on stolen land and we stand in solidarity with our Indigenous comrades in their ongoing fight against racism and capitalism.