Tasmania is often far from the national limelight, but its political dynamics expose systematic contradictions in the organised left. William van Tasman tackles the Socialist Alliance problem within the Tasmanian context.

The Communists do not form a separate party opposed to the other working-class parties. They have no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole. They do not set up any sectarian principles of their own, by which to shape and mould the proletarian movement. – Marx & Engels, The Communist Manifesto, 1848

The Socialists

The intention of the Socialist Party is to build an electoral party in every state, one which can make real socialist politics mainstream again. It’s rooted in a minimalist constitutional unity, which seeks unity through a set of broad constitutional aims rather than a program. The Tasmanian Socialists (TasSoc) have had a rocky start, many comrades are inexperienced as Tasmania doesn’t have much of a surviving socialist tradition. Because of this, the original interim executive council has felt burnt out, in particular the secretary and the treasurer who have left since the founding of the branch. There are even now issues with many of our registration documents which weren’t given dates, making them invalid. The new more experienced interim secretary has had to move from Launceston down to Hobart to handle many of the issues they’re facing there. Meanwhile the northern branch has begun taking shape, but still suffers from its small size.

Lutruwita Socialist Alliance (LSA)

The Tasmanian section of Socialist Alliance is unique, since the Resistance youth wing continues to exist. LSA has existed in Tasmania for quite a long time, going back to the days of the Democratic Socialist Party/Perspective (DSP). As directed by the national section, LSA is also tasked with establishing its own electoral party. Primarily based in Hobart around the University of Tasmania (UTAS), the LSA do work around mutual aid and tenant unions. Since the arrival of the Tasmanian Socialists, they have taken the initiative to grow their membership in the south by dual-carding in the Tasmanian Socialists, and more recently by establishing their own northern branch. Regardless of this, LSA doesn’t consider building a separate party counter-productive.

Communist Unity (CU)

Currently Communist Unity only has two members in the northwest of Tasmania. There used to be a group in Hobart long before the arrival of TasSoc, but they were partially absorbed into LSA as a result of isolation and burnout. Since the organisation isn’t building a separate party, we are fully committed to building the Tasmanian Socialists. Like in the other states, we seek to establish a Communist Caucus to give our party the best possible chance at contesting the stranglehold of the capitalist class and their state. We cannot be as active compared to TasSoc members in Hobart or Launceston, but we aim to be consistently active within reason, and have attended every northern branch meeting this year. In light of LSA’s northern expansion, we’re willing to work with and within them but we maintain that our explicit purpose is to oppose the division of comrades into two competing parties.

Hare-Clark & Registration

For some background, Tasmania has a unique variant of ranked preference called Hare-Clark: where an electorate has multiple seats instead of one. At the last lower house election in Tasmania, each electorate had 7 seats up for grabs – 35 in total. This in theory makes the barrier of entry into parliament lower compared to other systems. It just requires more maths and time to calculate election results, but that’s the gist of it. Another key bit of information is how party registration works in Tasmania. Each party needs to provide at least 100 statutory declarations (stat decs) of membership to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission (TEC). These stat decs contain personal information, such as full government names and your home address. Once compiled and approved by the TEC, the entire list of persons and addresses is published in all of the local papers. In theory, this is done to ensure the public can also confirm these details are accurate. For a socialist party, one reviled by the capitalist class, this constitutes a public exposure of its membership. Although TasSoc has around ~160 signatures as of early May, this archaic procedure means not everyone is comfortable signing a statutory declaration.

The Contradiction

If it wasn’t for the dating issue, the Tasmanian Socialists would have around ~90 registrations. Meanwhile Socialist Alliance sits around ~60-70 registrations. Together they have more than enough, which for some is a source of resentment. Both parties are ramping up their separate registration efforts, which is creating a growing rift. In the north there is basically no mingling between the two parties, meanwhile in the south the mingling is becoming less frequent regardless of shared campaigns here and there. This is exacerbating the division in political cultures, creating sectarian attitudes where they didn’t exist before. Socialist Alternative (SAlt) doesn’t even have members in Tasmania! Socialist Alliance may be the oldest surviving socialist organisation in Tasmania, but that doesn’t give it any special rights to build an opposing party, especially when its existence for the past decade has only been relegated to Hobart!

Some independent comrades have felt strongly enough to suggest the expulsion of LSA dual-carders. If this debate was taken to a founding conference, it would be disastrous for the prospects of unity, especially when all of Alliance’s conditions are already fulfilled here! All they have to do is end the separate registration process in Tasmania, and to fully enter the Tasmanian Socialists with an inside outside strategy and a caucus to represent their sectional perspectives. With the numbers they do LSA would have quite a sway at the founding conference of the Tasmanian Socialists.

Tasmania presents a unique opportunity for Socialist Alliance to concede its electoral efforts without sacrificing its position in other states, especially when they can have a far greater hand in shaping TasSoc! Tasmania is simply not like the other states, baring Communist Unity there is no other organised sect in Tasmania. Our new comrades who join a socialist party/organisation for the first time lack knowledge of the obscure sectional squabbles from the DSP and ISO days, nor do they really care to partake in it. At the current stage, LSA and TasSoc are still in their honeymoon period with each other, there is no better time than now to make this Tasmanian concession. The ruthless critique of all that exists must be applied this arbitrary division! Our independent comrades already find this division contemptible, unity will not come easy later, it must come now!

Do not give us a socialist movement with two heads; no more lost decades!

Don’t Agonise; Unify!