CPA - The Guardian

More than 35 delegates took part in the discussion and debate during the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Australia, which was held in Sydney from October 2-5. Over the past two weeks The Guardian has covered discussion on workers’ struggles and the Party. This week, in the final coverage of Congress, we look at more of the discussion on the Political Resolution adopted by Congress.

Health

Mike Newman from the Auburn Branch (Sydney) spoke positively of the section on health, drawing attention to some areas that were further developed by amendments from party branches. He pointed to a number of existing limitations of Medicare as it is operating now, advocating a whole-of-health approach.

Mike talked about the impact of the multinational drug and other companies that bleed the system with their monopoly prices and their own surgeons. They are making profits of 90 percent on sales revenue on hips and other products. They are bleeding Medicare dry. He cited the example of surgeons who refuse to do cataracts because the cut in rebate would eat into their $500,000 a year.

The NSW government is privatising cleaning and catering in public hospitals. Previously, there was a charge nurse who had responsibility for seeing people were fed and that the cleaning was done properly. Now no one does this. Mike stressed the importance of campaigning for a national health system.

Another delegate, a practicing GP, said the government believes health care is an individual responsibility, not the responsibility of government. He warned of the direction the health system is taking under Labor. “Imagine the situation without the right to go to hospital or the right to health care. The ALP is denying the success of national health care…” He said that health care should be “as you need it not on how much you have”.

GPs are being underpaid, resulting in shorter, less in-depth consultations. “We want patients to spend more time with doctors. Then they won’t be sent off so quickly to tests and with scripts.”

The federal government is reducing the number of doctors. “We need to reform that situation”. It has dropped its share of hospital funding from 50 percent to 40 percent. It has privatised aged care, many nursing homes have unqualified staff and hospitals are left with de facto responsibility for aged care.

“If privatisation continues the health system will double in cost. It will not become better…. We want to retain Medicare, make it better. Before Medicare, people in the western suburbs [of Sydney] and working class women never received the care they needed. They did not receiver regular pap smears, etc.”

The Party has a big role to play as part of an alliance in exposing Labor’s privatisation agenda for Medicare and campaigning for a better Medicare and public health system.

Privatisation

Health was not the only area of privatisation raised by delegates. In every state and at the federal level governments are pushing ahead with privatisation.

In Queensland, the Bligh government has embarked on a massive privatisation program. David Matters from the Brisbane Branch of the CPA described it as a “huge looting of the assets of the people. Road transport, water, desalination plants, and other assets are up for privatisation. The Party has a great deal of work to do in building alliances with the left and other forces to stop the privatisation,” David said.

Climate change

The Political Resolution was quite clear in sheeting home blame for the climate emergency. “It has its origins in the same heedless drive of capitalism for profits regardless of the social or environmental cost.”

The Resolution states, “Unless environmental damage and climate change are brought under control, global catastrophe will result from a collapse of the planet’s ecosystem,” a conclusion that received unanimous support.

“The biggest single environment issue is climate change, which is now emerging as a tremendous threat to human life on the planet,” said Peter Mac from the Sydney Central Branch. “That threat includes the certainty of rising sea levels, intense weather activity, and the near certainty of armed conflict over diminishing water, food and natural resources, including possible nuclear conflict.

“The effect of rising average temperatures is somewhat similar to a rise in your body temperature. At a 1 degree rise you feel ill. At 3 degrees you’re off to hospital, and at 6 degrees they’re cutting up the wood for your casket. We are really in a very serious situation,” Peter warned.

He was highly critical of the Rudd government whose target of a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 is conditional on other nations agreeing to do the same at the Copenhagen climate change summit in December. “That’s a good way of doing nothing, because other nations will follow our lead and in the end no one will commit themselves to anything. If other nations do not agree to a 25 percent rise the Rudd government will only commit themselves to a five percent rise.

“Given the accelerating pace of climate change, 40 percent would now seem to be a more realistic goal for 2020.”

Peter examined a number of approaches the government could take – emissions trading, emissions taxes and regulatory initiatives. Peter concluded that no single approach on its own would be enough.

He supported the use of an emissions trading scheme (ETS) (not the one being proposed by the Rudd government) and made comparisons with the US Acid Rain program which he said achieved a 50 percent reduction in mid-west corrosive oxide emissions over 17 years.

Of course, the circumstances regarding greenhouse gas emissions are far more complex and processes involved quite different, a point that Elizabeth Hulm from Perth took up in her contribution.

Elizabeth pointed to the many differences – the number of sources of the sulphur dioxide was far smaller, it was easier to monitor and enforce, and the technological solutions to cut emissions was far cheaper. There is also some argument that reductions in sulphur dioxide can be attributed to factors like lower cost and better access to low sulphur coal. A number of factors combined to cause reductions in sulphur emissions and the low volume of trading suggests that in reality the trading contributed little to the reductions overall.

We are told that carbon trading is going to be great for developing countries – being low emitters they should have access to carbon credits they will be able to sell. “There is a problem with that, their need is greater and they face many short term financial and social needs which increases the incentive to sell. It may result in competition between poorer countries and drive prices down,” Elizabeth said.

“Carbon trading markets are very unequal; there is not a level playing field.”

Elizabeth expressed concern that emissions trading was “fast becoming the only option on the table. It is handing responsibilities over to markets to work it out.” In effect it is privatising emissions.

There is a heap of other options and it requires collective action, it isn’t just a problem of industry, Elizabeth said. “One of the reasons emission trading schemes are so attractive to governments is that an ETS takes all responsibility away from individuals, governments look like they are doing something while handing over responsibility to the market and at the same time diverting people from forming a collective.”

Coal and jobs

On the question of coal, Peter Mac said, “The most effective government innovation in Australia would be to phase out all existing coal-fired power stations and to replace them with new renewable energy power stations (using the funds that at the moment have been allocated for development of that ultimate white elephant, clean coal technology).

“The Political Resolution calls for the immediate winding back of our use of coal and oil and the development of environmentally sound renewable energy sources. The energy should be brought under public ownership and control.

“Trade unions should have a major role in programs to phase out coal mining and the existing coal-fired power stations. Such programs must include government support for rural and regional communities with the development of new renewable energy sources and renewable energy power stations, and the training of workers currently involved in coal mining to work in those new and other sustainable industries.”

The Political Resolution devotes a section to this vital question of the workers, families and communities who would be affected by mine and power station closures.

Brenda Kellaway from the Newcastle Branch, which is in a coal mining region, addressed the importance of this question and the focus on it in the Resolution. “We are saying that coal mining should cease for the benefit of the planet. In short we are recommending an action that would throw hundreds of these employees out of work. We are right to say so, but it’s crucial that coal industry employees get all their benefits, preference for alternative employment … They certainly deserve a better deal than former workers in the asbestos industry.”

The Political Resolution says, “It is necessary to promote jobs growth in the sustainable energy sector and to ensure that job creation is equitable and targets geographic areas and economic sectors disadvantaged by the transition to a sustainable energy future….

“The maximum participation of workers, unions and community is needed for this shift in industry and jobs to succeed. Decent work and job creation are central to sustainable development because workers and workplaces are at the centre of production and consumption in society and have a key place in transforming production at all levels.”

The full text of the Political Resolution is available on the CPA website: www.cpa.org.au and will be available shortly in print form.

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