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Catherine is an IT worker, a unionist, and a committed socialist. She lived in Caroline Springs growing up and now lives in Maidstone. Follow Catherine Robertson for Fraser to keep up to date with her campaign.
“I became a socialist during the successful campaign against Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne’s push for university fee deregulation in 2014, which would have seen a two-tiered American model of education introduced in Australia”, she says.
“Further attacks on universities in the years since – which have led to large fee increases and funding cuts in many areas – as well as the ongoing neglect of public education more generally, has shown the need for the fight for free and accessible education to continue. The government shouldn’t be funnelling millions of dollars towards private schools while schools in working class areas struggle to afford even the basic necessities!”
The situation with education, Catherine thinks, is a microcosm of the broader issues in Australian society. Catherine has also been involved in campaigns to raise welfare payments to a livable rate, and to stop the Victorian Labor government’s sell offs of public housing. “Our society is rich enough”, she says, “to ensure everyone has access to decent welfare, housing and education”.
“How can we stand by while someone like Gina Rinehart increases her wealth by over $20 billion in a year, while more and more people are driven to homelessness by the shortage of affordable housing? How can we allow the government to get away with rigging the system so completely in the interests of the rich, that having a roof over your head comes to be a luxury that many can’t afford?”
“I know how many people out there are sick of hearing about the rights of bosses over workers, and of landlords over renters, and we need more people in parliament who will actually fight for union rights and better wages, for more public housing, and for rent controls and other measures to assist renters.”
Catherine is also committed to the fight against racism in all its forms, which Australian governments have used consistently to divide the community and blunt the potential for resistance. “When we march on Invasion Day it’s not just about history”, she says. “The oppression of Indigenous people in this country is an ongoing, everyday reality that we all have a duty to fight against. If the government can get away with all their abuses against the Indigenous community, and against refugees and migrants, then they’re going to be much more confident to treat everyone else the same. Solidarity with the oppressed in their struggle for justice isn’t a matter of charity – it’s in all our interests to stand together against the agenda of the rich and powerful.”
Climate change and other environmental issues are also important for people in the western suburbs, Catherine thinks. “Right now”, she says, “we’re seeing the consequences of decades of profiteering off climate destruction, and it’s working class people who are on the front lines – losing their homes, communities and livelihoods. In the western suburbs we regularly have to deal with hazardous air quality and toxic fires due to the lack of enforcement of basic environmental regulations. I will use my platform to build the urgent fight for climate and environmental justice.”
For Catherine, and others in Victorian Socialists, running in elections isn’t something separate from the broader struggle. “The parliamentary system”, she says, “is rigged for the rich. We need more socialists in there to give working class people a voice, but to really drive change we also need powerful movements in our workplaces, our communities, and on the streets.”