Colleen has been a socialist activist for over 20 years. During that time she’s established herself as a strident advocate for workers and the oppressed – consistently speaking out against government and big corporations and organising people to take them on.
One of the actions that most impacted on Colleen’s activism early-on was the convergence on the Woomera detention centre in 2002 where refugees and protesters tore down the fences and some detainees escaped. “Standing face to face with people just like us”, she said, “separated by steel bars and razor wire seared into my consciousness the contempt that governments have for human lives. I knew then that lobbying politicians was pointless and instead the whole system that could perpetrate this needed to be overturned.”
Colleen was a founding member of the Victorian Socialists. “We think more and more people want representatives who will call for system change and speak for a socialist alternative”, she says.
“We need representatives who will stand-up to the rich and powerful, instead of pandering to their interests. The sanctity of corporate profits is the number one barrier to stopping carbon emissions fast enough to save us from catastrophic consequences of climate change. Instead of debating what level of partial reductions years into the future could businesses accept, we need advocates for a reorganisation of society that upends corporate power.”
For most of her career as a lawyer, Colleen has represented people with asbestos-related diseases. “I went to a protest outside of Trades Hall when James Hardie moved their business overseas and didn’t leave enough money to compensate the victims who used their product. I had no inkling then that this would shape my working life. If the unions hadn’t won that battle, few of my clients would receive any financial recognition for what they’ve lost.”
In recent years, there’s been a dramatic rise in the number of workers diagnosed with silica-related diseases. “It took decades”, Colleen says, “for governments and companies to stop using asbestos, long after they knew how dangerous it was. We are now seeing that again in people with silicosis and other silica-related diseases. Companies are prepared to ruin lives in pursuit of profit.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has made clear the need for an increased focus on workers’ health and safety. It also has exposed the pre-pandemic degradation of our healthcare system. “We should pandemic-proof our workplaces and hospitals”,Colleen says, “but we also need to recognise that healthcare funding is so tight that the system can’t cope with the smallest change, let alone a pandemic.”
Melbourne is an electorate divided by class. “There are many affluent people with multi-million dollar properties”, Colleen says, “but the majority of us who live and work here – including the many international and domestic students, the refugees and migrants – haven’t got it so easy. As well as being hit hard by the pandemic, we’re dealing with huge mortgages or the prospect of renting for life and by the slow to non-existent wage growth.”
“As socialists”, she says, “we know which side we’re on. We think workers should run society and they’d do a better job than the people at the top today.”
“When you vote for a socialist, you’re sending a message to the mainstream parties that people want a voice that is unapologetically radical. More than words and policies on paper, it is also a vote for an alternative approach to politics that centres on organising people in struggle to increase their confidence to change the world instead of waiting for change to come through parliament.”