Blatantly Partisan Party Review XVIII: Joseph Toscano and the Eight Pointed Star Movement
This is my first review of an unendorsed candidate – though Joe Toscano is no regular independent. Toscano, an anarchist, is not enrolled to vote, but through a quirk of the electoral roles, he can stand for election and has appeared repeatedly on state and federal ballots as a kind of protest candidate. This year he is running with Beth Matthews and they represent the Eight Pointed Star Movement, but as it is not a registered political party they appear on the Senate ballot in Victoria as Group T. I haven’t looked into the unendorsed and independent candidates interstate so I don’t know if there are any equivalent anarchist candidates running elsewhere.
What do they offer the progressive voter?
The relationship between white Australia and Aboriginals is fraught, and Toscano’s proposal for a treaty with Aboriginal people would certainly be helpful. The Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand, while certainly not perfect, has led to positive developments over the last few decades through the Waitangi Tribunal. Toscano acknowledges the reality of climate change and endorses a significant response (though without specifics). I wholeheartedly endorse the sentiment that “[a]ll human beings have the same rights irrespective of race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age[,] or role in society”, which I take to be support of such contemporary issues as marriage equality.
(I’m not willing to comment too far on the proposed 1% stock market turnover tax to fund health, education, etc. as I have not considered in detail its financial consequences. On paper, however, it appears to be positive, taxing narrow corporate interests for the benefit of the whole Australian community.)
What problematic policies do they have?
Toscano’s website is pretty basic and I haven’t the time to dig up his writings, so I can’t pin down exactly where he stands within anarchist thought, which is undeniably a broad church. Nonetheless, Toscano is an anarchist; I am a social democrat. Thus we naturally disagree over the role of government in society. While we would share middle ground on social issues and limiting the state’s interference in individual affairs that do not harm others, there is a gulf between us on economic affairs. I view the state as existing to benefit the people through the provision of services, law, public works, etc. Anarchism holds the state to be undesirable and harmful and anarchists desire freedom from rulers (if not rules). Toscano’s position on the state at times is not far removed from libertarian perspectives I have already critiqued on this blog. That said, Toscano does support the establishment of a new state-run “people’s bank”, which implies some role for the state.
Toscano’s website is also very basic, lacking policy details. The Eight Pointed Star Manifesto is very rudimentary. No doubt this is partly because Toscano does not expect to win, and his candidacy is simply to highlight perceived absurdities in the system. However, it would be nice if he prominently detailed his vision for how Australia’s society and economy should be structured and run. Rhetoric encouraging the creation of co-operatives and collectives in opposition to capitalism means little without specifics. How will we achieve this vision? What will it cost? How will it work? I also disagree with Toscano’s proposal for citizen-initiated referenda. I can also vote in New Zealand (rock on dual citizenship), where non-binding citizen’s referenda have existed since the early nineties. They tend to be loaded questions initiated by the right wing (“tend to be”, not “always”), and I have serious qualms that citizen’s initiated referenda could be used to limit the rights of vulnerable minorities, like referenda against gay people in the US. In principle, I think there may be some merit to such referenda and the ability to recall MPs between elections, but Toscano needs to explain how this will be introduced to avoid abuse or discrimination.
Where are their preferences going in Victoria?
Toscano appears to have preferenced on the basis of ideology rather than cynical preference harvesting, which is a refreshing change. Toscano’s preferences go first to Wikileaks and then the Greens. Other left-wing parties and socially liberal single-issue parties are high on the ballot. If Toscano’s preferences aren’t exhausted on the Greens, they then flow to the ALP. The Coalition, Palmer, Katter, climate sceptics of all stripes, and the religious fundamentalists are much further down; Family First and Rise Up get to chill together at the bottom of the ballot.
Website: http://anarchistmedia.org/