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Stephen Jolly

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Stephen Jolly (born 1962) is an Australian politician, socialist activist, author and construction worker.[1] He is a councillor in the City of Yarra and previously was the President and lead candidate for the Victorian Socialists during the 2018 state election.

Cr
Stephen Jolly
Councillor of the City of Yarra
for Langridge Ward
Assumed office
26 November 2004
Personal details
Born1962
London, England
NationalityAustralian
Political partyIndependent (2017–2018, 2019–present)
Other political
affiliations		Labour (Ireland) (1982–1985)
Socialist (1985–2016)
The Socialists (2016–2017)
Victorian Socialists (2018–2019)
Residence(s)Melbourne, Australia
Alma materUniversity of Cape Town
OccupationConstruction worker
CFMMEU delegate
Councillor (Yarra City Council)
ProfessionPolitician

Following allegations of family violence, Jolly was suspended from the Victorian Socialists pending an investigation, leading him to resign from the party.[2][3]

Biography edit

Jolly was born in London to a single Irish mother who had left Ireland due to concerns regarding the predominant Catholic Church's attitude towards single parents.[4][5] He was raised in Ireland by his grandparents in a public housing estate.[4] He moved to study at the University of Cape Town in 1977. In the early 1980s, he moved to Ireland and became involved in the Militant faction of the Irish Labour Party.[5] In 1983 he supported underground opposition to Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe.[5]

Jolly moved to Sydney in 1985 and became involved in the Militant faction of the Australian Labor Party (later renamed to the Socialist Party), serving as Editor of its newspaper The Militant and as National Secretary until 2000.[4][6] While working in construction, he has served as a shop steward with the Construction, Forestry, Mining, Maritime and Energy Union.[7]

In 1989, at the age of 27, Jolly was a first-hand witness of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre while he was speaking to protestors and helped them organise.[8][9] Jolly was reportedly the only Westerner to address "the half-a-million strong crowd of students occupying Tiananmen Square".[4] He noted in a 1990 news article that the protestors "never believed the People's Army would turn against them" and has since been involved in pro-democracy in China rallies.[10]

In 1993, Jolly and Militant was involved in a year-long occupation of Richmond High School, organised to prevent the Victorian government from closing the school.[11] In 2000, he supported and was involved in the S11 anti-globalisation protests in Melbourne.[12] In 2011 and 2012, he pledged to support the Occupy Melbourne movement against corporate influence in politics.[13][14]

Jolly's socialist political stances have led to hostile reactions from far-right groups such as the United Patriots Front, which has promoted rallies and death threats against him.[15][16][17] In 2015, a man was charged over death and rape threats towards Jolly.[18]

In 2016, Jolly led a mass resignation from the Socialist Party (now Socialist Action). He alleged there had been a cover-up of allegations of sexual abuse within the party,.[19] The party denied any cover-up.[20][21] Jolly and others who had left then established a new group, The Socialists.[22] In 2018 he joined the Victorian Socialists, an electoral alliance combining the Socialist Alliance, Socialist Alternative, as well as non-party affiliated socialists.

Political career edit

Local government (2004–present) edit

In 2004 he was elected as a Councillor for The City of Yarra in the Langridge Ward, representing the suburbs of Abbotsford, Alphington, Clifton Hill, Collingwood, Fairfield, Fitzroy and Richmond.[23] Jolly was reportedly the first elected socialist councillor in Melbourne "since the Second World War".[5]

In 2017, Jolly voted in favour of the controversial decision to cancel its Australia Day ceremony as a part of the Change the Date campaign.[24] This resulted in backlash from the federal government whereby the council was stripped of its citizenship powers and the council being protested by nationalist groups.[25][26]

Yarra City Council, Landgrige Ward
Election year Total votes % ±% Seats
2004 1,162 12.34   12.34%
1 / 3
2008 2,830 26.29   13.95%
1 / 3
2012 3,515 34.24   7.95%
1 / 3
2016 3,884 31.06   3.18%
1 / 3
2020 4,836 26.07%   4.99%
1 / 3

State government campaigns edit

Socialist Party (1999–2016) edit

Further information: Electoral results for the district of Richmond (Victoria)

Jolly has attempted to contest the Victorian electoral district of Richmond as a member of the Socialist Party several times. In these elections he stood as an independent, as the party was not registered with the VEC. In the 1999 Victorian state election he gained 12.0% of the vote.[27] They re-contested the seat in the 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 state elections, with lesser success. During these elections the party campaigned for policies such as free public transport, promoting the local arts scene, and anti-capitalism.[28] Their 2010 campaign was supported by the CFMEU, ETU, and UFU, who raised $25,000 for the campaign.[29]

Electoral district of Richmond
Election year Total votes % ±% Overall vote rank
1999 4,213 12.0   12.0% 3/3
2002 629 2.0   9.8% 5/5
2006 1,805 5.6   3.6% 4/7
2010 3,097 8.7   3.0% 4/5
2014 3,407 8.5   0.2% 4/7

Victorian Socialists (2018) edit

See also: Victorian Socialists

In February 2018, Jolly announced that he will be contesting a seat in the Legislative Council in the 2018 Victorian state elections as a leading candidate of the Victorian Socialists ticket.[30][7] Jolly stated this campaign attempted to fight for the programs promoted by international left-wing politicians such as Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon.[31] The decision to run in the Northern Metropolitan Region has been considered controversial by Reason Party's Fiona Patten, due to the possibility of splitting the non-conservative vote in the count for the last seat.[32] This ticket was supported by a wide variety of trade union groups, including the ETU, NUW, CFMMEU, UFU, AMIEU, and VAHPA.[33][34][35] The ETU secretary Troy Gray justified this support over parties such as the Australian Labor Party, a traditional unionist party, by stating that Jolly was the only candidate representing "blue collar values".[33] The campaign was also endorsed by several public figures such as Noam Chomsky, Gary Foley, and Tariq Ali.

Northern Metropolitan Region
Election year Total votes % ±% Seats
2018[36] 18,899 4.19   4.39%
0 / 5

Bibliography edit

  • Eyewitness in China (Melbourne: Socialist Party, 1989)
  • Behind the Lines – Richmond Secondary College: a school that dared to fight (Melbourne: Global Books, 1996)
  • That Which Surrounds Us: Refugees, Racism and Capitalism in Australia (Melbourne: Socialist Party, 2002)

References edit

  1. ^ "Councillor Stephen Jolly | Yarra City Council". www.yarracity.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Stephen Jolly splits from Victorian Socialists amid serious allegations". 23 September 2019.
  3. ^ https://www.facebook.com/vicsocialists/posts/3316370541769573?__xts__[0]=68.ARCn6esXiCLX0K0cl0BO_4m3kQphKBu-yPgX3puy3bmnAJ84i0NrtDabrvgIsGKUVfMfwCpVlFJPYVVTAcu26wXFjUPfas_dQ1CpZT4knFkcby-84cWOEWJ9MO2njiVHkBgp4ePR2pD1WD7ER773ylVWMpjsQUalW6d6PWtHKu0UV2zHylKO8RtVr-jX7dQHC7v_A7Xbu0aWoTqahxJX60g2iOGuVhBZqQmkekNh—jXo4rSZ-U10xVuOoDYFXJmyHUvnk_dVa0-0Y-uhmd397rhkb8W66bA4ziysvkYlHT5eNOOXWSJXH04_mIh5I2RKGmcbaz8-V9BxLWHeAYWx-1j&__tn__=-R [user-generated source]
  4. ^ a b c d Forbes, Mark (25 July 1998). "Political activist or ratbag?". The Age.
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Ed. "A Jolly socialist in Yarra Council". OzLeft. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Militant Archives". Militant Socialist Organisation. Archived from the original on 19 February 1999. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  7. ^ a b Mitchell, Ivan; Lopez, Daniel. "The Immodest Victorian Socialists". Jacobin. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  8. ^ Jolly, Stephen (23 July 2008). "Eyewitness in China" (Web Page). The Socialist. p. 46. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  9. ^ Walker, Frank (2 July 1989). "Sydney Man saw Beijing's Horror Night". Sydney Morning Herald.
  10. ^ Bishop, Karren (4 June 1990). "Massacre Outrage Is Still Strong". Sydney Morning Herald.
  11. ^ Small, Jerome (22 October 2018). "Taking it to the next level against Kennett: a chat with Stephen Jolly". Red Flag. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  12. ^ Mottram, Murray; Douez, Sophie (16 September 2000). "Behind the battle of the barricades". The Age.
  13. ^ "Yarra Socialist Party councillors pledge support to Occupy Melbourne". Green Left Weekly. No. 900. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  14. ^ "Friday Breakfast". 3CR Community Radio. 21 October 2011.
  15. ^ Hall, Bianca (2 August 2015). "Police investigate kill threats against Councillor Stephen Jolly". The Age. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Tensions flare at Reclaim Australia splinter group protest". ABC News. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  17. ^ Prime, Toby (6 August 2015). "Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly won't give in to anti-Islam death threats". Herald Sun. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  18. ^ Booker, Chloe (6 August 2015). "'Nazi' charged over death, rape threats to Socialist Party Councillor Stephen Jolly". The Age. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  19. ^ Preiss, Benjamin (23 February 2016). "Stephen Jolly leads mass resignation from Socialist Party over allegations of abuse cover-up". The Age. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  20. ^ Statement from Socialist Party National Committee Socialist Party website 24 February 2016
  21. ^ A reply to former comrades in New Zealand Socialist Party website 31 March 2016
  22. ^ Preiss, Benjamin (23 February 2016). "Stephen Jolly leads mass resignation from Socialist Party over allegations of abuse cover-up". The Age. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  23. ^ "Yarra City Council election results 2004 – Victorian Electoral Commission". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  24. ^ Clure, Ellis (15 August 2017). "Melbourne council moves to put an end to Australia Day". ABC News. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  25. ^ "'We warned them': Council's Australia Day stance draws federal sanction". ABC News. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  26. ^ "Far-right group disrupts council meeting to protest against Australia Day changes". ABC News. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  27. ^ "Richmond District profile – Victorian Electoral Commission". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  28. ^ Fredman, Nick (14 November 2014). "Stephen Jolly: A fighter stands for parliament". Green Left Weekly. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  29. ^ Crook, Andrew (4 October 2010). "Socialist sets up Vic election battle for Richmond". Crikey. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  30. ^ Armstrong, Liam (8 February 2018). "Could Steve Jolly Be Victoria's Jeremy Corbyn?". Vice. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  31. ^ Pearce, Gary (19 October 2018). "The Victorian Socialists' fight for an alternative". Overland literary journal. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  32. ^ Henriques-Gomes, Luke (10 November 2018). "Reason v socialism in Victorian election: Fiona Patten gears up for a fight". the Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  33. ^ a b Hutchinson, Samantha (15 October 2018). "Unions back Victorian Socialists' campaign". The Australian. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  34. ^ Carey, Adam (3 May 2018). "Socialists hope union donation will secure jolly good election result". The Age. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  35. ^ "Electrical Trade Union backs fledgling Victorian Socialists with 50k donation". Herald Sun.
  36. ^ "State Election 2018 – Summary – Victorian Electoral Commission". tallyroom.vec.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 28 November 2018.

External links edit

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