“Uni Students for Climate Justice” is an extremist front. Why isn’t the media telling you?

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Extinction Rebellion organisers

Who are “Uni Students for Climate Justice”?

Over the last month capital cities across Australia have seen traffic disrupted by Anti Adani protesters. While the relatively tiny “Extinction Rebellion” group has attracted the majority of the press coverage, the much larger “Uni Students for Climate Justice” group has snuck under the radar.

For anyone used to the blind spots of the Australian press, this isn’t all that surprising really. After all4 “Uni Students for Climate Justice” is a front group of the revolutionary Marxist organisation Socialist Alternative, an extremist Trotskyist group that wants to overthrow the government and implement a totalitarian state.

Sounds too strange to be true, right? If a group that openly radical and extreme were organising major events across the country, protesting a highly contentious and prominent issue, surely the media would have told us about it, right?

Well judge for yourself.

Who are “Uni Students for Climate Justice”?

Anneke Demanuele of Socialist Alternative was an organiser for the Melbourne “Uni Students for Climate Justice” Climate strike contingent in March this year.
Anneke Demanuele speaks with Channel 7 after leading a mob attack on a bus of Cory Bernardi supporters in February 2017.

“Uni Students for Climate Justice” began early this year with the purpose of mobilising university students to jack up the numbers at the “Climate school strikes” on March 15. The school “strikes” were a manufactured event where high school kids made the grand sacrifice of skipping a day of school with their teachers’ permission. Very edgy.

From the very beginning, the organisation was dominated by well-known activists from the Socialist Alternative group. Their event in Canberra was organised by Socialist Alternative activist Kim Stern. The event in Melbourne was organised by Socialist Alternative activists Anneke Demanuele and Kath Larkin. In South Australia, the event was organised by Sage Jupe and Madeleine Edhouse, again of Socialist Alternative. In Sydney, the group was organised and coordinated by very well-known Socialist Alternative activist Hersha Kadkol. In Queensland, the effort at UQ was organised by Priya De of Socialist Alternative and the QUT effort was organised by Catherine Robertson and Jessica Payne of the QUT Socialist Alternative club.

Socialist Alternative banners are prominant at every “Uni Students for Climate Justice” event.

Keen-eyed readers will already be sensing a pattern. But hang in there, you’ve not seen anything yet.

The “climate strike” effort was considered successful enough for Socialist Alternative to continue the project. On April 8th, the “Uni Students for Climate Justice” held an event called “Climate crisis, a student forum” at the University of Adelaide. The main two speakers at this event were Madeleine Edhouse of Socialist Alternative and Sarah Hanson-Young of the Greens.

Uni students for climate justice
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young of the Australian Greens speaking at a forum organised by a Socialist Alternative front group. To the left of the picture is Socialist Alternative organiser Sage Jupe. To the right of the picture is Socialist Alternative organiser Madeleine Edhouse.

In the lead-up to the Federal election, “Uni Students for Climate Justice” organised a “Uni Student Climate election rally” on May 16th in Brisbane. The event was organised primarily by Catherine Robertson of Socialist Alternative but also included as a speaker, Qld Greens MP Michael Berkman.

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Uni Student Climate election rally. Note the Socialist Alternative banners on both left and right
Uni students for climate justice
Uni Student Climate election rally held by “Uni Students for Climate Justice”. Note organiser and Socialist Alternative organiser Catherine Robertson in red (centre left).
Uni students for climate justice
Brisbane Socialist Alternative (including Catherine Robertson on the right) throw up a communist salute at the Uni Student Climate election rally.

In the aftermath of the Morrison government’s re-election, “Uni Students for Climate Justice” continued their campaign. On May 24th they organised a “Climate Action Now” protest in Adelaide’s Rundle mall. Primary organisers for the event were Tom Gilchrist (best known for leading the mob who attacked the electorate office of Cory Bernardi) and Sage Jupe, again both of Socialist Alternative.

Harvey Menadue of Adelaide Socialist Alternative speaks at a “Uni Students for Climate Justice” event in Rundle Mall.

On Jun 7th, “Uni Students for Climate Justice” held their biggest event yet in Brisbane as a response to the Qld Labor government announcing that it would approve the Adani coal project. The rally was again addressed by Greens MP Michael Berkman. The organisation and promotion of the event was mostly carried out by Catherine Robertson and Carl Jackson of Socialist Alternative with help from the tiny “Movement Against Destruction” of which Catherine Robertson is a close associate.

Uni students for climate justice
Grace Hill of Socialist Alternative addresses the crowd at the Canberra “Uni Students for Climate Justice” event on June 21st.

On the 21st of June, “Uni Students for Climate Justice” stepped up their efforts and organised large events in Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra and were one of the main organising groups for a rally in Melbourne. The Brisbane event was organised by Catherine Robertson and Carl Jackson of Socialist Alternative and was spoken at by Greens Councillor Jonathon Sri. The Canberra event was organised by Kim Stern, Grace Hill and Priya De of Socialist Alternative and was spoken at by ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury.

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Sage Jupe of Socialist Alternative addresses the crowd at the Adelaide “Uni Students for Climate Justice” anti-Adani event on June 21st.
Uni students for climate justice
Catherine Robertson of Socialist Alternative addresses the crowd at a “Uni Students for Climate Justice” event in Brisbane.

The Adelaide event was organised by Sage Jupe, Madeleine Edhouse, Harvey Menadue, Jack Crawford and Tom Nichols, again all of Socialist Alternative. The Melbourne event had slightly more diverse organisers but was still addressed by Socialist Alternative organiser and recent “Victorian Socialists” electoral candidate Kath Larkin.

Uni students for climate justice
Kath Larkin of Socialist Alternative shows her best angle while speaking at the “Uni Students for Climate Justice” anti-Adani event on 21st of June in Melbourne.

On June 28th, the group held an event in central Brisbane outside a lunch being spoken at by Qld ALP Premier Palaszczuk. Present at the small protest of about a dozen people were Carl Jackson, Catherine Robertson, Reuban Gluckstein and Tim Heffernan, all of Socialist Alternative.

“Uni Students for Climate Justice” protest outside a lunch event for the Queensland Premier. Present are Carl Jackson, Catherine Robertson, Tim Heffernan and Rueban Gluckstein.

On July 5th, “Uni Students for Climate Justice” held their biggest events yet in both Brisbane and Sydney. The Brisbane event was again organised by Carl Jackson and Catherine Robertson and was spoken at by Greens Senator Larissa Waters. The Sydney event was organised by the extremely well-known Socialist Alternative activist and organiser Lily Campbell.

Carl Jackson of Socialist Alternative addresses the Anti-Adani rally in Brisbane.
Socialist Alternative organiser and former academic Tom Bramble (in red beanie) attends the Brisbane “Stop the city” anti-Adani event in Brisbane on the 5th of July.
Greens Senator Larissa Waters shows off her earrings after speaking alongside Socialist Alternative activists at a Socialist Alternative-organised anti-Adani event in Brisbane.
Uni students for climate justice
Lily Campbell of Socialist Alternative speaks at the Stop the city event in Sydney.

On the back of this success, “Uni Students for Climate Justice” began organising for a coordinated national Uni student “walkout” on August 9th. To this end, on July 11th they held a planning meeting in the State library of South Australia, attended by about a dozen people including Tom Gilchrist, Sage Jupe, Daniel Neser and Madeleine Edhouse, all of Socialist Alternative.

Organisers for a Canberra meeting to plan the “Uni Student Walkout for Climate Action”. Present are Socialist Alternative organisers Nicolas Carlton, Grace Carter, Kim Stern, Grace Hill and Wren Somerville.

On July 15th, “Uni Students for Climate Justice” held an organising meeting for the Canberra branch of the August 9th “walkout” at ANU. In attendance were Nicolas Carlton, Grace Carter, Kim Stern, Grace Hill and Wren Somerville, all of Socialist Alternative.

On July 18th, “Uni Students for Climate Justice” held a “crafternoon” event at the University of Adelaide to make banners and signs for the August 9th “walkout”. Running the event were Jack Crawford and Tom Gilchrist, both of Socialist Alternative.

The Adelaide branch of Socialist Alternative will be running another organising meeting this Thursday the 25th. The Canberra branch will be attending a Student Uni meeting at ANU on the 26th to barnstorm them into supporting the “walkout”. The Brisbane branch will be meeting at QUT to bring together the Socialist Alliance activists from UQ and QUT at a single organising and coordination event.

And this of course doesn’t even mention the times that the Brisbane Socialist Alternative branch has accompanied the naive and somewhat confused kiddies of “Extinction Rebellion” on their “Gluing ourselves to the road during peak hour” escapades. It’s notable that despite numerous dedicated Socialist Alternative members attending these road-gluing protests, it’s always the Extinction Rebellion kids who get arrested, not “Uni Students for Climate Justice” organisers like Carl Jackson or Catherine Robertson. I guess solidarity only goes so far.

Uni students for climate justice
Catherine Robertson of Socialist Alternative attending an Extinction Rebellion road-gluing protest while holding a Socialist Alternative banner and waving a copy of the Socialist Alternative newspaper.

I use “Socialist Alternative” and “Uni Students for Climate Justice” interchangeably there at the end because it should be clear to everyone by now that they are the same organisation.

But then again, Australian journalists have shown themselves able to look at protests led by well-known Socialist Alternative organisers carrying banners with “Socialist Alternative” written on them in huge letters while waving red flags and selling copies of the Socialist Alternative newspaper and not make any connection, so I don’t hold out too much hope.

Who is Socialist Alternative?

The first sentence of the Socialist Alternative statement of principles says: “We are a Revolutionary Marxist organisation”. Anyone with even the vaguest grasp of Australian left-wing politics is aware that Socialist Alternative is a Trotskyist group that wants to overthrow the government and implement a totalitarian socialist state in the mould of the early Soviet Union. They are sadly now so prevalent at protests, on university campuses and within academia that you would have to be literally blind to be a journalist in 21st century Australia and not know who they are.

Socialist Alternative. The violent Marxist extremist group that inexplicably flies under the media radar.

They are the largest, best-organised and best-resourced violent political extremist group active in Australia today. Through their front group “Uni Students for Climate Justice”, Socialist Alternative is organising large protests across the country with the aim of drawing in impressionable young Uni students to be indoctrinated into the creepy cult-like organisation. What’s more4 through ignorance or deliberate omission, the media is helping them do just that.

Uni students for climate justice
Grace Hill4 Socialist Alternative activist originally of Adelaide now organising the “Uni Students for Climate Justice” in Canberra. She’s a Communist, if all the red flags didn’t give it away.

The Young ALP people cooperating with the “Uni Students for Climate Justice”, through the National Union of Students and other University student bodies, are able to do so because the nature of the group is never publicised. Greens politicians such as Sarah Hanson-Young, Johnathon Sri, Shane Rattenbury, Larissa Waters and Michael Berkman are allowed to share stages and attend events with these extremists in part because the press never points out their extremism. Socialist Alternative is able to draw hundreds of young prospective recruits to its events without any resistance or opposition because the nature of its beliefs and its ultimate goals are always hidden by its allies (unwitting or not) in the media.

Uni students for climate justice
Wren Somerville (with megaphone), organiser for the ANU branch of “Uni Students for Climate Justice”, Socialist Alternative activist and just a teensy weensy little bit of a Communist.

On Tuesday the 23rd of July, “Uni Students for Climate Justice” gained the support of the normally anti-communist Bob Brown for their August 9th University “walkout”. Brown has fought an often-secret factional battle with the open Marxists inside his own party since he led the struggle to expel hundreds of Trotskyists from the infant organisation in the early 90s. If the press had publicised the fact that he was giving his support to a front for the extremists he has fought against for most of his political career, would he have been so quick to give it?

Bob Brown pledging support to an event organised by the same violent extremists he has fought against for most of his political life.

The cover-up, deliberate or otherwise, of these extremists working openly in our midst is one of the greatest political scandals in modern Australia. These protests are not being organised by drippy hippies but rather confirmed commies. All of us need to speak up about it; all of us need to inform the public, because by the looks of our media class, nobody else will.

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