LPF | The charges brought against the LPF and the accusations upon which the charges were brought

The charges brought against the LPF and the accusations upon which the charges were brought

Subject: To all LPF members: NE notification of charges
Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 23:56:34 +1000

To: All members of the Leninist Party Faction
From: DSP National Executive

Dear comrades,

We are writing to inform you that the following charges were laid on March 7, 2008, by DSP NE member Comrade Alex Bainbridge:

1. Comrade John Percy is charged with violating the following clauses of the DSP constitution:

Article 4, Paragraph 2

a. To be loyal to the DSP and its aims.
b. To place all of their political activity under the direction of the DSP and to engage in the work of the DSP to the best of their ability.
c. To carry out their political activity to the best of their ability in accordance with the Constitution and decisions of the national and local governing bodies of the DSP, even if they have argued and/or voted against those decisions.
e. To conduct themselves in a manner which does not bring the DSP into public disrepute.

2. Comrade Kerry Vernon is charged with violating the following clauses of the DSP constitution:

Article 4, Paragraph 2

3. Comrade Marcus Pabian is charged with violating the following clauses of the DSP constitution:

Article 4, Paragraph 2

a. To be loyal to the DSP and its aims.

b. To place all of their political activity under the direction of the DSP and to engage in the work of the DSP to the best of their ability.
c. To carry out their political activity to the best of their ability in accordance with the Constitution and decisions of the national and local governing bodies of the DSP, even if they have argued and/or voted against those decisions.
e. To conduct themselves in a manner which does not bring the DSP into public disrepute.

4. Comrade Owen Richards is charged with violating the following clauses of the DSP constitution:

Article 4, Paragraph 2

5. Comrade Zoe Kenny is charged with violating the following clauses of the DSP constitution:

Article 4, Paragraph 2

6. The Leninist Party Faction is charged with organising its members to break DSP discipline and violate the following clauses of the DSP constitution:

Article 4, Paragraph 2

The National Executive has designated the existing investigating committee, comprising Lisa M, Dave H and Susan P, as the investigating body for these charges, and directed it to report back as soon as possible to the National Executive, which will serve as the trial body.

Under Paragraph 11 (c) of the DSP constitution, “Every member under the jurisdiction of the DSP body dealing with the charges shall be obliged to furnish the investigation commission with any information it may request. The accused member (or members) shall have the right to submit oral or written statements to the investigation commission in response to the charges.”

The investigation committee can be contacted at inquiry@dsp.org.au or by phone to any member of the committee.

A date for the National Executive to consider the charges has not yet been set. The National Executive will notify you at least seven days in advance of that date. Paragraph 11 (d) of the DSP constitution states: “Where the accused member (or members) does not belong to the DSP body dealing with the disciplinary case, the accused shall have the right to submit a written statement regarding the charges to the meeting of the body which considers the charges. The accused may also request that body’s permission to attend the meeting that will deal with the charges.”

Comradely,
Lisa Macdonald, Dave Holmes, Susan Price (Investigating Committee)
for the DSP National Executive

cc: DSP NE

From: PPZ
Date: Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 10:08 PM

Subject: Report on charges laid today

To: Peter Boyle

To all DSP branch secretaries/ organisers

Here is the report to be relayed to your branch members for their information about the charges laid today.

Comradely,
Peter Boyle
DSP National Secretary

Report to DSP branches about the conduct of LPF members at the Sydney AVSN annual general meeting on 5-4-08

[This report is based on a report presented to the DSP NE Secretariat on 7-4-08 by Alex Bainbridge.]

This report presents information about the conduct of five LPF members at the Sydney AVSN AGM on 5-4-08. The information is the basis for charges being laid by Alex Bainbridge against the five members, and the LPF as a whole, on 7-4-08.

The relevant facts are:

1. Despite his assignment to AVSN work having been suspended by Sydney Central branch, Comrade Marcus Pabian attempted to amend the agenda of the AVSN AGM to include a separate report on “AVSN’s campus work”, to be presented by him. Following discussion Marcus P withdrew this motion but then, during the agenda item on solidarity campaigning, moved a motion that read, in part: “That this AVSN AGM endorse the building of campus AVSN clubs” and “This AGM endorses Marcus Pabian coordinating the establishment of campus AVSN clubs.”

Marcus P had presented and spoken in favour of these proposals at the previous Sydney Central DSP meeting (1-4-08). His proposals were discussed and decisively rejected by the DSP branch. (Only LPF members voted in favour of Marcus’s proposal.) Despite the DSP branch’s decision, Marcus came to the AVSN meeting with his motion and a motivation for it typed up and duplicated for all in attendance.

It has since been revealed that LPF member(s) had also discussed the motion and attempted to line up support for it among a number of non-DSP members of AVSN before the AVSN meeting.

3. Marcus pressed his motion to a vote at the AVSN meeting, despite the fact that it was clear that DSP members present were opposing his motion and despite some at the meeting attempting to develop a compromise motion.

4. All five LPF members present at the AVSN meeting (John P, Kerry V, Marcus P, Owen R, Zoe K) voted for Marcus’s motion.

5. After the vote, Marcus made a comment loudly enough for all present to hear along the lines of “So only DSP members voted against my motion?”. (In fact, of the three non-DSP members of AVSN who voted, one voted for, one against and one abstained.) Whether or not Marcus was aware that his comment was untrue, his interjection was an attempt to discredit the democratic vote of AVSN and/or to discredit the DSP in the eyes of other AVSN members.

6. Later in the meeting, during the item to elect Sydney AVSN office-bearers, Marcus nominated himself to be a “campus work contact point” for AVSN, and moved a motion that the AVSN AGM endorse him in this role. This motion was also rejected, by a larger margin. The three LPF members still present voted for Marcus’s motion.

6. During the meeting, Owen R volunteered to enter contact information into the AVSN database.

7. After the meeting had finished, Marcus P, John P and Kerry V attempted to lobby ND to support the establishment of AVSN campus clubs. During that discussion, according to two people involved, Marcus P claimed that he had been authorised by the DSP to move his motion at the AVSN meeting.

Violation of discipline

These actions by the five LPF members were clear violations of DSP discipline because they contradicted the decisions of two DSP branches’ membership meetings.

Of the five LPF members who participated in this breaking of discipline, three (Kerry V, Marcus P & Zoe K) were present at the Sydney Central branch meeting on 1-4-08. A fourth, John P, received an email from Sydney branch secretary Trish C that read in part: “Any comrades who are planning to go to the AVSN AGM should come to the branch meeting. If you are unable to come to the branch meeting, but still want to go to the AGM, you will need to be briefed on our AVSN projections, so should contact Alex.” John P neither attended the branch meeting nor sought a briefing on our projections.

Owen R had been suspended from AVSN work by a decision of a Sydney West DSP branch meeting in March. Nevertheless, at the AVSN AGM he volunteered to take on work on behalf of AVSN and voted in favour of Marcus’s motion.

Following the Sydney Central DSP branch meeting that explicitly rejected Marcus P’s proposal to recommend to AVSN that it establish campus clubs, an email was sent by Sydney district secretary Alex B to Marcus P explicitly reminding him that his assignment to the Latin America solidarity fraction and AVSN work is currently suspended and that if he continues to organise regular AVSN activities (as he was threatening to do) this would be a violation of the constitutional requirement of DSP members to place all of their political activity under the direction of the DSP. The email spelt out:

I explicitly informed you over the telephone on 12 March 08, and am repeating in writing here, that the decision by the executive to suspend your assignment to the Latin America solidarity fraction includes that you not organise AVSNstalls on campus or elsewhere, or organise other AVSNactivities, advertise your phone number as a contact point for AVSN, attend AVSNorganising meetings or stand for official positions in the AVSNunless you have been requested to do so by the Latin America solidarity fraction director or a DSP branch organiser.

Marcus P acknowledged on April 3 (two days before the AVSN AGM) that he had received this email.

Charges laid

As a result of the actions described above, Comrades Marcus P, John P, Kerry V, Owen R and Zoe K have been charged with violating the following sections of Article 4, Paragraph 2 of the DSP constitution:

Given the involvement of two members of the LPF national steering committee (John P and Zoe K) and the pre-meditated and organised nature of this breaking of discipline, charges have also been laid against the LPF as a whole (in addition to the charges laid against the individual members).

The LPF is charged with: Organising its members to break DSP discipline and to violate the constitution of the DSP. This relates to:

Article 4, Paragraph 2

The National Executive Secretariat meeting on March 7, 2008, adopted (with 1 abstention by Comrade Doug L) the following motion in relation to the charges laid:

“That the existing investigating commission comprising Lisa M, Dave H and Susan P be designated the investigating body for the charges laid by Alex B against LPF members Marcus P, John P, Zoe K, Kerry V and Owen R, and the LPF as a group”, and that the committee “should report back as soon as possible to the National Executive, which will serve as the trial body”.