This podcast is a collation of talks and lectures given by Padraic Gibson since 2012. Paddy lives on stolen Bidjigal land in Sydney and is member of Solidarity, a revolutionary socialist organisation with branches across Australia. Most of the podcasts will be 20-30 minute recordings of introductions given by Paddy to educational meetings hosted by Solidarity, examining a range of historical and theoretical topics from a Marxist perspective. Paddy is also a Senior Researcher at the Jumbunna Institute at the University of Technology in Sydney with a research focus on the history of the labour movement and its relationship to struggles for Aboriginal rights. Some podcasts are recordings of academic lectures on this topic, along with theoretical discussions about Australian capitalism and Aboriginal oppression.
Talk given at a Solidarity public meeting, 'How data centres fuel war and climate catastrophe' on August 27, 2026. Paddy discusses the mass investment in data centres in Australia as a function of inter-imperialist rivalry and Australia's role in the US Alliance. This meeting took place the day after Prime Minister Albanese confirmed that the Federal government will not legislate to stop data centres being fuelled by new gas fired power stations.
6 Apr 2026
Ep 15: Union power for Black rights - the Aboriginal Waterfront Committee in the 1960s
This talk was delivered at the annual KeepLeft conference, hosted by Solidarity, in April 2026. It outlines the history of the involvement of the Waterside Workers' Federation (WWF) in struggles for Aboriginal rights in the 20th Century, with a particular focus on the role of the Aboriginal Waterfront Committee in the 1960s. There is also some theoretical discussion of the role of the working-class movement in the fight against racism in Australia. Paddy would like to acknowledge Aunty Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor and film makers Mandy King and Fabio Cavadini for their work documenting this history over many years, including the production of a short film that was played in the session prior to this talk. This film focussed on the activism of Rhonda's father Chicka Dixon, a leading Aboriginal activist and wharfie in the 1960s and 70s who is referenced in the talk.
27 Mar 2026
Ep 14: Why socialists oppose the police
This talk was given at a Solidarity meeting in Sydney on March 26, 2026 titled "Violent, racist, sexist: Why socialists oppose the police". It outlines a Marxist analysis of the historical formation of the police to control the emerging industrial working-class. There is discussion of the settler-colonial context in Australia where police forces were also created as part of a genocidal war against Aboriginal people.
The talk discusses the role of the police in contemporary capitalism and reflects aftermath of a recent major protest in Sydney against visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog that was brutally attacked by police.
26 Jun 2024
Ep13 - The Communist Party of Australia's 1931 Program for Aboriginal Liberation
In September 1931, the Communist Party of Australia printed an extraordinary program for Aboriginal liberation. Written by CPA leader Herbert Moxon, the program condemned continuing genocide in Australia and called for the abolition of the Protection regime controlling Aboriginal lives, respect for self-determination and return of stolen lands. In this talk, Paddy explains how the party moved beyond earlier ignorant and racist attitudes towards Aboriginal people to produce this important document. The influence of an all Black organisation, the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association, was critical. You can read the full program here.
This is a recording of a talk given to the Labour History Conference in Brisbane, September 24, 2017.
A fuller, updated analysis of the program is provided in chapter 4 of Paddy's PhD thesis you can read here.
20 Jun 2024
Ep 12: Race, Empire and Settler-Colonialism in the work of Marx and Engels
In the classical Marxist tradition, anti-racist and anti-colonial struggles are of central importance for the revolutionary working-class movement. This talk explores the the roots of these ideas in Marx and Engels' foundational analysis of race and empire, that developed in profound ways from the 1850s through to Marx’s death in 1883. This development came in response to resistance movements of colonised people around the world. The talk also provides a critique of their weakness on settler-colonialism in particular, Engel’s acceptance of some of the racist ideas of bourgeois ethnography from this time and the way Marx overcame many of these assumptions in his late notebooks. Meeting organised by International Socialists (Canada).
20 Jun 2024
Ep 11: The nature of the Australian Labor Party
This talk explores the contradictory nature of the Australian Labor Party. While founded by the trade unions, the ALP is committed to running Australian capitalism, leading to vicious attacks on its working-class base throughout it's history. The talk argues that socialists need to adopt a non-sectarian attitude to Labor supporters, while agitating for struggle against Labor governments that is every bit as intense as that needed when fighting the Liberals. Delivered at a Solidarity meeting in April 2022.
20 Jun 2024
Ep 10: 15 years of the Northern Territory Intervention
This talk provides and analysis of the Northern Territory Intervention, a racist policy aimed at controlling Aboriginal people and their land that was launched in 2007. It was given at a Solidarity meeting in June 2022 marking 15 years since the policy was announced and explores the dynamics driving the Intervention, its impact and political legacy.
5 Mar 2022
Ep 9: Anti-colonialism and the Communist International
This talk outlines the anti-colonial politics of the early years of the Communist International (Comintern), formed in the wake of the Russian Revolution in 1919. Paddy explores the way the Comintern theorised the relationship between workers' revolution in imperialist countries and anti-colonial revolts shaking the world, particularly the importance of anti-racism and commitment to the defeat of imperialist forces. Recorded at a Solidarity meeting in June 2016.
5 Mar 2022
Ep 8: Capitalism and anti-Aboriginal racism
This talk outlines the importance of anti-Aboriginal racism to the ruling class in Australia. Paddy explores the ways that the so-called "Aboriginal problem" has posed challenges for Australian capitalism and the way Aboriginal resistance continues to threaten the system. Recorded at a Solidarity meeting in April 2016, this podcast is dedicated to the memory of Arrente and Alyawarr Elder Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, who famously asserted "don't try and suppress me. I am not the problem. I have never left my country, nor have I ever ceded any part of it".
1 Mar 2022
Ep 7: Invasion and resistance in early colonial Sydney
This talk provides an historical account of the invasion by British imperialism of Eora and Darug Country, what is now known as Sydney, Australia. Paddy discusses the dynamics driving the invasion and the war of resistance waged by Aboriginal people defending their homelands. Recorded at a Solidarity meeting in January 2015. Since this talk, historian Stephen Gapps has published a major book The Sydney Wars which contains lots of new research into these issues and is highly recommended.
27 Feb 2022
Ep 6: What’s wrong with capitalism? What’s the alternative?
An introduction to Karl Marx's theory of historical materialism. Basic explanations of the concept of alienation, surplus value, the centralisation and concentration of capital and what we mean by workers' power and socialist revolution. Talk to a Solidarity student club meeting at Sydney University in August 2014.
27 Feb 2022
Ep 5: Imperialism and contemporary geopolitics
This talk provides an introduction to the classical Marxist theory of imperialism and uses this framework to analyse contemporary geopolitical crises. Comments cover a range of topics including the rise of ISIS and the civil war in Syria, conflict in Ukraine and growing tensions with China. Recorded at Solidarity's annual KeepLeft conference in August 2014
26 Feb 2022
Ep 4: Frontier warfare and colonial capitalism
This talk explores how the expansionist imperatives of capitalism drove genocidal war across the colonial frontier, with a particular focus on Northern Australia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There is also discussion of the challenge posed to Australian nationalism by Indigenous resistance and why ruling class figures such as John Howard have tried so hard to bury the truth about frontier warfare. Recorded at a Solidarity meeting in Sydney, May 2014.
26 Feb 2022
Ep 3: Marx and ecological crises
An introduction to Karl Marx’s analysis of how capitalism causes ecological destruction and why a socialist revolution is needed to heal the planet.
26 Feb 2022
Ep 2: Australian imperialism and Papua New Guinea
In this talk, Paddy applies the Marxist theory of imperialism to explore the founding of Australia and development of Australian imperialism in the Asia-Pacific region.
26 Feb 2022
Ep 1: What is to be Done? Lenin’s pamphlet 110 years on
This talk reflects on the enduring power of Lenin’s analysis in the pamphlet What is to be Done, first published in 1902.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Spotify
5.0 / 5
9 ratings
Host of unAustralian Marxism: history and theory?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
