The right-wing press had a collective meltdown over the recent 10,000+ strong high school strike against Pauline Hanson. This fear mongering is not new. High schoolers have rebelled many times over the past 60 years in Australia from the 2019 climate strikes to the 1960’s high school protests againt the Vietnam War. Each wave of protest has proved a basic point – that left-wing school students know far more than the patronising capitalist press. This session will explore the inspiring high points of Australian high school radicalism and discuss the role of anti-capitalist politics in these rebellions.
The session will be presented by Diane Fields and Eva Sutherland who helped to organise high school protests against the Vietnam war and the Gaza genocide respectively.