Albert Langer

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Albert Langer is an Australian political activist.

Born into a wealthy Jewish family in Melbourne, Langer was educated at Monash University, where he became a prominent student activist during the Vietnam War years. He was a leader of the Maoist faction at the university and a supporter of the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist). He broke with this party after the death of Mao Zedong, but remained a defender of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia.^{[citation needed]}

Langer is an active opponent of Zionism, and was associated with a group called Jews Against Zionism and Anti-Semitism (JAZA).^{[citation needed]} This group is no longer active.

In the early 1990s Langer returned to prominence when he ran a campaign urging Australian voters to number their ballot papers so as not to express a choice for either major party.^{[citation needed]} This was contrary to the intent of Australian electoral law (see Australian electoral system), but Langer argued it was legal, and some lawyers agreed with him. This resulted in him appearing before the High Court of Australia. During his address Langer challenged the validity of the appointment of Chief Justice Brennan and another justice on the bench. (Langer v Commonwealth of Australia & Ors). His opposition to the Commonwealth Electoral Act, which prevented citizens from being discouraged to vote correctly, was unsuccessful in Court. However, the section was subsequently abolished and no longer forms part of the Act.

In February 1996 Langer was sentenced to 10 weeks imprisonment for breaching a court injunction ordering him to stop advocating the casting of an invalid vote, which is an offence under Australian law. In March the Federal Court reduced his sentence to three weeks imprisonment. The government amended the Electoral Act to make the so-called "Langer vote" illegal. He was referred to by the Australian chapter of Amnesty International as a "Prisoner of Conscience."^{[citation needed]}

In 2003 Langer surprised many by supporting the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Langer argued that Saddam Hussein was a fascist and that U.S. was waging a "revolutionary war of liberation" by overthrowing his regime.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Current political views

Langer's current political views are summarised at the Last Superpower website, which he maintains with his ex-wife Kerry Langer:

The war in Iraq: We support the overthrow of the fascist Baath Party in Iraq. The United States currently has no choice but to "drain the swamps" and support the democratization of the Middle East.
Palestine: As a consequence of its new drain the swamps policy, the Bush administration has become the first ever US administration to acknowledge the need for a Palestinian state.
Globalization: globalization is the engine of development in the third world - and development is the answer to world poverty.
Green politics: We reject green ideology because it opposes rapid development, fears change and romanticises pre-industrial life. In practice, "sustainable development" sustains only poverty, malnutrion and death.
Capitalism: On the one hand capitalism is vastly superior to tribalism, feudalism and fascism. The achievements of advanced capitalism really are quite spectacular. Nevertheless it holds back development and progress because it is based on "wage slavery" and is therefore incapable of fully unleashing human potential.