Great Depression and Aftermath Cold War New Left Contemporary Active Historical Stephen Jolly (born 1962) is an Australian politician, socialist activist, author and construction worker.
[3] In 1989, at the age of 27, Jolly was a first-hand witness of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre while he was speaking to protestors and helped them organise.
[2] He noted in a 1990 news article that the protestors "never believed the People's Army would turn against them" and has since been involved in pro-democracy in China rallies.
[7][8] Jolly's socialist political stances have led to hostile reactions from far-right groups such as the United Patriots Front, which has promoted rallies and death threats against him.
[16] In 2004, he was elected as a Councillor for City of Yarra in the Langridge Ward, representing the suburbs of Abbotsford, Alphington, Clifton Hill, Collingwood, Fairfield, Fitzroy and Richmond.
In 2017, Jolly voted in favour of the controversial decision to cancel its Australia Day ceremony as a part of the Change the Date campaign.
[27][3] Jolly stated this campaign attempted to fight for the programs promoted by international left-wing politicians such as Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
[28] The decision to run in the Northern Metropolitan Region has been considered controversial by Reason Party's Fiona Patten, due to the possibility of splitting the non-conservative vote in the count for the last seat.
[29] This ticket was supported by a wide variety of trade union groups, including the ETU, NUW, CFMMEU, UFU, AMIEU, and VAHPA.