Michael,

Let the "residents" and "normal people" in the suburbs and regional centres pick the Federal ALP candidates then. Go primaries and actually see what the suburbs want rather speculating as Beazley, Latham and you do now.

Give the power over to the "residents" or is that too big a step for the union pre-selection process to contemplate. What is clear if you accept the "residents" thesis is that "elites" hold Labor back - that could be interpreted as Keating and Whitlam but it could also be interpreted as the closed shop pre-selection of dud dull canidates often from backgrounds that are extraudinarily narrow.

Look at the difference on the cross benchers in backgrounds - the ALP is very much worse at picking good local candidates from a wide variety of "residents" backgrounds. No wonder it can't connect.

Go read my article: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3696

Good article by the way.

Corin

Micheal SIMPLE...."listen to it"

The sad "unions" verses "capitalist pigs" and "redistribute income" themes of the Left, are about as relevant as another hole in the head.

I really think the community is 'past' all that. Labor needs to move to the right, and the Coalition needs to move to the left. MIDDLE GROUND is where most of us dwell and have our being.

If labor (or the coalition) tries the pathetic and transparent tactics of half truths and scoring political points as did Lindsay Tanner with his sooooo obvious political salivating dredging up out of date sex offences at the 'right time' to 'damage' Howard via the GG.. welllll does he think we are THAT stupid ?

The religious values based groups will probably determine the outcomes fron now on, because a) they/we are growing, and b) they/we have something to believe in (as opposed to the wasteland of secular humanism/nihilislm/amoral existentialism) and are more and more passionate about it.
c) they vote on ISSUES of social justice and morality. d) they (we) are becoming more politically analytical, examining marginal seats etc, developing strategies, becoming more active.

So, I'd forget about 'redeeming the unredeemable' as in "Labor" and begin to think about a better Australia. When a political party thinks past it's ideological nose, it has a chance with 'us'.
When they deny we are relevant, exist, or write us off as the lunatic fringe morons of the fundy right' we simply form our own party, and fight them democratically.

Here is a Hint. Labor seems to have a wide 'migrant' heritage support base. But the community is not itching there. The vast majority (and increasing in size) is itching in the 'cultural identity' spot. Especially the Anglo/Europeans. (we are 12.7 million )

The 'para-message' of multi culturalism is that (Anglo/Europeans) 'YOU DON'T EXIST' or.. "you don't matter", or.. "You dont even HAVE a culture" or "Your a pack of intolerant racists" well.. we will see :)
Failure to address this running sore, will be done at the risk of political and social oblivion.

The Labor Party cannot rebuild if they are relying on the union movement. In all honesty while I agree with much that the union movement is saying, their economic record is very much revolves around an old world view. There is a niche economic agenda that the Labor Party can target but that would still require Labor to break with their union ties.

The Labor Party machine will not change unless there are more electoral losses for Labor. Tony Blair in 1994 changed the Labour Party for the better and made them a force to be reckoned with. Labor must learn the lessons of their British comrades if they are to return to power in 1997. Though I doubt it.

The idea of primaries is excellent, yet there are inbuilt problems. The current system for Labor means that the branch stacking continues and people turn up to vote someone in (if the are lucky) whilst others are genuinely not interested. There is the potential for running the risk of having primaries just mean larger turnouts of factional support than before. Yet it would be an improvement on what tehy currently have.

One thing I do find interesting is that as the Labor Party have lost more and more of their base in the suburbs to the Liberals, they are becoming ever more beholden to the inner-city elite. Because they have lost, the remaining members of the Parliamentary Labor Party and their factional bosses come from a dwindling geographic area. It would have to take a real concerted drive to bolster party members in the outer suburbs and bring in new ideas for Labor otherwise they will be forever linked to an inner-city and left-wing union set.

Seang,

You are totally right.

Blair did it with complete centralisation of power into the political operation and away from the unions. This is best done by primaries in my view but I agree that if that is unachievable - then by removal of the LEFT forces (by that I mean those rusted on to "ideology" - so many in the right too) from influence in the Labour party.

Get Gordon Brown, Alistair Campbell, Peter Mandelson, et al, types and remove the dead wood like Martin Ferguson, Jennie George, et al.

Corin

Primaries can work. I feel that it would excite the base and because of the novelty would attract attention but the Party Professionals would be deadset against it because they would see it as fostering division and it would restrict their ability to gain office. Such egotism nowadays has blocked good, hard-working people from achieving political office because of their background.

It would take real guts to reform Labor.

Federal Labor opposition could well do with more butchers, bakers and candle stick makers, gardeners,alternative lifestylists,poets - but this isn't going to change its fundamental outlook.

It suffers from being caught between two worlds - the one created by the Howard regime [off the back of the Hawke and Keating years] and the other which is off its own making. It does not know what it stands for.

How can you possibly ask the electorate to support a party suffering from a personality disorder whereby the most predominant and visable characteristic of this disorder is that it doesn't think it has a disorder at all.

"Insanity is doing the same thing in the same way & expecting a different outcome"
Old Chinese Prover