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The Forum > Article Comments > Where to now for the ALP? > Comments

Where to now for the ALP? : Comments

By Syd Hickman, published 22/9/2015

Australia has had four Prime Ministers in a bit over two years. But the ALP has had ten leaders in the last twenty.

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My short answer is that it needs a leader who is not indentured to faction leaders - to be able to articulate policy directions without fear of being called to account, or being white anted.

Bill Shorten vowed to reform the Party - to democratise it so that it is attractive to potential members and candidates who are from outside the traditional union/Party nurseries. He seems to have given up the idea entirely, after he suffered a drubbing at the Victorian State Conference.

For someone who had rejoined in the belief that the reform was irreversible and that the Party would become in the words of John Faulkner, electable and worth electing, Bill is a disappointment.

The polls in the next few months will confirm if the non-rusted voters have switched to Malcolm Turnbull.

The medium is the message. Right now I do not see a Hawke, a Keating or a Combet in the offing. The best of Gough and Rudd might be ideal, but that semblance seem to emanate from the Turnbull persona at the moment.

Such a shame.

Unions has a necessary place in our economy and society. But they should not have a stranglehold on the ALP - in the selection of candidates and Party executive positions, or in the pursuit of policies which are of sectional interest to particular unions only, like the increase in public servant numbers who dominate the unionised ranks, or the bloated claims of imported labour under the Free Trade Agreement with China.)

The ALP has become a shopfront for Union bosses, despite the fact that only 52% of union members voted for the ALP in the 2004 Federal elections. It needs an urgent open heart bypass to regain its vigour as a social democratic Party. The old arteries, clogged and diseased, need to be bypassed so that the heart can still pump away, unhindered, for the good of the our society
Posted by Chek, Tuesday, 22 September 2015 10:17:44 AM
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Your reference to the comfort of the 1950s is presumably a snide comment on the election of Jeremy Corbyn (with 60% of the vote) as leader of the UK Labour Party. such an approach ignores a number of crucial points. All of them have direct relevance to the ALP.

First, UK Labour supporters were thoroughly sick of the 'red Tory' policies pursued by Blair and his successors. Those policies included failed austerity, involvement in illegal foreign wars, and the not so gradual dismemberment of the welfare state.

Secondly, the (by Australian standards) radical proposals of Corbyn enjoy widespread support among the British public at large and in many cases substantial majority support. The one-quarter of the eligible British voting public who actually voted for Cameron and the Tories are clearly underwhelmed by the options they are offering.

Thirdly, Corbyn continues to enjoy widespread support despite a vilification campaign unprecedented in recent times by the msm, including the so-called left versions such as the Guardian, the Observer and the Mirror.

Applying those lessons to Australia, why would any half way intelligent voter opt for the ALP when all they would be getting is a vague "me-tooism" from Shorten and his ilk with the distinguishing characteristic between the two parties being that one is bound by the union movement and the other by its reliance on the big end of town.

At least Turnbull has shown style grace and humour, all qualities lacking in Shorten. If the promised policy changes reflect the rhetoric then Labor is in for a long spell in Opposition. It will need to do more than change the leader.
Posted by James O'Neill, Tuesday, 22 September 2015 12:06:42 PM
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Syd
Can you identify any “Labor” member of Federal Parliament who does not “play the cynical political games so loved by the spivs and half-smart careerists who regard policy as just a source of ways to wedge the opponent, to generate electoral bribes for voters, or of tokenistic 'announcements' to play in the media”.
Can you name one member in the whole Parliament who has the wit and honesty to explain to the Australian people that your fantasy wish list is just electoral propaganda, because the Parliament has no control over the global financial markets and the price of iron ore and coal.
Chek
I’m afraid you are heading for more disillusionment. Hawke/Keating implemented neo-liberal free market policies, privatisation etc, and we are suffering the consequences today.
Posted by Leslie, Tuesday, 22 September 2015 1:37:17 PM
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Hallowman Short is becoming more of a liability for the ALP.

Shorten should go as he is a bit of a Union puppet and very unconvincing at interview. Plibersek would put a bigger dent in the Turnbull-centrist takeover.

Next Labor leader should not be some tubby union man.

In terms of policies that the author suggests - "Defence policy" has rapidly become a weak area for Labor since the Liberal's suggested a submarine build mostly in Australia.

Shorty's slavish "bipartisan" following of Abbott on "national security" issues was/is a weakness for Labor. A withdrawl of Australian forces from Iraq and (over) Syria might be a viable Labor policy.
Posted by plantagenet, Tuesday, 22 September 2015 1:39:18 PM
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I watched "Q&A," last night and was very
pleasantly surprised by Mr Shorten.
I still have reservations about the man
as I do about our new Prime Minister.

Tony Abbott was an embarrassment.
And yes, Mr Turnbull is capable of great
charm and persuasion. He is sophisticated, urbane,
erudite, classy and so on (however as one political
commentator pointed out most of which is basically
code for having received the proper class training).

One thing is for sure - it should be an interesting
election.

At least with both men - we just may finally get
a leader who believes in science, does not engage in
faux pas, is not a reactionary. A person who won't
embarrass us on the world stage and won't make us
wince every time he opens his mouth.
A person who will have a plan as well as the capacity
to implement it. A person who will be able to inspire
us that the future will be better.

We now have a better choice to what was presented to us in the
past. Mr Abbott is no longer our problem but that of the
Liberal Party's.
Posted by Foxy, Tuesday, 22 September 2015 4:02:07 PM
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Hi Foxy one

Abbott's beach interview* not only:

- had him repeating himself 3 times in one sentence (in his signature "2 second memory, like a fish" way)

- but it demonstrated Abbott will not keep a low profile, on the backbench, gracefully.

Abbott, with his great talents for negativity, may become the wrecker who undermines Turnbull's shiny new Prime Ministership. Was it not like-minded Jesuit assassins who almost did for Elizabeth I?

May Prince Malcolm the Charming reign over us for at least 3 years!

There may be a Presidency to follow.

* see http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-22/abbott-says-morrison-badly-misled-public-over-spill/6793608
Posted by plantagenet, Tuesday, 22 September 2015 4:50:39 PM
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Dear Plantagenet,

I somehow suspect that Mr Turnbull has a great deal
more nouse than to allow Mr Abbott to do any harm.
Mr Abbott just may receive an offer
he cannot refuse. Perhaps an Ambassadorship to the
Vatican? ;-)
Posted by Foxy, Tuesday, 22 September 2015 5:49:24 PM
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Nah Plantagenet & Foxy, I'm afraid you both have it wrong.

The pretty clown will, just like last time, stick his great clumsy foot in his pretty mouth, within a year.

He is so desperate to get a carbon trading scheme going for his Goldman Sachs mates, & so confident in his arrogance, he'll move too soon. Some of the poor buggers are down to their last few million, so he must hurry.

It appears that so many who not see what a slimy bugger Rudd was until it was too late, are falling for exactly the same sort of conman all over again.

Labor have no worries at all. This fool will quite possibly split the coalition, & Labor will come back with a green bunch for help. If not this drastic, he'll make enough mistakes to make even Shorten look good.
Posted by Hasbeen, Tuesday, 22 September 2015 8:08:21 PM
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If that's the case, Hasbeen, how long do you reckon Shorten will last as PM before Albo challenges him?
Posted by Aidan, Tuesday, 22 September 2015 8:28:16 PM
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Try this US comparison for a parallel to our Lib/Lab mediocrity:

http://www.resilience.org/stories/2015-09-18/one-and-half-cheers-for-bernie-decision-2016-and-the-deep-sustainability-agenda

And this for all the optimists:

http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2015/09/you-call-this-progress
Posted by Geoff of Perth, Wednesday, 23 September 2015 2:20:12 AM
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Rudd and Gillard were hideous embarrassments to the country. Labor needs to do far better next time, and Shorten certainly isn't it.

Here we have Labor's proposed future PM rubbishing a trade agreement with China that has been a more than a decade in the making, with stupid and racist demands that would target China, but not the Europeans or Americans.

And just recently Shorten fully supports the leader of the CFMEU after he was caught illegally destroying evidence that had been subpoenaed by TURC. It brings back Juliar's support of the clearly corrupt Thomson.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Thursday, 24 September 2015 10:08:39 AM
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