I think it interesting that Liberal Party members, whilst entitled to an opinion and public comment, would have an understanding of the internal machinations of ALP factions to a satisfactory level to be able to make an informed and considered comment. It appears this page is not being used for comment on the article but an attempt at a public belittling of the ALP.

That said, the author’s comments are naive in the extreme. Regardless of political party any concentration of power will result in the erosion of checks and balances that are essential to a healthy democracy. May I point out Mr Ferrett, the (Federal) Liberal Party is also not immune from this ‘phenomenon’!

The ALP is suffering from a concentration of power from the Right Faction particularly in positions of decision-making power. Examples of this are (in Victoria) State President and Secretary of the ALP and many committees including the administrative committee. The result is battles over holding or gaining more power, such as the pre-selection process. Does the public wonder why Mr Crean was challenged?

You may wish to put Ms Gillard’s comments into perspective – she is a member of the Left faction.

I must admit, I thought I was reading an exert from “Yes Prime Minister” - very courageous of the author!

Disclosure – I am a member of the ALP and a former member of a Faction (Right).

The fundamental flaw in the ALP is it's failure to listen to constituents on just about every issue.

As a non-aligned person I have tried to make contact with the Labor party on several occassions in the past... if you aren't a member ... don't waste your time. If you are a member ... don't waste your time either.

Even though the Labor party professes to be pro-worker pro the little Aussie it actually is an elitist group that sits on it's benches. How many Labor members send their kids to private schools, how many Labor members are their because of a faction and not on merit? Isn't the public school system worthy of your children... if not ... fix it!

Keating was hardly a man of the people. Hawke however I believe was at the start. The fundamental problems with Labor is they have too much baggage from the keating years. Let's face it they stuffed up and introduced many of the things that thge Liberals can throw in their faces.

Beazley will never be PM... and his latest efforts have proven that he is a man that some in the party no longer trust.

I think Labor under Beazley should change their name to the Little Liberal Party because they aren't a solution they are part of the problem. Howard gets away with murder and the Loose Lipped Laborites start infighting... Bewdy Mate!

The solution to Labor - get rid of Kim and put Julia Gillard as Leader and Kevin Rudd as Deputy... Julia will at least attract a reasonable portion of the 51% of women voters because she appears to be at least professional in her approach to politics and doesn't have the baggage that Old Kimbo carries.

PS Simple message to all parties... embrace & listen to the people... we are all feeling left out!

If you don't like the way the Labor Party works, do something about it. Whether you join the ALP and work to reform the factions, or whether you join the Greens to build an alternative outside the ALP, just DO SOMETHING. Be heard and be active. If everyone who's disillusioned with the ALP joined the ALP and ORGANISED with the intent of making a difference, we'd be seeing a vastly different Labor Party by now. I know it's easy to get disheartened. I sometimes wonder if Australia doesn't need another political force to take the place on the social democratic left that the ALP used to occupy. But with that nothing more than a hopeless musing, the best thing I see that one can do is to get in there and have your say.

Tristan

What a lot of BS.

Ask those who are too busy to join Labor because they are out there doing things in the community if they'd be satisfied with joining a faction within the party. They'd look at you if were nuts.

Labor is the dead parrot.

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A customer enters a pet shop.

Mr. Praline: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint.

(The owner does not respond.)

Mr. Praline: 'Ello, Miss?

Owner: What do you mean "miss"?

Mr. Praline: I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint!

Owner: We're closin' for lunch.

Mr. Praline: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.

Owner: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue...What's,uh...What's wrong with it?

Mr. Praline: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it!

Owner: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.

Mr. Praline: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.

Owner: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage!

Mr. Praline: The plumage don't enter into it. It's stone dead.

Owner: Nononono, no, no! 'E's resting

There are two problems with the approach of this article.

1. The Labor Party's "basic tenets": what are they really? Those expounded in the article are so vague as to be meaningless. But more important perhaps is

2. The factions. Right, Left, Centre-Left, Centre-Right, Independent, Socialist Left, etc etc. Whatever the label the factions today are clubs whose sole purpose is to farm out jobs (safe-seats; govt appointments; etc) to members of the club. With Labor in Govt everywhere but federally, there are lotsa jobs to farm; this explains the ongoing vitality of the factions.

If you doubt this recall the gyrations of the Labor candidate for the seat of Cunningham in the by-election she lost to the Greens. She was originally "left", then joined the "right". Challenged on this she said in effect "Oh, it's just a tactical thing; I haven't changed any of my views".

So much for ALP factions representing different views.

The Labor Party is no longer a vehicle for progressive reformism or social justice. There is in fact no such vehicle in Australia today.

What is needed is a major housecleaning and rearrangement of the left-of-centre forces in Oz. A prerequisite will be a 1955-magnitude split in the ALP, cleaning out the factions and allowing for the development of a fresh political culture. This will be messy and painful but it's vitally necessary. Anyone who doubts this should look closely at the TV media grabs from Beazley, Rudd, Gillard, etc: meaningless pap with no message. The Lib Govt is awful, but it won't be unseated by such trash.

Some responses

To vanessal: I have been close to a number of ALP people over the years and I have been a keen observer of and participant in politics so I think I have a sufficient understanding of the faction system to comment.

To SHONGA: I didn't suggest that the Liberal Party doesn't have factions. It is true to say that it doesn't have the same factional structure of the Labor Party. Alliances are much more transient in the Liberal Party. In any event, the comment was on the article, which was about the Labor Party.

Generally: I do not think that the solution for any political party suffering through factionalism is to conduct a witchhunt to stamp out factionalism. It is inevitable that any party which is not a single issue party (eg Greens) will have different bodies of opinion within it. A broad-based party, by definition, has to embrace such diversity. My argument is simply that a successful leader of such a party sometimes has to stamp his/her authority on the party by putting factions in their place. Speaking to people in weasel words, telling them that you're "committed" to their "concerns" or that you want to "introduce transparency" is an exercise in giving them false hope that more power and entitlement will fall to them than is either possible or desirable. Such pathetic deception is a bad foundation for strong leadership.