I hear a lot of musings about the ineffectuality of the Labor election campaign.

In spite of the huge gift Labor has been handed in the form of opposition to the Industrial Relations Reform laws passed late last year..I get the feeling that this still wont be enough.

Is it just me or does Kim Beasley look like he's lost hope.?

He just does'nt inspire the average Labor voter with any conviction that he's in there pulling for them.

With Kevin Rudd in the wings and liked and respected by a lot of the electorate I fail to see why Labor cannot get its act together.
Every blunder could cost Labor dearly in the current climate, the Rove McManus being the latest.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/election-is-workers-last-hope--beazley/2006/11/14/1163266550343.htm

Holyshadaow, there have been various theories floating around since 1996 which point toward Labor losing government because it deserted the working class. (working class meaning manual workers).

The Hawke and Keating government are often implicated for this loss which then has been used to conveniently critique why subsequently Labor leaders failed to recapture them. This is just lazy in my analysis in view.

I for one am not convinced that Labor and its support for the unions campaign against Howard's IR laws will bring this huge electoral demographic back into the fold. I don't think there is a landslide Labor win waiting to happen, more like a 'falling over the line' win - but they have yet to create the right political and cultural conditions for either of these to occur. In fact I believe they have absolutely not control of this at all.

The think the key will be how well each Labor dominated state gets on board and begins to talk up the importance of winning federal government -well before the election.

Most don't and will only give the usual symbolic support - [especially here in Qld]

So to answer your question 'are they doing enough’? Yes they are, but they have yet to connect the quadrangle of local to state to national to global issues. Announcing what they will do in policy if they win cannot be done as isolated national initiatives – they need to gain traction on the ground where it matters with all voters- not just the working class.

A national Labor committee which includes all current party leaders (elected) would provide the focus that Labor currently lacks. But I think pigs will merrily fly before this or anything that looks remotely like a united Labor forum will occur.

Raineer,

You make some good points here.
In terms of are they doing enough I guess I see that they dont seem to be capitalising on issues that so glaringly need to be dealt with..

I feel that the last 10 yrs for the Howard government has left so much 'fodder' on which Labor can feed and really make a meal of.

A comprehensive election campaign would see Labor going to the electorate and really driving home the glaring, lies and deliberate ommissions of the last 10 yrs.
Starting with the 'children overboard saga' ,Detention Centres,AWB kickbacks, David Hicks and the governments abandonment of him.
Sedition Laws, the Iraq war and Industrial Relations Reforms.

I mean there is a whole plethora of sins that Labor could draw on but does not seem to really play lipservice to them.

I saw an interveiw with Paul Keating on the 7.30 report a few weeks back and he was quite scathing , and rightly so, of how Labor under Beasley were just plain lazy and stupid.

I just dont think they know what the heck they are doing.

I don't think federal Labor is doing enough in the leadup to the next election.

If you listened to Kerry O'Brien talking to Robert Doyle, former leader of the Victorian Liberals they discussed the comment that
- this was the worst election result in Liberal history
- the Liberals were so busy fighting pre-selection battles and shoring up their own postion they had lttle time to formulate and promote policy.

As the election results came in it was clear that right wing voters voted Family First instead of Liberal and left wing voters who didn't like John Howard voted Labor - no way would they vote Green in case the Liberals got in.

The Liberal leader, Ted Baillieu's speech conceding defeat was very gracious and you felt he might govern for all Victorians.

Peter Ryan the leader of the Nationals sounded most divisive and unpleasant and unfortunately his facial features mirrored the tenor of his speech. He has no appeal to city voters who abhor guns and chain saws.

Steve Bracks acceptance speech was strange, bellicose and faltering, in it he repeated or stated his pledges improve schools, roads and to fight Canberra over IR, water, hospitals.

Holyshadow, totally agree with Keating’s call on them not being up to the game at hand.

However, good point scoring is very much dependent on a media that is fair and impartial. We simply don't have one.

You only need to read the front page of the Weekend-Australian and there’s an opinion piece dressed up as an objective news story that blatantly suggests that the Howard government are innocent of any impropriety in the AWB scandal.

Labor cannot afford to continue to rely on 3/10 political news items going their way. See how the Stern Report was dealt with for example. Howard was let off the hook big time despite 10 yrs of anti environmental policy. The Murdoch Media spin doctors (known as Editors in real media outlets) are now remodelling the Howard government as born again greenies. Where was Labor in all this? No where at all.

Beazley was on the ABC's program Insiders this morning (http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/) spruiking how Labor policies were going to benefit Australians; he was talking political strategy to win government, not policy.

In other words he's not yet realised that he is actually on the paddock playing the game now, not on the sidelines doing a running commentary on how he is performing on the field. This regular bipolar positioning whereby he jumps between these two positions of - on field player and off field ‘cricket’ commentator drives people to distraction. He’s not in tune or on song.

But for me this isn’t simply about good media performances, its about knowing the game of politics well. The other stuff up was that he couldn’t provide a good reason for retaining some front benchers who are retiring at the next election. It’s a bloody Joke!

But perhaps we are thinking of that largely mythical Labor Party from long ago, one now far away, one that I saw in the twinkling of Paul Keatings eye - or heard singing in one of Gough Whitlam's sardonic quips, or in the infectious enthusiasm for life you hear anytime you listen to Barry Jones speak on anything at all

Ranier,

You couldnt be more right about the lack of impartiality in the media at large in Australia.

Howard has always taken care of Packer and his ilk hoping for favourable media coverage.

I have often wondered if Keating might throw his hat in again, maybe missing the cut and thrust of politics after all this time.Wouldnt go down too well Id say.

Beazley seems he has not been versed in any form of media perfomance technique much needed to win over the hopelessly jaded electorate and inspire confidence in established Labor devottees, they who are hanging on to any shred of hope that this 'circus act' can pull it together and actually , as you say , fall over the line.

i rather hope that ozzies will not vote for any political party, as a simple expression of contempt for the character and intellect of this medieval guild called "politicians".

they are all in it for the self gratification of power, none have demonstrated any talent for management, all have participated in corrupt practices- and ozzies continue to vote for them.

little wonder that pollies are moral dwarfs, when the electorate is content with so little.

Left, right or centre we all have a common enemy: politicians. Politicians - who would be of more use to society if they were on the dole - represent their party or themselves, not us. Their only aim is to say whatever they think will get them more votes than their competitors enough times to get themselves set up for life with massive superannuation benefits not available to anyone else in the community.

I agree with Demos. We should be looking for an entirely different group of people, rather than discussing the current crop of idiots who make up both Labor and Coalition

If as a true beleaver I have concerns about Labors will to win.
If every bone in my body says we must not fail.
How can I convince those who have never voted Labor to hear my storey?
A debate must take place about leadership or the party is telling me it has no wish to win.
That workchoices is a cross low income Australians must bare.
And that personalitys rule my party not ideals.

The reason the ALP seems so pathetic is that, essentially, they are no different to the Liberal party.

The reason that it appears that they have abandoned the working class is because - well – they have, if they ever represented them at all. The ALP have been revealed for what they really are – another capitalist business party.

The reason they don’t “capitalize” on the Government’s crimes, is because essentially, they agree with them.

All this hoo-ha about the Beazley being the only one who can save us from the IR Law is a lie. He says he is going to rip them up. So what? Even if he does rip them up, which I doubt, the important question is – what are they going to be replaced with? We haven’t seen anything and its only a year from the next election. Shouldn’t we have the opportunity to see what their plans are in advance so that we can study them and make an informed choice? No, that would be too much, we might actually find out that the ALP is intending to sell us out. Face it, the ALP defends the rich.

I agree with DEMOS and, for once, Leigh. We need a new political party, built by ordinary working class people, to advance their own interests in the face of continuing attacks by capitalist parties of all persuations.

Belly, "How can I convince those who have never voted Labor to hear my storey?"

Some how you have to convince the rest of us that Labor are less of a threat to this country and us individually than the Coalition.

Howard has certainly done a lot to hit ordinary workers but from my perspective is less harmfull than Labor has been when they have had the chance.

Howards been caught out in plenty of lies but then lies and deceit seem to be the normal operating mode for many Labor pollies so it's hard to get worked up about replacing the Coalition with a Labor government on the basis of those lies.

At a state level I've been hurt by an utter lack of concern for workers by the state labor government as they run from one deceit riddled crisis to another.

Personally I've been dismayed at the limited action to reform the family law and child support systems by the current government and the federal governments gender bias in it's handling of the DV issue but when I consider Labor's record in those areas they seem to be the ones who set up much of the worst of it and have shown no signs of any interest in a fairer system.

Internationally we appear to have gone into Iraq for the wrong reasons but then Labor is not articulating convincing sounding alternatives as to how we should deal with some of the tensions facing the world.

I'm left with a sense that gaining and keeping power is the issue that concerns our pollies most, the issue for voters who are not "true believers" then becomes which group of scoundrels will do the least harm.

R0bert

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20792352-662,00.html

Kim Beazley under fire.

We live in an era of fear and greed where incumbent governments prosper - no matter how badly they perform.

That old saying about governments losing government rather than oppositions winning is highly relevant next year.

Bracks being returned is a good example of the above. So too Howard in the last election.

Should we see a change of leadership in the Labor Party it will need to be at the very beginning of next year at the latest - or over the next few weeks before Christmas.

Howard will run at the next election but I sense he will do this only to retire soon after (if they win). He understands that this announcement alone will be critical to perceptions of his government. Costello is not out of the picture as some like to think.

Beazley needs to go and go now for a cleaner transfer of power. But because he lacks the political acumen to understand his own fallibilities it looks unlikely that he will jump or be pushed. While I doubt that Rudd has the cut-throat skills required to overthrow Beazley he will happily let others do it.

I say watch the state premiers, they may finally see winning government at a federal level as important to the national interest – instead of their own political careers.

I live in hope, that’s all we have.

Rainier I think many people who voted in Victoria were shocked to hear Ted Baillieu promise to slash public service jobs.

All Victorians know people who were broken by the Kennett retrenchments and who now look forward to a far less comfortable old age than they would have if they had been able to retire at 55 when their often modest superannuation kicked in.

yes there are fat cat in the system, but the people retrenched would be the lowly clerks, technicians.

Bracks won the election with that promise from Ted.

Thanks for that insight Billie,

And I totally agree. Bracks should have won by promising these hard workers some real benefits and reparation from that which was cruelly taken from them by evil incarnated Kennett.

A lot of my good mates are those same technicians and clerks you speak of. Like me they would have had to double their super contributions ten years ago to realise a comfortable retirement.

I think the other reason Victorians didn’t vote for Ted Baillieu was because of his lousy Elvis impersonations. The bourgeoisie never understood working class cultures.

Ranier

Sorry, but you need to understand that Bracks didn’t make such promises because he courts and defends the exact same constituency as Kennett – the bourgeoisie. So does the whole Labor Party – State and Federal, it doesn’t matter who leads them.

Give up your hopes and illusions about the ALP, they do not represent working people, no matter how much they attempt to maintain the charade.

Consider the fact that during the election campaign, Ford announced the destruction of 640 jobs before Christmas. Did you hear a word of condemnation from the ALP? Apparently the State Government and the Unions knew it was coming long before the workers did. And what was their messsage to workers? - just accept it as the inevitable result of globilsation and market forces. Where is the defence of jobs and living standards for the working class? No-where to be found.

The ALP cannot be revived or reformed, it is a bourgeois party whose members have betrayed the working class time and time again. Essentially their role has been to channel discontented working class people back into the safety of the capitalist parliamentary system, containing and diffusing any potential revolutionary mobilization of the masses.

Tao,

Nothing there I would disagree with bro and you are right to correct me for not being clearer in my assertions.

Years ago when I was a lad you could put "working class" and "Labor party" together in once sentence without raising eyebrows. It was common sense and how things were. A natural symbiosis of working class ethics mobilised through a party that was a political animal to behold.

It no longer exists.

But what does exist is the groundswell of discontentment with the Labor party. Surely this means something? The Labor party is riding on the back of the union inspired campaigns. Surely this means something?

Yes they sold us out in just about every state but if we do not believe in a resurrection of working class political credentials we might as well just give up now.

I'm not a member of the Labor party, but I’m a unionist as are many union people.

The labor party WAS the birth child of workers liberation movements –and they often forget this - I know that young Laborites believe that they (Labor party) gave rise to workers rights. They did not.

Bill Shorten pants is a good example of how the party has created a professional ruling class within its own ranks. They know the rhetoric and how to spin it.

One need only count the incestuous family dynasties in the party, both in state and federal.

But they are all we have this side of 2007 comrade.

Ranier,

The unions are complicit and also cannot be revived. They simply function as part of bourgeois management, helping to minimize working class resistance.

Take for example, the “Fill the G” rally, concert, protest, whatever they are calling it. What a ridiculous situation! They are using union fees to hire the MCG from Melbourne’s bourgeoisie (the Melbourne Cricket Club), where they will do nothing but tell us to vote for Beazley at the next election. They are taking legitimate working class hostility to Howard’s IR Laws, containing it within the MCG instead of taking it to the streets, and channeling it into a vote for the ALP who have a history of betraying workers. I even heard it advertised on the radio – “gates open at 7am, entry is free” as if it is some sort of party being bestowed upon us by the unions – yet it is the workers who pay for it through their union fees. Aaaaaargh! Workers will be giving up a day’s pay for this rubbish. My partner, a teacher, is pissed off because the Union has already notified the Administration of who will be stopping work so the school can make other arrangements to minimize the disruption! How useless.

Workers need another perspective, other than the faint hope that a Labor Government will make things a little less bad, and the unions are not going to provide it. As I said before, workers need to build their own party to advance their own interests – and its aim must be to overthrow capitalism.

Tao,

I've been there where you are before, totally frustrated and feeling hopeless with it all. But I'm only one man.

Yes we need a workers party - but the unions are up to their necks with Laborist loyalty.

Forming a workers party run by workers for workers might be the go.

What do you think?

Tao once again your views are minority ones, never ever will voters in numbers big enought to count vote for such a party.
In fact Labor to be elected must convince conservatives to vote for them.
No better chance ever existed than now for a land slide victory to federal Labor.
But are we intent on winning?
My own suport for the current leader has been all over the shop from total to non existant.
Its time for me past time, nothing matters more than the removal of John Howard.
The first step has to be a leader that non Labor voters would vote for.
And policys like yours that reduce the ALP vote to meaningless forever a minority are unhelpfull.
Kim Beazley you good bloke, the chance has passed you by, go with honor and grace mate.

Tao I also wondered why the ACTU rally is at the MCG.
I think it might be because everyone knows that the MCG can hold 100,000 and there was a lot of discussion about the number of people at previous rallys.
The fact of the matter was the protestors straggled down the length of Swanson St and choked Flinders, Collins, Bourke, La Trobe at the Swanson St intersection. Before your collar glows red, remember that these thoroughfares are reserved for trams and tourist buses.
If everyone is in the MCG then perhaps the protesters will actually have to listen to the speakers rather than chatting with their neighbouring protesters.

The Chamber of Commerce might not have liked the disruption to the commercial activity of the city

Belly,

It is not ‘policies like mine’ that make a vote for the ALP meaningless, but their own policies (or lack thereof) and weasel words. The ALP will not help workers because it defends the capitalist order. The very essence of capitalism is to exploit workers for profit which is what drives wages and living standards down– we all know this deep down but, presently, the majority of workers are not conscious of it. The ALP and the Unions function to ensure that workers don’t become conscious of it. We can see on this forum that even you (a Union and ALP member) try with all of your might to ensure that we don’t become conscious of it.

Billie,

It is the “Chamber of Commerce and Industry” and their like, as conscious representatives of capitalism, who are driving the new IR Laws and the cuts to working and living conditions. Why would Unions be kowtowing to them? Since when was strike and protest action supposed to cause as little disruption as possible? The whole logic of strikes and protests is to be disruptive, call attention to yourselves, and imply that you might take over – that is force the powers that be to give you concessions.

It is interesting that you would think it perfectly acceptable that the Unions would contain this movement of the working class inside the MCG making it seem like a little hissy fit – ensuring that workers are considerate of business which does nothing but exploit them. What will it achieve? That you don’t understand what industrial action is really about reveals the degeneration of the union movement.

Rainier,

Yes, as I said, the working class needs to build a new party based on an international socialist program. During the Victorian election campaign I campaigned in Broadmeadows for the Socialist Equality Party. They are a small party in Australia, but have international sections. I’ve been reading their website www.wsws.org since the 2004 elections and am considering joining. In New York recently they got 25,000 signatures to get on the ballot and 7,000 votes, small percentage wise, but a huge effort – that’s 7,000 conscious votes for socialism, and growing. They also ran in other states in the US.

We didn’t get a lot of votes in the Broadmeadows campaign (423), but almost that many people gave us their names etc. so that we could contact them with more information. People that we met during the campaign help deliver our statement, helped on election day. I’ve never seen anything like it. One woman I spoke to told me she had always voted for Labor but had decided to vote for someone else. She picked up our election statement off the ground in a shopping centre carpark, read it, went home to her father (who had also always voted Labor) and told him she was going to vote for the SEP. He said he was too!

Belly will try to poo-poo this, but long time party members and campaigners said that they could tell that a real shift in the working class was occurring. As the party doesn’t enter the elections just to get votes, this is an encouraging sign.

I recommend you read their election statement http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/nov2006/vic-n01.shtml and read the site.

Tao no rush to activism and the far left is takeing place, and it never will.
Your quest for a workers based party that could bring change other than the ALP is bound to fail.
It is recycled from a long gone past, even with workchoices workers have no intention of such folly.
Only dreams for you and a nightmare to be relived for another generation of working class people in the unlikely event it came to pass.
Welcome Kevin Rudd to ALP leadership this weekend.
And Kevin, only victory is execptable!