I would like this to be a review not unlike the one the party its self is running.
Understanding some will contribute their dislike for my party,even bury it.
But in my posts, if the thread gets a start,I will talk of our current problems and possible ways of stabilizing the party.
First who are todays ALP.
I am well aware reality has its place,prime position , in any debate.
Unions and working class, if we have such a thing, can not control directions of a party that wants to rule.
But right now in its rush away from average Aussie my party is in festered with academics and Lawyers teachers and middle class.
Our branches are as interesting and attractive as spending the night up to your arms in cow dung.

Labor if it is to govern must understand its recent history is not looking very good.
Kim was under mined by lessor people and he alone was the party's hope.
Latham had his team and won support of the dreamers, for a very brief time me too.
He left a fragmented party, still infected with his and Creans team.
Along Came Kevin Rudd, for the first time after Hawk and Keiting left we looked to have a leader and directions.
That promise was no less a mist that dried up in the early morning sun than was Mark Latham.
And undermined by exactly the same team that pushed big Kim out the window.
Now as the states fall, as we see our future is on the opposition bench's those who broke our heart so many times are holding the wheel.
Labor must plan to rule for every Australian, make policy's that gain votes not bleed them away.
Focusing on the unfairness of Medea and Abbott is time wasting.
Not responding to deliberately awful statements and question from Medea gutless.
ABC TV news headlines Government is considering a $40 price on carbon, a total lie why not ask news reporters this question.
*that question is untrue, is it your stated opinion in the form of a question*
At conference I went in groups, the purpose of the group was to carry a vote, to vote as told.
At the NSW power sell off one I was chastised for wearing a protest shirt, as was my mate an official too.;
We voted against our boss and from that day every one was escorted to the Sunday polling and watched as they voted.
Is that not a stupid way to let a few get power over the many?
My party needs a broom a leader and some one to deport every policy Maker we currently use, one at least can be done with leadership change.
The Australian Labor Party is not the property of any playgroup, it is indeed time, for change.

Shortly after the birth of the greens, assisted by Hawks saving the Franklin River, we had a refuge for ALP voters.
That refuge also had every Left wing idealist from Socialist to Communist on board.
For some time it did not matter.
But increasingly its leaders took the Axe to the ALP, convinced confrontation gained them voters.
It is past time, very much so, for Labor to let this party ride on its back.
We grinned as One Nation took Conservative votes, pretended we did not see it took some of ours too.
Squealed like a pig after Howard let Abbott loose to kill them,and steal their policy's in part.
We must come down of our high horse get dirty and fight the greens.
Every preference we get sees two votes leave us, forever, our voters are not of the left.
Our branches wither and die, still, not that any party branches are other than stacking sink holes.
Lets have local members visit a different branch every meeting, let every member have a few minutes in private to put concerns that will receive answers to him/her.
Make the branches teams, get those leaders back yard BBQ out to race meetings public parks neutral ground fun places not a judgment from self appointed leaders.
Being nice to minority's is good but not listening to majority's is just dumb.

What are you trying to do Belly? Get ordinary Aussies to tell you what's wrong with the ALP and then take the feedback to your masters so they can fix the mess? If so, then I'm afraid it won't work Belly. The ALP have become trolls and stooges for big business just the same as the Liberal Party has.

I was a member of the ALP until just a few years ago, yet I left the party disillusioned and resentful. I had several issues with them including their pandering to big agri-business such as Monsanto and allowing GM seeds and products to contaminate the organic growing industry. Common sense should have told them (at least based on the American experiment) that it's impossible to stop contamination, but oh no! The ALP had to kneel before their might of Monsanto (and others) and allowed the wretched stuff into the country.

And yes, that's one of my pet hates, but not everyone thinks the same way, but it wasn't that alone that made up my mind to desert the ALP.

When I resigned, I wrote my letter of resignation to the Victorian Secretary of the ALP, but got no feed-back or recognition of my resignation. "Thanks for nothing" I thought to myself and moved on. I was dismayed to find the scum Vic branch then took another years fee and hoisted them onto my credit card. I wrote a scathing letter to the secretary and once again, got no reply!

Eventually I had to phone (at my expense since they didn't have a 1800 number) and it took ages to find anyone who could do anything about it. I lost my unsolicited membership fee, but was pleased that the matter had finally drawn to a conclusion. I vowed never to vote for the miserable bathplugs again!

Continued....

Did they care at the time? Would they care now? Nope! I'm just one little worker and they don't know or care if I'm dead or alive. Nobody ever wrote to ask why I left the party in disgust. Not a peep, not a word! That's not how you do business. If you have a disgruntled member of a work team, then you do all you can to make that member productive by working through issues, not by elbowing them aside.

I had many other issues with Labor at the time, too many top list here, but since I no longer felt I could rely on the party I grew up with and thought even less of the Liberals, then who could I vote for at all? What's the point of voting when my vote can become a preference for some other mob I think even less of? To me, preferential voting is a farce!

When your back is to the wall and you feel you don't have a friend in politics, then you have three choices. One is to vote for an unheard of party, the other is to cast a blank or intentionally invalid vote, the other is to vote for the lesser of three evils and for a lot of people, that third choice was to vote for the Greens.

If I was allowed to swear here Belly, I'd aim a tirade right at the Labor Party for casting aside the ideals that once made them a "stand alone" party and not just one of the rest of the brawling rabble that constitutes the Liberal and National Parties.

Up the lot of 'em I say!

Hi Belly,

Did you by any chance happen to watch Q and A last night?
Way to go Bill Shorten, Anna Rose, and Judge Felicity Hampel, and audience. As Bill Shorten stated - Labor is in for the long haul,
and they are doing well. Their 2011-12 Budget will get Australia back in the black, get more people in jobs and spread opportunities in the mining boom to more Australians. They will build a bigger workforce and more targeted investments in skills and training and put in place measures to encourage participation.

Don 't fall for the rubbish that being espoused by the Libs. Their technique is to tear down the Gillard government but if you look at the polls - they're not building Tony Abbott's. His personal approval also fell in Newspoll. They criticise Gillard for "backflips," buyt heck - they conveniently overlook the two-faced nature of Tony Abbott's responses on any number of issues.

Some people seem to forget that some of the problems for the government at the moment are that they have to be busy governing. They also need to take everything past the Independents and the crossbenches at every opportunity. It's a hard line to actually live to see a program through, let alone sell it. However, further down the track when good outcomes do result - fear mongering and no policies, will not be able to compete with positivwe outcomes.

The Libs should give Tony Abbott the "election" he craves. Elect a new leader. There are two words that just may save their party -
"Malcolm Turnbull!" Abbott's last desperate grasp for power hasn't worked in the past and it certainly won't work in the future. The sooner his party realises that - the sooner they may be able to salvage something. "Blah, Blah, Blah," doesn't work. Australian voters
realize that.