If the ALP works on getting back to being Labor then & only then will they get a chance at the next round.

Gentlemen,

The facts are that the opinion polls consistently
predicted Bill Shorten would win. It was
supposed to be the Labor Party's "unlosable"
election. Political analysts were sure of it.

The polls are facing increasing scrutiny having
shown the Coalition trailing Labor in every
poll for the past 3 years.

Just to lighten things up a bit - you may enjoy
the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAMnSxCmgYY

Foxy,

You have some extent missed the point of the thread, Hawke was for the Labor party a centrist reformer who saw what was happening under Thatcher and realised that by liberalising the economy he could create more returns for the workers by growing the economic pie than by having rigid union control of the production and set the country up for future prosperity.

Albo, by contrast fiercely opposed the liberalisation of the economy and strongly advocated for the strong union control and government intervention in the economy as existed in the UK in the 60s and 70s. In 2007 to 2010 he was one of the architects of letting in the boats and establishing the FWC which rolled back labour reforms some even before Howard. It is also believed that many of the big tax and spend policies that Shorten took to the election originated from Ablo's left faction.

Albo might have some of the everyman appeal that Hawke projected, but ideologically Scott Morrison is far closer to Hawke than Albo.

As for the comparison between SM and Howard, that he managed to win an election from behind by motivating the aspirational "battlers" that were typically rusted on Labor supporters shows that there is something in common.

To conclude, Labor lost an unloseable election in my opinion because Labor swung too far to the left redefining themselves as class warriors and alienating all aspirational voters. Labor needs to return to the center that Scott Morrison captured, and Albo is not the man to do this.

Foxy my side lost, but be happy in the end the true right did too
OH yes the usual suspects can gloat, but they are mostly from the true right
We are entering hard times, lard headed voters will blame them, for things like Rudd, they have no control over
Never had a day in my life I did not think my partys needed reforms, to grow, to get better, this will bring that about
Much fun ahead

Foxy,

Opinion polls are just that, opinions; and I think that many of those asked don't tell what they really feel.

Shadow Minister,

There's an old saying :

"If you judge a book by its cover
you may miss out on an amazing story."

So it is with judging Anthony Albanese or
for that matter - Scott Morrison.

As this past election results have shown -
people can surprise us. And have.

It is too early to make judgements.
People do change.
Who we are, the way we
govern, how we do things - these are not set
in concrete.

Of course there are people who fear change.
Who don't like it. Who prefer conformity
and sticking to rigid stereotyping. It simplifies
the complexity of the world for them. They don't like
having something they hold to be true replaced with
something they don't like.

So how reforms are implemented is important.
For reforms to be successful - you need to take
the people with you and also to ensure that change is
truly embedded in structures and systems - otherwise
good ideas and changes will be lost through poor
implementation.

We need to give our two new leaders a chance and not
judge them ahead of time. They are both experienced
men. One more than the other. And we should wait
and judge them by their actions.
Not their words.