Labor Party leadership

[tcpip]

This post is friends-only, as I would be expelled from the Labor Party if I made it public.

The Australian Labor Party, in an act of political suicide, has chosen Mark Latham as its leader for the next Federal election.

I'm seriously thinking of voting Liberal.



The empirical evidence to date suggests Mark Latham is disliked by a lot of people and liked by a few. In contrast, very few actively dislike Kim Beazley, and a lot of voters think kindly of him. But if these are general statements for the Australian public they are even more extreme within the Australian Labor Party itself.

Latham is simply despised by huge sections the Labor Party membership. Enormous numbers of ordinary members will simply refuse to staff the stalls, do the letter-boxing, hand out the 'how-to-vote' cards. Why is this? Because Latham is a evangelical economic rationalist. Take the following statement:

"I believe in an upwardly mobile society where people can climb the rungs of opportunity, climbing the ladder of opportunity to a better life for themselves and their family. I believe in hard work."

Now this is an extraordinary remark from a leader of Party which once advocated the democratic socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange, that once fought a referundum to nationalise trading banks, that introduced free tertiary education, and is supposedly based on overcoming class disparities. But you can only have the "upwardly mobile" with "rungs" in a non-egalitarian society divided by "haves" and "have-nots" - as that's the sort of world which Latham supports.

Let me spell it out in simple terms. Latham wants to abolish the welfare system.

Or, in words I couldn't express better myself, the conclusion of Robert Manne's article


If Latham takes the Labor leadership tomorrow the ALP will gradually abandon interest in Aboriginal reconciliation. It will demonstrate a growing contempt for what Latham calls the left-wing "rights agenda". It will seek to match or outbid the Coalition on questions like the threat of terrorism, "illegal immigration" and the war on crime. Just as Tony Blair transformed the British Labour Party by incorporating Margaret Thatcher's economic ideas, if Latham succeeds in winning the ALP leadership he will attempt to incorporate into Labor Howard's brand of populist, cultural conservatism. After Blair, Britons could say "we are all Thatcherites now". If Latham wins the Labor leadership Australians may soon be able to remark: "We are all Howardites now."


If Beazley was leader, Labor would have won the next Federal election (unless Howard managed to organize yet another war). More importantly Beazley, commanding respect across the entire Party would have been able to organize the fifty-thousand or so volunteers that make up the backbone of the ALP.

There is no chance of that with Latham. The champagne corks must be popping across conservative households tonight. Truly, as Kim Beazley Snr once remarked, the Labor Party once was led by the cream of the working-class. Now it is led by the dregs of the middle-class.

Nota bene for my Canadian and U.S. and other overseas readers: The Liberal Party in Australia is dominated by conservatives. They are politically closer to the Reagan/Thatcher era than political liberalism.

Comments

[the-christian.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that. I realised earlier today that aside from some attacks on Bush that any basic single-celled creature can make, I know very, very little about the man, aside from his breaking of a cab drivers arm.

And "climbing the ladder of opportunity to a better life for themselves and their family. I believe in hard work."...

Fuck. That's about my only response to that.

You seem like a smart, informed fella. Tell me, why is it the labour party has swung so desperately far away from it's working class roots and become this wishy-washy unrepresentative polling dead whale of a thing that stands for no one I ever met?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Tell me, why is it the labour party has swung so desperately far away from it's working class roots and become this wishy-washy unrepresentative polling dead whale of a thing that stands for no one I ever met?

Something very bad seemed to have happended to the Party post-Whitlam and during Hawke and Keating. This could be number of things.

1) The John Pilger conspiracy thesis: After the Whitlam government did a lot of thing to upset the United States and the CIA engaged in a campaign to discredit the ALP, once in opposition they've ensured that US political leaders have close relationships with young up and coming members of the ALP right to ensure that something like the Whitlam government never happens again.

2) The entrenchment of the factional system. Quite loose and fuzzy prior to mid-term Hawke, and certainly without binding internal caucus', factions ensure that all you need to become leader in the ALP is the biggest majority of the biggest majority. The fact that this may be a very unpopular minority is evidently irrelevant.

3) The adoption of privitisation and micro-economic "reform" strategies (like the rest of the world) in the 1980s which basically gutted any commitment to socialism. It was during this period that the Party also changed its national platform from the democratic socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange to "the extent necessary to stop anti-social activities" or some such crap.

4) The ALP-ACTU-Business Prices and Incomes Accord, which basically meant that unions forget the reason of their existence for thirteen years, were amalgamated into non-competitive "super unions" and the prospect of wage increases were deferred for tax cuts and social wages, many of which never arrived.

[radiumlabs.livejournal.com]

Big Kym goes silently to the back bench and Simon Crean has the opportunity to take up the shadow acting treasurey job but is unlikely to do so ( I think ). So with that if Latham does win there will be little internal muscle behind him or ppl to check him from within the party ( which ever your point of view.

[jazzyjay.livejournal.com]

Why did Labor choose him if he is so despised?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Personally I blame the "Ferguson left" who were his main backers and picked up a couple of juicy positions because of this support. Beazley wasn't entirely popular having lost two elections previously. Also Latham is from the NSW right which carries a swag of caucus votes.

At the end of the day it's about the Parliamentary party being way out of touch with the membership (like they've been on refugees, like they were on the national presidency) and the factions within the Parliamentary party interested in being the biggest power base in an increasingly permanent opposition.

[jazzyjay.livejournal.com]

But looking at the votes on a state-by-state basis, the majority come from WA (home state, makes sense) and Vic (I think some 16 outta 18 vic votes went his way) whereas NSW went all the way on the first date with Beazley. How does this sit with it?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

You mean the majority of Beazley votes in WA?

WRT to Victoria that was a pariochial decision again. Basically the Victorians blame Beazley for cutting down Crean, when really it was due to the fact that Crean has zero charisma. Again the Ferguson left (with the exception of Ferguson himself, oddly) supported Latham in Victoria, namely Gillard, King, O'Connor and Jenkins along with the left associated with Kim Carr (Vamvakinou, Carr, Jennings).

[jazzyjay.livejournal.com]

Cheers for sorting that out for me.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

It's a pleasure. I work on the basis that more informed people are (dirty laundry and all), the better their ability to make decisions.

[severina-242.livejournal.com]

Labour won't win the next election, there'll be another 4 years of J-ho, and my spirit will get ground into the dirt a bit more.....

Doesn't leave me many options with my useless part Polish parentage. It effectively traps me.

Wow, that's really suicidally depressing.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Oh don't get me wrong. Latham might beat Howard. When I say that Labor is commiting political suicide I mean that their parliamentarians are pissing off their own members to new heights. I'm also just seriously considering the prospect that he'll be worse than Howard. He'd certainly be worse than Costello.

[severina-242.livejournal.com]

So basically either way, australia is completely screwed.....

[zey.livejournal.com]

Tragic days indeed when after the Liberal Party moves to the far-Right to pick up the Hansonites, the ALP's response is to move even further to the Right than the Libs.

It'll be interesting to see if fireworks explode between Carmen Lawrence and Mark Latham at some point though. Latham's got the support of the parliamentary party, Lawrence has the support of the members. A situation a bit similar to that which caused the Democrats 'Gang Of Four' crisis not all that long ago ;-).

[jesusandrew.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info. I didn't really know much about Latham before, other than that he was "controversial". I was hoping it was in a good way, rather than a Blair way. Dammit.

[zey.livejournal.com]

Phillip Adams recent article in The Oz puts the ALP's leadership vote into perspective with some good observations.

[jesusandrew.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I feel even better informed now.

[darkstardeity.livejournal.com]

I'm seriously thinking of voting Liberal.

Wouldn't that be cutting off your nose to spite your face though? Not to mention aiding J.Ho in his claims to have "a mandate"? Vote for one of the other parties, even if only to register your discontent. Who knows, enough people might be jacked off with both major parties by the time of the next election that numbers of votes for the Democrats and the Greens might give them both a wake-up call. OK, OK, I'm being overly optimistic, aren't I? By the gods, the political landscape in this country at the moment drives me to despair sometimes.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I would certainly not give the Libs my first preference - that goes to the Greens! But there are a couple of things that are making me think that they may receive a higher preference than the party I'm a member of

1) If Costello replaces Howard a lot of the nominal liberal policies (reconciliation, the republic, multiculturalism) will get a better airing than under Latham.

2) If the Liberals are in government any cuts to social welfare will be opposed by Labor, whereas is Labor under Latham is in power the Liberals will support it.

[darkstardeity.livejournal.com]

Faerie Nuff. It makes sense when you put it like that.

[angel80.livejournal.com]

I find it hard to whip up enthusiasm for Beazley. The Philip Adams article linked by Zey puts it better than I could. He is very, very conservative. Was never happier than when playing with the military toys. Was unmentionable on the Tampa and detention issues. Likeable as a person, yes, but leadership material definitely not.

Besides, I beg to differ with you on this, he would NOT have won the next election. Australians have shown time and again that they do not vote for nice politicians. From Whitlam to Howard (and probably before, but I didn't pay enough attention), they have voted for head kickers.

I don't know Latham from a bar of soap. Nor I suspect does anybody else outside the ALP and the press gallery. Therefore he has a chance to tailor his image. Do I see spin doctors???

I agree, he'll have to do better than that awful 'vision statement'. I don't think it deserves your attempt to analyse it - it's just a bundle of cliches plucked out of the ether.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Was unmentionable on the Tampa and detention issues.

Beazley wimped out over Tampa. He fell for a set-up (yes, it was a set-up) and suddenly saw after months of coasting it in that he might just lose.

Latham's attitude is much worse on this matter. Here's his correspondence on Labor for Refugees

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=cache:Xyr6ZrUFrW0J:www.labor4refugees.org/mark\
latham.html&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Therefore he has a chance to tailor his image. Do I see spin doctors???

He has several books published. They make it quite clear what sort of person he is. I doubt whether he'll change his image - he likes his image.

All I know is that I cannot vote for him and nor can I support I party led by him.

[caseopaya.livejournal.com]

Beazley probably would still have gotten Aust involved in Iraq as well.

I do admit however, Beazley would have won my vote whereas Latham never would.

All the in fighting that has been happening in the party over the past few years has really turned me off every becoming an actual member of one!

[angel80.livejournal.com]

Oh well. I came to that conclusion about Labor many years ago.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I've decided to take off the "friends only" security rating and run the risk of being dragged in front of the Disputes Tribunal if some headkicker from the Latham camp finds my comments objectionable and against the Party's public interest.

Heck, I find Latham against the Party's public interest, so I guess that's par for the course.

Seeming that his comments about George Bush and John Howard were about the only sensible things he's said so far, it's been impressive to see how quickly this leopard can change his spots.

Latham in bid to heal US wounds

"Mr Latham told ambassador Tom Schieffer that his judgements on the US would be different now that he was Opposition Leader. He said the US alliance was the first pillar of Labor's national security policy as it was fundamental to Australia's national interest."

Good one, knucklehead.