Australian Labor Party National Executive

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The Australian Labor Party National Executive is an internal body of the Australian Labor Party, one of the major political parties in Australia. Twenty members of the National Executive are elected by the party's National Conference, which is the highest representative body of the party's state and territory branches. The other eight members are party ex-officio members. Members on the Executive may be officials of trade unions affiliated to the party or members of federal or state Parliaments. The ex-officio members are the National President, the National Secretary and two National Vice-Presidents (who are directly elected by Labor members), and the Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party,[1] but of these only the party Leader has a vote.

The National Executive is concerned mainly with organisational matters. It does not decide party policy, which is determined by the National Conference. The National Executive does not elect the party's parliamentary leaders, which is done by a ballot of both the Parliamentary Caucus and by the Labor Party's rank-and-file members. The National President or Vice-President are elected by party members. Its most public role is to act as the final arbiter of disputes about parliamentary candidacies (preselections). On these matters the National Executive usually votes on factional lines. The Labor Right faction holds a majority on the National Executive,[2] though it did not hold a majority at the 2015 National Conference.[3]

The power of the National Executive extends to the reorganisation of a State Branch. For example, in 1970 to improve the party's chances of electoral success, the National Executive intervened in the Socialist Left controlled Victorian Branch, involving the sacking of State officers and dissolution of the Branch. Less drastic forms of intervention are more common, such as the final arbiter of preselection disputes.[4] The executive has authority over policy as it can interpret the party’s constitution, platform and conference decisions.[2][5]

Members of the National Executive[]

As of June 2020, the current members of the National Executive are:[1]

Member type Member name Position Faction State/territory Voting member
Ex-officio members Wayne Swan National President Right[6] Queensland
No
Paul Erickson National Secretary Left Victoria
Mark Butler MP Senior Vice-President Left[6][7] South Australia
Mich-Elle Myers Junior Vice-President Left[8] Victoria
Jason Byrne National President of Young Labor Right South Australia
Anthony Albanese MP Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party Left[9] New South Wales
Yes
Elected members Senator Tim Ayres Senator for NSW Left[10] New South Wales
Steve Baker Queensland Branch Secretary of the Australian Workers Union Right Queensland
Susie Byers Victorian Labor State President Left[11] Victoria
Josh Peak Secretary of the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association South Australian Branch Right South Australia
Senator Raff Ciccone Senator for Victoria Right Victoria
Kate Doust MLC Member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia Right Western Australia
Gerard Dwyer National Secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association Right New South Wales
David Gray Former Progressive Left Unions and Sub-Branches (PLUS) Convenor Left[12] South Australia
Rose Jackson MLC Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council Left New South Wales
Tim Jacobsen Tasmanian State Secretary of the Health and Community Services Union Left Tasmania
Graeme Kelly NSW State Secretary of the United Services Union Right New South Wales
Senator Sue Lines Senator for Western Australia Left[13] Western Australia
Tara Moriarty MLC Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council Right New South Wales
Bob Nanva NSW Labor State Secretary Right New South Wales
Michael O'Connor National Secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union Left New South Wales
Michael Ravbar Queensland State Secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union Left Queensland
Amanda Rishworth Federal Member for Kingston Right South Australia
Wendy Streets Queensland State Secretary of the Finance Sector Union Left Queensland
Shannon Threlfall-Clarke Victorian State Vice President of the Australian Workers Union Right[14] Victoria
Linda White Former Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union Left[15] Victoria

Executive leaders[]

National Presidents[]

National President Period
John Ferguson 1950–1953
Denis Lovegrove 1953 – 1 May 1955
Joe Chamberlain 1 May 1955 – 1961
James Stout 1961 – July 1962
Jim Keeffe July 1962 – August 1970[16]
Tom Burns August 1970 – 7 June 1973
Bob Hawke 7 June 1973 – 2 August 1978
Neil Batt 2 August 1978 – 8 September 1980
Neville Wran 8 September 1980 – 3 July 1986
Mick Young 3 July 1986 – 7 April 1988
John Bannon 7 April 1988 – 25 June 1991
Stephen Loosley 25 June 1991 – 6 June 1992
Barry Jones 6 June 1992 – 31 July 2000
31 July 2000 – 1 January 2004
Carmen Lawrence 1 January 2004 – 1 January 2005
Barry Jones 1 January 2005 – 28 January 2006
Warren Mundine 28 January 2006 – January 2007
John Faulkner January 2007 – 27 February 2008[17]
Mike Rann 27 February 2008 – 27 December 2008
Linda Burney 27 December 2008 – 30 July 2009[18]
Michael Williamson 30 July 2009 – August 2010
Anna Bligh August 2010 – 1 July 2011[19]
Jenny McAllister 1 July 2011 – 17 June 2015
Mark Butler 17 June 2015 – 18 June 2018
Wayne Swan 18 June 2018 – present

National Secretaries[]

National Secretary Period
1963–1969
Mick Young 1969–1973
David Combe 1973–1981
Bob McMullan 1981–1988
Bob Hogg 1988–1993
Gary Gray 1993–2000
Geoff Walsh 2000–2003
Tim Gartrell 2003–2008
Karl Bitar 2008–16 March 2011
George Wright 19 April 2011–September 2016
Noah Carroll September 2016–July 2019
Paul Erickson 16 August 2019–present
  • Cyril Wyndam was the first full time Secretary. Prior to 1963 the position was not full time[20]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Australian Labor Party National Executive". Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b The Australian, 2 July 2015: Vote change to shift Labor’s power to the Left
  3. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 18 June 2015: Labor powerbrokers lose control with reform back on the agenda
  4. ^ ABC News, 4 November 2015: ALP national executive pulls rank on WA branch attempt to dump MPs Gary Gray and Alannah MacTiernan
  5. ^ The Age, 27 July 2005: Labor Left accuses Right of stacking branch rules
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "NATIONAL PRESIDENT ELECTION". Australian Labor Party. 18 June 2018. Archived from the original (Press release) on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  7. ^ Kenny, Mark. "Left's Mark Butler wins ALP presidency". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  8. ^ Carey, Adam (13 April 2018). "Unions dump Butler, back one of their own in run for ALP president". The Age. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Crikey List: which MPs were involved in student politics?". Crikey. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  10. ^ Morris, Sophie (19 July 2014). "Faulkner expects state conference defeat on party reform". The Saturday Paper. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Labor Party debts punch $15m hole in Albanese war chest" (article). The Australian. Australia. 31 August 2020.
  12. ^ Martin, Sarah. "Powerbrokers labour behind the scenes". The Advertiser.
  13. ^ Crook, Andrew (12 April 2013). "Louise Pratt shafted in WA Labor Senate battle". Crikey. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  14. ^ Willingham, Richard (12 May 2011). "Young Labor, same old rifts". The Age. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  15. ^ Hannan, Ewin (8 December 2009). "Unions at war over ACTU leadership". The Australian. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  16. ^ Senate Biographies - Keeffe, James Bernard
  17. ^ [1]
  18. ^ [2]
  19. ^ [3]
  20. ^ http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/4985.html
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