Labor Right
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2017) |
Labor Right | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Kaila Murnain[1][2][3] |
| Student wing | Student Unity |
| Ideology | Third Way[4] |
| Political position | Centre to centre-left[5] |
| National affiliation | Australian Labor Party |
| Colours | Red |
| Seats in the House of Representatives | 31 / 151 |
| Seats in the Senate | 12 / 76 |
| Federal Caucus | 44 / 94 |
| Part of a series on |
| Labour politics in Australia |
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The Labor Right, also known as Labor Unity, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that tends to be more socially conservative and economically liberal. The Labor Right is a broad alliance of various state factions and competes with the Labor Left faction.
State branches[]
Factional power usually finds expression in the percentage vote of aligned delegates at party conferences. The power of the Labor Right varies from state to state, but it usually relies on certain trade unions, such as the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), Transport Workers Union (TWU), the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) and the Health Services Union (HSU). These unions send delegates to the conference, with delegates usually coming from the membership, the administration of the union or local branches covered by their activists.
State-based factions (national sub-factions) which make up Labor Right include:
- New South Wales
- Centre Unity.
- Queensland
- Labor Forum (dominated by the AWU).[6]
- Australian Capital Territory[7]
- Centre Coalition.
- Victoria
- Labor Centre Unity (The Shorts: consisting of branch members and unions aligned with Bill Shorten, in particular the Australian Workers Union).[8]
- Labor Unity (The Cons: consisting largely of Branch Members aligned to and supporters of Labor Deputy Leader Richard Marles and former Senator Stephen Conroy, in particular the Transport Workers Union).
- Moderate Labor (Mods: defectors from the Shoppies; aligned with Adem Somyurek; allegedly part of a grouping called 'Centre Unity').[8]
- Shoppies (SDA: also known as Labor Unity, largely union-based).
- Western Australia
- Progressive Labor (Consists of TWU, SDA, AWU, MUA and CFMEU) [9][10] The Progressive Labor faction was thought of as dissolved in 2019 due to infighting;[11] however it still exists as a faction within the Western Australia Labor party, with WA Labor Unity acting more as a sub-faction rather than a faction in of itself.
- WA Labor Unity (TWU, SDA, AWU).
- Northern Territory
- Labor Unity.
- South Australia
- Labor Unity (dominated by the SDA).[12]
- Tasmania
- Labor Unity.
Political views[]
An overriding stated theme of the more moderate wing of Labor governance is balance between progressive social change and conservative economic management as the pathway to community development and growth.
Many Roman Catholics have been prominent and influential in the Labor Party, both inside and outside the auspices of the Labor Right faction. Their influence had been criticised by many older Labor socialists and Protestant conservatives for being beholden to religious authority. However, this sentiment has decreased since the 1970s with the erosion of religious sectarianism in Australian politics.
The Labor Right views itself as the more mainstream and fiscally responsible faction within Labor.[citation needed] The faction is most famous for its support of Third Way economic policies over Labor's traditional early twentieth century social democratic policies,[citation needed] such as the economic rationalist policies of the Bob Hawke and Paul Keating governments, including floating the Australian dollar in December 1983, reductions in trade tariffs, taxation reforms such as the introduction of dividend imputation to eliminate double-taxation of dividends and the lowering of the top marginal income tax rate from 60% in 1983 to 47% in 1996, changing from centralised wage-fixing to enterprise bargaining, the privatisation of Qantas and Commonwealth Bank, making the Reserve Bank of Australia independent, and deregulating the banking system.
Youth Wing[]
While the senior faction is broken into various state- and union-based groupings the Young Labor Right is organised around the various parliamentarian factional leaders and power brokers. The Victorian Young Labor Right is currently divided between the Conroy aligned (Young Labor Unity), the SDA (Victorian Labor Students), the TWU (Labor Progressive Unity), AWU (Young Labor Centre Unity), the NUW (Young Labor Action) and Moderate aligned grouping.[citation needed] The NSW Young Labor Right known as Young Centre Unity is the largest Labor Right youth faction.[citation needed]
Federal Members of the Labor Right[]
| Name | Parliamentary seat | Other positions | State/Territory | Sub-faction/union |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Marles[13] | Member for Corio | Deputy Leader of the Opposition
Shadow Minister for Defence |
Victoria | 'Cons', TWU |
| Kristina Keneally[14] | Senator for New South Wales | Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Shadow Home Minister
Former Premier of New South Wales |
NSW | |
| Dr Jim Chalmers[13] | Member for Rankin | Shadow Treasurer | Queensland | AWU |
| Tony Burke[13] | Member for Watson | Manager of Opposition Business in the House
Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations |
NSW | SDA |
| Mark Dreyfus QC[13] | Member for Isaacs | Shadow Attorney-General | Victoria | 'Shorts', AWU |
| Bill Shorten[15] | Member for Maribyrnong | Shadow Minister for the NDIS
Former Leader of the ALP |
Victoria | 'Shorts', AWU |
| Don Farrell[16] | Senator for South Australia | Shadow Special Minister of State
Former Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate |
SA | SDA |
| Chris Bowen[13] | Member for McMahon | Shadow Minister for Health
Former Treasurer |
NSW | |
| Joel Fitzgibbon[16] | Member for Hunter | Shadow Minister for Agriculture
Former Minister for Defence, former Chief Whip |
NSW | |
| Jason Clare[16] | Member for Blaxland | Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness
Shadow Minister for Regional Services, Territories and Local Government |
NSW | |
| Michelle Rowland[17] | Member for Greenway | Shadow Minister for Communications | NSW | |
| Amanda Rishworth[17] | Member for Kingston | Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education
Shadow Minister for Youth |
SA | SDA |
| Madeleine King[18] | Member for Brand | Shadow Minister for Trade | WA | |
| Shayne Neumann[16] | Member for Blair | Member of the Shadow Outer Ministry
Former member of the Shadow Cabinet |
Queensland | ASU |
| Clare O'Neil[15] | Member for Hotham | Member of the Shadow Outer Ministry | Victoria | NUW |
| Matt Keogh[18] | Member for Burt | Member of the Shadow Outer Ministry | WA | AWU |
| Matt Thistlethwaite[19][20] | Member for Kingsford Smith | Shadow parliamentary secretary
Former General Secretary of the NSW Labor Party |
NSW | AWU |
| Tim Watts[21][22] | Member for Gellibrand | Shadow parliamentary secretary | Victoria | 'Cons' |
| Kimberley Kitching[15] | Senator for Victoria | Shadow parliamentary secretary | Victoria | 'Shorts', HWU |
| Glenn Sterle‡[18] | Senator for Western Australia | Shadow parliamentary secretary | WA | TWU |
| Emma McBride | Member for Dobell | Shadow parliamentary secretary | NSW | |
| Chris Hayes | Member for Fowler | Chief Opposition Whip | NSW | AWU |
| Justine Elliot | Member for Richmond | Former member of the Outer Ministry | NSW | |
| Sharon Bird | Member for Cunningham | Former member of the Outer Ministry | NSW | |
| Ed Husic | Member for Chifley | Former member of the Shadow Outer Ministry | NSW | CEPU (CWU) |
| Anthony Byrne | Member for Holt | Former parliamentary secretary
Deputy Chair and former Chair of the Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security |
Victoria | |
| Deborah O'Neill | Senator for New South Wales | Former shadow parliamentary secretary | NSW | SDA |
| Helen Polley | Senator for Tasmania | Former shadow parliamentary secretary | Tasmania | AWU, SDA |
| Rob Mitchell | Member for McEwen | Former Whip | Victoria | 'Cons' |
| Alex Gallacher | Senator for South Australia | Co-Chair of the Senate Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade | SA | TWU |
| Catryna Bilyk | Senator for Tasmania | Chair of the Senate Standing Committee of Senators' Interests | Tasmania | ASU, SDA |
| Anthony Chisholm | Senator for Queensland | Former Secretary of the Queensland Labor Party | Queensland | AWU |
| Milton Dick | Member for Oxley | Former Secretary of the Queensland Labor Party | Queensland | AWU |
| Nick Champion | Member for Wakefield | SA | SDA | |
| Meryl Swanson | Member for Paterson | NSW | ||
| Luke Gosling | Member for Solomon | NT | SDA | |
| David Smith | Member for Bean | ACT | Professionals Australia | |
| Raff Ciccone | Senator for Victoria | Victoria | SDA | |
| Dr Daniel Mulino | Member for Fraser | Victoria | SDA | |
| Josh Burns | Member for Macnamara | Victoria | 'Cons' | |
| Anika Wells | Member for Lilley | Queensland | AWU | |
| Marielle Smith | Senator for South Australia | SA | SDA | |
| Tony Sheldon | Senator for New South Wales | NSW | TWU | |
| Dr Mike Freelander | Member for Macarthur | NSW |
‡ Sterle was formerly a member of the now-defunct Centre Left.
See also[]
- Category: Labor Right politicians, current and former parliamentary members of the Labor Right
- Moderates (Centrist faction in the Liberal Party of Australia)
- New Democrats (centrist faction in the Democratic Party of the United States)
- Blue Dogs (conservative faction in the Democratic Party of the United States)
- Progress (organisation associated with the Labour Party (UK))
References[]
- ^ Bramston, Troy. "Albo picks up the pieces". The Australian. News Corp. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- ^ Bramston, Troy. "Factional warfare creates Right old mess in search for a leader with a winning chance". The Australian. News Corp. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- ^ Bramston, Troy (10 January 2017). "New Labor women reckon they have the ideas — not just the numbers". The Australian. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
- ^ Jingjing Huo (2009). Third Way Reforms: Social Democracy After the Golden Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-521-51843-7.
- ^ Brown, Greg (8 October 2018). "Kimberley Kitching caters for Labor's conservative core". The Australian.
- ^ "Left takes over Queensland Labor in historic shift". The Australia. 31 July 2014.
- ^ "Contest in ACT comes down to the ALP machine versus genuine locals". Crikey. 9 April 2010.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Rundle), Guy (18 July 2018). "The instability of Labor's latest factional stability deal". Crikey.
- ^ Butterly, Nick; Delalande, Joanna. "WA Labor's Progressive faction fractures". PressReader. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Historic union pact formed to take on the Left". The West Australian. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ Butterly, Nick. "WA Labor's Progressive faction has split after spectacular infighting leaving Left faction dominant". The West Australian. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Liberals' donations double Labor Party's ahead of SA election". ABC. 11 August 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "The 12 Labor figures who will do the heavy lifting in government". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ Martin, Sarah (28 May 2019). "Kristina Keneally frontbench position set to spark Labor factional brawl". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Probyn, Andrew. "The strain within Labor's Left and Right bubbles over as the party wrestles over its future". ABC News. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Tewksbury, Marc. "Labor MP Jason Clare dismisses Otis group". news.com.au. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Labor's new-look shadow ministry". SBS News. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Hondros, Nathan. "WA Labor MPs named as part of pro-coal, right-wing 'Otis Group'". WAtoday. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ "Shorten stands by Gillard as leader". 9news.com.au. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Chan, Gabrielle (25 July 2015). "Bill Shorten wins freedom to use boat turnbacks, but leadership split on issue". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ "Leaked texts show Somyurek's influence among federal Labor ranks". skynews.com.au. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Ilanbey, Sumeyya (28 January 2020). "Tensions between Labor's Right and Left factions at boiling point". theage.com.au. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
Further reading[]
- Cumming, Fia (1991) Mates : five champions of the Labor right. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86373-021-4. Library catalogue summary: Paul Keating, Graham Richardson, Laurie Brereton, Bob Carr and Leo McLeay recount events which shaped the Australian labour movement from the 1960s to the 1980s.
- Richardson, G (1994) Whatever It Takes, Bantam Books, Moorebank, NSW. Library catalogue summary: Graham Richardson recounts his career and outlines the philosophy and operation of the NSW and National Labor Right during his time in the ALP.
- Australian Labor Party factions
- Centrism in Australia