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Revitalising brand Labor Mk2 - the Latham fallout

By Corin McCarthy - posted Tuesday, 11 October 2005


Since writing "Revitalising brand Labor", Labor has been ripped apart by a series of tirades from Mark Latham. Latham’s sheer lack of balance and his inability to imagine more than the current morass make him a sorry figure, a hypocrite, and a coward. He argues for change from factional bastardly but does not act - moreover his personal politics exemplified the very worst of the system not its best. His violent language and unabashed ambition prove his failure.

Those who want more than factional machine politics should consider action in the Labor Party.

What actions?

  • Changing pre-selection to reward high profile local candidates; and
  • using primary pre-selection for 65 per cent of winnable seats delivering popular involvement and centre-ground candidates.
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What are primaries and when should they be used?

Primaries are used in US politics to pre-select candidates. They involve the general public registering with the local party to vote on local candidate choice. Primaries are voted on by any “sympathisers” and not just by party members. This breadth means that Labor would move beyond the confines of its narrow membership - whether union members or the “identity politics” clique.

The success of primaries depends on how involved the community becomes in the choice. A large turn out would see high profile local moderates have the best chance of success and these candidates would broaden the Labor support base.

Primaries should be used for at least 65 per cent of safe and winnable lower house seats. With 35 per cent of seats remaining for executive pre-selection, senior members of the Labor Party - who may bring something beyond mere populism and choice - like Gareth Evans or Craig Emerson, could still be as involved as the past without compromising intellectual rigour for populism.

Also within the seats reserved for executive pre-selection, a smaller selection of machine politicians than is currently the case would be selected. They are useful in organisation and discipline. It is also appropriate that shadow ministers be made exempt from seeking primary pre-selection and primaries could be limited further in times of government.

The 65/35 split is an appropriate balance and is better than the current executive only model. It would mean at least 20 primaries across the varied Australian political landscape prior to the next election, testing the water and seeking the most high profile local candidates for the Labor cause.

Why primaries?

Labor needs to connect with communities and move beyond the inertia of constant internal discussion. The Australian community is not something to poll but something to live in and Labor members of parliament must represent the broad centre-left of politics.

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The Labor membership has become a marginalised Left and consequently fails to represent local electorates. People who have worked on campaigns have been repeatedly made aware of this - (with advice such as) “Don’t speak about Mabo, interest rates, tax, economic management, refugees”, among other issues. The real issue is that Labor may run away from its members’ concerns at election time, but it can’t hide from the reality.

Therefore Labor needs a bigger constituency to move beyond its identity crisis, to find both its legitimacy and its values to win elections consistently.

It is important that primaries require aspiring politicians to connect with community issues. A system that rewards involvement in neighbourhoods, schools, unions, churches, policy forums and business would provide a popular candidate choice from a broad range of centre and left-of-centre politics. This can only create interest and debate of Labor’s policies and values.

Broad candidate choice would also encourage a Labor Party that was able to represent the great majority of Australians in a large variety of electorates. It is no coincidence that the decline in the variety of candidates seeking pre-selection has occurred at a time when pre-selection has become controlled by a select few. Labor needs people running for election who think about the communities they live in as opposed to only the union officials and political staffers presently being run and considered.

What about “control”?

Control of the message is the key. In the writers’ view the leadership group of the Labor Party needs to retain full control of the campaign message and once pre-selected, candidates must still be acceptable to the party executive. For instance it is conceivable that primaries could see the pre-selection of a candidate well out of step with the Labor Party. The capacity to de-select a candidate must therefore be available.

It is also the writers’ view that the best control leaders can display is control of a persuasive message. Tony Blair has received a great deal of criticism from the British Labour Party and yet he has controlled the message throughout his tenure. Indeed the broadening of British Labour has been because old Labour exists, and new Labour is in control of the overall party and message - it is a net plus to have both wings on display, not a weakness - but only so long as new Labour retains control of persuasive message.

What about the “pledge”?

The pledge is a tool used by the Labor Party that means if an MP votes against a caucus decision they can be expelled from the party or de-selected.

The pledge is abused and unnecessary in politics where candidates must represent seats as varied as north Queensland and inner Sydney - often by the same party. Indeed the variety of seats that Labor must win is the biggest reason flexibility in pre-selection is an absolute requirement for progress.

What about quotas?

In the writers’ view popular involvement in candidate choice and the emergence of more “star” candidates is more important than whether the candidate selected is a man or a woman or whether the overall balance of gender has reached any set quota.

Political direction

When Labor appraises itself after each election, the most fundamental issue it faces is the restoration of its “brand”. Most of the Labor membership considers the reduction in “brand quality” a result of Labor being too right-wing and Latham most explicitly made this mistake. But in reality this is voodoo politics, especially when John Howard is prime minister. If the centre of politics was further to the left than the current perceived wisdom for those who manage the major parties, Kim Beazley would have been prime minister in 1998 or 2001 and Mark Latham may have had a chance in 2004.

Let’s persuade the country that Labor is in the centre and beyond the pockets of the unions and other sectional interests groups. Labor the party representing varied communities, selecting star candidates, in touch with the majority, and flexible to the messages of the local electorates. It needs to be a Labor Party for all.

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About the Author

Corin McCarthy was an adviser in opposition and government to Craig Emerson MP. He also advised Labor’s 2007 election campaign on small business issues. He has written widely on these issues in The Australian and On Line Opinion. He currently works as a lawyer in London advising on major infrastructure projects. These views are his own.

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All articles by Corin McCarthy

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