The policy on asylum seekers adopted
by the federal Labor Party caucus on 5
December was a trigger for my decision
to resign from the shadow cabinet and
shadow ministry, but it is not the only
reason.
The truth is that I have found myself
increasingly out of step with the majority
of my shadow cabinet colleagues. That
may be me and not them. I don't find my
own views and values reflected in a lot
of decisions that are made by that shadow
cabinet.
Now I have reached the point where I
don't believe I can continue to support
and defend a range of policies, as well
as the general disposition and direction
of that shadow cabinet.
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I am talking about the current position
on asylum seekers, the lack of clarity,
in my view, on the position on Iraq, or
previous decisions such as the complete
agreement initially with the private health
insurance rebate - although I still have
some hopes in that direction - funding
for wealthy schools and so on.
My first experience on returning to the
shadow cabinet more than a year ago, nearly
two years ago now, was that it had become
incredibly conservative, timid even, and
I hoped that after the election that would
change.
I am prepared to concede that maybe I
am the one that is out of step. But I
am not able to continue to support and
defend policies that in my view are devised
with one eye on the polls and another
on media impact.
Moreover, it is not fair on my shadow-cabinet
colleagues to seek to be an exception
to the rule that you don't speak out and
that you don't dissent. I have simply
found that tension too great as I have,
on some cases, spoken out. I can no longer
do that.
I have spoken strongly against us supporting
a war on Iraq, against attacking Iraq,
because that is really what is at issue.
I don't believe we are speaking sufficiently
clearly against the possibility that we
would sign up with George Bush in some
form of unilateral action against Iraq.
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In my experience in recent times, it
is not uncommon in the shadow cabinet
for issues to be discussed first of all
with an eye on what the public reaction
is likely to be rather than whether it
is inherently good policy.
I believe we need to be telling Australians
a story about the sort of country we want
this to be, what we hope for them, how
their lives can be improved.
Certainly, we have to listen to the community
and be aware of their needs and interests,
but we cannot continually be responding
to what is the short-term view of the
section of the community who are most
audible.
To develop good policies that are consistent
with our claims to be progressive, we
have to start with a set of values and,
yes, even ideals, to which we aspire as
political activists. Otherwise, why bother?
The first mistake we made on the issue
of asylum seekers was to play on John
Howard's turf. We're allowing him to define
the territory and the argument.
I do not share the view that Howard is
some kind of political genius. He's not.
The times suit him, but he's vulnerable.
We played along before the last election
with the moral panic surrounding the boat
people instead of getting out there and
persuading Australians of a different
point of view.
I hated our acquiescence on the Tampa,
but in a sense it was inevitable after
so much compromise, month after month.
Each small step in a way was barely noticeable,
but the end result was that we were pushed
well beyond a position that even our own
members of the ALP could endorse.
This policy was an opportunity to get
it right, to rule a line under the past,
as we did with East Timor. There are improvements,
I concede. But we are in opposition. This
is the time to craft the best policy that
we can, to signal that we really want
to head in a new direction underpinned
by the principle of the equal worth of
all human beings.
It was an opportunity lost. This policy
clearly treats some asylum seekers as
more worthy than others.
I want to move to the back bench so that
I can work assiduously as a member of
the Labor Party, a party I joined a great
many years ago. I'm not giving up on trying
to change direction on some of these issues.
I hope I can act with colleagues, of whom
there are many, to take back the heart
and soul of the Labor Party from those
people for whom it is good enough to get
up in the morning and think we are going
to be the slightly better manager on that
day.
Mine is not a decision to abandon the
Labor Party. It is a decision to move
into a different phase of my life, to
work with activists, to encourage young
people to join up to our great party and
to try to recapture the values that underpin
that party.