Labor is no longer pro-labour

[Commie Rat]

In my town Townsville, (no joke, but we dont have powerpuff girls) our local member for Labor is the same man that owns all the mcdonalds franchises.
If that isn't hipocrisy then i dont know what is!

[Cheung Mo]

And in other news, the sky is blue.

[YSR]

What? An elected representative who betrays the working class that voted for him?

First time that's ever happened, I'm sure.

[Ian]

Labor Party is a heap of shit, obviously

[red team]

Should rename the party as Labour Services Inc. party

[Cheung Mo]

Seeing New Lieblair crush the SSP, the SNP, the Greens, and, Hell, even the LibDems in Scotland makes me feel as though Scots are ignorant gits who have learned nothing from centuries of English oppression....But what the Hell do I know?

[RebelDog]

If you didn't realise that New Labour had moved to the dark-side, where have you been? They were never a true workers party anyway. The best thing happened when New Labour fell in love with the free market. No one should have illusions anymore.

[apathy maybe]

Talking about Labor in Australia, yes they suck. But who was it that introduced all those 'reforms' in the 80s? Who (authorised that it be) built the Cross City Tunnel and other toll ways (and are building more) in Sydney?

Yes Labor sucks, but the Liberals are worse. And the Greens are only so-so.

[Cheung Mo]

NZ's not so hot either: Labour would rather side with United Future (Or is it NZ First? A worthless rightish party is a worthless rightish party) than with the Greens...

And then you have the "ProgressiveS", who think it's cool to throw potheads in jail and stop adults from drinking.

[Ian]

I think a better question is 'Who cares about the cross city tunnel?'

We're not A Current Affair

[Vladislav]

heh. A Current Affair. Most of their news stories sound so racist. "Asian Drivers? Australia says NO!"

[Commie Rat]

newscaster- "Tonight on A current affair, designer maijuanan ruiung your kids brains, and baby eating communists!"

i cant find the original story alas.

[Euro_leftie]

The Aussie labor party ain't yet as bad as Blair's new labour,they might as well be the conservative party.

[chebol]

On the contrary, the ALP is worse than New Labour, at least historically. Blair's term in power has of course given New Labour time to catch up with 'Another Liberal Party' (who have been out of office for a decade now), but you can bet your bottom dollar that whin (if?) they get back in, Blair and Brown will have to go for the photo finish with Bomber Beazley (who in 1983 described the ALP as "the party of the liberal bourgeoisie"- at least he's honest....) and his mates.

AWA's? - ALP
Mandatory detention?- ALP
The Accord?- ALP
Stiffling union activity?- ALP
Paying for higher education?- ALP
White Australia Policy?- ALP
general warmongering in the region in order to make Australia an imperialist power in the S. Pacific? Primarily ALP
etc etc etc. I could go on (and on and on and on and on), but it gets depressing.

At least in Britain, until Blair, there was the 'socialist objective' (on paper, anyway). Here, they didn't even bother with it. In fact, when the ALP was formed, they kicked the socialists out. (There are still 'socialists' in the ALP of course, and they've let a few in for appearances' sake. Just like not every Tory is vermin..... Some are just idiots.).

However, despite being born in the ignominy of class betrayal, the ALP has actually managed to get almost consitently worse over the past century (I'll leave the POSSIBLE, PARTIAL, exception of Whitlam for a different discussion). Even Labor-leader Kim Beazley's father (who was a minister under Whitlam) described the situation in negative terms, saying "When I joined the ALP it was full of the cream of the working class. Now it is full of the dregs of the middle class."

Thing is, for decades now, Australia has had 2 conservative parties, and no decent alternative. CPA went downhill from the late 60's on. Alternatives in the 80's failed (NDP, New Left Party, first Socialist Alliance). Best not mention the Nats (even if some people DO think that they're 'State Socialists'). The Democrats were a 'l' liberal split from the 'L' Liberals, and that's just about run it's course. The Greens haven't been to bad- but they lack the credibility or will necessary to connect with working class people (and they exhibit a strong sectarianism towards organised socialists), and their electoralist strategy has seen their support plateau recently. The Socialist Alliance and the various far-left parties are still too small to make electoral victories, and, while we are making gains in other areas (especially union-related work in the fight against work-choices), it is a steep uphill battle- not least because of the bitterly divided nature of much of the historical far-left.

The challenge lies in overcoming that sectarianism as much as possible, and convincing as many people as possible that not only do we need a real alternative to Labor, but we actually have to start building one. This is particularly difficult because there is a very strong "anti-party" tradition and sentiment in Australia, and because what the Alliance stands for is not necessarily what people expect from an alternative to the ALP. That is, it is more radical than a 'mere' Social Democratic party, not least because of the dominance of the revolutionary tendencies/ affiliates within it.

Meanwhile, the sentiment for a new party is growing. The Shearers' and Rural Workers' Union in NSW has formed the Restore the Workers' Rights party for the state election in 2007. A new party called People's Power has just been registered federally (and has run in some states). Their politics are resonably confused, and aren't likely to go anywhere. There have been the phenomena of One Nation and Family First- both clearly reactionary, but much of the sentiment appealed to by their policies (excluding the xenophobia, homophobia annd religious bigotry) is fairly populist and is partially a response to the need for a party, and more importantly a process of social change, that can address the underlying problems in Australian society.

Right-wing populists blame problems on easily marginalised groups, and the same can be seen in the ALP's responses and policy. The challenge we face is to create a coherent, and united, left-wing response, with soultions that appeal to people, and open them to the idea of socialism, and, I may add, the need for revolution.

That turned out longer than I planned. Meh. Easter frustrations...

[citizen_snips]

Can we not sue all these "labour" parties under the trades description act or something?