A new script needed for Labor and the nation
Date
March 28, 2013
Category
Opinion
68 reading now
Comments 200
Bill Kelty
The ALP must forgo the politics of division and seize the chance to inspire pride in its achievements.
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Martin Ferguson
Labor Party
Hawke
Keating
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Opinion: When unity is king, Labor can’t stop bickering
The politics of the next few months is no longer about the result of the next election. It is about the future of the ALP. Political parties are resilient, can defy the odds and rebuild quickly. However, the essence of that rebuilding begins with a clarity of purpose as to what the party stands for and its point of difference with its competitor.
When the last two warriors of the Hawke/Keating era are sacked or resign you know the situation is serious, very serious. Simon Crean and Martin Ferguson have given their entire lives to the labour movement, have mentored the Prime Minister and have been the banner carriers for loyalty.
The polls tell us that the party is headed for a devastating defeat, the divisions are on show and the accumulated wisdom of John Faulkner, Crean, Kim Carr and Ferguson has been sidelined.
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Politics can be made more difficult than it really is. There are three essential tenets. First, take responsibility; second, reject the ideas that distract, divide and discount the nation; and third, argue to the last breath for the ideas and ideals that make the nation a better place. Honesty will, nearly always, win over duplicity.
The starting point is responsibility. It is too easy to blame the opposition, the media or Kevin Rudd. The latter may have been an irritant, but in the big picture of recent politics he was a mosquito. The government’s problems do not stem from Rudd’s removal but the means and justification for doing it.
The result was that the electorate did not give the ALP the right to govern alone. In the process of forming government, concessions were made that had lasting significance. When a sensible policy of pricing carbon at international levels became a tax, it subverted trust in a government that promised it would not introduce such a tax. When the umbilical cord of trust between the governed and those who govern is broken, it cannot be easily restored.
When the mining tax was touted as a negotiating coup, somebody forgot to tell us about state royalties. These are errors of judgment and explanation.
All that was necessary was for the government to argue that the policies are natural extensions of pre-existing policies – the international pricing of crude oil and the petroleum resources tax. The tax will prove effective, but will have left behind a reputation for incompetence.
The two most recent prime ministers have sought from caucus a special right to select their own ministers, but in both cases, the cabinet process has been allowed to be frittered away. The media reform was moderate, but the process was flawed. A jackboot approach to discussions and timing would not have been permitted if the proper process of cabinet had been followed.
Once responsibility is accepted, the ALP must reject the ideas and processes that have no home in the party. A Labor Party that cultivates division, or taxes superannuation retrospectively, or cannot justify deficits, or makes regional tours presidential visitations, or reinvents class warfare, or steals the rhetoric of Pauline Hanson on migrants, or embraces the Pacific refugee solution of John Howard, or attacks single mothers and narrows its base to a mythical group of blue-collar workers, cannot win an election.
On the other hand, an ALP that demonstrates its commitment to future generations through education, health care, fair wages, superannuation, the environment and protection of the most vulnerable is capable of winning.
We need a new script for the ALP about this nation that begins with the premise that the nation should not be written down or diminished. A country proud of itself, comfortable that it has plotted a different course over past generations and the opportunities it has created.
The government should start with the benefit of strong economic credentials, measured by low unemployment, inflation and interest rates. Living standards have improved in difficult times and the rest of the world sometimes marvels at the model for success created in this country. The debt level by comparison with most other nations is small. We are in this position partly because of collective government and Reserve Bank management that opened the economy and because of the decisive action of the Rudd government on the global financial crisis. We need to win the debate that economic success is not measured by the size of the surplus.
But running a deficit does not imply that governments can in some magical ways find the capacity for free goods. The essential truth of what Crean and Ferguson were arguing is that a society must create wealth before it can be distributed. A productive and adaptive nation knows the vital role of businesses, both large and small, who invest in the country.
It knows that businesses often risk their home and life savings to make those investments. Business is vital, but people are not just economic units. It also knows that there is an essential role of unions in protecting the interests of workers and acting as agents for constructive change. If real wages and superannuation and conditions of work are to be improved, increases in productive capacity will be many times more important than fights over shares of the cake.
From these twin principles – a country writ large and consensus about our capacity to fund improvement in living standards – the ALP has an opportunity to define its priorities and commitments.
A simplified tax system for small business, investments in education, improvements in superannuation and healthcare, the development of an effective infrastructure, investment market, the adoption of the Crean blueprint for regional development (which institutionalises the role of local governments and regional leaders), and the generation of its own environmental credentials will give the party a policy base for the future.
There will be imposts and changes to tax necessary to produce these outcomes. The employees must know that their negotiated wage outcomes will contain superannuation, the minimum wage will contain a component in recognition of superannuation improvement. The Medicare levy may be required to help fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The government should not underestimate the common sense and compassion of the Australian people.
Politics is ultimately a choice between parties. The points of difference based on personality are peripheral and the real differences need to be based on principles.
The Labor Party will need to demonstrate it is the culture and philosophy that counts. In that regard Whitlam, Hawke and Keating have provided the party with a solid foundation. Crean and Ferguson have helped build those foundations.
The task for Julia Gillard is to build on them, not put them at risk.
Bill Kelty was secretary of the ACTU from 1983 until 2000 and a key influence during the Hawke and Keating governments.
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200 comments so far
“The starting point is taking responsibility. It is too easy to blame the opposition, the media or Kevin Rudd”… Exactly! The current Labor government have comprehensively shown what not to do in politics.
Commenter
Jimc
Date and time
March 28, 2013, 6:57AM
Political joke, 2025: What do John Howard and Julia Gillard have in common ? They both kept Labor out of office for 12 years.
Pretty sad that a Labor stalward feels the need to write an article like this.
Commenter
Hacka
Location
Canberra
Date and time
March 28, 2013, 8:19AM
@”Jimc”
There’s nothing to blame the “Slick” Abbott opposition for.
“Stop the boats”, “Stop the carbon tax”, “Stop the fair wages” …. nothing there.
“Slick” Abbott’s policies …. nothing there.
So “Slick’ Abbott and his godlike opposition are blameless and will one day be turning water into wine.
Commenter
J. Fraser
Location
Queensland
Date and time
March 28, 2013, 8:39AM
In fairness guys, Fairfax needs a new script too,
Endlessly telling Labor what to do.
Is it because she’s a woman that she has to be told by men?
Commenter
sarajane
Location
melbourne
Date and time
March 28, 2013, 8:44AM
Political Joke 2013: Julia Gillard….
but seriously folks, as far as the ALP is concerned, the Mayans weren’t too far off.
Commenter
Jimc
Location
Date and time
March 28, 2013, 8:45AM
But she does need a new script.
She has to stop saying the same thing at every turn and at every question.
“My job is to secure Australian jobs for the Australian people and for our great country….”
But please, be honest with yourselves, everyone here needs a new script
(except me …. woo-hoo go GREENS!!)
Commenter
sarajane
Location
melbourne
Date and time
March 28, 2013, 8:54AM
And the boats keep washing up on our shores. Love it or hate it, it’s a stake thru the heart of Labor at our house and september just can’t come soon enough.
Commenter
cape kev
Location
penrith
Date and time
March 28, 2013, 8:57AM
Agreed Jim, and the first agenda item should be acknowledging that the cynical machinations involved in obtaining power in 2010 are not the actions of a party workinjg for the greatest good for the greatest number.
To wilfully defy the electorate and introduce a Carbon Tax to catch the votes of the lunatic fringe was Labor’s 1975 moment, and the fact that so many in the party airily try to wave this away by citing John Howard’s GST turn around as justification suggests that there is no longer any sort instinctive moral compass at play.
As a Labor supporter I’m tired of hearing about “renewal”, and the “grassroots”, to be dished up more of the same,and written off as being a stooge or troll for not slavishly falling into line.
Last week I received a form email of dubious veracity from Labor’s marketing director, trying to whip up support for Julia by citing a story involving an alledged “regular guy”, who rang up head office to reaffirm that Labor is our last and best hope. Not an average bloke – “a regular guy”. And this cringeworthy Americanism from Labor’s Marketing Director!
The only recourse now appears to make myself physically sick by voting for the appalling leader of the opposition, and contribute to an electoral catastrophe that at least offers the chance of obliterating the current leadership and structure, and inaugurating genuine renewal.
Commenter
Bulgaris
Location
Sydney
Date and time
March 28, 2013, 8:59AM
I think Keltys words are wise and represent the beginnings of a blueprint for Labor’ future. He rightly asserts that Labor has had some real achievements-poorly explained, justified defended though they were.
Ignore the LNP boosters: they will always try to downplay and mis-represent Labor’s achievements.
As Kelty asserts, the next election is probably lost already but Labor needs to look to the future and come up with improved internal processes that allow the rank and file member much more say in policy development and pre-selection processes (and not be over-ridden by leaders seeking to “parachute” in some high profile candidate.
Disunity is death: if you cannot present a united front how much confidence will voters have in your ability to govern without distraction?
Commenter
Harry
Location
Churchill
Date and time
March 28, 2013, 9:02AM
Maybe they both think the public are a bit stupid and will fall for Nationalistic slogans.
But guys…. Abbott’s script is even worse.
“I blame this incompetent government…. I blame this incompetent government …”
over and over.
We desperately need a debate about environmental policies. They’re always the hidden ones. And they lead to damage that can never be undone.
Please, as journos, step up to the plate and take on the responsibility of reporting environmental policies/promises.
“oil slick” Abbott says climate change is crap, now where is that going to take us?
He doesn’t just need a new script, he needs a new understanding of reality.
Commenter
sarajane
Location
melbourne
Date and time
March 28, 2013, 9:02AM
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