Labor Right
Labor Right Labor Unity/Unity | |
|---|---|
 Eureka Flag used by Labor Right branches[1][2][3][4] | |
| Abbreviation | LR | LU |
| National Convenors | |
| Ideology |
|
| National affiliation | Australian Labor |
| Colours | Red |
| Seats in the House of Representatives | 42 / 151 |
| Seats in the Senate | 11 / 76 |
| Federal Caucus | 53 / 103 |
| Part of a series on |
| Labour politics in Australia |
|---|
The Labor Right (LR), also known as Labor Forum, Labor Unity or simply Unity, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by liberal economic policies, and competes with the Labor Left faction, which leans toward democratic socialism.[12]
Labor Right is composed of autonomous groups in each state and territory of Australia. The groups within the Labor Right come together as a broad alliance at the national level.[13] The faction includes members with a range of political perspectives, including centrism, partial privatisation, Keynesianism, Laborism, and as a minority, social conservatism.[14]
State branches
[edit]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), Plumbing and Pipe Trades Employees Union (PPTEU) and the Health Services Union (HSU). These unions send delegates to the conferences, 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
[edit]- Centre Unity[1]
Queensland
[edit]Australian Capital Territory
[edit]- Centre Coalition[18]
Victoria
[edit]- Labor Centre Unity (AWU: Consisting of Branch Members, Student Clubs, both federal and state members of parliament aligned with the Victorian branch of the Australian Workers' Union, and representatives from the Plumbing and Pipe Trades Employees Union)[19][20]
- Labor Progressive Unity (The Cons: Consisting largely of Branch Members aligned to and supporters of Labor Deputy Leader Richard Marles and the Transport Workers Union)
- Labor Unity (The Shoppies: Consisting largely of branch members aligned to and supports of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association)
Western Australia
[edit]- WA Labor Unity (AWU, SDA, TWU).
- Progressive Labor (Consists of AWU, SDA, TWU and CFMEU)[21][22] An alliance between WA Labor Unity and the 'Industrial left' unions of WA, formed in 2019 for the purpose of binding at State conferences against some subgroups within WA's Broad left; such as the UWU. Historically, the MUA and CFMEU have voted at State conferences in alignment with the Broad left.
Northern Territory
[edit]- Labor Unity
South Australia
[edit]- Labor Unity (dominated by the SDA).[23]
Tasmania
[edit]- Labor Unity
Political views
[edit]The faction is most famous for its support of Third Way policies 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.[citation needed]
Federal Members of the Labor Right
[edit]| Name | Parliamentary seat | Other positions | State/Territory | Sub-faction/union |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Marles[24] | Member for Corio | Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Defence |
Victoria | TWU, 'Cons' |
| Dr Jim Chalmers[24] | Member for Rankin | Treasurer | Queensland | AWU |
| Don Farrell[25] | Senator for South Australia | Special Minister of State Minister for Trade and Tourism |
South Australia | SDA |
| Tony Burke[24] | Member for Watson | Minister for Home Affairs Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Minister for Cyber Security Minister for the Arts |
New South Wales | SDA |
| Chris Bowen[24] | Member for McMahon | Minister for Climate Change and Energy | ||
| Amanda Rishworth[26] | Member for Kingston | Minister for Social Services | South Australia | SDA |
| Bill Shorten[27] | Member for Maribyrnong | Minister for Government Services Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme |
Victoria | AWU |
| Mark Dreyfus KC[24] | Member for Isaacs | Attorney–General | AWU | |
| Jason Clare[25] | Member for Blaxland | Minister for Education | New South Wales | |
| Michelle Rowland[26] | Member for Greenway | Minister for Communications | ||
| Madeleine King[28] | Member for Brand | Minister for Resources Minister for Northern Australia |
Western Australia | |
| Ed Husic | Member for Chifley | Minister for Industry and Science | New South Wales | CEPU (CWU) |
| Clare O'Neil[27] | Member for Hotham | Minister for Housing Minister for Homelessness |
Victoria | AWU |
| Matt Keogh[28] | Member for Burt | Minister for Veterans' Affairs Minister for Defence Personnel |
Western Australia | AWU |
| Anika Wells | Member for Lilley | Minister for Aged Care Minister for Sport |
Queensland | AWU |
| Kristy McBain | Member for Eden-Monaro | Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories | New South Wales | |
| Justine Elliot | Member for Richmond | Assistant Minister for Social Services Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence |
||
| Matt Thistlethwaite[29][30] | Member for Kingsford Smith | Assistant Minister for Defence Assistant Minister for Veterans' Affairs Assistant Minister for the Republic |
AWU | |
| Emma McBride | Member for Dobell | Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health |
||
| Anthony Chisholm | Senator for Queensland | Assistant Minister for Education Assistant Minister for Regional Development |
Queensland | AWU |
| Tim Watts[31][32] | Member for Gellibrand | Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs | Victoria | 'Cons' |
| Glenn Sterle‡[28] | Senator for Western Australia | Chair of Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee Deputy Chair of Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee |
Western Australia | TWU |
| Steve Georganas[26] | Member for Adelaide | South Australia | ||
| Shayne Neumann[25] | Member for Blair | Chair of Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Chair of Standing Committee on Procedure |
Queensland | ASU |
| Alison Byrnes | Member for Cunningham | New South Wales | ||
| Deborah O'Neill | Senator for New South Wales | Chair of Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services Deputy Chair of Select Committee on Work and Care Deputy Chair of Standing Committee of Privileges |
New South Wales | SDA |
| Helen Polley | Senator for Tasmania | Chair of Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement | Tasmania | AWU, SDA |
| Rob Mitchell | Member for McEwen | Chair of Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests Chair of House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Resources |
Victoria | 'Cons' |
| Catryna Bilyk | Senator for Tasmania | Chair of the Senate Standing Committee of Senators' Interests | Tasmania | ASU, TWU |
| Peter Khalil | Member for Wills | Victoria | AWU | |
| Milton Dick | Member for Oxley | Speaker of the House of Representatives Chair of Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings Chair of Selection Committee Chair of Standing Committee on Appropriations and Administration |
Queensland | AWU |
| Matt Burnell | Member for Spence | South Australia | TWU | |
| Meryl Swanson | Member for Paterson | Chair of Standing Committee on Agriculture | New South Wales | |
| Luke Gosling | Member for Solomon | Chair of Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport | Northern Territory | SDA |
| David Smith | Member for Bean | Government Whip | Australian Capital Territory | Professionals Australia |
| Raff Ciccone | Senator for Victoria | Deputy Government Whip in the Senate Chair of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee Deputy Chair of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee Deputy Chair of Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills |
Victoria | SDA “Shoppies” |
| Dr Daniel Mulino | Member for Fraser | Chair of Standing Committee on Economics | Victoria | SDA “Shoppies” |
| Josh Burns | Member for Macnamara | Chair of Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights | Victoria | 'Cons' |
| Marielle Smith | Senator for South Australia | Chair of Community Affairs Legislation Committee Deputy Chair of Community Affairs References Committee |
South Australia | SDA |
| Tony Sheldon | Senator for New South Wales | Chair of Education and Employment Legislation Committee Deputy Chair of Education and Employment References Committee |
New South Wales | TWU |
| Dr Mike Freelander | Member for Macarthur | Chair of Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport | New South Wales | |
| Cassandra Fernando | Member for Holt | Victoria | SDA | |
| Jana Stewart | Senator for Victoria | Victoria | TWU, 'Cons' | |
| Sam Rae | Member for Hawke | Victoria | TWU, 'Cons' | |
| Varun Ghosh | Senator for West Australia | Western Australia | SDA | |
| Andrew Charlton | Member for Parramatta | New South Wales | ||
| Sally Sitou | Member for Reid | New South Wales | ||
| Dan Repacholi | Member for Hunter | New South Wales | ||
| Joanne Ryan | Member for Lalor | Chief Government Whip | Victoria | 'Cons' |
| Michelle Ananda-Rajah | Member for Higgins | Victoria | TWU, 'Cons' | |
| Tania Lawrence | Member for Hasluck | Western Australia | ||
| Sam Lim | Member for Tangney | Western Australia | ||
| Gordon Reid | Member for Robertson | New South Wales |
‡ Sterle was formerly a member of the now-defunct Centre Left.
See also
[edit]- Labor Left
- 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
- Progressive Britain – organisation associated with the Labour Party (UK)
- Seeheimer Kreis – conservative faction in the Social Democratic Party of Germany
References
[edit]- ^ a b "NSW CENTRE UNITY". centreunity.org.au. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ "Queensland Labor Unity". qldlaborunity.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ "YOUNG LABOR UNITY". Facebook. Victorian Young Labor Unity. 18 June 2021. Archived from the original on 30 October 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ Cooke, Vitoria-Iris Ryan-Elaine (19 July 2024). "STRONGER TOGETHER". Facebook. Young Labor Centre Unity. Archived from the original on 30 October 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ Massola, James (25 June 2022). "The power behind the PM – who are Labor's powerbrokers in government?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
- ^ Jingjing Huo (2009). Third Way Reforms: Social Democracy After the Golden Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-521-51843-7.
- ^ "Labor 'Shoppies' still powerful: Senator".
- ^ "What's happened to the conservative wing of the Australian Labor Party?". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 October 2013.
- ^ Brown, Greg (8 October 2018). "Kimberley Kitching caters for Labor's conservative core". The Australian.
- ^ Massola, James (14 February 2021). "What are Labor's factions and who's who in the Left and Right?". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ [7][8][9][10]
- ^ Massola, James (14 February 2021). "What are Labor's factions and who's who in the Left and Right?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ Hogan, Michael (2009). "Template for a Labor Faction: The Industrial Section and the Industrial Vigilance Council of the NSW Labor Party, 1916-19". Labour History (96): 79–100. ISSN 0023-6942. JSTOR 27713745.
- ^ "Locking Out the Left: The Emergence of National Factions in Australian Labor". jacobin.com. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
- ^ McKenna, Michael (31 July 2014). "Left takes over Queensland Labor in historic shift". The Australian. Archived from the original on 30 October 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ "About Us". laborforum.org.au. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
- ^ "Labor Forum is a growing group of ALP members across QLD who believes that a progressive & practical policy agenda is crucial to the future of QLD Labor". Facebook. Labor Forum. Archived from the original on 30 October 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ "Contest in ACT comes down to the ALP machine versus genuine locals". Crikey. 9 April 2010.
- ^ "Young Labor Centre Action". Facebook.
- ^ "La Trobe ALP Club". Facebook.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Liberals' donations double Labor Party's ahead of SA election". ABC. 11 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "The 12 Labor figures who will do the heavy lifting in government". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ a b c Tewksbury, Marc. "Labor MP Jason Clare dismisses Otis group". news.com.au. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ a b c "Labor's new-look shadow ministry". SBS News. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ 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
[edit]- Cumming, Fia (1991). Mates: Five Champions of the Labor Right. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86373-021-1. – 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, Graham (1994). Whatever It Takes. Moorebank, NSW: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-1-86-359332-8. – Graham Richardson recounts his career and outlines the philosophy and operation of the NSW and National Labor Right during his time in the ALP.