Labor conference endorses Albanese’s conservative agenda and military build-up
Anthony Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles staked their credibility on defeating dissent over AUKUS. It was not much of a gamble.
Chalmers has no solution for the crises of capitalism
Labor Treasurer Jim Chalmers has followed in the footsteps of previous Labor ministers, including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2009, by penning a theoretical article in the pages of the Monthly.
Frustration at Dan Andrews but voters won’t back the Liberals
Victoria’s election delivered humiliation for the Liberals and ended with Labor’s Daniel Andrews comfortably re-elected for the third time.
Dan Andrews—progressive sheen covering a law and order agenda
Victoria’s claim to be “the most progressive state in the nation” leaves out some inconvenient facts.
Behind the election win, Labor is in deep decline
The ALP’s victory could not disguise the fact that the party received its lowest first-preference vote since 1934, at just 32.58 per cent.
Fight for change needed to push beyond what Labor’s promised
Labor went to the election with only modest promises of change. But the scale of the defeat for Scott Morrison shows a clear desire for a break with the last nine years of Liberal rule.
Lessons from the last Labor government
The last Labor government was ultimately destroyed by its determination to defend the interests of big business and manage capitalism, writes Mark Gillespie
Has Labor in power ever made a difference?
Jean Parker looks at why workers have different expectations of Labor governments, and why so many of them have ended up betraying their supporters.
Labor’s small target strategy guaranteed not to deliver change
Lachlan Marshall explains how Labor’s small target strategy could backfire, and why we need more struggle to get anything from Labor and win change
Labor’s climate plan aims to please the bosses
Labor’s new climate policy is nowhere near what’s needed to stop dangerous climate change.
Labor ditches efforts at change in empty bid for power
Labor has dumped their opposition to tax cuts for the rich and their policies to limit tax handouts for wealthy property investors, as the party tries to narrow their differences with the Liberals for the next election.
New leader Chris Minns taking NSW Labor further right
NSW Labor has installed a new leader, Chris Minns, following the resignation of Jodi McKay in the aftermath of its loss in the Upper Hunter by-election.
Labor’s small target strategy fails to dent NSW Coalition
NSW Labor is in crisis, with leader Jodi McKay resigning after last week’s Upper Hunter by-election loss. McKay took the small target strategy to the extreme, essentially disappearing from public view. It didn't pay off.
Labor conference to cull policies and confirm move to the right
Anthony Albanese is dumping many of the policies Labor took to the last election, moving to the right and adopting a small target strategy.
Labor wins big in WA election but bosses can breathe easy
Labor has won the West Australian election in a landslide, on course to take 52 of the state’s 59 lower house seats. But its policies are no threat to business's priorities.
Labor still in retreat as Albanese charts road to nowhere
Pressure is building on leader Anthony Albanese as Labor faces the prospect of another election defeat.
Vere Gordon Childe: the Australian activist who explained what happened in history
Radical historian Terry Irving’s new biography of Vere Gordon Childe is an important contribution to understanding the Left in Australia. Irving uncovers Childe’s two careers, the first as a...
Corbyn suspended as Labour leadership declares war on the left
Former leader Jeremy Corbyn has been kicked out of the British Labour Party’s parliamentary caucus, despite backing down on comments that saw him suspended from the party.
Legacy of Labor leaders Scullin and Curtin no model for today
This new book by Liam Byrne covers the making of Labor by following the careers of two men later to become Prime Minister—James Scullin and John Curtin.
Jeremy Corbyn and the failure of left reformism in Europe
The hope that radical left governments in Europe could take parliamentary power and deliver change has proven hollow, writes Caitlin Doyle
Corbyn’s compromises with Labour right led to defeat
The British election is less a rejection of Corbyn’s left-wing policies than a judgement on his compromises over Labour’s position on Brexit.
Election review confirms Albanese’s rush to the right
Labor’s post-election review has confirmed the party’s shift to the right which began when Anthony Albanese became leader.
Why didn’t workers trust Labor?
Labor was unable to win over working class voters at the election with its promises of change—reflecting long term decline in its class roots and credibility, writes James Supple
Labor never campaigned on clear call to tax the rich
In the aftermath of Labor’s shock loss, commentators have blamed its plans as too radical and ambitious. But the real failure was their unwillingness to fight for their policies as attacks on the rich.
New Labor leader Albanese moves the party right
Anthony Albanese, a leading figure in the party’s left faction, is set to be elected as new leader of the Labor Party unopposed. Even the right-wing of the party is backing him.
Bob Hawke—Australia’s Thatcher
Bob Hawke has been lauded for his consensus politics, but he waged a brutal assault on unions and Labor’s own working class supporters, argues Ian Rintoul
Election shock—how this happened and lessons for the left
Yesterday’s election result has shocked everyone—from the pollsters to the pundits, Labor and even Scott Morrison himself.
Bob Hawke’s legacy not what we want from Shorten
Bob Hawke was Australia’s Margaret Thatcher. Hawke’s “economic rationalism” was an early version of what is now known, and condemned, as “neo-liberalism.”
Lessons from Labor’s last time in power
The last Labor government was ultimately destroyed by its determination to defend the interests of big business and manage capitalism, writes Mark Gillespie
How could Labor lose the NSW election?
The Liberals have held on to government in NSW, winning a narrow majority in parliament after Labor slumped following a disastrous final week of the campaign for Labor’s Michael Daley.
Sending in the army: How Labor broke the 1949 coal strike
Even in its supposed golden age, a Labor government was prepared to use all the tools at its disposal to wage war on unionism and break a strike, writes David Glanz
Unions against Labor—Queensland Labor’s history of strikebreaking
Unions formed the Labor Party. But Queensland history shows that again and again, Labor governments have betrayed their own working class supporters, argues James Supple
Show of unity leaves refugees and union rights in the lurch at Labor conference
Labor leader Bill Shorten told the party’s national conference in Adelaide people were looking to them for “unity” and “stability”. And the Labor factions made sure they gave it to him.
Liberals’ thumping defeat in Victoria ends Morrison’s last hopes
The Liberals’ rout in the Victorian election is also a massive defeat for Scott Morrison and the federal Liberal Party.
Liberals’ thumping defeat in Victoria ends last hopes for Morrison
The Liberals’ election rout in Victorian is also a massive defeat for Scott Morrison and the federal Liberal Party.
Unions condemn Labor’s backflip on TPP trade deal
Daniel Wallace, secretary of Hunter Workers, the Newcastle Trades Hall Council, resigned from the Labor Party in response to their decision to support the Trans Pacific Partnership-11 trade deal. He spoke to Solidarity.
Albanese shows he’s not to the left of Shorten
Labor left MP Anthony Albanese has used a major speech to position himself as alternative Labor leader and in the process of doing so, made a point of criticising Bill Shorten from the right.
How much would a Labor government change the rules at work?
The modest scope of changes Labor wants to make to workplace laws is starting to become clear. The party’s official draft platform, released in preparation for its national conference in July, shows what to expect.
UK election shock: Corbyn surge brings Tories to the brink
Universally ridiculed and mocked by the media, the Tories, and many senior Labour MPs, Jeremy Corbyn has achieved an amazing electoral breakthrough that leaves the Tories unable to form a majority government.
Stalemate with right-wing as Corbyn re-elected leader
British left-winger Jeremy Corbyn has won a landslide victory to be re-elected as Labour Party leader. He actually increased his share of the vote to 62 per cent despite a campaign by the right-wing that blocked 130,000 members from voting, most of whom were pro-Corbyn.
Labor promised to fund services, but also backed cuts
“Labor is back”, claimed a triumphant Bill Shorten in his election night speech. But in truth, the result was Labor’s second lowest primary vote in history. Of an overall 3.71 swing against the Coalition, only 2.27 per cent went to Greens and Labor.
Shorten and the AWU: The best friends Abbott and the bosses ever had
Shorten and the AWU’s model of unionism short-changed workers through doing favours for the bosses writes Mark Gillespie
The Killing Season: failing to explain Labor’s crisis
The ABC’s The Killing Season explains nothing, yet exposes everything, about what is wrong with Labor today.
Editorial: Labor’s silence lets Abbott’s fear campaign run rampant
Abbott is determined to use racism and Islamophobia to revive his electoral support. The results can be seen in the opinion polls over the last few months. Although Labor would still win an election, Abbott has crept up in the leadership satisfaction ratings.
Shorten shows he’s useless for stopping Abbott
Last year Bill Shorten’s budget reply turned the Liberals pale, as he lashed out at Abbott’s cuts and promised to block the worst attacks in the Senate. This year the Labor leader delivered a pathetic, uninspiring speech that showed why he’s widely considered useless.
Liberal defeat in Victoria puts Abbott in a sweat
Denis Napthine’s government has become the first one-term government in Victoria since 1955, in a defeat for his cuts to TAFE and war on public sector workers.
Whitlam’s legacy and the death of social democracy
Following the show of continuing adoration for Gough Whitlam at his packed out memorial, Jean Parker reflects on his contradictory legacy
Gough Whitlam: Australia’s most radical Prime Minister?
Gough Whitlam’s death at 98 has brought tributes from the usual suspects—including Malcolm Fraser and Tony Abbott, who both despise(d) the social reforms associated with the Whitlam Labor government. The Whitlam era, for many, is a golden age of Labor, and for that reason it is worth considering the real legacy of the Whitlam government.
Don’t rely on Labor to fix Abbott’s budget blows
Abbott’s obscene rule-for-the-rich budget has given Labor a new lease on life. But if we want to kick out Abbott and his policies, we can’t rely on Labor.
Moving away from unions won’t fix Labor’s woes
Labor's drubbing at the WA Senate election has opened renewed demands for “party reform”. However, despite rhetoric about “democratising” the party, the main aim is further diluting union influence.
Right-wing Labor’s in freefall: so why are union leaders backing Gillard?
Union leaders are leading the campaign to support Julia Gillard as the leader of the Labor Party and in the federal election. James Supple asks whyAt much cost, Labor...
Why is Labor attacking refugees?
Labor’s has now turned about-face on the Pacific Solution, after it closed Nauru and Manus Island detention centres on coming to power in 2007.This shift is the final outcome...
The Whitlam government: Labor’s golden age?
>Whitlam is remembered as a glorious reformer with radical policies. But when it came to the crunch he caved in to the demands of big business and the ruling class, writes Jean Parker
The 1950s great Labor split: battle for control that drove Labor apart
Behind the Cold War-era split in the Labor Party were efforts by union leaders to exert control of the Labor party, writes James Supple, in our latest instalment of...
“Socialism in our time”: The story of Jack Lang, NSW Labor and the Great Depression
In our third installment of our Labor history series, Jean Parker finds some rich lessons in the incredible story of the New South Wales Labor Party’s "socialisation units" and...
Kevin Rudd, Labor, and the real faceless men
In one of his numerous press conferences during the Labor leadership showdown, Kevin Rudd called for, “reform of the Labor Party itself, so that our party is equipped for...
Wage cuts and bailouts: Labor and the Great Depression
In the face of the Great Depression in the 1930s, Labor turned on its working class supporters in order to bail out capitalism. Jean Parker looks at the lessons...
World War I and conscription: How the unions fought to expel a Labor Prime Minister
Tom Orsag begins a series on Labor Party history with a look at the major split in the party during the campaign against conscription in WWILabor under Gillard and...
Mistake to treat Labor and Liberal the same
It is a mistake to condemn both Labor and Liberal as just as bad as each other, as many on the left did during the election campaign.
