Labor’s response to rank-and-file anger over Israel’s genocide in Gaza was to shut down debate at its federal conference.
The manoeuvre summed up the event: heavily stage-managed and with little to offer workers angry over the cost-of-living crisis.
The one contested vote came over telehealth access to voluntary assisted dying. The left won support for telehealth but immediately conciliated by agreeing to give MPs a “conscience vote” on the issue.
Backbench MP Ed Husic tried to move a resolution on Palestine that acknowledged the genocide, called for Australians who serve in the IDF to be investigated for breaking international law and called on the government “to withdraw defence cooperation and defence and trade representatives from Australia’s embassy in Tel Aviv”.
The right faction responded by threatening to pull support for the modest official policy being put to the conference. In turn, the left faction put enormous pressure on the Maritime Union of Australia and the Electrical Trades Union, both of which had agreed to second the motion.
The unions withdrew their support, killing off Husic’s motion before it reached the conference floor. Instead, delegates were treated to a sickly-sweet performance from two Melbourne MPs, Josh Burns (a pro-Israel Jew) and Basem Abdo (a Palestinian), praising each other’s love of peace.
Activist MUA members around the country were angry that their union folded on the issue despite strong policy on Palestine and a track record of action, including participating in a national march on the ports calling for an end to trade with apartheid Israel in 2024.
At union branch meetings, members and annoyed officials made their criticisms clear, with the ALP-aligned leadership generally conceding that what happened was a problem.
An MUA member in Sydney told Solidarity, “One good outcome in Sydney seemed to be a renewed commitment to finding some new BDS targets to campaign around.”
The party leadership’s determination to shut down Palestine as an issue was also reflected in silence over important issues such as AUKUS or the administration of the CFMEU.
The result was a conference detached from reality. In the session on the NDIS, for example, delegates praised the scheme and called for greater input by people with disabilities—with not one word about the $38 billion in cuts and the hundreds of thousands who will lose their support.
Labor leaders acknowledged the threat from One Nation. But the conference confirmed that the ALP is committed to business as usual—putting the needs of Australian capitalism ahead of workers.
By David Glanz
