98-598: Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang , who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. It controlled the New South Wales branch of the ALP throughout most of the 1920s and 1930s. The faction broke away to form separate parliamentary parties on several occasions and stood competing candidates against
196-454: A two-party system as very much the norm. Although Watson further strengthened Labour's position in 1906, he stepped down from the leadership the following year, to be succeeded by Andrew Fisher who formed a minority government lasting seven months from late 1908 to mid 1909. At the 1910 federal election , Fisher led Labor to victory, forming Australia's first elected federal majority government , Australia's first elected Senate majority,
294-482: A critical role in ensuring fairness by: ensuring equal opportunity; removing unjustifiable discrimination; and achieving a more equitable distribution of wealth, income and status." Further sections of the platform stress Labor's support for equality and human rights, labour rights and democracy. In practice, the platform provides only general policy guidelines to Labor's federal, state and territory parliamentary leaderships. The policy Labor takes into an election campaign
392-428: A different name, due to their different origins. Although the ALP officially adopted the spelling without a u , it took decades for the official spelling to achieve widespread acceptance. According to McMullin, "the way the spelling of 'Labor Party' was consolidated had more to do with the chap who ended up being in charge of printing the federal conference report than any other reason". Some sources have attributed
490-432: A great objective – the light on the hill – which we aim to reach by working for the betterment of mankind. ... [Labor would] bring something better to the people, better standards of living, greater happiness to the mass of the people." To a large extent, Chifley saw centralisation of the economy as the means to achieve such ambitions. With an increasingly uncertain economic outlook, after his attempt to nationalise
588-729: A landslide victory for the UAP and the election of Lyons as Prime Minister . Most of the Lang members had ultra-safe working class seats and survived, although Ward was narrowly defeated in East Sydney . He would later return at the 1932 East Sydney by-election . In total, Lang Labor won four seats, while nationwide the ALP retained only 14 seats after the loss of 32 seats, and won only three seats in New South Wales. Theodore and Chifley were both defeated ending Theodore's political career. The party also ran in
686-555: A landslide win at the 1943 federal election , Curtin died in office just prior to the end of the war and was succeeded by Ben Chifley . Chifley Labor won the 1946 federal election and oversaw Australia's initial transition to a peacetime economy. Labor was defeated at the 1949 federal election . At the conference of the New South Wales Labor Party in June 1949, Chifley sought to define the labour movement as follows: "We have
784-859: A meeting of the Premiers of the Australian states in June 1931 for the economic management of the Great Depression in Australia . In November 1931, Lang Labor voted with the United Australia Party (UAP) opposition to bring down the Scullin Labor government and force an early election . Lang Labor then ran candidates against the official ALP at the election. Supporters of the federal party (led in New South Wales by Ted Theodore and Ben Chifley ) were known as Federal Labor candidates. The election resulted in
882-590: A member of the House of Representatives. Since October 2013, a ballot of both the Caucus and by the Labor Party's rank-and-file members determined the party leader and the deputy leader. When the Labor Party is in government, the party leader is the prime minister and the deputy leader is the deputy prime minister . If a Labor prime minister resigns or dies in office, the deputy leader acts as prime minister and party leader until
980-596: A motion at the Federal Conference that "the name of the party be the Australian Labour Party", which was carried by 22 votes to 2. A separate motion recommending state branches adopt the name was defeated. There was no uniformity of party names until 1918 when the Federal party resolved that state branches should adopt the name "Australian Labor Party", now spelt without a u . Each state branch had previously used
1078-504: A policy opposing Australian involvement in World War II , adopted by the state executive. The breakaway party contested the 1940 federal election , but with only minority support in the Labor movement of NSW. Many of his old supporters such as Eddie Ward remained loyal to Australian Labor Party leader John Curtin , and Lang candidates polled poorly. The Federal Executive again intervened in
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#17328370308291176-471: A reconciliation with the New South Wales Branch after a series of "unity conferences", resulting in Labor running as a single party throughout the nation at the 1937 federal election . Lang remained as the party's state leader in New South Wales. Though Labor remained in opposition after the election, the party's competitiveness was restored with a large increase to their vote and seats held, becoming
1274-514: A series of "unity conferences", Lang Labor was readmitted into the official ALP in 1936, with Lang remaining as the party's state leader in New South Wales. He was deposed in 1939, after which his influence waned. In 1940, he and his supporters left the ALP for a second time, forming the Non-Communist Labor Party as an explicitly anti-communist body. It had a degree of success at the 1940 federal election , but rejoined official Labor in
1372-503: A squatter, a doctor, and even a mine owner, indicating that the idea that only the socialist working class formed Labor is untrue. In addition, many members from the working class supported the liberal notion of free trade between the colonies; in the first grouping of state MPs, 17 of the 35 were free-traders. In the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution of 1917, support for socialism grew in trade union ranks, and at
1470-564: A state or territory president (an honorary position usually held for a one-year term), and a state or territory secretary (a full-time professional position). However, ACT Labor directly elects its president. The larger branches also have full-time assistant secretaries and organisers. In the past the ratio of conference delegates coming from the branches and affiliated unions has varied from state to state, however under recent national reforms at least 50% of delegates at all state and territory conferences must be elected by branches. In some states,
1568-579: A strategy of trying to reorient the party system along Labour vs. non-Labour lines prior to the 1906 federal election and renamed his Free Trade Party to the Anti-Socialist Party. Reid envisaged a spectrum running from socialist to anti-socialist, with the Protectionist Party in the middle. This attempt struck a chord with politicians who were steeped in the Westminster tradition and regarded
1666-488: A successor is elected. The deputy prime minister also acts as prime minister when the prime minister is on leave or out of the country. Members of the Ministry are also chosen by Caucus, though the leader may allocate portfolios to the ministers. Anthony Albanese is the leader of the federal Labor party, serving since 30 May 2019. The deputy leader is Richard Marles , also serving since 30 May 2019. The Australian Labor Party
1764-488: Is a federal party, consisting of eight branches from each state and territory. While the National Executive is responsible for national campaign strategy, each state and territory are an autonomous branch and are responsible for campaigning in their own jurisdictions for federal, state and local elections. State and territory branches consist of both individual members and affiliated trade unions , who between them decide
1862-460: Is contained in its National Platform, which is approved by delegates to Labor's National Conference, held every three years. According to the Labor Party's website, "The Platform is the result of a rigorous and constructive process of consultation, spanning the nation and including the cooperation and input of state and territory policy committees, local branches, unions, state and territory governments, and individual Party members. The Platform provides
1960-516: Is determined by the Cabinet (if the party is in office) or the Shadow Cabinet (if it is in opposition), in consultation with key interest groups within the party, and is contained in the parliamentary Leader's policy speech delivered during the election campaign. When Labor is in office, the policies it implements are determined by the Cabinet, subject to the platform. Generally, it is accepted that while
2058-599: Is fully committed to a market economy, it says that: "Labor believes in a strong role for national government – the one institution all Australians truly own and control through our right to vote." Labor "will not allow the benefits of change to be concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, or located only in privileged communities. The benefits must be shared by all Australians and all our regions." The platform and Labor "believe that all people are created equal in their entitlement to dignity and respect, and should have an equal chance to achieve their potential." For Labor, "government has
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#17328370308292156-497: Is no formal requirement for unions to be represented at the national conference). The national conference decides the party's platform, elects the national executive and appoints office-bearers such as the national secretary, who also serves as national campaign director during elections. The current national secretary is Paul Erickson . The most recent national conference was the 48th conference held in December 2018. The head office of
2254-547: Is the head of government in the state of New South Wales , Australia . The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System , with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. The premier is appointed by the Governor of New South Wales , and by modern convention holds office by their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament,
2352-479: Is the oldest continuous political party in Australian history , having been established on 8 May 1901 at Parliament House, Melbourne ; the meeting place of the first Federal Parliament . The ALP is descended from the labour parties founded in the various Australian colonies by the emerging labour movement . Colonial Labour parties contested seats from 1891, and began contesting federal seats following Federation at
2450-419: The 1901 federal election . In 1904, the ALP briefly formed the world's first labour party government and the world's first democratic socialist or social democratic government at a national level. At the 1910 federal election , Labor was the first party in Australia to win a majority in either house of the Australian parliament. In every election since 1910 Labor has either served as the governing party or
2548-456: The 1903 federal election and continued to hold the balance of power. In April 1904, however, Watson and Alfred Deakin fell out over the issue of extending the scope of industrial relations laws concerning the Conciliation and Arbitration bill to cover state public servants, the fallout causing Deakin to resign. Free Trade leader George Reid declined to take office, which saw Watson become
2646-507: The 1910 state election . In 1899, Anderson Dawson formed a minority Labour government in Queensland , the first in the world, which lasted one week while the conservatives regrouped after a split. The colonial Labour parties and the trade unions were mixed in their support for the Federation of Australia . Some Labour representatives argued against the proposed constitution, claiming that
2744-692: The 1934 federal election . Lang Labor significantly increased its total vote, and won nine seats, at the election, which saw the ALP win only one seat in New South Wales ( Newcastle ). At its peak, the faction held nine out of 74 seats in the House of Representatives . Lang also had some supporters outside of New South Wales, most notably several state MPs in South Australia who won elections under his banner . In September 1935, John Curtin succeeded Scullin as Federal Labor leader and in February 1936 he brought about
2842-442: The 1947 NSW election , they were defeated in 1950 , leading to the party essentially being defunct. During Lang's expulsion, the ALP continued to enjoy their greatest House of Representatives victory both in terms of proportion of seats and their strongest national two-party vote at the 1943 federal election and additionally their first successful federal re-election attempt at the 1946 federal election . During this election Lang
2940-456: The 2014 Fisher by-election by nine votes from a 7.3 percent swing, the Labor government in South Australia went from minority to majority government. Labor won landslide victories in the 2016 Northern Territory election , the 2017 Western Australian election and the 2018 Victorian state election . However, Labor lost the 2018 South Australian state election after 16 years in government. In 2022, Labor returned to government after defeating
3038-407: The 2019 election , despite having been ahead in opinion polls for the preceding two years. The party lost in 2019 some of the seats which it had won back in 2016. After the 2019 defeat, Shorten resigned from the leadership, though he remained in parliament. Anthony Albanese was elected as leader unopposed and led the party to victory in the 2022 election , and became the new prime minister. Between
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3136-472: The 2022 federal election , and with political branches active in all the Australian states and territories , they currently hold government in New South Wales , South Australia , Victoria , Western Australia , and the Australian Capital Territory . As of 2024, Queensland , Tasmania and Northern Territory are the only states or territories where Labor currently forms the opposition. It
3234-665: The Chifley government launched a major immigration program. The party's opposition to non-European immigration did not change until after the retirement of Arthur Calwell as leader in 1967. Subsequently, Labor has become an advocate of multiculturalism . The Curtin and Chifley governments governed Australia through the latter half of the Second World War and initial stages of transition to peace. Labor leader John Curtin became prime minister in October 1941 when two independents crossed
3332-485: The Legislative Assembly and call an election . The new government was formed solely of Lang supporters, and Lang used the four months prior to the election to ensure that his opponents were denied ALP pre-selection. In part due to the switch to single-member electorates, the ALP lost the election. However, the ALP caucus that was elected was firmly under Lang's control, ensuring that he would dominate NSW Labor for
3430-482: The Legislative Assembly . Before Federation in 1901, the term " prime minister of New South Wales " was also used. "Premier" has been used more or less exclusively from 1901, to avoid confusion with the federal prime minister of Australia . The current premier is Chris Minns , the leader of the New South Wales Labor Party , who assumed office on 28 March 2023. Minns defeated Dominic Perrottet at
3528-761: The Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party was read out under the well known Tree of Knowledge at Barcaldine following the Great Shearers' Strike. The State Library of Queensland now holds the manifesto; in 2008 the historic document was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Australian Register and, in 2009, the document was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register. The Balmain , New South Wales branch of
3626-664: The NSW party caucus , after two interim leaders had been appointed during a conflict between the NSW state executive of the party (dominated by the Australian Workers' Union ), and the ALP Federal Executive . From very early in his leadership, Lang faced opposition within the caucus due to his domineering manner. Particular areas of contention were the establishment of a Government Insurance Office and Lang's role in an attempt to increase
3724-565: The Socialist Left who tend to favour a more interventionist economic policy and more socially progressive ideals, and Labor Right , the now dominant faction that tends to be more economically liberal and focus to a lesser extent on social issues. The Whitlam Labor government, marking a break with Labor's socialist tradition, pursued social democratic policies rather than democratic socialist policies. In contrast to earlier Labor leaders, Whitlam also cut tariffs by 25 percent. Whitlam led
3822-509: The South Australian Legislative Council . The first successful South Australian House of Assembly candidate was John McPherson at the 1892 East Adelaide by-election . Richard Hooper however was elected as an Independent Labor candidate at the 1891 Wallaroo by-election , while he was the first labor member of the House of Assembly he was not a member of the newly formed ULP. At the 1893 South Australian elections ,
3920-487: The White Australia policy , which banned all non-European migration to Australia. This policy was motivated by fears of economic competition from low-wage overseas workers which was shared by the vast majority of Australians and all major political parties. In practice the Labor party opposed all migration, on the grounds that immigrants competed with Australian workers and drove down wages, until after World War II , when
4018-463: The caucus ) on 8 May 1901 at Parliament House, Melbourne , the meeting place of the first federal Parliament. The caucus decided to support the incumbent Protectionist Party in minority government , while the Free Trade Party formed the opposition . It was some years before there was any significant structure or organisation at a national level. Labour under Chris Watson doubled its vote at
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4116-550: The 1910 elections Labour gained in the more Catholic areas and the representation of Catholics increased in Labour's parliamentary ranks. The federal parliament in 1901 was contested by each state Labour Party. In total, they won 15 of the 75 seats in the House of Representatives, collectively holding the balance of power, and the Labour members now met as the Federal Parliamentary Labour Party (informally known as
4214-455: The 1921 All-Australian Trades Union Congress a resolution was passed calling for "the socialisation of industry, production, distribution and exchange". The 1922 Labor Party National Conference adopted a similarly worded socialist objective which remained official policy for many years. The resolution was immediately qualified, however, by the Blackburn amendment, which said that "socialisation"
4312-669: The 2007 federal election and the 2008 Western Australian state election , Labor was in government nationally and in all eight state and territory parliaments. This was the first time any single party or any coalition had achieved this since the ACT and the NT gained self-government. Labor narrowly lost government in Western Australia at the 2008 state election and Victoria at the 2010 state election . These losses were further compounded by landslide defeats in New South Wales in 2011 , Queensland in 2012 ,
4410-529: The ALP embarked on Third Way reforms similar to those later adopted by New Labour in the United Kingdom. The Labor party is often called the party of unions due to its close ties to the labour movement in Australia , with the majority of trade unions being affiliated with the Labor party. The party is equally controlled by unions and rank-and-file party members through affiliated unions being granted 50% of delegates at each state and national conference. At
4508-539: The ALP in state and federal elections. By the early 1920s, Lang was the dominant ALP figure in New South Wales. He reached national prominence during the Great Depression by opposing the economic policies of James Scullin 's federal ALP government. The resulting party split of 1931 saw the Federal Executive expel the Lang-controlled New South Wales branch from the party. Led by Jack Beasley ,
4606-463: The ALP, the national secretariat, is managed by the national secretary. It plays a dual role of administration and a national campaign strategy. It acts as a permanent secretariat to the national executive by managing and assisting in all administrative affairs of the party. As the national secretary also serves as national campaign director during elections, it is also responsible for the national campaign strategy and organisation. The elected members of
4704-465: The Federal Executive, the two factions were reunited at a state conference. This gathering also reversed the "red rules" and returned the power of selecting the party leader to the caucus. Lang was replaced as state leader by William McKell . In 1940, Lang seceded from Labor, along with several supporters, and formed a new party called the Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist) , in retaliation of
4802-566: The Federal Labor Party back to office at the 1972 and 1974 federal elections, and passed a large amount of legislation. The Whitlam government lost office following the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis and dismissal by Governor-General John Kerr after the Coalition blocked supply in the Senate after a series of political scandals, and was defeated at the 1975 federal election in
4900-488: The Labor party in both houses of the national Parliament meet as the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, also known as the Caucus (see also caucus ). Besides discussing parliamentary business and tactics, the Caucus also is involved in the election of the federal parliamentary leaders. Until 2013, the parliamentary leaders were elected by the Caucus from among its members. The leader has historically been
4998-574: The Labour parties founded in the 1890s in the Australian colonies prior to federation. Labor tradition ascribes the founding of Queensland Labour to a meeting of striking pastoral workers under a ghost gum tree (the Tree of Knowledge ) in Barcaldine , Queensland in 1891. The 1891 shearers' strike is credited as being one of the factors for the formation of the Australian Labor Party. On 9 September 1892
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#17328370308295096-629: The Lang Labor members in federal parliament formed a separate party and in November 1931 voted to bring down the Scullin Government. Lang Labor candidates ran against the official ALP at the 1931 and 1934 federal elections , and at its peak the faction held nine out of 74 seats in the House of Representatives . Lang also had supporters outside of New South Wales, most notably several state MPs in South Australia who won elections under his banner. After
5194-494: The Liberal Party in the 2022 South Australian state election . Despite favourable polling, the party also did not return to government in the 2019 New South Wales state election or the 2019 federal election. The latter has been considered a historic upset due to Labor's consistent and significant polling lead; the result has been likened to the Coalition's loss in the 1993 federal election, with 2019 retrospectively referred to in
5292-488: The NSW branch and expelled the leftist elements. Following the Federal intervention, prior to the May 1941 state election , Lang and nearly all of his followers rejoined the ALP. The reunification would help assist Curtin to become Prime Minister of Australia in October 1941, allowing Labor to form government. In 1943, having published newspaper articles attacking McKell (NSW's Premier since 1941) and Prime Minister John Curtin, Lang
5390-405: The New South Wales branch from the party, including Jack Beasley and Eddie Ward , a result of its disloyalty to the federal Labor government of Scullin. The expelled branch became a separate parliamentary party known as Australian Labor Party (New South Wales), commonly known as Lang Labor. In the federal parliament, Lang Labor was led by Beasley. Lang repudiated the Premiers' Plan agreed by
5488-712: The Northern Territory in 2012 , Federally in 2013 and Tasmania in 2014 . Labor secured a good result in the Australian Capital Territory in 2012 and, despite losing its majority, the party retained government in South Australia in 2014 . However, most of these reversals proved only temporary with Labor returning to government in Victoria in 2014 and in Queensland in 2015 after spending only one term in opposition in both states. Furthermore, after winning
5586-511: The Senate as proposed was too powerful, similar to the anti-reformist colonial upper houses and the British House of Lords . They feared that federation would further entrench the power of the conservative forces. However, the first Labour leader and Prime Minister Chris Watson was a supporter of federation. Historian Celia Hamilton, examining New South Wales, argues for the central role of Irish Catholics. Before 1890, they opposed Henry Parkes,
5684-496: The ULP was immediately elevated to balance of power status with 10 of 54 lower house seats. The liberal government of Charles Kingston was formed with the support of the ULP, ousting the conservative government of John Downer . So successful, less than a decade later at the 1905 state election , Thomas Price formed the world's first stable Labor government. John Verran led Labor to form the state's first of many majority governments at
5782-482: The banks and a strike by the Communist-dominated Miners' Federation , Chifley lost office in 1949 to Robert Menzies ' Liberal-National Coalition. Labor commenced a 23-year period in opposition. The party was primarily led during this time by H. V. Evatt and Arthur Calwell . Various ideological beliefs were factionalised under reforms to the ALP under Gough Whitlam , resulting in what is now known as
5880-541: The casting vote of the Chairman. Lang responded to the challenge by calling a special meeting of the party conference in which, at his request, the conference took a supervisory role in the pre-selection of party candidates, took away from caucus the power to elect the parliamentary leader, and allowed the party leader to select the cabinet. In the press, these rule changes were referred to as "the red rules" or "the Lang dictatorship". Lang still faced significant opposition within
5978-408: The caucus and the caucus appointed cabinet, but he was able to defeat his opponents by returning his commission as Premier to the Governor , Sir Dudley de Chair on 25 May 1927. This automatically resulted in the dismissal of the cabinet. As there was no viable alternative government, De Chair recommissioned Lang to form a caretaker government on the condition that he would recommend a dissolution of
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#17328370308296076-708: The federal and state/colony level, the Australian Labor Party predates both the British Labour Party and the New Zealand Labour Party in party formation, government, and policy implementation. Internationally, the ALP is a member of the Progressive Alliance , a network of progressive , democratic socialist and social democratic parties, having previously been a member of the Socialist International . In standard Australian English ,
6174-411: The first Labour Prime Minister of Australia , and the world's first Labour head of government at a national level ( Anderson Dawson had led a short-lived Labour government in Queensland in December 1899), though his was a minority government that lasted only four months. He was aged only 37, and is still the youngest prime minister in Australia's history. George Reid of the Free Trade Party adopted
6272-402: The first time since 2011. This victory marked the first time in 15 years that Labor were in government in all mainland states. In 2024, Labor lost in a landslide in the 2024 Northern Territory election . losing its first mainland state or territory since the 2018 South Australian election . Labor would also lose in the 2024 Queensland state election . The policy of the Australian Labor Party
6370-471: The floating of the dollar and privatisation of state enterprises such as Qantas airways and the Commonwealth Bank . The Labor Party is commonly described as a social democratic party, and its constitution stipulates that it is a democratic socialist party. The party was created by, and has always been influenced by, the trade unions, and in practice its policy at any given time has usually been
6468-597: The floor of Parliament. Labor, led by Curtin, then led Australia through the years of the Pacific War . In December 1941, Curtin announced that "Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom", thus helping to establish the Australian-American alliance (later formalised as ANZUS by the Menzies Government ). Remembered as a strong war time leader and for
6566-452: The largest landslide of Australian federal history. Whitlam remains the only Prime Minister to have his commission terminated in that manner. Whitlam also lost the 1977 federal election and subsequently resigned as leader. Bill Hayden succeeded Whitlam as leader. At the 1980 federal election , the party achieved a big swing, though the unevenness of the swing around the nation prevented an ALP victory. In 1983, Bob Hawke became leader of
6664-449: The largest single party in the House of Representatives on both votes and seats. Lang's lack of success at state elections eroded his support within the labour movement. In his 16 years as state Labor leader, he only won two elections, in 1925 and 1930; he was defeated in 1927, 1932, 1935 and 1938. This led some members of caucus, including Bob Heffron , to break away to form the Industrial Labor Party . In 1939, following intervention by
6762-425: The lead-up to the 1941 state election . Lang was again expelled from the party in 1943 and ran separate candidates against the official ALP in several further elections. He served a single term in the House of Representatives from 1946 to 1949, while the last Lang Labor MPs in the Parliament of New South Wales were defeated in 1950 . Lang was elected leader of New South Wales branch of the Labor Party in 1922 by
6860-507: The main Liberal leader, and of free trade, seeing them both as the ideals of Protestant Englishmen who represented landholding and large business interests. In the strike of 1890 the leading Catholic, Sydney's Archbishop Patrick Francis Moran was sympathetic toward unions, but Catholic newspapers were negative. After 1900, says Hamilton, Irish Catholics were drawn to the Labour Party because its stress on equality and social welfare fitted with their status as manual labourers and small farmers. In
6958-443: The media as the "unloseable election". Anthony Albanese later led the party into the 2022 Australian federal election , in which the party once again won a majority government. Despite Labor's win, Labor nevertheless recorded its lowest primary vote since either 1903 or 1934 , depending on whether the Lang Labor vote is included. In 2023, Labor won the march 2023 New South Wales state election returning to government for
7056-455: The next 12 years. With the support of the state party, the Labor Premier of New South Wales , Lang announced a policy of foreign debt repudiation, known as the "Lang Plan", and imposed a moratorium on the New South Wales government's overseas loans. This policy was in contrary to the policy of the federal Labor government led by James Scullin . In March 1931, the Federal Executive expelled
7154-532: The official choice of Labor to influence from King O'Malley , who was born in the United States and was reputedly an advocate of English-language spelling reform ; the spelling without a u is the standard form in American English . It has been suggested that the adoption of the spelling without a u "signified one of the ALP's earliest attempts at modernisation", and served the purpose of differentiating
7252-504: The opposition. There have been 13 Labor prime ministers and 10 periods of federal Labor governments, including under Billy Hughes from 1915 to 1916, James Scullin from 1929 to 1932, John Curtin from 1941 to 1945, Ben Chifley from 1945 to 1949, Gough Whitlam from 1972 to 1975, Bob Hawke from 1983 to 1991, Paul Keating from 1991 to 1996, Kevin Rudd from 2007 to 2010 and 2013, and Julia Gillard from 2010 to 2013. Under Hawke and Keating,
7350-432: The party after Hayden resigned to avoid a leadership spill. Bob Hawke led Labor back to office at the 1983 federal election and the party won four consecutive elections under Hawke. In December 1991 Paul Keating defeated Bob Hawke in a leadership spill. The ALP then won the 1993 federal election . It was in power for five terms over 13 years, until severely defeated by John Howard at the 1996 federal election . This
7448-420: The party also contests local government elections or endorses local candidates. In others it does not, preferring to allow its members to run as non-endorsed candidates. The process of choosing candidates is called preselection . Candidates are preselected by different methods in the various states and territories. In some they are chosen by ballots of all party members, in others by panels or committees elected by
7546-666: The party claims to be the oldest in Australia. However, the Scone Branch has a receipt for membership fees for the Labour Electoral League dated April 1891. This predates the Balmain claim. This can be attested in the Centenary of the ALP book. Labour as a parliamentary party dates from 1891 in New South Wales and South Australia , 1893 in Queensland, and later in the other colonies. The first election contested by Labour candidates
7644-404: The party from the Australian labour movement as a whole and distinguishing it from other British Empire labour parties. The decision to include the word "Australian" in the party's name, rather than just " Labour Party " as in the United Kingdom, has been attributed to "the greater importance of nationalism for the founders of the colonial parties". The Australian Labor Party has its origins in
7742-539: The party's parliamentary majority through the appointment of Alick Kay as the consumer's representative on the Metropolitan Meat Board. However Lang continued to enjoy the overwhelming support of the party branches and he controlled a large majority at the annual conference, which was the party's ultimate forum. Conflict within the caucus culminated in a leadership challenge in October 1926 by Peter Loughlin , Lang's deputy leader. Lang survived this challenge on
7840-475: The party's policies, elect its governing bodies and choose its candidates for public office. Members join a state branch and pay a membership fee, which is graduated according to income. The majority of trade unions in Australia are affiliated to the party at a state level. Union affiliation is direct and not through the Australian Council of Trade Unions . Affiliated unions pay an affiliation fee based on
7938-447: The platform as a prerequisite for a change in policy. For example, privatisation legislation under the Hawke government occurred only after holding a special national conference to debate changing the platform. The Australian Labor Party National Executive is the party's chief administrative authority, subject only to Labor's national conference . The executive is responsible for organising
8036-437: The platform binds Labor governments, how and when it is implemented remains the prerogative of the parliamentary caucus. It is now rare for the platform to conflict with government policy, as the content of the platform is usually developed in close collaboration with the party's parliamentary leadership as well as the factions. However, where there is a direct contradiction with the platform, Labor governments have sought to change
8134-412: The policy foundation from which we can continue to work towards the election of a federal Labor government." The platform gives a general indication of the policy direction which a future Labor government would follow, but does not commit the party to specific policies. It maintains that "Labor's traditional values will remain a constant on which all Australians can rely." While making it clear that Labor
8232-499: The policy of the broader labour movement. Thus at the first federal election 1901 Labor's platform called for a White Australia policy , a citizen army and compulsory arbitration of industrial disputes. Labor has at various times supported high tariffs and low tariffs, conscription and pacifism , White Australia and multiculturalism , nationalisation and privatisation , isolationism and internationalism. From 1900 to 1940, Labor and its affiliated unions were strong defenders of
8330-695: The size of their membership. Union affiliation fees make up a large part of the party's income. Other sources of funds for the party include political donations and public funding . Members are generally expected to attend at least one meeting of their local branch each year, although there are differences in the rules from state to state. In practice, only a dedicated minority regularly attend meetings. Many members are only active during election campaigns. The members and unions elect delegates to state and territory conferences (usually held annually, although more frequent conferences are often held). These conferences decide policy, and elect state or territory executives,
8428-511: The state conference, in still others by a combination of these two. The state and territory Labor branches are the following: The Country Labor Party , commonly known as Country Labor , was an affiliated organisation of the Labor Party. Although not expressly defined, Country Labor operated mainly within rural New South Wales , and was mainly seen as an extension of the New South Wales branch that operates in rural electorates. Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales
8526-446: The strength of Deakinite liberalism inhibited the party's growth. The state branches formed their first majority governments in New South Wales and South Australia in 1910, Western Australia in 1911, Queensland in 1915 and Tasmania in 1925. Such success eluded equivalent labour parties in other countries for many years. Analysis of the early NSW Labor caucus reveals "a band of unhappy amateurs", made up of blue collar workers,
8624-407: The triennial national conference; carrying out the decisions of the conference; interpreting the national constitution, the national platform and decisions of the national conference; and directing federal members. The party holds a national conference every three years, which consists of delegates representing the state and territory branches (many coming from affiliated trade unions, although there
8722-561: The word labour is spelt with a u . However, the political party uses the spelling Labor , without a u . There was originally no standardised spelling of the party's name, with Labor and Labour both in common usage. According to Ross McMullin , who wrote an official history of the Labor Party, the title page of the proceedings of the Federal Conference used the spelling "Labor in 1902, "Labour" in 1905 and 1908, and then "Labor" from 1912 onwards. In 1908, James Catts put forward
8820-471: The world's first Labour Party majority government at a national level, and after the 1904 Chris Watson minority government the world's second Labour Party government at a national level. It was the first time a Labour Party had controlled any house of a legislature, and the first time the party controlled both houses of a bicameral legislature. The state branches were also successful, except in Victoria , where
8918-460: Was also the first woman to serve as prime minister of Australia, remained prime minister in a hung parliament following the election. Her government lasted until 2013, when Gillard lost a leadership spill, with Rudd becoming leader once again. Later that year the ALP lost the 2013 election . After this defeat, Bill Shorten became leader of the party. The party narrowly lost the 2016 election , yet gained 14 seats. It remained in opposition after
9016-481: Was desirable only when was necessary to "eliminate exploitation and other anti-social features". Only once has a federal Labor government attempted to nationalise any industry ( Ben Chifley 's bank nationalisation of 1947), and that was held by the High Court to be unconstitutional. The commitment to nationalisation was dropped by Gough Whitlam , and Bob Hawke 's government carried out many free market reforms including
9114-448: Was elected to the House of Representatives for the federal seat of Reid , being elected with the benefit of Liberal Party preferences. Lang was a nuisance to the Labor government led, since 1945, by Ben Chifley , whom he repeatedly castigated in public. He lost his seat at the 1949 election . In the double dissolution 1951 election he stood for the Senate , but was not elected. Lang
9212-403: Was expelled from the ALP and restarted the Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist). This manifestation of Lang Labor contested the 1944 NSW election , electing two members—Lang and Lilian Fowler , Australia's first female mayor. When Lang transferred to federal politics, he was succeeded as the Lang Labor member for Auburn by his son James . Although Fowler and Chris Lang were both re-elected in
9310-454: Was forced out of the leadership by Kevin Rudd . Rudd went on to defeat John Howard at the 2007 federal election with 52.7 percent of the two-party vote (Howard became the first prime minister since Stanley Melbourne Bruce to lose not just the election but his own parliamentary seat). The Rudd government ended prior to the 2010 federal election with the overthrow of Rudd as leader of the party by deputy leader Julia Gillard . Gillard, who
9408-530: Was re-admitted to the NSW branch ALP in 1971, at the age of 94, after a campaign by his protégé Paul Keating . He died four years later. Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party ( ALP ), also known simply as Labor or the Labor Party , is the major centre-left political party in Australia and one of two major parties in Australian politics , along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia . The party has been in government since
9506-560: Was the 1891 New South Wales election , when Labour candidates (then called the Labor Electoral League of New South Wales) won 35 of 141 seats. The major parties were the Protectionist and Free Trade parties and Labour held the balance of power . It offered parliamentary support in exchange for policy concessions. The United Labor Party (ULP) of South Australia was founded in 1891, and three candidates were that year elected to
9604-488: Was the longest period the party has ever been in government at the national level. Kim Beazley led the party to the 1998 federal election , winning 51 percent of the two-party-preferred vote but falling short on seats, and the ALP lost ground at the 2001 federal election . After a brief period when Simon Crean served as ALP leader, Mark Latham led Labor to the 2004 federal election but lost further ground. Beazley replaced Latham in 2005; not long afterwards he in turn
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