Open Labor

To the Administrators of the Victorian ALP, Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin

The Victorian Labor needs deep and far-sighted change to play its part in the election of Labor governments which implement progressive policies for all Australians.

We endorse the National Executive's recent decision to appoint Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin as Administrators of the Victorian ALP Branch, and the Premier's declaration of a lack of confidence in the membership roll. We also endorse the Administrator's work to clean up the members roll, renew the Disputes Tribunal and amend the rules to require traceable payment of membership fees.

We therefore respectfully call on the Administrators to recommend the following Victorian ALP rule changes to promote:

Integrity:

1. Clean the party of branch stackers and members enlisted through branch stacking and put in place processes and rules to detect and prevent future stacking;
2. Appoint an independent ombudsman to investigate potential serious rules breaches and take warranted charges to a reformed and impartial Disputes Tribunal;
3. Guarantee democratic practices, including the conduct of all elections by secret ballot supported by robust and enforced rules, and the declaration by candidates of their factional and other party affiliations;

Respectful culture:

4. Show the party respects and values its members by ensuring that they have input into important decisions and informs them of what has been decided and why;
5. Support members and branches by promoting their participation in party activities, openly communicating important and essential information, providing training for key roles and potential public office holders;

Democracy and good governance:

6. Ensure a real say for members in ballots for candidates for both houses of State and Federal parliaments;
7. Prohibit interventions that remove the voting rights of party members in pre-selections except in unusual circumstances.
8. Reform the Administrative Committee so it is representative of the membership, operates democratically and reports and explains its decisions to members;
9. Ensure State Office is competent, and run by officials and staff appointed on their merits, who do not engage in factional activity while performing their formal party role;

Grow the membership:

10. Adopt an inclusive strategy of supporting the operations of branches and other party bodies (such as LEAN, Young Labor and Rainbow Labor) to welcome, recruit, support and retain genuine members from all parts of the Australian community;
11. Establish a Membership Unit within the State Office dedicated to growing Labor’s membership and broadening its appeal, especially among groups where membership is low, including traditional Labor voters, young people and minority communities.
12. Increase the participation of individual affiliated unionists by giving them a direct say in party activities and votes, including election of the union’s State Conference delegates.

Thank you for undertaking this critical task to enable the necessary reforms for our Victorian ALP.

**your signature**