Open Labor have written to ALP National Secretary Paul Erickson that members are shut out of reform processes in the make-up of the Interim Governance Committee. Open Labor then forwarded 107 support signatures to include a non-factional member on the committee.
The Interim Governance Committee will oversee the Macklin-Bracks reforms until a new Administrative Committee is elected at next Victorian State Conference.
Read the letter to ALP National Secretary Paul Erickson
The letter, including all 107 signatories, was sent to those national executive members with publicly available email addresses.
Many ordinary members have a significant concern that the Interim Governance Committee set up to oversee reforms to the Victorian party, as recommended by Administrators Jenny Macklin and Steve Bracks and endorsed by the National Executive, has not one representative of ordinary party members. We are shut out of reforms.
We are confident that support for our proposal is much greater than the names we have collected to date. If you would like to read the letter and add your name, please do so here. The more voices we have the stronger our claim to the National Executive. Members’ comments to us show how strongly people feel shut out of reform. Here are just two:
Tony Dalton of the Carlton North branch.
“I am a member of the Socialist Left, but I agree wholeheartedly that the Interim Governance Committee must have at least one member who is not a member of a faction. The initial consultation paper published by Macklin and Bracks presented clear evidence that the dominance of the factions in the governance of the Victorian ALP disenfranchised many ALP members in many areas of decision-making within the party. Cultural change in the governance of the party requires a plurality of voices to be heard.”
Fiona McLeod SC, Labor’s candidate for Higgins in the 2019 Federal Election.
“The proposal to include unaligned members on the Interim Governance Committee is critical to strengthen transparency and integrity mechanisms within the party and generate trust in leadership. The commitment to integrity must be genuine and implemented at all levels of the party including governance. If we do not do so we risk replicating the very power struggles that encourage stacking and the purchase of influence and we forfeit the right and the responsibility of holding the (federal) government to account for its many failings.”
When we get a response we will post it here.
Yours in solidarity
The Open Labor Team
Open Labor letter to the ALP National Secretary on VIC reform representation – Open Labor, I7 Dec 2020
Macklin-Bracks reforms to Victorian Labor explained – by Eric Dearricott, Open Labor, 2 Feb 2021
Macklin-Bracks reforms – Independents seek reps on Interim Governance Committee – Open Labor, 26 Feb 2021
I am a life member of the Labor Party and I have been waiting for more openness for party members for many years so that the party can grow and, through debate, develop policy that is more appealing to the general community than that proposed in recent years. I strongly support this letter which, if effective, will allow the process of reform to come under scrutiny.
Labor’s reputation is continually tarnished with the presence of factions; this proposal is undeniably essential.