Victorian Liberal Party Minister Kevin Andrews comes under pressure to quit over branch stacking allegations”. It's another branch stacking scandal shows the practice is not just about numbers. In both parties, it is about furthering conservative agendas - branch stacking drags policy right. … [Read more...] about How branch stacking drags policy right – by Mike Seccombe, The Saturday Paper 4 Sept 2020
Readings & listenings
Two Supreme Court cases challenge Victorian ALP intervention – updated
Two separate Supreme Court cases challenge Victorian ALP intervention 2020: the Victorian MP Marlene Kairouz and a group of trade unions; plus the effects of the cases on federal preselections and possibly on faction futures. Marlene Kairouz' case arose from the audit of the Victorian ALP … [Read more...] about Two Supreme Court cases challenge Victorian ALP intervention – updated
Stability Pact sticking points threaten between VIC Labor – by Rob Harris, The Age, 21 May 2021
Victorian Labor peace talks threaten to erupt on Stability Pact sticking points between the Right and Left. 'It's like 19th-century empires dividing up Africa.' The article is edited below, with additional editorial pickings following. The draft cross-factional agreement says: “Recent … [Read more...] about Stability Pact sticking points threaten between VIC Labor – by Rob Harris, The Age, 21 May 2021
The Labor hunting season turns nastier – Guy Rundle, Crikey, 1 July 2021
The Labor hunting season is on, says Guy Rundle at Crikey. Adem Somyurek had his office video bugged (military-grade equipment) and Victorian branch stacking operations were laid bare. Somyurek, a suburban MLC, has denied all wrongdoing. In (heavily rewritten) Rundle says: Somyurek had become … [Read more...] about The Labor hunting season turns nastier – Guy Rundle, Crikey, 1 July 2021
Alice Dawkins stuns the SA ALP with preselection legal threat – by Tom Richardson, InDaily 22 June 2021
Alice Dawkins stuns the SA ALP, with a preselection legal threat, serving it a legal letter claiming the campaign process in the safe Labor federal seat of Spence is unfair and 'anti-democratic' – and threatening Supreme Court action if her concerns are not addressed. Her lawyer, Greg Griffin, … [Read more...] about Alice Dawkins stuns the SA ALP with preselection legal threat – by Tom Richardson, InDaily 22 June 2021
The preselection battle for Hawke – May 2021
The May 2021 preselection battle for Hawke raged – at stake a lifetime Federal Parliament seat with implications for both federal ALP leadership and Victorian factional power. Hawke is a newly created seat covering Sunbury, Melton, Bacchus Marsh and Ballan, with a safe projected ALP margin of about … [Read more...] about The preselection battle for Hawke – May 2021
Why I cannot support Michael Daley for the Labor leadership in NSW – by Osmond Chiu, SMH, 31 May 2021
Osmond Chiu, Per Capita Research Fellow and ALP member writes about Labor leadership in NSW "Labor must connect with an increasingly diverse electorate" [Read more - external link] Subscribe to Osmond Chiu's email blog Agitate, Educate, Opine Related reading Labor People of Colour write … [Read more...] about Why I cannot support Michael Daley for the Labor leadership in NSW – by Osmond Chiu, SMH, 31 May 2021
Without total change Labour will die – by Tony Blair, New Statesman 14 May 2021
Tony Blair writes that: "The challenge facing Britain’s Labour and Liberal Democrat parties cannot be overstated. Political parties have no divine right to exist and progressive parties of the centre and centre left are facing marginalisation, even extinction, across the Western world. Without total … [Read more...] about Without total change Labour will die – by Tony Blair, New Statesman 14 May 2021
Australian democracy is fading fast – by Bruce Haigh, Pearls & Irritations 9 June 2021
Australian democracy is fading fast, with little care on the part of the Coalition and mainstream media or realisation on the part of Labor. Bruce Haigh's article is edited below. Howard set the framework for an intolerant and racist Australia which endures to this day. He put in place what might … [Read more...] about Australian democracy is fading fast – by Bruce Haigh, Pearls & Irritations 9 June 2021
Scottish & English elections review – John McTernan & Stephen Donnelly podcast Socially Democratic 14 May 2021
Listen to this Scottish & English elections review, a one hour, podcast full of ideas about the way forward for international social democracy and independence movements. [Listen external link] Program notes from this excellent podcast series read: Dunn Street founder Stephen Donnelly was … [Read more...] about Scottish & English elections review – John McTernan & Stephen Donnelly podcast Socially Democratic 14 May 2021