The good and the bad about ALP factions: creating a more competitive Labor Party, where NOT being in a faction is as valid a choice as joining a faction. A speech by Andrew Leigh MP ACT Federal Member at the Per Capita John Cain luncheon, 19 July 2023. Per Capita's recording of John Cain … [Read more...] about A More Competitive Labor Party
Labor futures
Labor preselections trampled both guilty and innocent
Bill Kelty, ACTU Secretary from 1983–2000, writes in the Age that on 13 December the VIC Labor preselections trampled both guilty and innocent in a journey of authoritarianism & factionalism that Labor may long regret. On 13 December, ALP members were chosen to run for office without … [Read more...] about Labor preselections trampled both guilty and innocent
Vale Stuart Macintyre – a history warrior for a better Australia
Stuart Macintyre - a history warrior who worked for a better Australia. He has gone. To those whose lives touched his, an Australian history community without him seems hugely empty. Three obituaries: Janet McCalman from The Conversation and by Brian Aarons & Tim Rowse from Search … [Read more...] about Vale Stuart Macintyre – a history warrior for a better Australia
Educational divide threatens to split left
Culture wars threaten the left as the university-educated come to dominate the modern left, identity seems to be replacing class as its ideological touchstone. This is critical for Labor. The educational divide that threatens to split the left – by James Button, The Age, 22 Nov 2021 Reprinted … [Read more...] about Educational divide threatens to split left
Our democracy decaying from within – by John Menadue, Pearls & Irritations
Our democracy is decaying from within. We need a summit of community leaders to help chart democratic renewal. This is an edited version of Our democracy is decaying from within by John Menadue, Pearls & Irritations, 16 Sep 2021. Bob Hawke’s 1983 post election economic summit promoted … [Read more...] about Our democracy decaying from within – by John Menadue, Pearls & Irritations
Covid ends the neoliberal era? – by Adem Tooze, The Guardian
The year 2020 exposed the risks and weaknesses of the market-driven global system. It’s hard to avoid the sense that a turning point has been reached. Could it be that Covid ends the neoliberal era? Tooze analyses how the high-level, technocratic decisions of central bankers and finance … [Read more...] about Covid ends the neoliberal era? – by Adem Tooze, The Guardian