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| OPINION | Sunday, 30 March 2008 How Labour can win Evarist Bartolo Four months ago the Australian Labour Party won the Federal Elections after four consecutive electoral defeats in 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2004. A year before its electoral victory, the Australian Labour Party had been trailing the Liberal Party by between five and ten points in the polls. So how did the Labour Party win the 2007 election with a landslide and what can we learn from that experience?In his analysis of Labour’s defeat in the 2001 election where Labour had received 48.97% of the vote, Michael Duffy in his book Latham and Abbott, concludes: “Latham had a clear view of why Labour had lost again: the big swings against it had occurred on the urban fringes and related areas, which were now the middle ground of Australian politics. The people Labor was failing to reach often lived in new housing estates and were uninterested in the politics of victimhood and whingeing. They were a new aspirational class… owners of small businesses, shares, skills, investments and big houses, and often the children of traditional Labor voters, these people were physically and psychologically mobile, with different lives and new dreams. The prosperity of the 1990s had added to old Labor beliefs the idea that it was all right for hard work to be rewarded with material success. So did the Labor Party want to represent them or not?” By the time the 2007 election came along the Labour Party had repositioned itself in Australian society to become also the party of the upwardly mobile. In December 2006 Kevin Rudd became party leader and his leadership made all the difference. This 51-year-old politician was now able to communicate a new, energetic, intelligent and forward-looking agenda. Rudd had the advantage of not being identified with past Labour administrations but at the same time had enough experience in government, having served in the diplomatic service and administered government departments at state level. Rudd and the Labour Party set the agenda by concentrating on those issues where government was relatively weak (education, climate change and IT connectivity) while making it clear that they would not disturb those areas where the Liberal government was strong and delivering. The Labour Party managed to connect with the aspirations and mood of the majority. Nick Cowley, former advisor to Tony Blair, says that the Australian Labour Party managed to be successful in contrasting its new policy agenda with the failures of the government. “People believed that the education system needed reform if Australia was going to be equipped to compete in the globalised economy; they had no faith that a government in denial on climate change for so long could rise to the challenge of achieving low carbon growth; and they recognised that a national high-speed internet connection was a necessity. They sensed that a government in power for so long had neglected these areas almost without the Labor party having to spell it out for them. By emphasising a positive, Labor approach, the criticism of the government was implicit rather than crudely, negatively overt.” More than as an Opposition leader Rudd sounded like a prime minister in waiting, presenting his policies with an informed, statesman-like gravitas almost irrespective of the position adopted by the incumbent government. With rigorous discipline the party picked its priorities and stuck with them. Labour was able to set the agenda and give the electorate a sense of what the party believed and would pursue if elected. Rudd’s approach to policy development and campaign tactics was based on openness, bringing together all main stakeholders in every area. This resulted in subtle, intelligent, inclusive, thoughtful and informed policy making. Cowley observes that Labor was able to choose those dividing lines between itself and the government that played to its strengths rather than have them imposed. “No matter how much the government tried to create divisions on refugees, tax, the economy or security they failed to get any traction, with Rudd accepting that much of what the government had done in these areas was necessary. This was driven by more than political tactics. It was also the result of a mature understanding that no matter how much party members disliked the Howard government, many in the electorate still respected him and much of what he had achieved. Being ‘oppositionist’ on all issues might win you plaudits amongst your supporters but does little to connect with those voters who had supported the Liberal National government in the past. More than an effective opposition, Labor came to be perceived as the government in waiting.” Any comments? |
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Managing editor Saviour Balzan | Tel. ++356 21382741 | Fax: ++356 21385075 | Email
Managing editor Saviour Balzan | Tel. ++356 21382741 | Fax: ++356 21385075 | Email