Labor Right

Political faction within the Australian Labor Party

The Labor Right is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically liberal or more socially conservative than the Labor Left.^[6] The Labor Right is a broad alliance of various state factions and competes with the Labor Left faction.

State branches

Factional power usually finds expression in the percentage vote of aligned delegates at party conferences. The power of the Labor Right varies from state to state, but it usually relies on certain trade unions, such as the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), Transport Workers Union (TWU), the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) and the Health Services Union (HSU). These unions send delegates to the conference, with delegates usually coming from the membership, the administration of the union or local branches covered by their activists.

State-based factions (national sub-factions) which make up Labor Right include:

New South Wales

• Centre Unity.

Queensland

• Labor Forum (dominated by the AWU).^[7]

Australian Capital Territory^[8]

• Centre Coalition.

Victoria

• Labor Centre Unity (The Shorts: consisting of branch members and unions aligned with Bill Shorten, including the Australian Workers Union, Health Workers Union and the Plumbers).^[9]
• Labor Progressive Unity (The Cons: Consisting largely of Branch Members aligned to and supporters of Labor Deputy Leader Richard Marles and the Transport Workers Union).
• Labor Unity (The Shoppies: Consisting largely of branch members aligned to and supports of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association)

Western Australia

• WA Labor Unity (AWU, SDA, TWU).
• Progressive Labor (Consists of AWU, SDA, TWU and CFMEU).^[10][11] An alliance between WA Labor Unity and the 'Industrial left' unions of WA, formed in 2019 for the purpose of binding at State conferences against some subgroups within WA's Broad left; such as the UWU. Historically, the MUA and CFMEU have voted at State conferences in alignment with the Broad left.

Northern Territory

• Labor Unity.

South Australia

• Labor Unity (dominated by the SDA).^[12]

Tasmania

• Labor Unity.

Political views

The faction is most famous for its support of Third Way policies such as the economic rationalist policies of the Bob Hawke and Paul Keating governments, including floating the Australian dollar in December 1983, reductions in trade tariffs, taxation reforms such as the introduction of dividend imputation to eliminate double-taxation of dividends and the lowering of the top marginal income tax rate from 60% in 1983 to 47% in 1996, changing from centralised wage-fixing to enterprise bargaining, the privatisation of Qantas and Commonwealth Bank, making the Reserve Bank of Australia independent, and deregulating the banking system.^{[citation needed]}

Federal Members of the Labor Right

‡ Sterle was formerly a member of the now-defunct Centre Left.

See also

• Labor Left
• Category: Labor Right politicians, current and former parliamentary members of the Labor Right
• Moderates – Centrist faction in the Liberal Party of Australia
• New Democrats – centrist faction in the Democratic Party of the United States
• Blue Dogs – conservative faction in the Democratic Party of the United States
• Progress – organisation associated with the Labour Party (UK)
• Seeheimer Kreis – conservative faction in the Social Democratic Party of Germany

Notes

1. Senator Fatima Payman was indefinitely suspended from the Labor Party Caucus on 30 June 2024

References

1. Massola, James (25 June 2022). "The power behind the PM – who are Labor's powerbrokers in government?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
2. Jingjing Huo (2009). Third Way Reforms: Social Democracy After the Golden Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-521-51843-7.
3. "Labor 'Shoppies' still powerful: Senator".
4. "What's happened to the conservative wing of the Australian Labor Party?". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 October 2013.
5. Brown, Greg (8 October 2018). "Kimberley Kitching caters for Labor's conservative core". The Australian.
6. Massola, James (14 February 2021). "What are Labor's factions and who's who in the Left and Right?". The Sydney Morning Herald.
7. "Left takes over Queensland Labor in historic shift". The Australia. 31 July 2014.
8. "Contest in ACT comes down to the ALP machine versus genuine locals". Crikey. 9 April 2010.
9. Rundle), Guy (18 July 2018). "The instability of Labor's latest factional stability deal". Crikey.
10. Butterly, Nick; Delalande, Joanna. "WA Labor's Progressive faction fractures". PressReader. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
11. "Historic union pact formed to take on the Left". The West Australian. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
12. "Liberals' donations double Labor Party's ahead of SA election". ABC. 11 August 2017.
13. "The 12 Labor figures who will do the heavy lifting in government". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
14. Tewksbury, Marc. "Labor MP Jason Clare dismisses Otis group". news.com.au. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
15. "Labor's new-look shadow ministry". SBS News. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
16. Probyn, Andrew. "The strain within Labor's Left and Right bubbles over as the party wrestles over its future". ABC News. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
17. Hondros, Nathan. "WA Labor MPs named as part of pro-coal, right-wing 'Otis Group'". WAtoday. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
18. "Shorten stands by Gillard as leader". 9news.com.au. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
19. Chan, Gabrielle (25 July 2015). "Bill Shorten wins freedom to use boat turnbacks, but leadership split on issue". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
20. "Leaked texts show Somyurek's influence among federal Labor ranks". skynews.com.au. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
21. Ilanbey, Sumeyya (28 January 2020). "Tensions between Labor's Right and Left factions at boiling point". theage.com.au. Retrieved 7 November 2020.

Further reading

• Cumming, Fia (1991). Mates: Five Champions of the Labor Right. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86373-021-1. – Paul Keating, Graham Richardson, Laurie Brereton, Bob Carr and Leo McLeay recount events which shaped the Australian labour movement from the 1960s to the 1980s.
• Richardson, Graham (1994). Whatever It Takes. Moorebank, NSW: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-1-86-359332-8. – Graham Richardson recounts his career and outlines the philosophy and operation of the NSW and National Labor Right during his time in the ALP.