The Australia Card was a proposal for a national identification card for Australian citizens and resident foreigners. The proposal was made in 1985, and abandoned in 1987.
128-463: The idea for the card was raised at the national Tax Summit in 1985 convened by the then Federal Labor government led by Bob Hawke . The card was to amalgamate other government identification systems and act against tax avoidance , and health and welfare fraud. The government introduced legislation in the parliament in 1986, but it did not have a majority in the Senate and was repeatedly blocked by
256-639: A Young Liberals state convention. On 18 December 1994, Hockey married Babbage, an investment banker, later head of foreign exchange and global finance at Deutsche Bank . As of 2014, the couple had three children and lived in Hunters Hill, New South Wales . Upon the birth of his youngest child, Hockey became the first federal Minister to take paternity leave . He has walked the Kokoda Track and has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for medical equipment. Hockey and his wife became owners of
384-525: A double dissolution , which was granted on 5 June 1987, followed by an election on 11 July . The government was returned, but still without a majority in the Senate. Nevertheless, the legislation was reintroduced, even though it was expected to be blocked in the Senate once more. Under such circumstances, a joint sitting of the Senate and the House of Representatives could have taken place. Due to Labor winning
512-454: A two-party system as very much the norm. Although Watson further strengthened Labour's position in 1906, he stepped down from the leadership the following year, to be succeeded by Andrew Fisher who formed a minority government lasting seven months from late 1908 to mid 1909. At the 1910 federal election , Fisher led Labor to victory, forming Australia's first elected federal majority government , Australia's first elected Senate majority,
640-550: A 200 hectare cattle farm in Malanda, near Cairns , Queensland . In 2012, he lost more than 20 kg following gastric sleeve surgery. In 2014, Hockey launched defamation proceedings against Fairfax Media over an article published in its newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald , The Age and The Canberra Times , titled Treasurer for sale , which he said falsely implied that he accepted bribes paid to influence his decisions and that he corruptly sold privileged access to
768-429: A Liberal in " John Howard " areas like Lane Cove which had recently been redistributed from Howard's seat of Bennelong . He branded himself as an independent in areas like North Sydney and McMahons Point . Hockey made use of his parents’ reputation within the local community and his business connections to successfully connect with supporters and volunteers - giving out umbrellas and other souvenirs. A key issue in
896-488: A National Party senator for Queensland, read the letters and contacted Smith to confirm the details. Stone then told his Opposition colleagues, who were able to embarrass the government on 23 September by asking questions in Parliament that revealed they were not aware of this technicality. It is not clear that this flaw was fatal to the scheme, but the government did at that point abandon the idea. It may well have been
1024-476: A blue-ribbon Liberal seat, Hockey was the first person in over 60 years to be promoted to cabinet while holding the seat. In 2004 as Human Services Minister, Hockey proposed an " Access Card " and spent $ 3 million advertising the card before submitting the legislation to parliament. Hockey regularly appeared on the Seven Network's morning program Sunrise in the "Big Guns of Politics" section debating
1152-496: A budget emergency" to cut welfare. In April 2014, Hockey faced criticism for saying "the poorest people either don't have cars, or actually don't drive very far" when seeking an increase in the fuel excise tax . In May 2014, Fairfax media published a story stating that political donors to the North Sydney Forum were able to have "VIP" meetings with Hockey, under the title "Treasurer for Sale". Hockey delivered
1280-510: A convenient face-saving way out of the situation, because by that time very significant popular opposition had arisen from widely disparate groups, although the Australia Card had not figured particularly prominently in the election campaign. Following the shelving of the Australia Card, the federal government expanded the tax file number scheme to enable cross-referencing benefits received and tax paid by individuals. This unique number
1408-482: A critical role in ensuring fairness by: ensuring equal opportunity; removing unjustifiable discrimination; and achieving a more equitable distribution of wealth, income and status." Further sections of the platform stress Labor's support for equality and human rights, labour rights and democracy. In practice, the platform provides only general policy guidelines to Labor's federal, state and territory parliamentary leaderships. The policy Labor takes into an election campaign
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#17327803836021536-477: A different name, due to their different origins. Although the ALP officially adopted the spelling without a u , it took decades for the official spelling to achieve widespread acceptance. According to McMullin, "the way the spelling of 'Labor Party' was consolidated had more to do with the chap who ended up being in charge of printing the federal conference report than any other reason". Some sources have attributed
1664-432: A great objective – the light on the hill – which we aim to reach by working for the betterment of mankind. ... [Labor would] bring something better to the people, better standards of living, greater happiness to the mass of the people." To a large extent, Chifley saw centralisation of the economy as the means to achieve such ambitions. With an increasingly uncertain economic outlook, after his attempt to nationalise
1792-570: A landslide win at the 1943 federal election , Curtin died in office just prior to the end of the war and was succeeded by Ben Chifley . Chifley Labor won the 1946 federal election and oversaw Australia's initial transition to a peacetime economy. Labor was defeated at the 1949 federal election . At the conference of the New South Wales Labor Party in June 1949, Chifley sought to define the labour movement as follows: "We have
1920-416: A large majority in the House, its numbers in the overall parliament were enough that the bill would have likely passed. However, a retired public servant, Ewart Smith , noticed a flaw in the drafting of the legislation that nobody on either side had previously noticed. Even if the bill had been passed in the joint sitting, certain regulations necessary for the functioning of the system could be overturned by
2048-552: A member of the House of Representatives. Since October 2013, a ballot of both the Caucus and by the Labor Party's rank-and-file members determined the party leader and the deputy leader. When the Labor Party is in government, the party leader is the prime minister and the deputy leader is the deputy prime minister . If a Labor prime minister resigns or dies in office, the deputy leader acts as prime minister and party leader until
2176-619: A motion at the Federal Conference that "the name of the party be the Australian Labour Party", which was carried by 22 votes to 2. A separate motion recommending state branches adopt the name was defeated. There was no uniformity of party names until 1918 when the Federal party resolved that state branches should adopt the name "Australian Labor Party", now spelt without a u . Each state branch had previously used
2304-520: A parliamentary friendship group aimed at a referendum on an Australian republic before 2020. This led to criticism of Hockey by members of the Coalition, who regarded the renewed push for a republic to be a distraction from the government's priorities. Later in August, a leak stated that two cabinet ministers were urging Abbott to reassign Hockey as treasurer. After Malcolm Turnbull ousted Abbott at
2432-481: A phone conversation regarding the agreement for the US to take detained refugees from Manus Island that Turnbull had struck with Barack Obama . Trump described the deal as "dumb" on Twitter. Hockey met with Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus for discussions. Hockey's term as ambassador was extended for a year but ended on 30 January 2020, and was replaced as ambassador by former Liberal Party Senator Arthur Sinodinos
2560-563: A reasonable target within a period of time then "more punitive measures" needed to be taken by parliament. He later said that "quotas must be a last resort". Hockey gave a speech to the Grattan Institute on 11 March 2010 called "In Defence of Liberty". The speech defended anti-terrorism laws and rejected a hypothetical bill of rights , while criticising increased police powers. A series of "In Defence..." speeches by Hockey followed over 2010 and 2011: "In Defence of Enterprise" to
2688-532: A select group of Liberal Party donors. A trial was held to determine whether the allegations were defensible in March 2015 in the NSW Supreme Court before Justice Richard White, where Hockey argued that false allegations of the nature contained in the article, and the conduct of Fairfax during the proceedings, evidenced a malicious intent to smear his otherwise good reputation and consequently would justify
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#17327803836022816-818: A speech at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London. He warned Australians that the time to become self-sufficient was at hand and that the government could not afford to give "universal payments" to Australians. The speech was controversial in Australia, sparking discussion on the ABC Lateline program and an article in The Australian . The speech was said to change the public's perception of Hockey from "avuncular" to "hard-head". and foreshadowing Hockey's first budget. On 26 April 2012, Hockey gave
2944-464: A speech, "The Future of Australian Diversity", at the Islamic Council of Victoria. "To judge Islam based on the actions of extremists and terrorists would be no different than judging Christianity on the actions of those who have over the centuries committed atrocities in the name of Christianity." The Coalition won government at the 2013 election , and Hockey was named Treasurer. In 2014,
3072-511: A squatter, a doctor, and even a mine owner, indicating that the idea that only the socialist working class formed Labor is untrue. In addition, many members from the working class supported the liberal notion of free trade between the colonies; in the first grouping of state MPs, 17 of the 35 were free-traders. In the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution of 1917, support for socialism grew in trade union ranks, and at
3200-564: A state or territory president (an honorary position usually held for a one-year term), and a state or territory secretary (a full-time professional position). However, ACT Labor directly elects its president. The larger branches also have full-time assistant secretaries and organisers. In the past the ratio of conference delegates coming from the branches and affiliated unions has varied from state to state, however under recent national reforms at least 50% of delegates at all state and territory conferences must be elected by branches. In some states,
3328-603: A strategy of trying to reorient the party system along Labour vs. non-Labour lines prior to the 1906 federal election and renamed his Free Trade Party to the Anti-Socialist Party. Reid envisaged a spectrum running from socialist to anti-socialist, with the Protectionist Party in the middle. This attempt struck a chord with politicians who were steeped in the Westminster tradition and regarded
3456-493: A successor is elected. The deputy prime minister also acts as prime minister when the prime minister is on leave or out of the country. Members of the Ministry are also chosen by Caucus, though the leader may allocate portfolios to the ministers. Anthony Albanese is the leader of the federal Labor party, serving since 30 May 2019. The deputy leader is Richard Marles , also serving since 30 May 2019. The Australian Labor Party
3584-585: A system. However, the Inquiry cited the Australia Card history as continuing to provide a barrier to this development: "Many Australians may object to this option on the basis of privacy concerns. It could be viewed as a digital version of the unpopular Australia Card initiative, which was rejected in 1987, or the Access Card, which was terminated in 2007." Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party ( ALP ), also known simply as Labor or
3712-496: Is a federal party, consisting of eight branches from each state and territory. While the National Executive is responsible for national campaign strategy, each state and territory are an autonomous branch and are responsible for campaigning in their own jurisdictions for federal, state and local elections. State and territory branches consist of both individual members and affiliated trade unions , who between them decide
3840-686: Is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott government from 18 September 2013 until September 2015 when he resigned from Cabinet, having refused an alternative offer from the incoming prime minister , Malcolm Turnbull . He previously served as the Minister for Human Services and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in
3968-460: Is contained in its National Platform, which is approved by delegates to Labor's National Conference, held every three years. According to the Labor Party's website, "The Platform is the result of a rigorous and constructive process of consultation, spanning the nation and including the cooperation and input of state and territory policy committees, local branches, unions, state and territory governments, and individual Party members. The Platform provides
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4096-528: Is determined by the Cabinet (if the party is in office) or the Shadow Cabinet (if it is in opposition), in consultation with key interest groups within the party, and is contained in the parliamentary Leader's policy speech delivered during the election campaign. When Labor is in office, the policies it implements are determined by the Cabinet, subject to the platform. Generally, it is accepted that while
4224-599: Is fully committed to a market economy, it says that: "Labor believes in a strong role for national government – the one institution all Australians truly own and control through our right to vote." Labor "will not allow the benefits of change to be concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, or located only in privileged communities. The benefits must be shared by all Australians and all our regions." The platform and Labor "believe that all people are created equal in their entitlement to dignity and respect, and should have an equal chance to achieve their potential." For Labor, "government has
4352-686: Is in many ways analogous to the United States social security number . The Australia Card proposal resurfaces every so often, and the criticism of the Card is sometimes invoked for analogous controversial plans. In the early 2000s, figures within the Liberal Party of Australia – which opposed the card in the 1980s – voiced support for a national identity card. Following the London Bombings of 2005, then-Prime Minister John Howard said
4480-502: Is no formal requirement for unions to be represented at the national conference). The national conference decides the party's platform, elects the national executive and appoints office-bearers such as the national secretary, who also serves as national campaign director during elections. The current national secretary is Paul Erickson . The most recent national conference was the 48th conference held in December 2018. The head office of
4608-402: Is why it is disturbing to hear people rail against Muslims and Jews, or Pentecostals and Catholics. Australia must continue, without fear, to embrace diversity of faith provided that those gods are loving, compassionate and just." A Newspoll released on 30 November 2009 placed Hockey at 33%, Turnbull at 30% and Tony Abbott at 19%, when voters were asked who would be the "best person to lead"
4736-462: The 1903 federal election and continued to hold the balance of power. In April 1904, however, Watson and Alfred Deakin fell out over the issue of extending the scope of industrial relations laws concerning the Conciliation and Arbitration bill to cover state public servants, the fallout causing Deakin to resign. Free Trade leader George Reid declined to take office, which saw Watson become
4864-519: The 1910 state election . In 1899, Anderson Dawson formed a minority Labour government in Queensland , the first in the world, which lasted one week while the conservatives regrouped after a split. The colonial Labour parties and the trade unions were mixed in their support for the Federation of Australia . Some Labour representatives argued against the proposed constitution, claiming that
4992-573: The 2014 Fisher by-election by nine votes from a 7.3 percent swing, the Labor government in South Australia went from minority to majority government. Labor won landslide victories in the 2016 Northern Territory election , the 2017 Western Australian election and the 2018 Victorian state election . However, Labor lost the 2018 South Australian state election after 16 years in government. In 2022, Labor returned to government after defeating
5120-561: The 2014 budget on 13 May 2014. The austere budget faced widespread criticism and was overwhelmingly rejected by the Australian public as reflected in all opinion polls after its release. Michael Pascoe, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, regards Hockey as being saddled with policies that were fiscally irresponsible, but designed to win support, giving as an example the scrapping of the price on carbon . Hockey
5248-640: The 2015 Liberal leadership spill , there was growing speculation that Turnbull would not retain Hockey as Treasurer in his new government, even though as mentioned above they are both members of the Liberal Party's moderate wing. Although Turnbull offered Hockey a different role in his government, Hockey declined and on 20 September 2015 announced his intention to leave Parliament. Hockey gave his final speech to parliament on 21 October 2015. Hockey resigned from parliament on 23 October 2015 which triggered
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5376-466: The 2015 North Sydney by-election which was won by Trent Zimmerman . It was announced on 8 December 2015 that Hockey would become the next Ambassador of Australia to the United States when Kim Beazley 's term ended in early 2016. In his new role as Ambassador, Hockey wrote a response to a New York Times editorial about cuts to climate change research at CSIRO . In the first 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency , Malcolm Turnbull and Trump had
5504-407: The 2019 election , despite having been ahead in opinion polls for the preceding two years. The party lost in 2019 some of the seats which it had won back in 2016. After the 2019 defeat, Shorten resigned from the leadership, though he remained in parliament. Anthony Albanese was elected as leader unopposed and led the party to victory in the 2022 election , and became the new prime minister. Between
5632-568: The Australian Capital Territory . As of 2024, Queensland , Tasmania and Northern Territory are the only states or territories where Labor currently forms the opposition. It is the oldest continuous political party in Australian history , having been established on 8 May 1901 at Parliament House, Melbourne ; the meeting place of the first Federal Parliament . The ALP is descended from the labour parties founded in
5760-646: The Australian Taxation Office and instructed them to investigate NRMA Insurance thoroughly. As part of his work as Tourism Minister, Hockey produced a White Paper analysing the tourism industry . With the return of the Howard government in 2004, he was appointed Minister for Human Services and was elevated to the Cabinet in January 2007, when appointed Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations . Although North Sydney has long been
5888-683: The Chifley government launched a major immigration program. The party's opposition to non-European immigration did not change until after the retirement of Arthur Calwell as leader in 1967. Subsequently, Labor has become an advocate of multiculturalism . The Curtin and Chifley governments governed Australia through the latter half of the Second World War and initial stages of transition to peace. Labor leader John Curtin became prime minister in October 1941 when two independents crossed
6016-510: The Coalition to victory at the 2011 state election, which would have made Hockey the Premier of New South Wales. Hockey, however, denied any interest to move into state politics. The push to get Hockey into state politics came to an end when he was promoted to shadow treasurer as that placed him within striking distance of becoming federal leader. Hockey's popularity among voters grew under
6144-622: The Howard government . He also served as Ambassador of Australia to the United States from January 2016 until January 2020. Hockey's parliamentary resignation triggered a 2015 North Sydney by-election where he was succeeded by Trent Zimmerman , who had previously worked for Hockey as a staffer. His appointment as Ambassador of Australia to the United States was announced on 8 December 2015 to replace Kim Beazley , whose term ended in early 2016, and he assumed that position on 29 January 2016. His term as ambassador ended on 30 January 2020, and he
6272-579: The Labor Party , is the major centre-left political party in Australia and one of two major parties in Australian politics , along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia . The party has been in government since the 2022 federal election , and with political branches active in all the Australian states and territories , they currently hold government in New South Wales , South Australia , Victoria , Western Australia , and
6400-695: The Liberal Party . Upon graduating, Hockey worked as a banking and finance lawyer at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and subsequently as the Director of Policy to the Premier of New South Wales , before entering politics. Hockey worked as a policy advisor to Premier John Fahey before the 1995 New South Wales state election . Hockey became the president of the NSW Young Liberals and had a position in Nick Greiner 's state government, reforming
6528-806: The Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party was read out under the well known Tree of Knowledge at Barcaldine following the Great Shearers' Strike. The State Library of Queensland now holds the manifesto; in 2008 the historic document was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Australian Register and, in 2009, the document was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register. The Balmain , New South Wales branch of
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#17327803836026656-572: The Socialist Left who tend to favour a more interventionist economic policy and more socially progressive ideals, and Labor Right , the now dominant faction that tends to be more economically liberal and focus to a lesser extent on social issues. The Whitlam Labor government, marking a break with Labor's socialist tradition, pursued social democratic policies rather than democratic socialist policies. In contrast to earlier Labor leaders, Whitlam also cut tariffs by 25 percent. Whitlam led
6784-523: The South Australian Legislative Council . The first successful South Australian House of Assembly candidate was John McPherson at the 1892 East Adelaide by-election . Richard Hooper however was elected as an Independent Labor candidate at the 1891 Wallaroo by-election , while he was the first labor member of the House of Assembly he was not a member of the newly formed ULP. At the 1893 South Australian elections ,
6912-580: The University of Sydney , residing at St John's College , graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws . While at university he was President of the University of Sydney Students' Representative Council , and assisted in inviting Pope John Paul II to visit the University of Sydney during the 1986 Australian papal visit. In 1987, Hockey protested at Bob Hawke 's introduction of university fees . Hockey's term as SRC president, besides
7040-494: The White Australia policy , which banned all non-European migration to Australia. This policy was motivated by fears of economic competition from low-wage overseas workers which was shared by the vast majority of Australians and all major political parties. In practice the Labor party opposed all migration, on the grounds that immigrants competed with Australian workers and drove down wages, until after World War II , when
7168-471: The caucus ) on 8 May 1901 at Parliament House, Melbourne , the meeting place of the first federal Parliament. The caucus decided to support the incumbent Protectionist Party in minority government , while the Free Trade Party formed the opposition . It was some years before there was any significant structure or organisation at a national level. Labour under Chris Watson doubled its vote at
7296-527: The "end of the age of entitlement" was used to justify the government refusing financial assistance to Holden in South Australia and SPC Ardmona in Victoria and explaining why they could not participate in Barnaby Joyce 's proposal for a bail out of farmers. Hockey's approach has been described by sociology lecturer Verity Archer as being like former US President Richard Nixon 's, "using claims of
7424-568: The 1910 elections Labour gained in the more Catholic areas and the representation of Catholics increased in Labour's parliamentary ranks. The federal parliament in 1901 was contested by each state Labour Party. In total, they won 15 of the 75 seats in the House of Representatives, collectively holding the balance of power, and the Labour members now met as the Federal Parliamentary Labour Party (informally known as
7552-460: The 1921 All-Australian Trades Union Congress a resolution was passed calling for "the socialisation of industry, production, distribution and exchange". The 1922 Labor Party National Conference adopted a similarly worded socialist objective which remained official policy for many years. The resolution was immediately qualified, however, by the Blackburn amendment, which said that "socialisation"
7680-548: The 1996 election was the issue of aircraft noise: Laurie Brereton , the ALP transport minister, had closed east–west runways and opened north–south runways at Sydney Airport , diverting aircraft noise from Labor seats to Liberal seats. Soon after his election in 1996, He was appointed the chair of the Sydney Airport Community Forum. During this time, Hockey formed a friendship with Anthony Albanese , and Albanese took Hockey to his electorate to see
7808-748: The 2007 federal election and the 2008 Western Australian state election , Labor was in government nationally and in all eight state and territory parliaments. This was the first time any single party or any coalition had achieved this since the ACT and the NT gained self-government. Labor narrowly lost government in Western Australia at the 2008 state election and Victoria at the 2010 state election . These losses were further compounded by landslide defeats in New South Wales in 2011 , Queensland in 2012 ,
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#17327803836027936-536: The ALP embarked on Third Way reforms similar to those later adopted by New Labour in the United Kingdom. The Labor party is often called the party of unions due to its close ties to the labour movement in Australia , with the majority of trade unions being affiliated with the Labor party. The party is equally controlled by unions and rank-and-file party members through affiliated unions being granted 50% of delegates at each state and national conference. At
8064-463: The ALP, the national secretariat, is managed by the national secretary. It plays a dual role of administration and a national campaign strategy. It acts as a permanent secretariat to the national executive by managing and assisting in all administrative affairs of the party. As the national secretary also serves as national campaign director during elections, it is also responsible for the national campaign strategy and organisation. The elected members of
8192-526: The Act. However, new regulations can be disallowed [vetoed] by either House (the Senate or House of Representatives) unilaterally, and Senate disallowance cannot be bypassed via a joint sitting. Therefore, even if the bill finally passed, the Coalition could still effectively prevent it from ever being implemented by using its numbers in the Senate to defeat the required regulation. Smith conveyed these details in letters to newspapers; John Stone , recently elected as
8320-442: The Australia Card would help the government combat terrorism and address flaws in the immigration system. This is despite the fact that Howard was Opposition Leader in 1987 when he had the Australia Card legislation blocked in the Senate which triggered the election that year. Plans to expand the capabilities of the ubiquitous Medicare card were announced in 2006 by then Human Services Minister Joe Hockey . The proposed Access Card
8448-836: The EIDOS Institute on 14 April 2010; "In Defence of Opportunity" to the Sydney Institute on 9 March 2011; and "In Defence of Youth" to the University of New England on 27 July 2011. This series of speeches were seen as Hockey's bid for the Liberal leadership. Biographer Madonna King points out "Australia's Future Engagement in the Asian Century" (25 October 2011) and "The Future of Free Markets, Global Trade and Commerce" (7 December 2011) as other key speeches from this three-year period of Joe Hockey trying to show what he stood for. On 17 April 2012, Hockey gave
8576-403: The Federal Labor Party back to office at the 1972 and 1974 federal elections, and passed a large amount of legislation. The Whitlam government lost office following the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis and dismissal by Governor-General John Kerr after the Coalition blocked supply in the Senate after a series of political scandals, and was defeated at the 1975 federal election in
8704-408: The GST was losing him votes. He was awarded the Minister for Financial Services and Regulation portfolio from 1998 to 2001 and Minister for Small Business and Tourism (2001–04). In January 2000, Hockey had done an interview with the John Laws program about the GST , confirming the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC)'s position of businesses being able to round up or down
8832-412: The Labor party in both houses of the national Parliament meet as the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, also known as the Caucus (see also caucus ). Besides discussing parliamentary business and tactics, the Caucus also is involved in the election of the federal parliamentary leaders. Until 2013, the parliamentary leaders were elected by the Caucus from among its members. The leader has historically been
8960-411: The Labour parties founded in the 1890s in the Australian colonies prior to federation. Labor tradition ascribes the founding of Queensland Labour to a meeting of striking pastoral workers under a ghost gum tree (the Tree of Knowledge ) in Barcaldine , Queensland in 1891. The 1891 shearers' strike is credited as being one of the factors for the formation of the Australian Labor Party. On 9 September 1892
9088-438: The Liberal Party in the 2022 South Australian state election . Despite favourable polling, the party also did not return to government in the 2019 New South Wales state election or the 2019 federal election. The latter has been considered a historic upset due to Labor's consistent and significant polling lead; the result has been likened to the Coalition's loss in the 1993 federal election, with 2019 retrospectively referred to in
9216-451: The Liberal Party. Speculation flourished that Hockey would challenge Turnbull for the leadership of the Liberal Party, and Hockey consulted senior party dignitaries such as Howard and Costello about whether he should run. Hockey faced a dilemma. He had been a consistent supporter of the ETS. Running against Turnbull, a fellow moderate in the Liberal Party, would mean taking the leadership with
9344-687: The Northern Territory in 2012 , Federally in 2013 and Tasmania in 2014 . Labor secured a good result in the Australian Capital Territory in 2012 and, despite losing its majority, the party retained government in South Australia in 2014 . However, most of these reversals proved only temporary with Labor returning to government in Victoria in 2014 and in Queensland in 2015 after spending only one term in opposition in both states. Furthermore, after winning
9472-575: The Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd , drawing 20,000–30,000 additional viewers who would tune in specifically for that segment, until the arrangement was mutually terminated on 16 April 2007 following controversy over plans to stage a pre-dawn Anzac Day service in Vietnam. Hockey credits this show for introducing him to an audience who had no interest in politics. In December 2007, Hockey
9600-827: The Presidential vote of the 2020 United States elections . Hockey's basis for the claim was a 93% Democratic vote in Washington, D.C. , where he had been living for several years. However, the Democratic vote in Washington, D.C., regularly reaches the level cited by Hockey. Hockey wrote an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald supporting Joe Biden for President of the United States. In October 2022 Hockey released his autobiography: Hockey met Melissa Babbage, his future wife, in 1991 at
9728-402: The Senate alone. Specifically, the bill contained clauses that imposed penalties on businesses that failed to require a person to produce their Australia Card, or authorised the freezing of bank account and social security payments for those who did not produce one. These clauses were deemed to come into effect on "the first relevant day", and that in turn was determined by a regulation made under
9856-518: The Senate as proposed was too powerful, similar to the anti-reformist colonial upper houses and the British House of Lords . They feared that federation would further entrench the power of the conservative forces. However, the first Labour leader and Prime Minister Chris Watson was a supporter of federation. Historian Celia Hamilton, examining New South Wales, argues for the central role of Irish Catholics. Before 1890, they opposed Henry Parkes,
9984-499: The ULP was immediately elevated to balance of power status with 10 of 54 lower house seats. The liberal government of Charles Kingston was formed with the support of the ULP, ousting the conservative government of John Downer . So successful, less than a decade later at the 1905 state election , Thomas Price formed the world's first stable Labor government. John Verran led Labor to form the state's first of many majority governments at
10112-493: The banks and a strike by the Communist-dominated Miners' Federation , Chifley lost office in 1949 to Robert Menzies ' Liberal-National Coalition. Labor commenced a 23-year period in opposition. The party was primarily led during this time by H. V. Evatt and Arthur Calwell . Various ideological beliefs were factionalised under reforms to the ALP under Gough Whitlam , resulting in what is now known as
10240-821: The federal and state/colony level, the Australian Labor Party predates both the British Labour Party and the New Zealand Labour Party in party formation, government, and policy implementation. Internationally, the ALP is a member of the Progressive Alliance , a network of progressive , democratic socialist and social democratic parties, having previously been a member of the Socialist International . In standard Australian English ,
10368-454: The financial and business structure of the state. Hockey was preselected as a Liberal Party of Australia candidate for the 1996 election in the Division of North Sydney when aged just 29. He faced little preselection competition, since the seat's incumbent independent , Ted Mack , was thought to be unbeatable. However, Mack did not renominate; had his intentions been known earlier, it
10496-411: The first Labour Prime Minister of Australia , and the world's first Labour head of government at a national level ( Anderson Dawson had led a short-lived Labour government in Queensland in December 1899), though his was a minority government that lasted only four months. He was aged only 37, and is still the youngest prime minister in Australia's history. George Reid of the Free Trade Party adopted
10624-402: The first time since 2011. This victory marked the first time in 15 years that Labor were in government in all mainland states. In 2024, Labor lost in a landslide in the 2024 Northern Territory election . losing its first mainland state or territory since the 2018 South Australian election . Labor would also lose in the 2024 Queensland state election . The policy of the Australian Labor Party
10752-479: The floating of the dollar and privatisation of state enterprises such as Qantas airways and the Commonwealth Bank . The Labor Party is commonly described as a social democratic party, and its constitution stipulates that it is a democratic socialist party. The party was created by, and has always been influenced by, the trade unions, and in practice its policy at any given time has usually been
10880-620: The floor of Parliament. Labor, led by Curtin, then led Australia through the years of the Pacific War . In December 1941, Curtin announced that "Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom", thus helping to establish the Australian-American alliance (later formalised as ANZUS by the Menzies Government ). Remembered as a strong war time leader and for
11008-476: The inequalities of the airport routing. Following this, Hockey worked to address inconsistencies in the airport noise amelioration program. Hockey and fellow "small-l liberals" Chris Gallus and Susan Jeanes founded the short-lived John Stuart Mill Society to combat the conservative Lyons Forum . Hockey made his maiden speech in September 1996, highlighting modern liberalism , composed of recognition of
11136-452: The largest landslide of Australian federal history. Whitlam remains the only Prime Minister to have his commission terminated in that manner. Whitlam also lost the 1977 federal election and subsequently resigned as leader. Bill Hayden succeeded Whitlam as leader. At the 1980 federal election , the party achieved a big swing, though the unevenness of the swing around the nation prevented an ALP victory. In 1983, Bob Hawke became leader of
11264-509: The leadership of Malcolm Turnbull and, in October 2009, polls showed him as the preferred Liberal leader. However, Hockey announced that he had no intention to challenge for the leadership. On 9 November 2009, Hockey gave a speech, "In Defence of God", at the Sydney Institute . Australia has embraced religious diversity. It must always remain so, and as a member of parliament I am a custodian of that principle of tolerance. That
11392-568: The main Liberal leader, and of free trade, seeing them both as the ideals of Protestant Englishmen who represented landholding and large business interests. In the strike of 1890 the leading Catholic, Sydney's Archbishop Patrick Francis Moran was sympathetic toward unions, but Catholic newspapers were negative. After 1900, says Hamilton, Irish Catholics were drawn to the Labour Party because its stress on equality and social welfare fitted with their status as manual labourers and small farmers. In
11520-501: The media as the "unloseable election". Anthony Albanese later led the party into the 2022 Australian federal election , in which the party once again won a majority government. Despite Labor's win, Labor nevertheless recorded its lowest primary vote since either 1903 or 1934 , depending on whether the Lang Labor vote is included. In 2023, Labor won the march 2023 New South Wales state election returning to government for
11648-471: The need for preferences. When contesting the 1996 election, Hockey bought a bus which he painted in the colours of the North Sydney Bears , which had the effect of positioning Hockey as an Independent and showed Hockey's local ties. Hockey would park the bus everywhere in his electorate to raise awareness. Robert Orrell, Hockey's campaign manager in 1995, states that Hockey presented himself as
11776-484: The official choice of Labor to influence from King O'Malley , who was born in the United States and was reputedly an advocate of English-language spelling reform ; the spelling without a u is the standard form in American English . It has been suggested that the adoption of the spelling without a u "signified one of the ALP's earliest attempts at modernisation", and served the purpose of differentiating
11904-505: The opposition and minor parties. Due to his opposition to the card, ALP senator George Georges resigned from the party to sit as an independent in December 1986. In the House of Representatives, ALP backbencher Lewis Kent said the card was un-Australian and that it would be more appropriate to call it a "Hitlercard or Stalincard". In response, Hawke asked the Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen for
12032-432: The party after Hayden resigned to avoid a leadership spill. Bob Hawke led Labor back to office at the 1983 federal election and the party won four consecutive elections under Hawke. In December 1991 Paul Keating defeated Bob Hawke in a leadership spill. The ALP then won the 1993 federal election . It was in power for five terms over 13 years, until severely defeated by John Howard at the 1996 federal election . This
12160-420: The party also contests local government elections or endorses local candidates. In others it does not, preferring to allow its members to run as non-endorsed candidates. The process of choosing candidates is called preselection . Candidates are preselected by different methods in the various states and territories. In some they are chosen by ballots of all party members, in others by panels or committees elected by
12288-692: The party claims to be the oldest in Australia. However, the Scone Branch has a receipt for membership fees for the Labour Electoral League dated April 1891. This predates the Balmain claim. This can be attested in the Centenary of the ALP book. Labour as a parliamentary party dates from 1891 in New South Wales and South Australia , 1893 in Queensland, and later in the other colonies. The first election contested by Labour candidates
12416-404: The party from the Australian labour movement as a whole and distinguishing it from other British Empire labour parties. The decision to include the word "Australian" in the party's name, rather than just " Labour Party " as in the United Kingdom, has been attributed to "the greater importance of nationalism for the founders of the colonial parties". The Australian Labor Party has its origins in
12544-483: The party's policies, elect its governing bodies and choose its candidates for public office. Members join a state branch and pay a membership fee, which is graduated according to income. The majority of trade unions in Australia are affiliated to the party at a state level. Union affiliation is direct and not through the Australian Council of Trade Unions . Affiliated unions pay an affiliation fee based on
12672-451: The platform as a prerequisite for a change in policy. For example, privatisation legislation under the Hawke government occurred only after holding a special national conference to debate changing the platform. The Australian Labor Party National Executive is the party's chief administrative authority, subject only to Labor's national conference . The executive is responsible for organising
12800-437: The platform binds Labor governments, how and when it is implemented remains the prerogative of the parliamentary caucus. It is now rare for the platform to conflict with government policy, as the content of the platform is usually developed in close collaboration with the party's parliamentary leadership as well as the factions. However, where there is a direct contradiction with the platform, Labor governments have sought to change
12928-412: The policy foundation from which we can continue to work towards the election of a federal Labor government." The platform gives a general indication of the policy direction which a future Labor government would follow, but does not commit the party to specific policies. It maintains that "Labor's traditional values will remain a constant on which all Australians can rely." While making it clear that Labor
13056-499: The policy of the broader labour movement. Thus at the first federal election 1901 Labor's platform called for a White Australia policy , a citizen army and compulsory arbitration of industrial disputes. Labor has at various times supported high tariffs and low tariffs, conscription and pacifism , White Australia and multiculturalism , nationalisation and privatisation , isolationism and internationalism. From 1900 to 1940, Labor and its affiliated unions were strong defenders of
13184-542: The price of goods and services when needed. This caused controversy, and The Daily Telegraph printed a story that declared that voters could be charged more than the 10% GST promised. When HIH Insurance went bankrupt in March 2001, Joe Hockey was the minister responsible for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), which oversaw HIH. Although Hockey's office had sought written assurances from HIH that everything
13312-565: The protests, included the renovation of the club's headquarters, a cutback on the expenses of Honi Soit , the closure of the SRC Women's Room, but the opening of a free legal advice service. Towards the end of his term as SRC President, the Australian Labor Party 's Deputy Prime Minister Lionel Bowen phoned Hockey and invited him to join the ALP. Hockey researched the philosophies of John Stuart Mill and decided to join
13440-486: The rights of the individual, parliamentary democracy, and committing to improve society through reform. Hockey highlighted his father's heritage, and highlighted barriers against women achieving success. In the lead-up to the 1998 election , which Hockey characterised as "the GST election", despite being the minister in charge of the GST, Hockey stopped campaigning shortly before the election because he felt that talking about
13568-459: The seat would revert to the Liberals once Mack retired. In 1993, for instance, the Liberals would have held the seat on a traditional two-party margin of 9.5 percent–just on the edge of being safe. As expected, Hockey regained the seat for the Liberals on 65.6 percent of the two-party preferred vote. He actually won 57.8 percent of the primary vote, more than enough to win the seat outright without
13696-695: The size of their membership. Union affiliation fees make up a large part of the party's income. Other sources of funds for the party include political donations and public funding . Members are generally expected to attend at least one meeting of their local branch each year, although there are differences in the rules from state to state. In practice, only a dedicated minority regularly attend meetings. Many members are only active during election campaigns. The members and unions elect delegates to state and territory conferences (usually held annually, although more frequent conferences are often held). These conferences decide policy, and elect state or territory executives,
13824-512: The state conference, in still others by a combination of these two. The state and territory Labor branches are the following: The Country Labor Party , commonly known as Country Labor , was an affiliated organisation of the Labor Party. Although not expressly defined, Country Labor operated mainly within rural New South Wales , and was mainly seen as an extension of the New South Wales branch that operates in rural electorates. Joe Hockey Joseph Benedict Hockey (born 2 August 1965)
13952-446: The strength of Deakinite liberalism inhibited the party's growth. The state branches formed their first majority governments in New South Wales and South Australia in 1910, Western Australia in 1911, Queensland in 1915 and Tasmania in 1925. Such success eluded equivalent labour parties in other countries for many years. Analysis of the early NSW Labor caucus reveals "a band of unhappy amateurs", made up of blue collar workers,
14080-589: The support of the party's right wing and climate change sceptics . On 1 December 2009, Hockey chose to include his candidacy in a party room ballot to determine the leadership of the Liberal Party. The ballot was between Hockey, Turnbull and Abbott. Hockey was eliminated in the first round of the ballot, with the eventual winner being Abbott. Following the change of leadership, Hockey remained Shadow Treasurer. He told ABC TV's Q&A audience on 7 March 2011 that corporate Australia had fallen behind in female boardroom representation and if companies failed to meet
14208-407: The triennial national conference; carrying out the decisions of the conference; interpreting the national constitution, the national platform and decisions of the national conference; and directing federal members. The party holds a national conference every three years, which consists of delegates representing the state and territory branches (many coming from affiliated trade unions, although there
14336-422: The various Australian colonies by the emerging labour movement . Colonial Labour parties contested seats from 1891, and began contesting federal seats following Federation at the 1901 federal election . In 1904, the ALP briefly formed the world's first labour party government and the world's first democratic socialist or social democratic government at a national level. At the 1910 federal election , Labor
14464-518: The week after. His farewell party was held on 17 January 2020 in Washington, D.C. , and was attended by Abbott and Australian golfer Greg Norman . At the start of 2020, Hockey planned to continue staying and working in the United States for several years after his role as ambassador to the United States. It was previously reported that he was planning to take up a part-time position as a guest lecturer on public policy and politics in an American university. Hockey made unsubstantiated claims of fraud in
14592-569: The word labour is spelt with a u . However, the political party uses the spelling Labor , without a u . There was originally no standardised spelling of the party's name, with Labor and Labour both in common usage. According to Ross McMullin , who wrote an official history of the Labor Party, the title page of the proceedings of the Federal Conference used the spelling "Labor in 1902, "Labour" in 1905 and 1908, and then "Labor" from 1912 onwards. In 1908, James Catts put forward
14720-476: The world's first Labour Party majority government at a national level, and after the 1904 Chris Watson minority government the world's second Labour Party government at a national level. It was the first time a Labour Party had controlled any house of a legislature, and the first time the party controlled both houses of a bicameral legislature. The state branches were also successful, except in Victoria , where
14848-460: Was also the first woman to serve as prime minister of Australia, remained prime minister in a hung parliament following the election. Her government lasted until 2013, when Gillard lost a leadership spill, with Rudd becoming leader once again. Later that year the ALP lost the 2013 election . After this defeat, Bill Shorten became leader of the party. The party narrowly lost the 2016 election , yet gained 14 seats. It remained in opposition after
14976-456: Was considered by his colleagues to have made a poor case for the economic reforms in the 2014 budget. The Guardian writes that criticism of the budget as "unfair" harmed Hockey's public image. After the February 2015 Liberal party leadership spill motion , there were calls for Hockey to be replaced as Treasurer. In the lead-up to the 2015 budget, Abbott stated that no matter how the budget
15104-526: Was criticised by some relevant interest groups and political activists as a step in the same direction of an Australia Card. However, the Howard government was unable to implement the scheme before their electoral defeat in 2007. Technology demands for online identification continue to put pressure on the Federal Government to provide a national identity system. The Financial Systems Inquiry found that there would be significant savings from such
15232-487: Was desirable only when was necessary to "eliminate exploitation and other anti-social features". Only once has a federal Labor government attempted to nationalise any industry ( Ben Chifley 's bank nationalisation of 1947), and that was held by the High Court to be unconstitutional. The commitment to nationalisation was dropped by Gough Whitlam , and Bob Hawke 's government carried out many free market reforms including
15360-506: Was fine, the public felt that Hockey was to blame. Upon learning that the estimated damages were between $ 4-$ 8 billion, Hockey took this to the Cabinet and sought a bail out. Peter Costello advised that APRA should sort out HIH. After the collapse of HIH Insurance, Hockey became concerned about the NRMA , and called Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), the ACCC, APRA and
15488-454: Was forced out of the leadership by Kevin Rudd . Rudd went on to defeat John Howard at the 2007 federal election with 52.7 percent of the two-party vote (Howard became the first prime minister since Stanley Melbourne Bruce to lose not just the election but his own parliamentary seat). The Rudd government ended prior to the 2010 federal election with the overthrow of Rudd as leader of the party by deputy leader Julia Gillard . Gillard, who
15616-534: Was made Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing and Manager of Opposition Business in the House. In September 2008 he became Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation. He became Shadow Treasurer in February 2009 when Julie Bishop stepped down from the portfolio. Prior to his appointment as shadow treasurer there had been a move to get Hockey to transfer to New South Wales state politics to replace Barry O'Farrell as state Liberal leader and lead
15744-524: Was received, Hockey would continue as Treasurer. Hockey delivered the 2015 budget . This was considered a vast contrast to the 2014 budget. In June 2015, Hockey was criticised over his response to housing affordability issues, where he advised first home buyers to "get a good job that pays good money". In August 2015, Peter FitzSimons , chair of the Australian Republican Movement , announced that Joe Hockey would help lead
15872-661: Was succeeded by Arthur Sinodinos the week after. Hockey was born the youngest of four siblings in North Sydney to Australian mother, Beverley, and Palestinian father, Richard Hokeidonian, who was born in Mandatory Palestine . His father's surname was anglicised to "Hockey" in 1948 after his arrival in Australia. He was named after Joseph Benedict Chifley , the post-war prime minister whose immigration policies allowed for his father to enter Australia. Hockey attended St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point and
16000-577: Was the 1891 New South Wales election , when Labour candidates (then called the Labor Electoral League of New South Wales) won 35 of 141 seats. The major parties were the Protectionist and Free Trade parties and Labour held the balance of power . It offered parliamentary support in exchange for policy concessions. The United Labor Party (ULP) of South Australia was founded in 1891, and three candidates were that year elected to
16128-633: Was the first party in Australia to win a majority in either house of the Australian parliament. In every election since 1910 Labor has either served as the governing party or the opposition. There have been 13 Labor prime ministers and 10 periods of federal Labor governments, including under Billy Hughes from 1915 to 1916, James Scullin from 1929 to 1932, John Curtin from 1941 to 1945, Ben Chifley from 1945 to 1949, Gough Whitlam from 1972 to 1975, Bob Hawke from 1983 to 1991, Paul Keating from 1991 to 1996, Kevin Rudd from 2007 to 2010 and 2013, and Julia Gillard from 2010 to 2013. Under Hawke and Keating,
16256-488: Was the longest period the party has ever been in government at the national level. Kim Beazley led the party to the 1998 federal election , winning 51 percent of the two-party-preferred vote but falling short on seats, and the ALP lost ground at the 2001 federal election . After a brief period when Simon Crean served as ALP leader, Mark Latham led Labor to the 2004 federal election but lost further ground. Beazley replaced Latham in 2005; not long afterwards he in turn
16384-421: Was widely believed at the time that Hockey would have faced a more rigorous preselection contest for what has traditionally been a "blue ribbon" Liberal seat. As it was, Hockey all but assured himself of becoming the seat's next member with his preselection victory. "Traditional" two-party matchups during Mack's tenure had shown North Sydney as a fairly safe Liberal seat, and it had been a foregone conclusion that
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