141-471: George Albert Reginald Gibbons (1887 – 11 August 1956) was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1929 to 1931, representing the regional New South Wales electorate of Calare . Gibbons was born in the small town of Tichborne, New South Wales , just south of Parkes . He received a primary education before becoming
282-454: 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,
423-744: A backbencher in the Labor Party government led by William Holman . When Prime Minister Billy Hughes twice tried to introduce conscription to the country in WWI, Lang sided with the anti-conscriptionist wing of the ALP. The mass defection from the ALP of parliamentarians and supporters who supported the military measure opened up opportunities and Lang positioned himself for advancement. His financial skills led him to become Treasurer in Premier John Storey 's Labor government from 1920 to 1922. Due to
564-659: A city, municipality or shire could vote in that area's local council elections. His government also passed legislation to allow women to sit in the upper house of the New South Wales Parliament in 1926. This was the first government to do so in the British Empire and three years before the ' Persons Case ' decision of the Privy Council in London would grant the same privilege to women throughout
705-447: A condition cannot continue, and, in fact, will not prevail much longer; but, for the time being, it is there, and our laws must continue to suffer while it exists." After Labor's defeat at the 1927 election, Lang was Opposition Leader again from 1927 to October 1930. After New South Wales returned to single-member electorates, Lang was elected as the member for Auburn , a seat he held until he left state politics in 1946. In this period
846-617: A crisis that would lead to the resignation of Treasurer Joseph Lyons and laid the seeds for the 1931 Labor split . Gibbons also continued to press his demands for fixing higher wheat prices, which saw the Labor caucus agree to instruct Cabinet to prepare a bill guaranteeing wheat prices at a fixed level and to call a double dissolution election if it were blocked either by the Senate or by the Commonwealth Bank board. In January 1931,
987-482: 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
1128-504: A determination to avoid their kind of existence, reinforced by a revulsion against the hardships of his own life in a large, generally poverty-stricken family." During the banking crash of the 1890s which devastated Australia, Lang became interested in politics, frequenting radical bookshops and helping with newspapers and publications of the infant Labor Party , which contested its first election in New South Wales in 1891. At
1269-428: 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
1410-681: A farm labourer and then a farmer. He was an inaugural organiser (1910-1911) and then NSW state secretary (1911-1912) of the short-lived Rural Workers Union of Australia , which amalgamated with the Australian Workers Union in 1913; Gibbons remained a member of the AWU thereafter. He was secretary of the Tichborne branch of the Political Labour League and the party's Calare federal electorate council. He later became
1551-555: A farmer and stock and station agent and justice of the peace at Parkes , operating a 1700-acre property, "The Plains", in conjunction with his brother. Gibbons was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1929 federal election , securing a 12.3% swing to defeat Nationalist Minister for Health Sir Neville Howse in a significant victory. Gibbons' farming experience, his advocacy of policies for wheat and wool price stabilisation to provide financial security to primary producers, and
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#17328009870651692-451: A frenetic 16-day tour of the large electorate were reported as being key to his success. The Scullin Labor government proved repeatedly unwilling to stabilise prices on the profitable terms Gibbons had advocated, which led to repeated criticism in regional media for making promises he could not deliver. He supported the proposed Burrendong Dam , though it would not be built for many years, and
1833-432: 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
1974-719: A landmark speech in Australian political history during the Opening, citing the theme that the completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge was analogous to the history, development and dreams of the Australian nation and its people. It may be inferred that this speech depicted Lang's personal vision of the past, present and future of New South Wales and Australia's place in the British Empire and world, (to read this speech, refer to 'Stirring Australian Speeches', edited by Michael Cathcart and Kate Darian-Smith ). Just as Lang
2115-570: 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
2256-609: A member of the "Lang Labor Party", and in April 1932 resigned from the Labor Party entirely, lashing Lang for his rejection of the Premiers' Plan. He spoke at a number of United Australia Party rallies in 1932 and it was widely rumoured that Gibbons would follow some of his former Labor colleagues into the conservative UAP; however, this never eventuated. In 1933, he campaigned against the UAP state government's successful referendum to reform
2397-492: 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
2538-619: 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
2679-535: A number of lectures at Sydney University circa 1972–1973, at which he discussed his time in office and other topics such as economic reform. His address given on 1 July 1969 to the students of Sefton High School is available on tape at the Mitchell Library. He was re-admitted to the Labor Party in 1971, initiated by Blaxland MP Paul Keating and supported by Macquarie MP Tony Luchetti . In
2820-489: A personal liking for Lang and a great deal of sympathy for his ideals and I did not at all relish being forced to dismiss him. But I felt faced with the alternative of doing so or reducing the job of Governor all over the Empire to a farce." Lang himself, despite objecting to his dismissal conceded afterwards that he too liked Game, regarding him as fair and polite, and having had good relations with him. Lang continued to lead
2961-559: A poultry farm at Smithfield , and then as the driver of a horse-drawn omnibus in and around Merrylands and Guildford . Aged 16, he returned to the inner city, working first in a bookstore, and then as an office boy for an accountant. Nairn (1986) writes that Lang's experience in the Sydney slums brought "an intimate knowledge […] of the protean denizens who found shelter there", inculcating in Lang some "real sympathy for them, but above all
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#17328009870653102-511: 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
3243-564: 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,
3384-603: 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
3525-493: 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
3666-420: A universal and mandatory system of workers' compensation for death, illness and injury incurred on the job, funded by premiums levied on employers, the abolition of student fees in state-run high schools and improvements to various welfare schemes such as child endowment (which Lang's government had introduced). Various laws were introduced providing for improvements in the accommodation of rural workers, changes in
3807-651: A watchmaker born in Edinburgh , Scotland , and Mary Whelan, a milliner born in Galway , Ireland . His mother and father had arrived in Australia in 1848 and 1860, respectively, and married in Melbourne , Victoria , on 11 June 1866, moving to Sydney five years later. Although Lang's father had been born Presbyterian , he later became a Catholic like his wife, and the family "fitted into the normal low social stratum of
3948-728: Is Greater than Lenin." Lang was not a revolutionary or even a socialist, and he loathed the Communist Party , which in turn denounced him as a social fascist . On 19 March 1932, Lang opened the Sydney Harbour Bridge . Lang caused some controversy when he insisted on officially opening the bridge himself, rather than allowing the Governor , the King's representative in NSW, to do so. He delivered what has come to be regarded as
4089-496: 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
4230-460: 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
4371-528: 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
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4512-599: 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
4653-502: 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
4794-419: 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 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
4935-462: 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
5076-519: 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
5217-400: The 1932 New South Wales constitutional crisis . The crisis was resolved by state governor Philip Game using his reserved powers to remove Lang from office, the only such dismissal of an Australian state premier. After his dismissal, Lang suffered a landslide defeat at the 1932 state election and led the ALP to further defeats at the 1935 and 1938 state elections . His faction rejoined
5358-521: 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
5499-407: 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
5640-543: The Australian House of Representatives . His state seat of Auburn was won by his son Chris at a by-election. Jack Lang's victory in Reid was unexpected; he was elected on a minority of the votes thanks to preferences given to him by the Liberal Party . In federal parliament, he is often cited as being the most effective of the opposition to the government of his old rival, Prime Minister Ben Chifley , despite voting for
5781-683: 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
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5922-637: The Great Depression in Australia had begun in earnest with devastating effects on the nation's welfare and security. In 1930, more than one in five adult males in New South Wales were without a job. Australian governments responded to the Depression with measures that, Lang claimed, made circumstances even worse - cuts to government spending, civil service salaries and public works cancellations. Lang vigorously opposed these measures and
6063-648: The Hume Highway and the Great Western Highway . Lang also restored the seniority and conditions to New South Wales Government Railways and New South Wales Government Tramways workers who had been sacked or demoted after the General Strike of 1917, including Ben Chifley , a future Prime Minister of Australia. Lang established universal suffrage in local government elections – previously only those who owned real estate in
6204-806: 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
6345-536: The New South Wales Legislative Council , declaring that the government was "controlled by the financial institutions". Despite his very public resignation from the Labor Party in 1932, he rejoined the party at some point in the early-to-mid-1930s; he was reported to have unsuccessfully sought federal Labor preselection for his old seat in 1934, and by 1936 was a delegate to the party's national conference. Gibbons became highly active in
6486-572: 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
6627-523: 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 ,
6768-605: The White Australia Policy after the rest of the labour movement had abandoned it. In I Remember he wrote: "White Australia must not be regarded as a mere political shibboleth. It was Australia's Magna Carta . Without that policy, this country would have been lost long ere this. It would have been engulfed in an Asian tidal wave." To the end of his life, he proudly proclaimed that "Lang was Right." Lang also spent time visiting Sydney schools recounting recollections of his time in office to his young audience. Lang gave
6909-494: 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
7050-471: 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
7191-552: 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 the Australian Capital Territory . As of 2024, Queensland , Tasmania and Northern Territory are
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#17328009870657332-561: The "Gibbons Plan": that the Commonwealth Bank be instructed to "create sufficient credit as and when required" to finance the operations of government in respect of all parliamentary appropriations, meet government loan debt requirements not otherwise provided for, and finance state and Commonwealth works programs up to a limit of £20,000,000. Gibbons' proposal was supported by a majority of the Labor caucus in November, triggering
7473-552: The "Lang Plan", which called for the repudiation or deferral of overseas debts to avoid the austerity measures in the Premiers' Plan . Lang's supporters in federal parliament supported a no-confidence motion in Scullin's government, with the ALP suffering a landslide defeat at the 1931 federal election . Lang's continued conflict with the new federal government led by Joseph Lyons , including defiance of federal laws, precipitated
7614-568: 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
7755-460: 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"
7896-624: The 1993 ABC TV documentary Labor in Power , Keating noted on Lang: "Lang finished his political life with not an ounce of bitterness in him. I never heard him ever refer to anyone disparagingly, and he always had a kind word for Curtin , always." Lang died in Auburn in September 1975, aged 98, and was commemorated with a packed house and overflowing crowds outside Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral at his Requiem Mass and memorial service. His funeral
8037-683: 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 ,
8178-536: 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
8319-463: 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
8460-499: The Commonwealth Bank's decision to "take up budgetary deficits", the reduction in interest rates in the Premiers' Plan and a bonus for the wheat industry constituted effective adoption. Although he had opposed much of Scullin's fiscal policy in the early stages of the Great Depression and had pushed the government to the brink of crisis in pursuit of his own alternative policy proposals, Gibbons loudly and repeatedly rejected
8601-581: The Empire. By contrast, his attempts to abolish the life-appointed upper house of the NSW Parliament, the Legislative Council , were unsuccessful. His attempts, based around requesting from the governor, Sir Dudley de Chair , enough appointees to swamp the council that would then vote for its abolition (the same approach his Queensland Labor colleagues had taken to their upper house in 1922), brought him into significant conflict with
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#17328009870658742-531: 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
8883-438: The Governor from dismissing him, (which Lang admitted in his own book, The Turbulent Years ). The possibility was sufficiently high that the armed forces of the Commonwealth were put on alert. Andrew Moore and Michael Cathcart, among others, have put forward the possibility that such a clash would have seen the Commonwealth Armed Forces fighting the New South Wales Police. This was the first case of an Australian government with
9024-462: The Labor Opposition, although the NSW Branch of the ALP remained separate from the rest of the party. The UAP won the elections of 1935 and 1938. After this third defeat, the Federal Labor forces began to gain ground in NSW, as many union officials became convinced that Labor would never win again in the state while Lang remained leader. Lang was ousted as NSW Opposition Leader in 1939 and was replaced by William McKell , who became Premier in 1941. Lang
9165-403: The Labor Party over its inability to deal with the Depression, attacking the "egotism and insane policy of Lang", and then voted against a government tariff bill, labelling it "fiscal insanity" for its impact on primary producers. In June 1931, he announced his general support for the austerity measures of the Premiers' Plan , declaring "no other course is practicable", that "in no other country in
9306-399: The Labor caucus resolved that the continued leadership of Prime Minister Scullin was conditional on his full acceptance of Gibbons' resolution. However, after Ted Theodore assumed the role of Treasurer later that month, Scullin and the Cabinet slowly backed away from full acceptance of the terms of Gibbons' proposal, with attention increasingly drawn instead to the rapidly deepening split in
9447-412: 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
9588-411: 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
9729-438: 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
9870-471: The Lyons government deprived the State of New South Wales means of paying the wages of State employees and that this necessarily constituted an (illegal) state of slavery. In response, Lang withdrew all the state's funds from government bank accounts and held them at the Trades Hall in cash, so the federal government could not gain access to the money. The Governor, Sir Philip Game , a retired Royal Air Force officer, advised Lang that in his view this action
10011-501: The NSW Wheat Advisory Board and Australian Wheat Board later that decade. Gibbons made one final attempt to enter politics as the Labor candidate for his old seat of Calare at the 1949 federal election , but was soundly defeated. He died in 1956. Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party ( ALP ), also known simply as Labor or the Labor Party , is the major centre-left political party in Australia and one of two major parties in Australian politics , along with
10152-743: 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
10293-605: The Scullin government. This action split the NSW Labor Party in two – Lang's followers became known as Lang Labor , while Scullin's supporters, led by Chifley, became known in NSW as Federal Labor . Most of the party's branches and affiliated trade unions supported Lang. Since the Commonwealth Government had become responsible for state debts in 1928 under an amendment to the Constitution,
10434-518: 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,
10575-499: 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
10716-485: The Wheatgrowers' Union of New South Wales in the 1930s, becoming its vice-president in the mid-1930s and then its president from 1936 to 1939, a position which made him a prominent public commentator and advocate on wheat industry issues. He was appointed to a series of industry boards by Labor governments in the 1940s: the federal Fodder Conservation Commission (1942) and Australian Meat Board (1946), as well as both
10857-526: The age of 19 he married Hilda Amelia Bredt (1878–1964), the 17-year-old daughter of prominent feminist and socialist Bertha Bredt , and the step-daughter of W. H. McNamara, who owned a bookshop in Castlereagh Street. Hilda's sister, also named Bertha, was married to the author and poet Henry Lawson . Lang became a junior office assistant for an accounting practice, where his shrewdness and intelligence saw his career advance. Around 1900 he became
10998-564: The area to join the Municipality of Auburn . On 20 June 1906, this was proclaimed, with the area included as the "Newington Ward", returning three aldermen. Lang was elected to first position in the new ward in April 1907, and served two terms as Mayor of Auburn in 1909–1911. He was elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1913 for the district of Granville , serving as
11139-493: 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
11280-481: The city on mornings and afternoons. In the mid-1880s, due to his parents' poverty, he was sent to live with his mother's sister on a small rural property near Bairnsdale , in the Gippsland region of Victoria, attending for about four years the local Catholic school. Lang returned to New South Wales in the early 1890s to seek employment, aged 14. His first jobs were in the rural areas to the south-west of Sydney: on
11421-455: The city's inner suburbs. He left school at the age of 14 and worked a variety of jobs, eventually establishing a real estate agency in the Sydney suburb of Auburn . Lang was first elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the 1913 state election and would hold several seats over the following 30 years. He remained loyal to the ALP following the 1916 party split over conscription and served as state treasurer from 1920 to 1922 in
11562-506: The confidence of the lower house of Parliament being dismissed by a Vice-Regal representative, the second case being when Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Gough Whitlam 's government on 11 November 1975 (which Lang would not live to see by just 45 days). Game himself felt his decision was the right one, despite the fact that he had no personal animosity towards Lang. On 2 July 1932 Game wrote to his mother-in-law: "Still with all his faults of omission and commission I had and still have
11703-493: The conservative Legislative Council and by internal party conflict. He was forced to an early election in 1927, which saw the ALP defeated. However, Lang and the ALP were returned to office in a landslide victory at the 1930 election . During the Great Depression , Lang was a key figure in the ALP split of 1931 , which saw the defeat of the federal Labor government led by James Scullin . He advocated economic populism and produced
11844-418: The economy in the form of Commonwealth Bank of Australia credit. The Prime Minister and all other state Premiers rejected the plan. Lang was a powerful orator, and during the crisis of the Depression, he addressed huge crowds in Sydney and other centres, promoting his populist program and denouncing his opponents and the wealthy in extravagant terms. His followers promoted the slogans "Lang is Right" and "Lang
11985-587: The fallout of that year's split in the Labor Party. Gibbons finished last of the three candidates behind Thorby and the Lang candidate, with Thorby winning an absolute majority of votes. After his political defeat, Gibbons resumed his business and farming interests. He had a stormy relationship with the Labor Party in the period immediately following; in January 1932, he was expelled from the Lang-controlled state Labor Party, responding that he had never been
12126-821: 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 ,
12267-411: 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
12408-402: 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
12549-412: 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
12690-620: 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
12831-425: The governments of John Storey and James Dooley . In 1923, Lang replaced Dooley as state leader of the ALP, a position he would maintain for 15 years despite a confrontational and pugnacious leadership style and competing factional demands. He led the party to a narrow victory at the 1925 state election . His first term as premier saw the passage of social and industrial reforms, but was also marked by conflict with
12972-505: The governor. However, his government's agenda required more political support to pass than the upper house was able to give, and Lang and the Labor party sought to eliminate what they saw as an outdated bastion of conservative privilege through this approach. At the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone for the new Auburn Town Hall in November 1926, he declared: "If I have my way, the Upper House will not be there much longer. Such
13113-473: The great majority of Sydney's Catholics". The family lived in the inner-city slums for the majority of Lang's early childhood, including for a period on Wexford Street in Surry Hills , where he attended a local school, St Francis Marist Brothers' on Castlereagh Street . His father suffered from rheumatic fever for most of Lang's childhood, and he supplemented his family's income by selling newspapers in
13254-492: The hardships of evicted tenants together with the hardships facing householders and other debtors battling to meet repayments. He passed laws restricting the rights of landlords to evict defaulting tenants, and insisted on paying the legal minimum wage to all workers on relief projects. At an economic crisis conference in Canberra in 1931, Jack Lang announced his own programme for economic recovery. The "Lang Plan" advocated
13395-515: The industrial arbitration system, and a 44-hour workweek. Extensions were made to the applicability of the Fair Rents Act while compulsory marketing along the lines of what existed in Queensland was introduced. Adult franchise for local government elections was also introduced, together with Legislation to safeguard native flora and to penalize ships for discharging oil. His government also carried out road improvements, including paving much of
13536-437: The injection of more funds into the nation's money supply as central bank credit for the revitalisation of industry and commerce, and the abolition of the gold standard , to be replaced by a "Goods Standard," whereby the amount of currency in circulation would be fixed to the number of goods produced within the Australian economy. The banks had indicated that if he paid the interest they would advance him an additional amount which
13677-452: 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
13818-502: The latter's Bank Act in 1947. He contested the seat of Blaxland in the 1949 federal election , but was defeated and never held office again, despite a bid to be elected to the Senate in 1951. Lang spent his long retirement editing his newspaper The Century , and wrote several books about his political life, including The Great Bust , I Remember and The Turbulent Years . He grew increasingly conservative as he grew older, supporting
13959-623: 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
14100-523: The manager of a real estate firm in the then semi-rural suburb of Auburn . He was so successful that he soon set up his own real estate business in an area much in demand by working-class families looking to escape the squalor and overcrowding of the inner-city slums. As a resident in the unincorporated area around Silverwater and Newington , Lang became Secretary of the Newington Progress Association and led local efforts for
14241-501: 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
14382-665: The new UAP government of Joseph Lyons paid the interest to the overseas bondholders and then set about extracting the money from NSW by passing the Financial Agreement Enforcement Act 1932 , which the High Court held to be valid. Lang then contended that the Act was rendered null and void by contravening the 1833 prohibition of slavery throughout the British Empire; the Premier held that the actions of
14523-574: The official ALP in 1936, but factional conflict continued and he was finally ousted as leader in 1939. Attributing his defeat to communists, in 1940 he formed the Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist) , which achieved some electoral success but soon rejoined the official ALP in the interests of wartime unity. Lang was expelled from the ALP in 1943 and later served a single term in the House of Representatives from 1946 to 1949, representing
14664-547: 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
14805-505: 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 the various Australian colonies by the emerging labour movement . Colonial Labour parties contested seats from 1891, and began contesting federal seats following Federation at
14946-508: 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,
15087-432: 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
15228-420: 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
15369-558: The party and the issue of the renegade New South Wales Premier Jack Lang , who was pursuing his own radical ideas about how to deal with the Depression. Gibbons would claim during his re-election campaign that "a great deal of [the Gibbons Plan] had been carried into effect" and that "in fact, it was the Gibbons Plan which had carried the country out of the economic darkness and started it on the way to prosperity." He argued that
15510-692: 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
15651-404: 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
15792-483: 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
15933-451: 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
16074-437: 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
16215-412: 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
16356-499: 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
16497-588: The post- World War I financial recession, the state's accounts were in deficit; Lang managed to cut this deficit significantly. From 1920 to 1927, he was a member for the multi-member seat of Parramatta . After the Labor Party (ALP) lost government in 1922, Lang was elected as Opposition Leader in 1923 by his fellow Labor Party MPs . He led the ALP to victory in the 1925 NSW general election and became Premier. During his first term as Premier, Lang carried out many social programmes, including state pensions for widowed mothers with dependent children under fourteen,
16638-407: The radical alternative proposals for dealing with the Depression being put forward by New South Wales Premier Jack Lang . This saw him side with Scullin's federal Labor Party against Lang's state Labor Party in the resulting party split. In March 1931, he voted against a censure motion that posed a serious threat to the continuation of the Scullin government. In May 1931, he threatened to resign from
16779-435: The same month, he declared that the Premiers' Plan was "insufficient to provide for Australia's rehabilitation", suggesting that a "general writing down" may be needed so that landholders could continue to meet their liabilities. Gibbons was defeated by Country Party candidate Harold Thorby in a three-cornered race with a Lang candidate at the 1931 election , a widely speculated outcome due to his unexpected win in 1929 and
16920-401: The seat of Reid . He assumed the role of elder statesman in retirement and was re-admitted to the ALP in 1971 a few years before his death at the age of 99. John Thomas Lang was born on 21 December 1876 on George Street , Sydney , close to the present site of The Metro Theatre (between Bathurst and Liverpool Streets). He was the third son (and sixth of ten children) of James Henry Lang,
17061-695: 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,
17202-574: 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. Jack Lang (Australian politician) John Thomas Lang (21 December 1876 – 27 September 1975), nicknamed " The Big Fella ",
17343-446: 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,
17484-449: The temporary cessation of interest repayments on debts to Britain and that interest on all government borrowings be reduced to 3% to free up money for injection into the economy, the abolition of the Gold standard to be replaced by a "Goods Standard" where the amount of money in circulation was linked to the number of goods produced, and the immediate injection of £18 million of new money into
17625-407: 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
17766-569: 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
17907-415: The world did the individual receive the benefit of such extensive social legislation" and that "no country in the world could afford to carry on such a system when the national income has been so greatly reduced". In August 1931, he accused Lang of "practically stealing...money from wheatgrowers" for directing funds from an impost on flour into consolidated revenue instead of to farmers as they had expected. In
18048-476: 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
18189-535: Was about to cut the ribbon to open the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Captain Francis de Groot , a member of the paramilitary New Guard movement, rode up and broke the ribbon. The New Guard also planned to kidnap Lang, and plotted a coup against him during the crisis that brought Lang's premiership to an end. Early in 1931, Jack Lang released his own plan to combat the Depression; this became known as "the Lang Plan". This
18330-460: 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
18471-428: Was an Australian politician. He served two terms as premier of New South Wales , in office from 1925 to 1927 and from 1930 to 1932. He was the state leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1923 to 1939 and his Lang Labor faction was an influential force in both state and federal politics, breaking away from the official ALP on several occasions. Lang was born to a working-class family in Sydney and grew up in
18612-487: 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
18753-401: Was elected in a landslide in October 1930. As Premier, Lang refused to cut government salaries and spending, a stand which was popular with his constituents, but which made the state's fiscal position more parlous, though the economic state of the six other various Australian governments fared little better during this same period. In the wake of the Great Depression, measures were taken to ease
18894-540: Was expelled from NSW Labor by the state executive on 5 March 1943, and started his own parallel Labor Party, called the ALP (Non-Communist), but this time with only minority support in the NSW party and unions. Through the 1940s, he railed against the dangers of communism as a ' Cold War warrior'. He remained a member of the Legislative Assembly until 1946, resigning to stand for the Division of Reid in
19035-454: 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
19176-440: Was greater than the interest, thus giving him a positive cash flow. Lang opposed the Premiers' Plan agreed to by the federal Labor government of James Scullin and the other state Premiers, who called for even more stringent cuts to government spending to balance the budget. In October 1931 Lang's followers in the federal House of Representatives crossed the floor to vote with the conservative United Australia Party and bring down
19317-474: Was illegal and that if Lang did not reverse it he would dismiss the government. Lang stood firm, and on 13 May 1932, the Governor withdrew Lang's commission and appointed the UAP leader, Bertram Stevens , as premier. Stevens immediately called an election , at which Labor was heavily defeated. Gerald Stone, in his book 1932 , states that there is evidence that Lang considered arresting the Governor to prevent
19458-555: Was in contrast to the "Melbourne Agreement", later known as the Premiers' Plan , which all other State Governments and the Federal Government had agreed to in 1930. Key points of the Lang Plan included the temporary cessation of interest repayments on debts to Britain and that interest on all government borrowings be reduced to 3% to free up money for injection into the economy, the cancellation of interest payments to overseas bondholders and financiers on government borrowings,
19599-577: 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
19740-488: 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
19881-495: Was unable to gain support for a Commonwealth Bank branch in Parkes. Gibbons was critical of the Scullin government's early response to the Great Depression in Australia , preferring using the Commonwealth Bank to extend loans and extending the terms of existing loans rather than the Cabinet's mix of austerity measures and increased debt. In October 1930, Gibbons put to caucus an alternative policy proposal that came to be known as
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