Labour government or Labor government may refer to:
129-602: In Australian politics, a Labor government may refer to the following governments administered by the Australian Labor Party : In Israeli politics, a Labor government may refer to the following governments administered by the Israeli Labor Party : In Maltese politics, a Labour government may refer to the following governments administered by the Labour Party : In Dutch politics,
258-492: A Labour government may refer to the following governments administered by the Labour Party : In New Zealand politics, a Labour government may refer to the following governments administered by the New Zealand Labour Party : In Norwegian politics, a Labour government may refer to the following governments administered by the Labour Party : In Singaporean politics, a Labour government may refer to
387-642: A conservative when it comes to questions of public financial management", pointing to his slashing of public service jobs as a Queensland governmental advisor. Rudd's government has been praised and credited "by most economists, both local and international, for helping Australia avoiding a post-global-financial-crisis recession" during the Global Recession . Examples of Brazilian Third Way politicians include current Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso . Other politicians include Simone Tebet , José Serra , and to
516-454: 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,
645-533: A "new capitalism". Policies supported by self-purported Third Way supporters vary by region, political circumstances, and ideological leanings. Third Way advocates generally support public-private partnerships , a commitment to fiscal conservatism , combining equality of opportunity with personal responsibility , improving human and social capital , and protection of the environment . But even to these ends Third Way advocates differ due to conflicting priorities. Anthony Giddens for example called for abolishing
774-422: A 'hand-up' instead of a 'hand-out'. The Third Way seeks a compromise between a less interventionist economic system as supported by neoliberals and Keynesian Social democratic spending policy supported by social democrats and progressives . The Third Way was born from a reevaluation of political policies within various centre to centre-left progressive movements in the 1980s in response to doubt regarding
903-498: A betrayal of left-wing values, with some analysts characterising the Third Way as an effectively neoliberal movement. It has also been criticised by conservatives , classical liberals , and libertarians who advocate for laissez-faire capitalism . As a term, the third way has been used to explain a variety of political courses and ideologies in the last few centuries. These ideas were implemented by progressives in
1032-399: A center-left group. It's nothing of the sort". Other leaders who have adopted elements of the Third Way style of governance include: By the 2010s, social democratic parties that accepted Third Way politics such as triangulation and the neoliberal shift in policies such as austerity , deregulation , free trade , privatisation and welfare reforms such as workfare experienced
1161-472: A central place in the management of the economy. But markets sometimes fail, requiring direct government intervention through instruments such as industry policy. There are also areas where the public good dictates that there should be no market at all. We are not afraid of a vision in the Labor Party, but nor are we afraid of doing the hard policy yards necessary to turn that vision into reality. Parties of
1290-464: A complete adherence to social democratic ideals and rejected the choice between a "prosperous and efficient Britain" and a "caring and compassionate Britain". Coherent with this position, the main commitment of the party was the reduction of economic inequality via the introduction of a wealth tax . This was rejected in the 1997 manifesto, along with many changes in the 1990s like the progressive dismissal of traditional social democratic ideology and
1419-482: 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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#17327654774801548-477: 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
1677-695: A drastic decline as the Third Way had largely fallen out of favour in a phenomenon known as Pasokification . Scholars have linked the decline of social democratic parties to the declining number of industrial workers, greater economic prosperity of voters and a tendency for these parties to shift closer to the centre-right on economic issues, alienating their former base of supporters and voters. This decline has been matched by increased support for more left-wing and populist parties as well as Left and Green social-democratic parties that rejected neoliberal and Third Way policies. Democratic socialism has emerged in opposition to Third Way social democracy on
1806-507: A former United Kingdom Home Secretary and the first senior Blairite to attack Prime Minister Gordon Brown openly and in print, stated: "We should discard the techniques of ' triangulation ' and 'dividing lines' with the Conservatives, which lead to the not entirely unjustified charge that we simply follow proposals from the Conservatives or the right-wing media, to minimise differences and remove lines of attack against us". Brown
1935-432: 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
2064-570: 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
2193-401: A lesser extent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Ciro Gomes . Examples of French Third Way politicians include current President Emmanuel Macron , and to a lesser extent François Hollande , Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Manuel Valls . Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroder (1998–2005) was a proponent of Third Way policies. Throughout his campaign for chancellor, he portrayed himself as
2322-544: 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
2451-663: A modernised social democracy, passionate in its commitment to social justice". Under the centre-left Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1983 to 1996, the Bob Hawke and Paul Keating governments pursued many economic policies associated with economic rationalism such as floating the Australian Dollar in 1983, reductions in trade tariffs , taxation reforms , changing from centralised wage-fixing to enterprise bargaining , restrictions on trade union activities including on strike action and pattern bargaining ,
2580-619: 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
2709-421: A new electoral law on the road toward a two-party system . It is not an easy task to find the exact political trend represented by Renzi and his supporters, who have been known as Renziani . The nature of Renzi's progressivism is a matter of debate and has been linked both to liberalism and populism . According to Maria Teresa Meli of Corriere della Sera , Renzi "pursues a precise model, borrowed from
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#17327654774802838-500: A new, centre-right and neoliberal party. Some such as Glen O'Hara have argued that while containing "elements that we could term neoliberal", New Labour was more left-leaning than it is given credit for. In the United States, Third Way adherents historically embraced fiscal conservatism to a greater extent than traditional economic liberals, advocated for some replacement of welfare with workfare , and sometimes held
2967-454: A pragmatic new Social Democrat who would promote economic growth while strengthening Germany's generous social welfare system. During Schröder's time in office, economic growth slowed to only 0.2% in 2002 and Gross Domestic Product shrank in 2003, while German unemployment was over the 10% mark. Most voters soon associated Schröder with the Agenda 2010 reform program, which included cuts in
3096-450: A prominent proponent of the Third Way, has publicly endorsed a modernized form of socialism within the social democracy movement. However, he argues that traditional socialist ideology, specifically referring to state socialism involving economic management and planning, is flawed. Giddens asserts that as a theory of the managed economy, it barely exists any longer. In defining the Third Way, Tony Blair once wrote: "The Third Way stands for
3225-438: A rigid form of economic determinism has ended, and rightly." Blair referred to it as a "social-ism" involving politics that recognised individuals as socially interdependent and advocated social justice, social cohesion, equal worth of each citizen and equal opportunity. Third Way social-democratic interpreter Anthony Giddens has said that the Third Way rejects the state socialist conception of socialism and instead accepts
3354-466: A six-point framework for a reconstituted radical politics that includes the following values: In The Third Way , Giddens provides the framework within which the Third Way, also termed by Giddens as the radical centre , is justified. In addition, it supplies a broad range of policy proposals aimed at what Giddens calls the " progressive centre-left " in British politics. Bill Clinton espoused
3483-511: 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
3612-564: 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,
3741-603: 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
3870-421: A stronger preference for market solutions to traditional problems (as in pollution markets ) while rejecting pure laissez-faire economics and other libertarian positions. The Third Way style of governing was firmly adopted and partly redefined during the administration of President Bill Clinton . As a term, it was introduced by political scientist Stephen Skowronek . Third Way presidents "undermine
3999-493: 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
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4128-409: Is 'rights with responsibilities'—for example, pairing the right to education with the responsibility to put effort towards achieving good grades. On economics specifically, a great deal of emphasize of the Third Way is placed on tax revenue, and the means by which it is generated. The Third Way argues that wealth must be enticed in a globalized economy, and that any capital flight caused by high taxes
4257-496: 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
4386-422: Is a predominantly centrist political position that attempts to reconcile centre-right and centre-left politics by synthesising a combination of economically liberal and social democratic economic policies . It is a reconceptualization of social democracy . It supports workfare instead of welfare , work training programs, educational opportunities, and other government programs that give citizens
4515-475: Is a third way because it moves decisively beyond an Old Left preoccupied by state control, high taxation and producer interests; and a New Right treating public investment, and often the very notions of "society" and collective endeavour, as evils to be undone. In 2002, Anthony Giddens listed problems facing the New Labour government, naming spin as the biggest failure because its damage to the party's image
4644-592: Is also in favour of greater social justice and it sees the state playing a major role in bringing this about. So in the words of ... Anthony Giddens of the LSE the Third Way rejects top down socialism as it rejects traditional neo liberalism. The Third Way has been advocated by its proponents as a "radical-centrist" alternative to both capitalism and what it regards as the traditional forms of socialism, including Marxian and state socialism . It advocates ethical socialism , reformism and gradualism that includes advocating
4773-460: 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
4902-422: Is counterproductive to generating tax revenue, as said tax revenue will be lost. The Third Way argues that growth is the best way to raise tax revenue, and that growth can be achieved through a free market economy, fiscal discipline and a healthy human capital stock. The Third Way has been advocated by proponents as competition socialism, an ideology in between traditional socialism and capitalism. Anthony Giddens,
5031-528: 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
5160-599: 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
5289-502: 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
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5418-556: Is widely seen as part of the moderate wing of within the SPD. During his tenure as minister of finance in the Fourth Merkel cabinet (2018–2021), Scholz prioritized not taking on new government debt and limiting public spending. The Italian Democratic Party is a plural social democratic party including several distinct ideological trends. Politicians such as former Prime Ministers Romano Prodi and Matteo Renzi are proponents of
5547-535: 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
5676-462: 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
5805-519: 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
5934-573: 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
6063-407: 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
6192-683: 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
6321-476: The Labour Party and Bill Clinton 's Democratic Party ", comprising "a strange mix (for Italy) of liberal policy in the economic sphere and populism. This means that on one side he will attack the privileges of trade unions, especially of the CGIL , which defends only the already protected, while on the other he will sharply attack the vested powers, bankers, Confindustria and a certain type of capitalism". After
6450-806: 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
6579-572: 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
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#17327654774806708-523: 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 ,
6837-494: 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
6966-471: 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
7095-616: 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
7224-522: The leadership election by a landslide, defeating Maurizio Martina (Renzi's former deputy secretary) and Roberto Giachetti (supported by most Renziani ). Zingaretti focused his campaign on a clear contrast with Renzi's policies and his victory opened the way for a new party. In September 2019, Renzi announced his intention to leave the Democratic Party and create a new parliamentary group. He officially launched Italia Viva to continue
7353-480: The privatisation of government-run services and enterprises such as Qantas and the Commonwealth Bank and wholesale deregulation of the banking system . Keating also proposed a Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 1985, but this was scrapped due to its unpopularity amongst both ALP and electorate. The party also desisted from other reforms such as wholesale labour market deregulation, the eventual GST,
7482-414: The social welfare system ( national health insurance , unemployment payments , pensions), lower taxes, and reformed regulations on employment and payment. He also eliminated capital gains tax on the sale of corporate stocks and thereby made the country more attractive to foreign investors. Incumbent German chancellor Olaf Scholz (2021–present) has not explicitly stated support for Third way policies, but
7611-568: 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
7740-460: 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"
7869-423: The 1980s on how to govern as a Third Way party. Blair wrote in a Fabian pamphlet in 1994 of the existence of two prominent variants of socialism, namely one based on a Marxist–Leninist economic determinist and collectivist tradition and the other being an ethical socialism based on values of "social justice, the equal worth of each citizen, equality of opportunity, community". Blair is a particular follower of
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#17327654774807998-748: 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 ,
8127-536: 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
8256-677: The ALP under Gough Whitlam , resulting in what is now known as the Labor Left , who tend to favour a more interventionist economic policy, more authoritative top-down controls and some socially progressive ideals; and Labor Right , the now dominant faction that is pro-business , more economically liberal and in some cases, more socially conservative . Former Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd 's first speech to parliament in 1998 stated: Competitive markets are massive and generally efficient generators of economic wealth. They must therefore have
8385-463: 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
8514-589: The Centre Left around the world are wrestling with a similar challenge—the creation of a competitive economy while advancing the overriding imperative of a just society. Some call this the "third way". The nomenclature is unimportant. What is important is that it is a repudiation of Thatcherism and its Australian derivatives represented opposite. It is in fact a new formulation of the nation's economic and social imperatives. While critical of economists such as Friedrich Hayek , Rudd described himself as "basically
8643-478: The Democratic Party's defeat in the 2018 general election in which the party gained 18.8% and 19.1% of the vote (down from 25.5% and 27.4% in 2013) and lost 185 deputies and 58 senators, respectively, Renzi resigned as the party's secretary. In March 2019, Nicola Zingaretti , a social democrat and prominent member of the party's left-wing with solid roots in the Italian Communist Party , won
8772-584: 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
8901-501: 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
9030-594: 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
9159-501: 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
9288-743: 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
9417-518: 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,
9546-627: The Third Way philosophy in 1997 at Chequers in England. The Third Way think tank and the Democratic Leadership Council are adherents of Third Way politics. In 2013, American lawyer and former bank regulator William K. Black criticized then-extant Third Way movements: "Third Way is this group that pretends sometimes to be centre-left but is actually completely a creation of Wall Street —it's run by Wall Street for Wall Street with this false flag operation as if it were
9675-417: The Third Way. Renzi has occasionally been compared to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for his political views. Renzi himself has previously claimed to be a supporter of Blair's ideology of the Third Way, regarding an objective to synthesise liberal economics and left-wing social policies. Under Renzi's secretariat, the Democratic Party took a strong stance in favour of constitutional reform and of
9804-499: 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
9933-420: The United States, a leading proponent of the Third Way was Bill Clinton , who served as the country's president from 1993 to 2001. In the United Kingdom, Third Way social-democratic proponent Tony Blair claimed that the socialism he advocated was different from traditional conceptions of socialism and said: "My kind of socialism is a set of values based around notions of social justice . ... Socialism as
10062-493: 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
10191-519: The basis that democratic socialists are committed to systemic transformation of the economy from capitalism to socialism whereas social-democratic supporters of the Third Way were more concerned about challenging the New Right and win social democracy back to power. This has resulted in analysts and critics alike arguing that in effect it endorsed capitalism, even if it was due to recognising that outspoken opposition to capitalism in these circumstances
10320-506: The conception of socialism as conceived of by Anthony Crosland as an ethical doctrine that views social democratic governments as having achieved a viable ethical socialism by removing the unjust elements of capitalism by providing social welfare and other policies and that contemporary socialism has outgrown the Marxist claim for the need of the abolition of capitalism as a mode of production . In 2009, Blair publicly declared support for
10449-474: The country. In historical context, such proposals were better described as liberalised centrally-planned economy rather than the socially-sensitive capitalism that Third Way policies tend to have been identified with in the West. In the 1970s and 1980s, Enrico Berlinguer , leader of the Italian Communist Party , came to advocate a vision of a socialist society that was more pluralist than the real socialism which
10578-587: The early 20th century. The term was picked up again in the 1950s by German ordoliberal economists such as Wilhelm Röpke , resulting in the development of the concept of the social market economy . Röpke later distanced himself from the term and located the social market economy as first way in the sense of an advancement of the free-market economy . During the Prague Spring of 1968, reform economist Ota Šik proposed third way economic reform as part of political liberalisation and democratisation within
10707-404: The economic viability of the state and the perceived overuse of economic interventionist policies that had previously been popularised by Keynesianism , but which at that time contrasted with the rise of popularity for neoliberalism and the New Right starting in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The Third Way has been promoted by social liberal and social-democratic parties. In
10836-670: 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 ,
10965-411: 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
11094-402: 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
11223-412: 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
11352-620: 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
11481-551: The following governments administered the Labour Front : In British politics, a Labour government may refer to the following governments administered by the Labour Party : 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
11610-399: The humanisation of capitalism , a mixed economy , political pluralism and liberal democracy . The Third Way has been often hard to holistically summarize, partly due to its flexible nature of putting ends before means, that is prioritizing achieving social justice rather than focusing on the methods by which one achieves social justice. Often cited as the easiest summary of the Third Way
11739-464: The ideas and writings of Giddens. In 1998, Blair, then Labour Party Leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , described the Third Way, how it relates to social democracy and its relation with both the Old Left and the New Right , as follows: The Third Way stands for a modernised social democracy, passionate in its commitment to social justice and the goals of the centre-left. ... But it
11868-408: The ideas of the Third Way during his 1992 presidential campaign . The Third Way has been defined as such: [S]omething different and distinct from liberal capitalism with its unswerving belief in the merits of the free market and democratic socialism with its demand management and obsession with the state. The Third Way is in favour of growth, entrepreneurship, enterprise and wealth creation but it
11997-452: 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
12126-534: The lead-up to the 2019 federal election , Hawke made a joint statement with Keating endorsing Labor's economic plan and condemned the Liberal Party for "completely [giving] up the economic reform agenda". They stated that " [Bill] Shorten 's Labor is the only party of government focused on the need to modernise the economy to deal with the major challenge of our time: human induced climate change". Various ideological beliefs were factionalised under reforms to
12255-504: The liberal and Third Way tradition within a pro-Europeanism framework, especially as represented by the French President Emmanuel Macron 's La République En Marche! . In 1939, Harold Macmillan wrote a book entitled The Middle Way , advocating a compromise between capitalism and socialism which was a precursor to the contemporary notion of the Third Way. In 1979, the Labour Party professed
12384-623: 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
12513-501: 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
12642-484: 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
12771-505: 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
12900-420: The opposition by borrowing policies from it in an effort to seize the middle and with it to achieve political dominance". Examples of this are Richard Nixon 's economic policies, which were a continuation of Lyndon B. Johnson 's Great Society , as well as Clinton's welfare reform later. Along with Blair, Prodi, Gerhard Schröder and other leading Third Way adherents, Clinton organised conferences to promote
13029-457: 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,
13158-432: 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
13287-420: 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
13416-692: 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
13545-404: 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
13674-483: 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
13803-451: 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
13932-437: 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
14061-412: 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
14190-499: 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
14319-577: The privatisation of Telstra and welfare reform . The Hawke-Keating governments have been considered by some as laying the groundwork for the later development of both the New Democrats in the United States and New Labour in the United Kingdom. One political commentator agreed that it led centre-left parties towards the path to neoliberalism . Meanwhile, others, particularly former Labor MP and current National President Wayne Swan , acknowledge several economically conservative reforms, but at
14448-554: The retirement age so people can exit the workforce whenever they save enough, believing society should be more inclusive to the elderly; Emmanuel Macron did the exact opposite, raising the retirement age to balance the budget. The Bill Clinton administration , influenced by the works of the controversial political scientist Charles Murray , was less friendly to the welfare state than Tony Blair. The Third Way has been criticised by other social democrats, as well as anarchists , communists , and in particular democratic socialists as
14577-481: The same time disagreed and focused on the prosperity and social equality that they provided in the "26 years of uninterrupted economic growth since 1991", seeing it as fitting well within "Australian Laborism". Swan also mentioned the fact that the policies and reforms of the Hawke–Keating governments, described as Third Way, predated the idea by a decade or more. Both Hawke and Keating made some criticism too. In
14706-695: 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,
14835-528: 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. Third Way The Third Way , also known as Modernised Social Democracy ,
14964-446: 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,
15093-413: The transformation into New Labour , de-emphasising the need to tackle economic inequality and focusing instead on the expansion of opportunities for all whilst fostering social capital . Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is cited as a Third Way politician. According to a former member of Blair's staff, Blair and the Labour Party learnt from and owes a debt to Bob Hawke 's government in Australia in
15222-407: 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
15351-569: 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
15480-476: 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
15609-460: 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
15738-487: 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
15867-700: Was difficult to rebound from. He also challenged the failure of the Millennium Dome project and Labour's inability to deal with irresponsible businesses. Giddens saw Labour's ability to marginalise the Conservative Party as a success as well its economic policy, welfare reform and certain aspects of education. Giddens criticised what he called Labour's "half-way houses", including the National Health Service and environmental and constitutional reform. In 2008, Charles Clarke ,
15996-454: 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
16125-476: Was politically nonviable; and that it was anti-social democratic in practice. Others saw it as theoretically fitting with modern socialism, especially liberal socialism , distinguishing it from both classical socialism and traditional democratic socialism or social democracy. Third Way economic policies began to be challenged following the Great Recession , and the rise of right-wing populism has put
16254-619: Was succeeded by Ed Miliband 's One Nation Labour in 2010 and self-described democratic socialist Jeremy Corbyn in 2015 as the Leader of the Labour Party . This led some to comment that New Labour is "dead and buried". Keir Starmer , now the Prime Minister, succeeded Corbyn in 2020 , and has since reverted on his initial more left-wing pledges, in favour policies more associated with New Labour . The Third Way as practised under New Labour has been criticised as being effectively
16383-577: 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
16512-488: 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
16641-878: Was typically advocated by official communist parties whilst being more economically egalitarian than social democracy. This was part of the wider trend of Eurocommunism in the communist movement and provided a theoretical basis for Berlinguer's pursuit of the Historic Compromise with the Christian Democrats . Third Way politics is visible in Anthony Giddens' works such as Consequences of Modernity (1990), Modernity and Self-Identity (1991), The Transformation of Intimacy (1992), Beyond Left and Right (1994) and The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy (1998). In Beyond Left and Right , Giddens criticises market socialism and constructs
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