Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

The Australian party system
The second policy tradition is democratic socialism, which regards capitalism
as inherently exploitative. Democratic socialists believe that the primary means
of addressing this exploitation is to allow the government to control economic
resources. In particular, government ownership of private sector companies and
industries (which is often referred to as nationalisation) is sometimes advanced as
a policy goal by democratic socialists. 24
The third policy tradition is social democracy, which is also based on the idea
that capitalism can lead to exploitation. Unlike democratic socialists, however, social
democrats are more accommodating of the private sector. They seek to address
the potential exploitation caused by capitalism through policy measures, such as
advancing welfare policies or regulation, rather than through nationalisation. 25
These three traditions also underpin the factions in the Labor Party. Factions
are like small parties operating within a larger party. There are two broad factional
groupings in the Labor Party. The right-wing factions tend to adhere to labourism
and social-democratic traditions, while the left-wing factions are more supportive
of democratic-socialist objectives. Just like political parties, factions in the Labor
Party have their own members, organisational structures, leaders and policy
agendas. 26 The roles factions play are also similar to those of political parties. While
factions can play a positive role in a party, sometimes the contest between factions
for influence within the party can lead to destabilising power struggles. 27
Party organisation
The national conference is the peak decision-making body of the ALP; each state
also has a state conference. The purpose of the state and national conferences is to
direct party policies and platforms. Decisions made at the national conference have
a significant impact on the operation of the party. For example, in 2015 the national
conference decided to aim to increase the number of female parliamentarians in
the party to at least 50 per cent by 2025. 28 The Labor Party is hierarchical, however,
in that the national organisation can intervene in and discipline state and territory
branches.
AllmembersoftheLaborPartyareexpectedtosign‘ThePledge’,whichisan
oath of loyalty requiring members to work to advance the interests of the party and
never stand against endorsed Labor candidates in an election. Furthermore, when
elected to government, the caucus (the term that refers to the party’s parliamentary
wing) is expected to implement the policies decided by the party’s membership. It
24 Economou 2006.
25 Economou 2006.
26 See Economou 2006.
27 In 2010, for example, the factions withdrew support from Kevin Rudd and supported Julia
Gillard to become prime minister. In 2013, the factions once again shifted their support and
reinstalled Kevin Rudd to the prime ministership.
28 Peatling 2015.
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