Lot's Wife Edition 6 2015

POLITICS 9
The ALP National
Conference Explained
BY GEORGE KOPELIS
Bill Shorten’s public approval rating may be at its lowest, but
within the Labor Party he has never been stronger following
July’s National Conference. The leader of the federal ALP
negotiated between the numerous but disorganised Left
factions and his traditional powerbase in the Right to pass
some symbolic but politically important motions. In doing
so he was able to cement his position as leader, while onetime
leadership contender Anthony Albanese found himself
leading the defeated motion to drop boat turn backs.
Four policies Shorten will be congratulating himself for
passing are:
Supporting the Coalition’s asylum seeker boat turn back
policy, while doubling (over 10 years) the humanitarian
intake to 27,000 people each year.
Reaction: The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre called for
Labor to increase the humanitarian intake to
27,000 immediately, close Manus Island and
Nauru processing centres and drop turn backs,
but welcomed its plan to abolish Temporary
Protection Visas.
Allowing Labor MPs a conscience vote on same sex
marriage until after the 2016 election, when support for
same sex marriage will become binding.
Reaction: Australian Marriage Equality national director
Rodney Croome said Labor’s policy of a free
vote on same sex marriage would increase the
pressure on Tony Abbott to provide the same
guarantee for his own party.
Aiming for 50% of Australia’s energy to come from
renewable sources by 2030, through an emissions trading
scheme.
Reaction:
The Clean Energy Council said the "ambitious"
50% target was great news for the renewable
energy sector, and that the industry looked
forward to working through policy detail with
Labor.
A 50:50 gender balance in parliament by 2025.
Reaction: Two female Liberal MPs said more women
were needed in the Liberal Party, but proposed
different ways to achieve this. Sharman Stone
said the party needed to adopt similar quotas
to the Labor Party in pre-selection contests,
while Kelly O’Dwyer argued non-binding targets
for female candidates would be more effective.
Shorten’s opening speech to National Conference also
outlined traditional Labor values around jobs. He promised to
have the next generation of submarines built and maintained
in Australia and also said the free trade agreement with
China would maintain "Australian safety standards,
Australian wages and Australian jobs".
Predictably, Labor’s adoption of turn backs has been
criticised by the Greens and dismissed by the Liberal Party.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Labor was no
better than the Coalition where asylum seekers were
concerned.
"Labor had an opportunity today to stand up against the
cruelty of turn-backs and the suffering of refugees on Nauru
and Manus Island, but sadly they failed," she said.
The Liberal Party, on the other hand, seized on Labor’s public
disunity over boat turn backs. Many Labor MPs had made
public statements for or against the policy leading up to the
National Conference.
"It (the turn back motion) has not removed the baggage of
the Rudd and Gillard era; if anything it has drifted further to
the left," the party said in a media release.
Bill Shorten would disagree with both assertions. He is
attempting to position the Labor Party closer to the centre
of political debate, still leading the way with progressive
policies but with the political experiences to avoid more
radical ideas.
In renewable energy this is most apparent. Shorten has
been mentioning Labor’s support for an emissions trading
scheme, but has highlighted the 50% renewable energy target
in recent weeks. This is his plan to reduce any Coalition
smear campaigns about a resurgent carbon tax, and to
encourage greater public support for mainstream policy.
"If Mr Abbott wants to make the next election a contest about
who has the best policy solution on climate change, I’ve got a
three word slogan for him - bring it on!" Bill Shorten told the
party faithful at National Conference.
That’s not the only slogan Shorten used at National
Conference. He finished his address by stating how Labor
was ready to "advance Australia". Co-opting the national
anthem isn’t a particularly original idea, but it shows Shorten
is positioning himself as a progressive yet mainstream
alternative Prime Minister.
The Labor leader needs to act decisively to increase his
approval rating from a dismal 27% in July’s Newspoll – Tony
Abbott now has a higher rating (at 33%) than Shorten for the
first time. He can take some satisfaction in seeing the Labor
primary vote at 39%, which is usually an election-winning
percentage. Leading up to the 2016 election, expect sustained
promotion of the four main issues emerging from National
Conference, but also traditional Labor campaigns based
around safeguarding jobs.