Labor Must Learn From History

by Stephen Loosley - Sunday Telegraph

The US Democrats are still coming to terms with electoral loss and an uncertain future. Their dilemmas, of course, are not without parallel in Australia.

A few weeks ago, the British magazine The Spectator debated the future of conservatism in an article by Michael Gove, promoted with the headline Am I Mad to Be Tory?

The writer argued that principles had sustained British conservatism, and that promoting them would lead it back to government.

A few days ago, a senior federal ALP figure was asked a similar question by a Labor supporter.

Given the woes that have beset the Opposition since October 9, one can be forgiven for asking about the future with a quizzical eye.

Perhaps the best answer has already been given by someone on the other side of the political divide.

Although no one recognises the political gift of an Opposition in disarray better than John Howard (given his own experiences during the 1980s), no one is quicker to counsel his colleagues about triumphalism.

Resilience, the PM notes, has always been Australian Labor's strength, and the ability to rebound from disasters – mostly self-inflicted – and rebuild for the future has characterised the ALP since its foundation in 1891.

Although federal Labor's stocks could hardly be lower than they are at the moment, it would be foolish to write the Labor Party off.

After all, at Christmas, 1994, the federal Coalition was derided as unelectable and a rabble. But within 18 months, the conservatives were in government and Alexander Downer had taken a new lease of political life as Foreign Minister.

That's the nature of politics, if people are prepared to take the hard decisions and get those decisions right.

The Labor Party has survived three great splits – in 1916-17, 1931 and 1954-57 – that have destroyed governments or prevented Labor from winning elections.

Indeed, as my old friend "Johnno" Johnson used to reassure me, there was no doubt that God was on Labor's side because only divine intervention could have sustained the ALP for more than a century.

All those Australians dismayed by the lack of a robust political alternative can be reassured by Labor's proven capacity to recover.

The destruction of the Whitlam government in 1975 was followed six months later by the election of Neville Wran as NSW premier.

This began a revitalisation in our democracy and led ultimately to a reforming period of federal Labor government under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.

As a young man, I was taught that it was always intrinsically valuable to recall that both Clancy Of The Overflow and The Man From Snowy River had been members of the Australian Workers Union and had voted Labor.

The ALP's history was the history of Australia.

It's this manner of cultural reference that sets the ALP apart by allowing it, in difficult times, to draw upon a deep reservoir of tradition and sentiment, in order to gather strength and to move forward.

The Federal Caucus needs to draw from this well now and demonstrate a renewed resolve to lead events rather than witness them.


Stephen Loosley is a former Labor Senator.