
Issue No 13		14 May 1999

Guest Report

Adam Searle on Costa's Faction Call

Labor Council Secretary Michael Costa's contribution on reforming the Labor Party (SMH 10 May 1999) is timely and raises important issues.


	Adam Searle

His proposals to reinvigorate the ALP branch structure and give more power and responsibility to party members are moves in the right direction. By themselves, however, they will not de-institutionalise factions. Although I believe he is sincerely motivated, the effect of Costa's other ideas (the removal of proportional voting and centralised preselections) would result in complete domination of the party by head office, if unaccompanied by significant additional cultural and institutional developments.

To be of any real benefit reforms must free up the ALP's internal political system and give more meaning to party membership without slighting the organic connection with organised labour. In the spirit of Michael Costa's invitation, I offer the following suggestions.

The Disputes Committee and the Review Tribunal are charged with resolving conflicts between party members on issues such as branch stacking, irregularities in the conduct of elections and preselections, and the like. Predictably, the determinations of these bodies are almost always along factional lines. Even when party rules are on your side, there is no way of enforcing them - there is no rule of law that applies impartially to all, without fear or favour.

Persons sitting on these bodies should be drawn at random from a pool of candidates chosen by the ALP State Conference. This method should also apply to the selection of the Chair. The random element should discourage members of the Committee or Tribunal from deciding matters in an overtly factional manner.

Formal mechanisms within the NSW ALP relating to policy formulation are archaic and deprive party members of meaningful input. The ritualised conflict seen at party conferences is also rarely useful for serious policy discussion.

Party policy committees need to operate differently if they are to be useful or relevant. Changes in the manner of operation should include calling for submissions from party members, party units and even outside organisations on relevant issues, travelling to different regional centres to conduct open hearings, and other new forms of conduct which would move policy discussion from the partisan heat of an ALP Conference to a more informed way of exploring ideas.

Their collective representative nature makes trade union delegations to State Conference the organising force behind factions. This can obscure what should be their primary role in the party structure of ensuring that political Labor remains connected to the historical purpose for which it was formed - the protection and advancement of ordinary working people and all who struggle to improve society.

The logic of Costa's argument that party members should be able to directly elect State Conference delegates is compelling. Voting for the Administrative Committee (Party Executive) and delegates to the National Conference (both currently elected by State Conference) should also be subject to direct election, with half of each elected by:

(i) the trade union delegates to ALP State Conference; and

(ii) ordinary party members entitled to vote in branch elections.

This would free unions from primarily being keystones of factional organisation and encourage them to choose candidates as representatives of ALP affiliated unions. For party members, it would result in a wider field of candidates to choose from and a more open selection process than exists presently. Such new arrangements would enable both important parts of the Labor constituency to have a more direct input into the most important bodies in the party structure and increase their legitimacy.

Like Michael Costa, I think branch stacking should be somehow eliminated. However, while I share Costa's enthusiasm for more training and education for party members, I do not think attendance at week-end schools should be required before allowing them a vote in preselections.

Whatever rules are in place to govern preselection can be overcome by the dedicated branch stacker, providing they have the determination, time and other necessary resources. The existence of the collegiate method of selecting candidates for Parliament suggested by Michael Costa has not discouraged branch stacking in those states that have it.

The answer lies partly in the attitude of the party machine towards such practices, but rules are also important. To be effective, rules should be kept simple. In order to vote in an ALP preselection, party members should have to be registered with a branch for three continuous years and be on the electoral roll. While this may disenfranchise some, such as younger members, it will improve the integrity of preselection ballots.

Reform should be directed at improving bonds of mutual trust between party members and the party machine. While there is an inherent tension in such a relationship, it is important it is nurtured not weakened by changes that merely favour one group or another. The consistent and fair application of simplified rules by impartial bodies within the ALP, coupled with an enlarged and more direct role for both unions and ordinary party members would be a promising start.

Factions have always existed in the Labor Party, although not as formal or highly organised as at present. In recent years, they have proved an effective tool for managing the party and have minimised open conflict. But when they cease to facilitate, and actually operate to the detriment of the party (as in the Left faction Upper House ballot last year) they need to be reconsidered.

A frontal assault will not get rid of them, even were that desirable. It is human nature to form groups. What is needed is a change to the rules that shape them, to make the party structures more open and fairer to all who wish to contribute.

Adam Searle is President of the Mid Mountains ALP Branch and Chief of Staff to Jeff Shaw Q.C., NSW Attorney General and Minister for Industrial Relations

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Issue 13 contents

Interview: Really Caring
Sam Moait will be sending a message from the 48,000 nurses who she represents when she takes her seat at the Drug Summit

Unions: Kicking the Habit
The architect of a trade union drug and alcohol program has revealed his own battle with drugs motivated him to help other workers kick the habit.

History: Remembering BHP: Memory and Industrial Heritage
The announcement of the intended closure of BHPï¿½s Newcastle steelworks heightened the awareness that industrial heritage is more than derelict sites of production.

Review: Ten Songs to Revolution
We ask Labor Council's resident music critic to name the ten songs that define the nineties.

International: Union Lifts Lid on Rio Tinto Shame File
The global campaign against mining giant Rio Tinto has been stepped up with a new report alleging abuses of human rights, environmental and safety standards.

» Unions Warn Carr: Bosses Canï¿½t Veto Second Wave

» Labor Council Backs Harm Minimisation

» Aquilina Urged to Talk as Students Offered Teaching Jobs

» Cutting Through the Budget Crap

» LHMU Demands Y2K Protection for Workers

» Cops Eye Airport Beat

» Spanish Workers Warned on Tax Agents

» Unions to March on Journey of Healing on May 26

» NSW Young Labor Turns 50!