E D I T O R I A L

Modern Labour
Unveiling his 'modern Labor' pitch in the Budget in Reply, Opposition leader Simon Crean seemed very 1950s � when 'modern' was good in itself, like spray-cans, zippers and uncomfortable furniture.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Licking the Wounds
Elder statesman Neville Wran expands on his review into Labor's performance at the last federal election.

Industrial: The Accidental Tourist
Standing on a picket line, just metres from the sleaziest part of Kings Cross, was not what Cheshire chemist David Lui had in mind when he was saving for his trip of a lifetime.

Unions: Stars And Stripes
Fly the flag, beat the war drum and screw the old, the sick and the poor � Peter Costello�s budget aims to emulate the worst aspects of American politics argues Noel Hester.

International: The Un-Promised Land
Andrew Casey lifts the lid on a little-known campaign to establish a Jewish homeland in the Kimberleys.

History: Mate Against Mate
Neale Towart trawls the records to recount some of the more acrimonious ALP State Conference debates.

Politics: Reith's Gong
Peter Reith's medal from the HR Nicholls Society overlooks a number of lamentable aspects about his character as Stuart Mackenzie reports.

Poetry: You've Got a Friend
A friend is someone who protects you, but in an interesting twist the Federal budget has redefined the notion of 'protection' by adding the word 'from'.

Review: War on Terror: Now Showing
Arnold Schwarznegger's latest flick Collateral Damage is spooky for many reasons, writes Tara de Boehmler.

Satire: Burmese Regime Makes Genuine Commitment To Pretence Of Change
The government of Myanmar (Burma) released democratic opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today after a year and a half of house arrest.

N E W S

Solidarity In The Post To East Timor

Joy Wins For All Workers

Workers Call Abbott On Democracy Bluff

Wran Tells MPs: Talk to Unions

Family First on Conference Agenda

Cole Commission Declares Paper War

Yarra Workers Thank Australia

Budget Attacks Retirement Incomes

PSA Challenges Carr�s Secrecy Shield

Election Talk Aint Cheap

Hotel Bosses Back Down On Pay

Welfare Staff Strike Out At Harrassment

Della Ups DIR Inspectorate

Fake Notes Expose Government as Tax Cheat

Labor Faces Acid Test on Asylum Seekers

New Project Encourages Cultural Exchanges

Bush�s Western Saharan War And Oil Deal

Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Border Solidarity
The Australian Workers Union's Bill Shorten explains why he drew a line in the cement in support of the CSL Yarra crew

The Locker Room
The Dangerous Life Of A Hot Dog Seller
Phil Doyle ruminates on the virtues of processed meats in the world of elite sports.

Bosswatch
The Bottom Line
Peter Costello wasn't the only one flaunting a budget deficit this week, as Rupert Murdoch announced the largest corporate write-down on record.

Postcard
East Timor Appeals For Help
At midnight on Sunday 19 May, the UN mandate in East Timor comes to an end and East Timor becomes a new independent nation.

Week in Review
The Spin Cycle
Budget week brings that much spin you half expect to see Shane Warne wheeled out as a spokesman on health, economics, or whatever else the combatants are blabbing about. Jim Marr lifts the covers.

L E T T E R S

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Modern Labour

It's probably unconscious, but Crean's desire to appear 'modern' comes out like a cry for help; that we can neatly put the Labor brand back in a box, unsullied by the complexity of the post-modern age.

All he needs to do is reduce union voting rights and appeal to the 'aspirational' voters and he'll have a Modern Party and a bed in the lodge. If only it were so easy.

As Labor's elder statesman Neville Wran points out in his report to the NSW Branch of the ALP on the last federal election, the problems the federal party face have little to do with diluting union influence.

The ALP's problem is pretty basic: power has become too big a prize and it's hurting the Party; both in terms of policy, where opinion polling dominates principled positions, and in personnel, where local branches are dominated heavily-jawled wide boys in shiny suits.

Those inside the ALP seem to have no idea that the trade union movement is already a decade into a genuine modernisation process.

It began with the difficult, but ultimately rational amalgamation process; gathered steam with the shift in union resources to grass roots organising and is really beginning to blossom with the defactionalisation process.

Only this week the intervention of the Australian Workers Union in solidarity with the maritime Union in the CSL Yarra dispute, once unimaginable, was decisive. And the NSW building and construction industry pact is a formal recognition that the Cold War is over.

The frustration in Crean's foray into 'Modern Labor' is that his policy settings are a breath of fresh air - employer funded protection of worker entitlements, paid maternity leave, superannuation tax relief, all far more tangible than the garbled Knowledge Nation agenda.

Significantly, all are initiatives pushed from the grass-roots of the union movement. And union resolutions at the upcoming NSW ALP State Conference will continue to push progressive policy on issues as diverse as family friendly workplace, provision of child care and the treatment of refugees.

The issue for the ALP should not be the voting rights of at the Conference floor, but the more fundamental right of the party to have its platform implemented by its political representatives.

At the end of the day, Crean's task is to the make the 'modern' Labor Party more like the modern unions - a united grassroots movement with a focus on the membership not the leadership.

Then again, what's so modern about that?

Peter Lewis

Editor

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005