
Issue No 84		16 February 2001

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Politics

One Nation - The Old Labor Link

By Peter Lewis

The resurgence in One Nation in the WA election has the pundits again reaching for the tea-leaves. But are they pouring from the wrong pot?

The accepted political wisdom is that One Nation votes are draining votes directly from the Conservatives - and the raw stats appear to back this up, the loss of Coalition votes broadly matches the increases to the Hansonites. But is something more complex occurring? Who for, instance, do 40 per cent of One Nation preferences consistently flow Labor's way?

Is it the case that some of the Liberal seepage is actually going to Labor - from the urban elites who are uncomfortable with the Coalition's perceived flirting with One Nation.

These gains are offset by churn within Labor to One Nation. While the middle class Liberals who warmed to Labor in the Whitlam era have remained strong, the traditional blue-collar vote has drifted away from the party that presided over our entry into the world economy.

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Look at the policies of the Hansonites and it doesn't seem so far-fetched a proposition. One Nation's core policy settings of a White Australia policy and trade protection bear more than a passing resemblance to the policies that Labor espoused up until the end of the Caldwell era. Labor Council's own research before the last federal election showed a large number of blue-collar middle-aged men were receptive to the One Nation message. If they hadn't run an anti-union IR policy, more of them may have actually

This would explain why the economic nationalism of the Industrial Left campaigning for 'Fair Trade', sometimes appears spookily close to One Nation. While the industrial Left would never indulge in old-style racial politics, their implicit message is that foreigners are taking our jobs and we should put up the walls to stop them. White Australia, protection and a central wages system, were the pillars up on which industrial Australia was built and remained Labor dogma up to the end of the Caldwell leadership of the ALP.

News this week the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union is planning to fund campaigns against sitting Labor members over the fair trade issue underlines how far Labor policy has drifted from its traditional base. Perhaps this is the natural implication of Labor's drift to the center during the Hawke -Keating years, but viewed over a 40 year sweep it is a significant change. If Old Labor was the party for an optimistic working class, One Nation has emerged as the solution for their more pessimistic contemporaries.

Under this scenario, One Nation support is based around National Party and old Labor voters, while new Labor picks up from the middle class small 'l' liberals who lost their voice in Coalition some time in the eighties. Meanwhile, the current coalition of the rural battlers dominated by the silver spoon Conservatives see their base in free fall.

The One Nation phenomenon, as its name implies, is all about globalisation. Supporters of One Nation are the people from the regions and the demographics that have not benefited from economic change. They cross the old political divide - manufacturing workers standing side by side with the farmers whose protection was the Country party's great political mission.

The major parties ARE the enemies to these people They are now the parties for those who are deriving the benefits - debates around ephemeral issues like the 'Clever Country' and Business Tax is al about winning this 'high' ground, convincing society's winners that each is the more technical skillful practitioner of the art of government. For those disengaged with the process, they all soon begin to look alike.

The tricky political test for the mainstream parties is to take the whole community along for the ride. Keating failed because he was too convinced about the righteousness of the battle, that in the long run all would benefit from an open economy. Howard has failed because, after promising so much to the battlers, he just doesn't speak their language; his notion of government is too small to offer anyone anything.

Beazley is a better bet because he has the heart to wrap the story of economic change into something that that amorphous commodity 'ordinary Australians' can cling onto. He also has the pedigree to understand how the new global order challenges Old Labor orthodoxy, to explain how the things Labor has always held dear: a fair go for all and a decent, caring society will be promoted by engagement with the world, rather than turning our backs to them.

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Issue 84 contents

Interview: Life After Wartime
After ten years representing the interests of the labour movement in Parliament, Jeff Shaw is back at the bar. And loving it.

Legal: Why the Freeloaders Should Pay
Michael Costa explains why service fees are not only fair - they are economically rational.

Organising: Young Activists Bask in Union Summer
Sydney students have spent three weeks of their summer holidays experiencing on-the-ground work with unions.

Unions: Things Are Looking Up On The Dock
After six years as a call centre worker, Marios Ellas has joined the union movement. Here's his first impressions.

History: Trades Hall � The Royal Connection
Republic, who needs it when we have the Trades Hall decreed by Royal Imprimatur? So tug your forelock as work commences to restore the building.

International: Greetings from Hong Kong
Chan Wai-Keung from the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions outlined the challenges facing Hong Kong workers.

Politics: One Nation - The Old Labor Link
The resurgence in One Nation in the WA election has the pundits again reaching for the tea-leaves. But are they pouring from the wrong pot?

Review: Elect the Ambassador
Labor frontbencher Duncan Kerr unveils his vision for a new international democracy.

Satire: Man Buys Big Issue for the Articles
A Melbourne businessman claims his recent purchase of the "Big Issue" was due to his interest in the magazine's editorial content.

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