NB: 9

Philip Langshaw
z5316375

Arts2818: Australian Politics

Major Essay
Due date: 28 April 2021
Question: 2 POLITICAL PARTIES: THE ALP

The ALP & The LNP

Tweedledee & Tweedledum? Or Quite Distinct?

An analysis and comparison of the Australian Labor Party in the current age

Words: 2432
Intro.

I can vividly recall walking into UNSW’s O-week for my first year in 2020, and immediately
being stopped and confronted by members of The Socialist Alternative movement on the
low-campus entry point on Anzac Parade. Coming from a primarily left-wing household, I felt
as though I had no strong difference in opinion and discussed and expressed what I thought
to be common-sense views at the time. Mainly being my preference for the Labor Party over
the Liberal party. To my shock I was greeted by disapproval and disappointment by every
member of the stall. One of the main organisers, Josh Lee remarked to me that “Labor
markets themselves as far more progressive than they are…” and that they “share too many
policies to the LNP to be at all distinct from them.” To support his argument, he commented
on the Adani Coal mine operation in Queensland which has support from both parties
(Murphy, K. 2020). Despite Labor’s insistence on its superior climate policy to the LNP, it’s
evidently hypocritical for the party to hold such a stance.

If it is the case that the ALP and LNP are two sides of the same coin then this is disastrous for
the Australian Democratic system. It would mean that without a grand upheaval of these
two parties, voters would have no real say in the policies of the country, merely the illusion
of choice between two interchangeable parties. Even if Josh’s is inaccurate about both
parties being identical. This would mean a lack of diversity in our country’s policies that not
only still impairs the choice of the voter, but would likewise stunt the progression of
Australia as a country too. As such, I will argue that not only are Labor and the LNP dissimilar
in their policies and values, but also in their actions and accomplishments in recent history. I
will additionally showcase the development of this growing mistrust with the ALP in
comparison to the LNP through the media and display some of the inaccuracies of these
representations in the media. While some fundamental history for each party will be
discussed, this will only be cursory as this essay will focus on the current perception of both
parties, through their media representation, present policies, and how these live up to their
ideals of their founding. Finally, I will showcase the origins of newfound mistrust in the party
from particularly left wing voters. I will demonstrate that the party is confined between
either appeasing the LNP or becoming more progressive, and its indecision has led to its
equal reputation to that of the LNP.
 1. Analysis of Policies & Values

To begin, understanding the foundations of each party will grant a greater comparison into
each party’s standing today and whether their current policies are in line with the ideals of
their founding. The Labor party was officially founded in 1901 for its first sitting in
parliament, although the party existed at least a decade prior, descending out of multiple
“labor parties” from different colonies and the broader Australian labor movement
(Dyrenfurth, N. & F. Bongiorno. 2011. Pg. 19-21). The party arose after the gold rush and
other economic booms during the 19th century, resulting in Australian workers having far
better wages and standards than other parts of the world (Dyrenfurth, N. & F. Bongiorno.
2011. Pg. 22). Seeking to capitalise on this, new unions monopolised high-skill workers and
ensured “fair employment” to protect these workers in case of any economic downturn.
From these beginnings the ALP are intertwined with labour and worker’s rights. This is
significant according to Nick Dyrenfurth who writes that few other “developed, affluent
countries boast any major party calling itself ‘labor’, ‘socialist’ or ‘social democaratic’, not
least the United States.” (2011. Pg. 13). Overall, these “worker” origins outline the ALP’s
left-wing values: Business interests having less influence over public policy, a greater
distribution of equality and wealth, stronger trade and worker’s unions, and a more
comprehensive welfare state (Dyrenfurth, N. & F. Bongiorno. 2011. Pg. 13-14). To compare,
the Liberal party arose far more recently than the Labor party with evidently differing values
founding its creation.

The Liberal party was founded in 1944, “breathed to life...” by “...the free spirit of
Liberalism.” according to the first state president W.H. Anderson (1948. Pg. 3). For Anderson,
“Tyranny invaded this country” during the war effort, and many members that comprised
the Liberal party did so in refutation of the “socialist” Labor government’s attempt to
nationalise trading banks (1948. Pg. 3-4). The Liberal party was birthed out of the ideas of
neoliberalism, being the combination of the Free Trade Party and Protectionist Party, it
values free market capitalism, a lack of interference from the government, and places value
in the sovereignty of the nation (W.H. Anderson 1948. Pg. 4-7). Evidently, The Liberal party
arose in direct contention to the actions and values of the Labor Party. This will be used as a
gauge for any crossover of policy. If Labor truly has become more alike to the LNP we should
expect similar policies compared to both parties contentious beginnings with one another.
As of the recent 2019 Federal election both parties promoted and pushed for policies as part
of their respective campaigns. While there is a lot of overlap in the issues, each party has a
different approach and solution. There are two issues that only the LNP promoted policies,
being: Defence and small business (Donegan, A. & Jeyaratnam, E. 2019). The defence policy
aimed to push $1 billion towards “minehunter” ships for navy ports in Western Australia,
while the other aimed to invest $100 millions into making the Aus gov top shareholders for
around 50 businesses a year for support and growth LNP. (2021).

Inversely, there were many issues, such as: Housing, the environment, immigration, energy
and others were Labor pushed for a greater number of policies than the LNP, not only that
but they were far more substantial. For example, for policies regarding the media and news,
the LNP pushed for giving the ABC $43 million over the course of three years to promote the
“newsgathering program” which is to support local and state based news teams (Donegan,
A. & Jeyaratnam, E. 2019). Labor on the other hand, pushed for a direct surplus of $40
million to the ABC and $20 Million to SBS to support shows and news organisations on each
network (Donegan, A. & Jeyaratnam, E. 2019). Additionally, Labor’s 2nd policy involved
undoing legislation imposed by the LNP that had frozen the ABC’s indexation in 2018, which
would cost the network $80 million over three years ALP. (2021). To continue, there are
plenty of examples that showcase a distinct difference in the focus of policy. There is also
nothing “out of character” of how each party would expect to behave given their previous
discussion. For instance, the ALP value free markets and thus promoted policies for business
and the removal of strict regulations and taxes for corporations. E.g.) lowering the 32.5% tax
rate to 30% for business by 2024 (Donegan, A. & Jeyaratnam, E. 2019). Likewise, the ALP
being “democratic socialists” have policies focusing on industrial relations, healthcare and
education. E.g.) Asking the fair work commission to increase the minimum wage to a “livable
standard” ALP. (2021).

It’s clear that both parties demonstrate a clear distinction from one another policy wise.
However, this does not refute growing sentiments from journalists and youth voters that the
ALP are not a worthwhile and distinct alternative to the LNP. In 2019, 41% of young voters
between the ages of 18-25 voted for minor parties, where previously Labor made up a
greater degree of this voting demographic (APH. 2019).
 2. Actions Speak Louder Than Words

It is one thing to discuss and push for policies, but actually achieving these goals
authentically is a whole other matter. To continue, I will demonstrate how outside of policy,
Labor have still established themselves as a distinct opposition to the LNP. Even in
circumstances where Labor appears to go against their interests as a party, this often is not
the case but simply the outcome of necessity for the party or blatant misrepresentation.

To begin, I will deconstruct the first argument poised by Josh earlier in the essay. Josh claims
that Labor’s approval of the destructive Adani Coal mine indicates that there was no real
choice in the recent federal election. Additionally, the coal mine will result in effects that are
highly damaging to the coral reef ecosystem, which strictly go against certain ALP policies
regarding the environment. However, the ALP are not by any means strong supporters of the
mine. The current Labor premier of Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has delayed the
project for several years, and in that time heavily reduced the scale and magnitude of the
project, as to reduce its harm as it inevitably proceeds (Layt, S. 2019). One might argue, that
if Labor were really still an opposition they would attempt to stop the project entirely.
Unfortunately, given that the mines comprise a large portion of the Queensland economy, in
order to appease a large voting block of miners Labor have been forced to compromise.
Alternatively, if the project was to be blocked by the premier, there is a strong likelihood that
by the next state election, Palaszczuk would have been voted out in favor of a LNP candidate
who would not have imposed as many restrictions on the project, which would negatively
impact the environment even more than after the fact.

Secondly, Ashley Navelle writes in Opposition Vanishing that analysis of the Labor party
“needs to take more account of the economic context in which [they] conduct politics, and
less account of the aforementioned institutional factors…” (Navelle, A. 2018. Pg. 279). This
is apparent in Xavier Toby’s article The Real Difference Between Liberal & Labor, wherein he
postulates that the Labor party cannot execute their “philosophy correctly” as “they lost
votes because everyone's doing so well (economically). On average, Australians have more
money today than they ever have, and they don't want to share it. Which is exactly why the
Liberal Party won…” (Toby, X. 2013). Here Toby misunderstands the economic conditions
surrounding Labor at the time of his writing. While the LNP did win the election, to say that
the ALP lost due to a lack of coherence with economic philosophy is simply not true. While
under Labour, the Australian government was ranked one of the best in the world, even
during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 (Hill, J. 2012). The large income and wages that
Toby gives as a reason for “costing” Labor the election, is ironic considering Labour
essentially accentuated these conditions. While they did lose the election, it was not for this
reason as Toby misunderstands.

The Labor party have remained consistent in their opposing policies AND actions to the
Liberal party. The Labor party offer themselves as a distinct and worthwhile alternative to
the LNP.

3. Causes

Finally, there are a multitude of factors that have led to this perception of Labour, especially
given being out of office for close to a decade and losing the 2019 federal election, in which
they were favourites to secure government. Greg Jericho’s article, If you think Labor's 'too
progressive', you couldn't be more wrong, outlines one of the core reasons for the ALP losing
face. In the past decade there has been a growing increase in youth voting for minor parties,
especially The Greens (APH. 2019). While this party used to be joined in a coalition with the
ALP from 2010 to 2013, it introduced a large section of the ALP to not only progressive
environmental policies, but social ones too. This is reflected in Jericho’s article where he
takes issue with the Labour party’s “lack” of progressive policy in comparison to the LNP. In
recent history, there has been a rise in social and economic leftism in youth voters, whose
views align more closely with The Greens. As Jericho points out, Labor’s reluctance to
support events like climate change marches and protests for example detriment their public
image in the eyes of a large percentile of their voter base. In addition, ALP is often criticised
for attempting to compromise with the new government. The Adani coal mine previously is
a good example of this. Actions like this provoke voters and journalists into reactionary
positions, as on a surface level it comes across as a betrayal of trust. From the voter’s
perspective, supporting the ALP on the basis of climate change, only to have them
compromise their policies for the sake of negotiation and greater appeal would feel bad,
even if you understood what the ulterior motives were.
To continue, Carol Johnson writes that “the Australian Labor Party seems to be losing the
ability to brand itself and its policies as appealing to the public. It is struggling to justify
creating broad electoral alliances between diverse social groups” (Johnson, C. 2014). This is
another strong cause of the Labor party’s fall from grace in the public eye. Along with
younger voters vying for more progressive policies, there is a disconnect between the Labor
party and other social organisations who similarly have begun to favour more radical left
wing ideals that are not currently viable for the Labor Party to promote. They appear to be
stuck between becoming more progressive to earn greater favourability among a potential
percentage of voters, and remaining politically viable in opposition to the LNP. This has
resulted in them being caught between these two schisms of ideas, which have led to them
being criticised more frequently for not committing to one side or the other.

Concl.

To conclude, there is no doubt that the ALP has been the subject of accusations of
incompetence, and being “no better than the liberal government” especially by the left
wing. The issue lies not in their consistency with themselves as a party. The findings of this
essay indicate that the party has remained too true to the vast majority of its initial values.
Factually, the party is not close ideologically or policy wise to the LNP since its conception.
This reputation instead arises from a growing undercurrent of radical progressive left wing
ideas. By towing the line, Labor becomes subject to critique not only from the right, but now
just as frequently from the left. As a result, the indecision of the party to either commit to its
far left voting base or appease the LNP who have held office since 2013, has resulted in the
ALP being stuck in ideological limbo. The party must advance and reinvent itself to avoid this
continued reputation.
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