Review into what went wrong for Labor at the federal election to be released tomorrow

Every SA Labor MP in Canberra got there via the union movement or political offices, analysis reveals, as the party faces new calls to get back in touch with its base.

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Former premier Jay Weatherill will tomorrow hand down a review into what went wrong for the Bill Shorten-led Labor Party at the May Federal election.

With the benefit of hindsight three themes are expected to emerge – Mr Shorten was too unpopular, the Liberals won the campaign trail and Labor’s policy agenda was too broad for the Australian people.

But a leading political scientist has warned the review needs to go to wider issues such as how future MPs are selected.

Local senior Labor figures have warned there are some consistent themes, including a reliance on “inner-city Leftie thinking” and a proper narrative about jobs that needed to be addressed to get traditional supporters back to the party.

Former Labor leader Bill Shorten. Picture: AAP Image/James Ross

Flinders University Professor Dean Jaensch told The Advertiser the election had shown the party had “obviously lost touch with Labor voters” and more diversity was needed in party ranks.

The Advertiser analysis of the work backgrounds of South Australian MPs in federal parliament shows 16 of 22 worked for a union or a politician before being elected.

Half of the Liberal MPs from SA in parliament had political work backgrounds compared to nine out of nine Labor MPs. Professor Jaensch said Labor needed to adopt the Liberal’s broad church mantra.

“Labor’s church has become very narrow,” he said. “The only way into the Labor Party, into a winnable seat, is either through the trade movement or being a ministerial adviser.”

Senior Labor figures disputed the notion a trade union background was not a good pathway to politics.

But they did agree Labor needed to find a way to talk to the people that had stopped voting for the party.

They are concerned by the fact Christians, aspirational families, working class migrants, casual workers and small family businesses are not listening to what Labor has to say anymore.

“The Labor Party has been speaking more to outrage than aspiration,” one said.

Another said “small and family businesses need to be the focus for Labor.”

“We did not have a big enough jobs narrative.”

Labor Senator Alex Gallagher last week said SA party powerbrokers Penny Wong and Mark Butler needed to “get back to grassroots” and listen to working South Australians.