Opinion: Labor Party’s dismal result in Brisbane council election shows ALP and unions must part ways

IT’S time for honesty and plain speaking: Labor’s routing in Brisbane in Saturday’s council elections was its worst result in a century. The Labor “brand’’ is looking sick and tired.

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IT’S time for honesty and plain speaking: Labor’s routing in Brisbane on Saturday was its worst result in a century.

Labor will probably have only five seats out of 26 in the Brisbane City Council. Despite having an energetic and telegenic lord mayoral candidate and a targeted campaign on key issues, Labor failed to inspire.

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It’s time to face reality. The Labor “brand’’ is looking sick and tired. As the Greens become more mainstream, Labor will find itself being out-polled on the Left by them – as it did in at least three seats on Saturday. It’s time for Labor to join the 21st century.

Reassessing the party’s union connection and encouraging our politicians to put their voters first should be part of that radical review.

A separation of unions from the Labor Party would be best for both. Labor would be free from the stigma of being the mouthpiece of certain key unions and from the corrosive dominance of several union leaders.

Unions should focus on doing what they do best – defending the hard-won rights and entitlements of their members.

Elected Labor politicians should also be free to vote in the interests of their electors. I introduced that informally for Labor’s councillors when I was their leader.

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If the party supported a development or a major traffic issue which the local Labor councillor strongly felt their local community opposed, then that councillor was free to vote for his or her community first. No recriminations.

Labor’s Brisbane lord mayoral candidate Rod Harding and wife Claire arrive for voting at Oakley State School on Saturday. Picture: Jack Tran

I tried to get that enshrined in Labor Party rules. Unions and the party hierarchy opposed it and I failed.

The Labor Party must connect better to their local communities and to the core values of a “fair go”.

Let’s face it, the Greens are here to stay. Under federal leader Richard Di Natale, they’ve become mainstream. Labor as a moderate voice on the Left of politics has to work out how to remain relevant. It can do that by staying better connected to the grassroots of the community.

I’ve worked in unions and in the Labor Party. I believe in both institutions but not that they have to be welded together in perpetuity. Equally I believe they would both grow by loosening the chains that bind them.

If the party was to end its formal link to unions, that would not prevent unions and their members from supporting Labor. Unions would be free to support or criticise who they wish. But, they should not expect to “own’’ the Labor Party. Union officials should not expect senior positions or seats in parliament in return for their support.

I think it’s respectful of the Labor Party’s proud history, its roots and values to continue to support policies of a fair go which improve the lot of working men and women.

Acknowledging and respecting history doesn’t mean that it dictates the future. The Labor Party’s origins in the shearers’ strike of 1891 and the mobilisation of workers in the country and then in the cities should be respected and inform our values.

But in the second decade of the 21st century, we should apply those strong core values of a fair go to the new era of global warming and a global economy.

Uncoupling Labor from unions does not mean it becomes detached from its core values. In fact, I think there would be even greater impetus to be true to those values.

I know a major argument against such a process would be that the Labor Party would be cutting itself off from the financial lifeline of union donations. Not so. Just as many large businesses support the Liberal Party, so too would unions be free to donate to Labor.

However, just as AMP or Conzinc Riotinto don’t require a certain number of board members to be on the executive of the Liberal Party or to be granted seats in parliament, the same should apply to unions.

David Hinchliffe is a former Labor deputy lord mayor of Brisbane.