As election night began, the Labor Party faithful were jubilant. By 9pm, they were in shock. A state of disbelief soon gave way to resolute denial. Before long, some had marched on to the third stage of grief, anger. They unleashed wrath on an unsuspecting public. Just as Bill Shorten had responded to critical questions on the environment by calling them dumb, so too did his team greet dissent with insult. Voters were accused of failing to comprehend Labor’s terribly sophisticated vision for the nation.
Anthony Albanese is favoured to become the next opposition leader. A class warrior from the Left faction, he is more personable and less robotic than Shorten. But he risks repeating history by failing to grasp the gravity of the problem facing Labor.
The ALP cannot afford yet again to elevate personality over policy, prioritise style over substance and tweak policy instead of embracing wholesale reform of core values. Albanese said: “All of our policies need to be looked at … but not our values.” If all of a party’s policies require revision then its value system needs a major overhaul.
There is something rotten in the state of Labor. The values it embraces are class warfare, big government, porous borders, identity politics and social engineering. It uses taxpayers’ money to create bloated bureaucracies for political causes that divide Australians. It pledged to increase public service wages while the private sector flounders. During the election campaign, it politicised the press by promising the ABC and SBS more funding. Its economic agenda is based on taking money from fiscal conservatives and showering it on spendthrifts.
Its fair go mantra is a lie. Labor embraces formal inequality by seeking to widen the scope of discrimination laws that favour state-designated minority groups. It demands conformity to political correctness by making censorship of dissent a state prerogative.
Traditional supporters have lost the faith. Data analysed by former Queensland Labor senator John Black indicates the ALP gained support from inner-city voters on high incomes. It appealed also to students clustered around the major cities, as well as areas with regional university campuses. The Coalition picked up votes from middle-class working families in the outer suburbs and Christians living in lower-income seats on urban fringes.
The changing demographic of the left is a controversial subject in fashionable quarters. American political scientist Charles Murray provided a compelling analysis of the trend. He hypothesised that a new class system was emerging in the US. The new elite shared a similar educational background to the traditional upper class. However, increasing access to Ivy League universities meant they were more numerous and had influence across a wider range of professions and institutions. Their tastes and cultural preferences were fostered by advanced education and differed markedly to the culture of the majority. The divide was cemented by the concentration of elites in wealthy postcodes, where they became isolated from the more diverse beliefs of mainstream America.
Murray found that in the wealthiest postcode areas, the “SuperZips”, 64 per cent of people were doctrinaire liberals. Only 10 per cent were doctrinaire conservatives and 14 per cent held mixed views. Outside the SuperZips, the nation was almost evenly split in conservative, liberal and mixed views with only a slight preference for liberalism.
In Australia, the new elite is clustered around the major cities, especially Melbourne and Sydney. Like their American counterparts, they have more tertiary education and higher incomes than the majority and tend to lean liberal. Recent Roy Morgan research showed that Greens supporters are increasingly female, located in Melbourne or Sydney and have a higher median household income than most Australians. A clear majority (55 per cent) of Greens supporters are in the top two socio-economic quintiles, representing 40 per cent of the population. Thirty-one per cent of Greens supporters are in the highest socio-economic quintile.
The contracting demography of green-left elites is especially problematic for leftist parties in a Westminster system. But Labor won’t reckon with reality and its leaders are refusing to update their value proposition. The party is at a crossroads. It can acknowledge it lost the election badly, or write off its third consecutive loss as a near miss due to an unpopular leader and poor communication. Unfortunately, the party has assumed its default position of blame-shifting.
Albanese believes all Labor policies need to be “looked at” but its values are fine. It makes no sense. Philosophical values are the basis of party policy. Australians voted for the Coalition because its campaign platform was aligned with party values. It created a sense of authenticity and appeal the opposition lacks. If Albanese assumes the Labor leadership, reforming party values should take precedence over fiddling with policies and polishing spin.
How the lucky country is becoming the stupid country
Soon after the US bombing of Iran, my teenage grandson asked me: ‘Grandpa, does this mean a third world war?’ After some deliberation, here’s what I told him.
Iran has most to risk if it declares war on the world
Talk of Iranian submarines planting mines along the Strait of Hormuz would be devastating for developed economies - but also for Khamenei’s regime.
The Labor Party plans to reverse its losing streak by changing leaders and tweaking policies. However, its problems are fundamental. Its electoral rout is the consequence of outdated class war rhetoric, fashionable bigotry and a habit of preaching to the converted. Its once egalitarian ethos has been transformed into an increasingly insular order with limited demographic appeal.