Bill Shorten was voice of reason amid ALP madness on Israel

In Victoria, Bill Shorten’s ALP branch has consistently passed anti-Israel motions, but he remained resolute with old. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

There is a saying that if you want a friend in politics, get a dog. Yet despite the friendless nature of politics, outgoing MP Bill Shorten proved an unwavering friend to working men and women, unionists and the nation of Israel, especially during its darkest hours since October 7.

For people whose lives have been profoundly improved because of the NDIS, they have a friend in Shorten. I’m proud to have served as Bill’s chief-of-staff, and been his friend for more than three decades.

His resignation on Thursday seemed to mark the end of an era in more recent Australian political history. The Shorten years now have a start date and an end date. Sure, he’s in the ministry until February but, as a mutual friend of ours, the late, great Bill Ludwig of the Australian Workers Union, once said: “There’s nothing more ex than an ex.”

Once you’ve announced you’re going, you’ve already left the building. Politics opens doors, but also closes them pretty quickly too.

Shorten played politics hard; he enjoyed good times and bitter disappointments. But he’ll be remembered as having left nothing on the field in his day. He also played fair. He spoke his mind, borne of his personal values, his upbringing and a pride in telling you why he wanted to achieve an outcome. He had the courage of conviction based on a solid Labor compass and his Catholic faith.

Shorten was a genuine friend to the union movement at home and to the state of Israel abroad. When he becomes University of Canberra vice-chancellor he will no doubt remain involved in public policy.

Many of us started with Bill in Young Labor where his ambition to be prime minister was clear and unvarnished. We all knew he didn’t want to wait for it, he wasn’t going to give away his shot. Given his knack for public speaking and ability to read a room, Shorten could have led a successful corporate career. He would easily have been a chief executive; instead he worked his way up through the AWU.

Bill Ludwig.

Bill Kelty.

His political legacy will always be associated with the voice of the miners and their families at Beaconsfield, as a nervous nation waited for their eventual rescue. Shorten has stayed in touch with the men ever since.

The union movement lost a strong and future leader when Shorten went into parliament. Schooled by Bill Kelty and other luminaries of the labour movement, he was always on the trajectory of another of his great mentors, Bob Hawke, who had himself gone from the ACTU to become PM.

Across his career in politics, Shorten’s self-confidence gave him a strong sense of standing up for what’s right, even if it’s not the populist thing to do. This was evident when it came to his defence of Israel. Shorten’s commitment to that country as a friend and ally became more pronounced after the brutal Hamas attack of October 7, and the vile outpouring of anti-Semitism we’ve seen since in Australian politics.

Shorten has been a voice of calm reason throughout the present Gazan conflict, unlike so many of his more conflicted cabinet colleagues, such as Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.

The ALP membership is now largely anti-Israel. In Victoria, Shorten’s ALP branch has consistently passed anti-Israel motions. Instead of bending with the political winds, he has stood resolute with his old friends.

Like Keir Starmer and his reform of the UK Labour Party, Shorten called out the hatreds and rejected the blind toleration of anti-Semitism for political convenience.

Australia’s Jewish people have lost a leader who defends the ideals represented by the state of Israel: a democratic, egalitarian, pro-LGBTQI society. Australia has become a stronger nation because of the contribution of our Jewish community. Bill Shorten knew and recognised this fact.

As Shorten prepares to depart politics, I worry that the attacks Jewish people across this nation have been subjected to will not change for the better under an ALP leadership dominated by the likes of Burke and Penny Wong.

Shorten may well count as one of the last of the policy-courageous Labor leaders for a long time to come. Under Anthony Albanese, Labor’s election victory has become the justification and the end in itself, with a moral compass from the Bermuda Triangle.

Shorten’s policy bravery and courage to put a plan before voters and ask for their support came within a seat of victory in 2016 and saw Labor fall short in 2019, when some in the party were measuring the curtains and ordering furniture for the office before polling day.

The demolition of a policy-first approach was delivered by Albanese’s followers, Craig Emerson and Jay Weatherill, who both said the mistake of the 2019 Labor campaign was telling voters what you were going to do if they elected you.

Bill Shorten addresses the media after the Beaconsfield mining disaster.

Thus, in my view, was born the era of small-target politics. A vacuous vibe replaced advocating people vote for you on the strength of your ideas.

In Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical, Hamilton, hero Andrew Hamilton was advised by his adversary, Aaron Burr: “Talk less, smile more. Don’t let them know what you’re against or what you’re for.” Sound familiar?

Bill Shorten has been a great Labor minister in what is a very average first-term Albanese government.

He’s been loyal and worked hard for the NDIS and for his local constituents of Maribyrnong in Melbourne. His loss will be celebrated by the Albanistas until they realise the void he leaves on the frontbench. Personally, I think Shorten would have made a great prime minister, but it wasn’t to be. His legacy for Labor, however, has yet to be fully recognised.

Shorten stood for something for which he was prepared, electorally, to die on his feet than live on his knees. He won’t now ever be PM, but at least Labor and the union movement can see what leadership with conviction, backing in a proud, expansive Labor agenda for government, really looked like.