Chris Bowen urges Labor to ‘listen to the suburbs’

In a new book, Labor’s climate change spokesman warns that the road to government is paved through the suburbs.

Chris Bowen calls on Labor to rethink its language around social mobility and merit-based advancement. Picture: Getty Images

Chris Bowen has urged Labor to “hear the anger and share the anger” of its traditional working- and middle-class constituency in suburbs across Australia, many of whom have voted for the Coalition and right-wing populists in recent decades, or face more years in the political wilderness.

In a new book that analyses the rise of right-wing populism in Australia and overseas, On Charlatans (Hachette), Labor’s new climate change spokesman warns that the road to government is paved through the suburbs yet Labor is failing to understand and represent the needs and concerns of voters sandwiched between the inner-cities and regions. “The people who used to vote Labor and now support populists have issued a cry for change,” he writes.

“We hear them. They want politics to do better for them. Well, so do we.

“We can and must offer a compelling narrative of national unity and national renewal.”

The book, which blends political strategy with policy ideas and historical analysis, argues that Labor must anchor itself in the suburbs and respond to the anxiety many voters feel over job insecurity, declining industries, rising inequality, dying towns and hollowed suburbs.

To counter false promises of charlatan populists such as Donald Trump and Boris Johnson — and, Mr Bowen suggests, Scott Morrison — Labor must not condescend or dictate to working- and middle-class voters but identify with their grievances and explain how the party can better respond.

 

He calls on Labor to rethink its language around social mobility and merit-based advancement, which can sound elitist, recognise opportunity is not something that only comes through attending university, not succumb to identity politics, not offer only hyper-partisanship, and articulate a message of unity to try to win back lost voters.

Mr Bowen said Labor should not be afraid to outline a bold agenda to differentiate itself from the Coalition provided it resonates with voters and can be communicated effectively. He echoes the view of former leader Bill Shorten, who recently said Labor must not fall into the trap of having only a “tiny” policy program. “Following the last election, in which Labor had a large policy agenda, it is tempting to assume we should roll into a little ball and not offer any large policy differences on which our opponents can run a scare campaign,” he writes.

“Tempting, but wrong. The lesson … is not that we shouldn’t have key points of policy difference … It’s that we need a policy agenda that better connects with the everyday lives of the people we are asking to vote for us.”

Mr Bowen, who recently took on the shadow climate change portfolio, writes that Labor must put climate change at the centre of its pitch for government but rejected the notion there must be a “just transition” for those who bear the brunt of moving to a low-carbon economy.

“Instead of a just transition, we need to offer a new compact … between a Labor government and those who feel they are being left behind. And the compact is this: we won’t shirk the challenges facing Australia, but we will invest in every single Australian to make sure they are not left behind as we do face them.”

He identifies the Latrobe Valley Authority, established when Hazelwood power station announced it would close in 2016.