Former union stalwart Paul Howes hits Labor dogma for six

A decade after being credited with starting the coup that toppled Kevin Rudd, Paul Howes has been ‘liberated’.

Former AWU chief Paul Howes at his home in Sydney. Picture: Adam Yip

Former Australian Workers Union national secretary-turned KPMG partner Paul Howes has quit the Australian Labor Party, describing it as “liberating” not to be constrained in his views by an “ideological framework”.

In a revealing interview with The Weekend Australian, Mr Howes lauded ACTU secretary Sally McManus for her handling of the COVID-19 crisis but warned “ugly elements are still there” in the union movement that were growing “in their cancerous ways”.

He said he resigned his ALP membership four years ago, feeling no ill-will towards the party that had been a big part of his life for decades.

“As I have evolved as a person, I like the freedom of looking at ­issues on an issue-by-issue basis,” he said. “I like not being constrained by an ideological framework. I now find myself swinging in agreement and disagreement with people. It is quite liberating to have that.

“I still view myself as a progressive who believes in progressive causes — but unconstrained by ideological parameters and not having to be blindly partisan on the basis of one’s allegiances.”

ACTU secretary Sally McManus. Picture: AAP

Mr Howes declined to comment on the latest branch-stacking scandal that has engulfed the Labor Party’s Victorian division.

This week marked a decade since Mr Howes was one of the “faceless men” of the ALP credited with initiating the leadership coup that toppled Kevin Rudd and installed Julia Gillard as the nation’s first female prime minister. In 2014, Mr Howes ended his 11-year career at the AWU, and began working for KPMG.

He said he retained friends in the labour movement and had even become closer to some since he joined KPMG. “But my social circles have changed. The last day I went to Trades Hall was the day I resigned,’’ he said.

Asked if he had become more libertarian and conservative since becoming an accounting partner, Mr Howes replied: “I’ve learned the state isn’t right (and) that the business community can effect far more social change than the state can.

“The same-sex marriage ­debate was part of that,’’ he said, recalling the prominent role played by key business leaders, led by his good friend Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, in pushing for the federal government to legalise same-sex marriage in 2017.

Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese. Picture: Getty Images

Then KPMG chairman Peter Nash and current CEO Gary Wingrove were also strong public proponents of the change.

“One of the great things being out of politics is not having to label yourself. I viewed myself as a strong social democrat who believed in an interventionist state. I still view myself progressively, I still believe in the role the union movement plays in our society. The business community can regulate itself well, and there are good examples of that over time. But I do think social institutions such as unions do play an important role in assisting business to correct their behaviours.”

Mr Howes has refused to comment on politics or the union movement since joining the corporate sector, but he said Ms McManus was “doing a fantastic job through COVID-19”.

“The work they are doing fighting to save jobs demonstrates what is the very best of the labour movement. (But) the ugly elements are still there and have grown in their cancerous ways through the movement.

“The role Sally McManus is playing with the commonwealth shows the things they can do,” he said, referring to her support for Scott Morrison’s invitation last month for unions and employers to work together with his government to reform the industrial relations system.

The Prime Minister said he was offering a way to “get everyone back in the room” and build on the united effort in the COVID-19 crisis. Ms McManus said she supported the initiative, provided it benefited workers.

“It is a strong credit to Scott Morrison and (Attorney-General) Christian Porter to move away from what I always believed was in the DNA of that side of politics — union bashing,’’ Mr Howes said.