NSW Labor adopts Barack Obama campaign tactics

NSW Labor will harness an army of community activists to try to ­defeat the Coalition at next year’s federal election.

NSW Labor’s ­assistant general-secretary Kaila Murnain. Picture: Britta Campion

NSW Labor will harness an army of community activists to try to ­defeat the Coalition government at next year’s federal election and will appoint 10 field directors throughout the state to implement an Obama-style “organising to win” campaign.

The party has cast a wide net, looking for local champions to be trained and tasked with building a grassroots movement to push Labor’s key campaign themes of jobs, health, education and opposition to a GST increase.

The strategy is being led by Kaila Murnain, NSW Labor’s ­assistant general-secretary, who says the party sees “traditional methods of campaigning” such as TV and newspaper advertising as being “no longer as effective as they once were”. “We’re excited to be building a grassroots movement from the ground up and about engaging with the issues that matter most to people where it matters — and that’s on the doorstep,” Ms Murnain said.

“Our field directors will be based in local communities all around NSW, training Labor ­activists to have values-driven conversations with voters and ­encouraging supporters to become activists.”

Jamie Clements, NSW Labor general-secretary, says the party “can never compete” with the ­Coalition for corporate fundraising and so “an army of members and supporters” is the key to winning the 21 seats needed to return Labor to government.

“From Eden-Monaro in the south to Page on the north coast, Macquarie in the west and throughout Sydney and the ­central coast — NSW is a crucial marginal-seat battleground for the next election,” Mr Clements said. “The 2016 campaign will see the most advanced and well-resourced field campaign NSW Labor has ever put together. “To win we have to focus our energy where we have a competitive ­advantage: grassroots campaigning.”

Last month, the party put out the call for people to apply to be a full-time paid field director for the federal election campaign. More than 130 applied — not all party activists — and they are now being appointed after a rigorous vetting process. Comprehensive training will take place in January.

The “organising to win” model is based on US President Barack Obama’s community organising system used in his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns and was developed during the NSW state election in March. The central idea is that local field directors train others to ­engage in one-on-one conversations with voters through targeted telephone canvassing, doorknocking and other on-the-ground local interactions.

The field directors will report directly to the party’s state organisers daily and are ­expected to be able to write a campaign plan, identify and train volunteers, plan and run events, execute a fundraising plan, build relationships with community stakeholders and collect and input data.