THE decisive victory for the Conservative Party in Britain has some lessons for Labor in Australia. British Labour leader Ed Milliband tried to shift the party further Left, with policies that sounded something like Bill Shorten’s comments since the budget.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Milliband was strongly backed by unions, and seemed to be striving to return British workplaces to the closed union shops that had destroyed British industry in the past. Anna Palaszczuk in Queensland has just moved to strengthen union membership in the public service. Bill Shorten won the leadership vote via the influence of the union sector in the ALP. (Anthony Albanese won the rank-and-file vote.) Bill Shorten therefore owes support to the draft Labor platform that not only strengthens unions in the workplace, but also wants union appointments to government boards.
Mr Milliband boasted of “five million conversations” by British Labour campaigners on the streets of Britain but it didn’t change the result. Australian Labor would say that the door-knocking tactic worked in Victoria, but it could just as easily backfire if it was seen in Australia as a union campaign.
Tony Blair’s “New Labour” gained election with a pro-market, pro-wealth creation, pro-business platform. Mr Milliband’s 2015 Labour campaign sought to take Labour back to the bad old days of class jealousy, opposition to public sector competition and interference in the private market. Mr Blair won with wealth creation, Mr Milliband preached wealth redistribution.
Just think how much Bill Shorten talks about taxing the rich, instead of growing the economy so that everyone is better off. Ordinary middle-class voters who are investing and saving wisely for their old age can be made very nervous by such talk. Not everyone has superannuation for their old age. Analysts tell us it would take over a million dollars in investments to provide a good retirement income.
British Labour campaigned against austerity, what we would call in Australia “bringing the budget back to surplus”. The British public looked instead at how a far-left socialist government brought Greece to its knees.
Mr Shorten’s budget reply was about giving away money. Britain’s Conservatives have reduced public debt, and grown the economy. They won. There’s a lesson in that for Labor. - Keith Wheeler
