Australian Labor Party National Conference

The Australian Labor Party National Conference, sometimes referred to as the Commonwealth Conference or the Federal Conference, is the highest representative and decision-making body of the Australian Labor Party, incorporating all of the party’s state and territory branches. The National Conference takes place triennially and is hosted in Australian cities on a rotating basis. The 49th and most recent National Party Conference was held on 17–19 August 2023 at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre and was attended by over 2,000 party members along with 399 elected delegates.^[1][2]

The previous National Party Conference was the 48th conference held in Adelaide in 2018,^[3] which was attended by 397 party delegates,^[4] and the pivotal 2011 National Conference held on 3 December 2011. The conference following the 48th in 2018 was intended to take place in March 2021.^[5] However, this was cancelled due to Covid-19 precautions, thus the 49th National conference was not held until August 2023.^[6]

The National Conference approves a statement of party policy, called the National Platform.^[7] This document is drafted in the lead-up to the National Conference by the ALP's National Policy Forum, co-chaired by the parliamentary leader and the national president.^[8] In practice, however, Labor policy is ultimately determined by the leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party and the Australian Labor Party Caucus.

Decisions of the Conference are implemented by the National Executive. Twenty members of the National Executive are elected by the National Conference. The National Conference does not elect the party's parliamentary leaders, which since 2013 has been by a ballot of both the Parliamentary Caucus and by the Labor Party's rank-and-file members. The national president and vice-presidents are elected by a vote of party members. On many matters votes at the Conference take place on a factional basis. In the past, the Labor Right faction held a majority at the National Conference, though it lost the majority at the 2015 National Conference.^[4]

The 1922 National Conference adopted a "socialist objective". The resolution was qualified, however, by the "Blackburn amendment," which said that "socialisation" was desirable only when necessary to "eliminate exploitation and other anti-social features."^[9] In practice the socialist objective was a dead letter. Only once has a federal Labor government attempted to nationalise any industry (Ben Chifley's bank nationalisation of 1947), and that was held by the High Court to be unconstitutional. The commitment to nationalisation was dropped after urging by Gough Whitlam in the 1970s, and in the 1980s the Hawke Government carried out many free market reforms including the floating of the dollar and privatisation of state enterprises such as Qantas airways and the Commonwealth Bank. The socialist objective was reviewed in 2015; however it still remains a part of the party's current constitution (adopted in 2023) subject to numerous modifications and clarifications present in a subsequent paragraph introduced in the 1980s.^[10][11]

In March 1931, a Special Federal Conference was called in response to the actions of the New South Wales state executive, which was controlled by the Lang Labor faction. The New South Wales state leader, Jack Lang, had been openly defying the federal Labor government for several months. The most immediate trigger was the state party's actions at the East Sydney by-election, where it announced that its candidate, Eddie Ward, would be bound only by the decisions of the state executive, not the federal caucus. At the conference, which the New South Wales Branch boycotted, John Curtin successfully moved for the branch's expulsion; the motion was carried by 25 votes to four.^[12] The conference also gave the Federal Executive the power to suspend or dissolve any other state branch "acting or having acted in a manner deemed [...] contrary to the Federal Constitution, Platform, and Policy of the Party".^[13] The conference subsequently moved for the establishment of a new ALP branch in New South Wales loyal to the Federal Executive, which became known as the "Federal Labor Party". As the Federal Executive had no power to dissolve the original branch (controlled by Lang), the two parties competed against each other at elections for several years. The rebellious branch was eventually re-admitted to the party at another Special Federal Conference in Melbourne in 1936.^[14]

The first meeting of the Federal Labor Party in January 1900 (referred to as the Political Labour League) had included a policy of "total exclusion of coloured and other undesirable races."^[15] This policy was formalised once again at the subsequent Australian Labor Party Commonwealth Conference in 1902, with "Maintenance of a White Australia" being the first item on the party's platform.

By 1921, the policy had developed into "The cultivation of an Australian sentiment, the maintenance of White Australia, and the development in Australia of an enlightened and self reliant community."^[16] The 1959 platform included the following explanation for the party's continued support for racially-motivated immigration restrictions:

"The maintenance of the White Australia policy by the encouragement of the entry of suitable immigrants which shall be strictly regulated so as not to impose any undue strain on the Australian economy or to imperil full employment or Australian industrial conditions through over-competition for available work. Immigration policy should be directed to creating further employment for Australians and opportunities for newcomers by the breaking up of large estates, the expansion of primary and secondary industries, and the promotion of national works."

However, by the very next conference in 1961, the following section had been added:

"Labor welcomes to Australia the people of the countries concerned and will, in friendship, assist to its utmost their assimilation into the Australian nation. Maintenance of a White Australia shall provide the basis for immigration policy. This basis does not represent a racial prejudice or carry any suggestion of racial superiority. The policy rejects the `Asian quota system" on the grounds that it would make no material impact on overpopulated Asian countries, and would be harsher and more discriminating than the present regulations governing the entry of Asians into Australia for the purposes of trade and education."

The 1967 conference saw a major overhaul in a number of policy areas, thanks in no small part to the advocacy of progressive party members Gough Whitlam, Don Dunstan and Lionel Murphy. Any reference to "white Australia" was removed entirely, and the following section inserted:

"Convinced that increased population is vital to the future development of Australia, the Australian Labor Party will support and uphold a vigorous and expanding immigration programme administered with sympathy, understanding and tolerance."

The Whitlam government introduced a number of important national reforms in the area of multiculturalism and immigration, including the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, and this progress continued under successive Labor governments.^[20] The Hawke government established the Advisory Council for Multicultural Affairs, the Keating government amended the Racial Discrimination Act to allow determinations of the Australian Human Rights Commission (established to monitor violations of the Act) to be registered by the Federal Court of Australia and given judicial force.^[21]

The most recent Australian Labor Party National Platform contains the following sections on Multiculturalism in Australia:

"41. The Labor Government will develop a new multicultural framework to advance a multicultural Australia, support our cohesive and inclusive multicultural society and ensure settings are fit for purpose to harness the talents of all Australians.

42. Labor is committed to removing barriers to recent migrants’ participation in our economy and society, ensuring that diversity is measured and reflected in social, economic and political participation and that government services reflect the needs of all Australians.

43. Labor is very concerned by the rise of racism and of division, and will continue to oppose those who foster extremism, hatred, ethnic division or incitement to violence. Labor will combat racism with a zero-tolerance approach."

The 2023 platform further states: "Australia is, and will remain, a society of people drawn from a rich variety of cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Australia is, and will remain, a multicultural society."

Out of government from 1975 to 1983, the Labor Party was deeply divided over uranium mining, with tensions aggravated by continued French nuclear testing.^[23] The 1977 National Conference voted in favour of an indefinite moratorium on uranium mining. However, the 1982 National Conference changed the anti-uranium position in favour of a "one mine policy". After the ALP won power in 1983, the 1984 National Conference adopted a "three mine policy".^[24] This referred to the then three existing uranium mines in Australia, Nabarlek, Ranger and Roxby Downs/Olympic Dam, and articulated ALP support for pre-existing mines and contracts, but opposition to any new mining.^[25][26]

The 2011 National Conference voted in favour of recognition of same-sex marriage in Australia,^[27] and also formally endorsed a motion to allow Labor members of parliament the ability to vote in accordance with their consciences. Nonetheless, a subsequent bill to recognise same-sex marriage was defeated.^[28] Equal marriage was ultimately introduced following by a conscience vote held under the Turnbull Liberal government, following a postal survey.^[29]

Herbert Vere "Doc" Evatt was elected leader of the Labor Party in 1951 following the unexpected death of former prime minister Ben Chifley. He took over leadership of the party a month after the coalition government led by Robert Menzies secured another term and gained control over both houses of parliament. A significant issue during the 1951 election was the Communist Party Dissolution Act 1950^[30] (which Labor had agreed to support), and the resulting High Court challenge which led to the legislation being declared unconstitutional.^[31] Several trade unions had supported the case against the anti-communist legislation, and the communist party was known to have had significant influence over officeholders in many trade unions across the country.^[32] The perceived relationship between the labour movement and communism created opportunities for the Menzies government to publicly attack the opposition^[33] and contributed significantly to the Australian Labor Party split of 1955.^[34]

At the 20th Commonwealth Conference in 1953, Evatt sought to solidify the Labor Party's stance against communist influence within the wider labour movement, and counter the very effective arguments made by the government in the lead up to the 1954 election.^[32] This included highlighting distinctions between the Marxist-communist theory of "seizing the means of production" and the longheld Labor Party objective of nationalising and/or dismantling monopolies.

Arthur Calwell had led the federal Labor Party since 1960, losing two elections before taking to the stage at the party's 1965 Commonwealth Conference to move a motion firmly stating Labor’s opposition to the Vietnam War. "I cannot promise you that easy popularity can be bought in times like these; nor are we looking for it," he told delegates. Calwell had opposed Australia's involvement from the start, labelling it in 1965 as a "dirty," "cruel," and "unjust" conflict.^[36]

The subsequent 1966 Australian federal election was a significant loss for Calwell and Labor. The Coalition government, led by Harold Holt, had taken advantage of Labor's opposition to the Australian contribution to the war, which was still viewed positively by much of the electorate.^[37] The Coalition had adopted the election slogan "Keep Australia secure and prosperous – play it safe," and played heavily on the electorate's fears of a communist-controlled South Vietnam.^[38] Despite electoral unpopularity, Labor maintained its opposition to the war, and Calwell strongly denounced a 1967 visit to Australia by South Vietnam leader Nguyen Cao Ky, calling him a “power-hungry opportunist,” a “little Quisling gangster”, a “miserable little butcher” and a “moral and social leper.”^[39]

Gough Whitlam addressed the 1969 Commonwealth Conference in Melbourne, two years after assuming the leadership of the parliamentary party from Arthur Calwell, and just three months before the 1969 Australian federal election.^[41][42] His address focused on outlining the significant suite of reforms the conference had just made, a result of a "new guard" of Labor delegates (including Whitlam, Don Dunstan and Lionel Murphy among others) pushing hard for Labor to become a truly reformist democratic socialist party.^[43][44]

Almost two-thirds of the Labor National Platform had been re-written, the most comprehensive review of their policies in decades. The new platform established the principles for universal healthcare (which would later become Medibank and then Medicare, federal aid for all schools, a national superannuation scheme, automatic annual pension increases, a welfare safety-net and ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The same themes would continue throughout the election campaign, and the close result of the election would grant Whitlam momentum for further change at the 1971 conference.^[45] For Whitlam, his leadership's public focus on civil liberties, equity and fairness would begin at this conference 1969 and would continue throughout his two terms as prime minister and beyond.^[46]

Bob Hawke won a landslide victory in the 1983 Australian federal election, and followed it up with 2 more victories in 1984 and 1987, making him the only Labor leader to win 3 consecutive elections. He would go on to win a fourth in 1990.

Hawke drew upon his wide popularity to win consensus for the government’s numerous systematic economic reforms. However, his prime ministership saw friction between himself and the grassroots of the Labor Party, who were unhappy at what they viewed as Hawke's iconoclasm and willingness to co-operate with business interests.^[48]

The key issues of the Hawke government were globalisation, micro-economic reform and industrial relations. The opening of Australian finance and industry to global competition and the restructuring of the role of trade unions represented one of the most extensive undertakings of micro-economic reform in Australia’s first century.^[49][50]

His speech at the 38th National Conference would serve as an important review of the government's achievements to date, which included floating the Australian dollar, the Prices and Incomes Accord, establishing Medicare, dismantling the restrictive tariff system and widening unemployment benefits and other welfare payments. However, it was also an important milestone in his efforts to maintain support within the party for continued reform into the 1990's.^[51]

Kevin Rudd had been elected leader of the Australian Labor Party in December 2006, just four months before their 44th National Conference. His speech to party faithful in April 2007 was widely reported at the time, with significant focus on the opening line "My name's Kevin, I'm from Queensland, I'm here to help" framing the conference as the beginning of a fresh approach for the party leading to the 2007 Australian federal election.^[53][54][55]

Rudd's speech touched on several themes that would continue into the election campaign, including the economic and geopolitical rise of China and India, the impacts of climate change, building long-term economic prosperity and national security.^[56][57] There was a strong focus on contrasting his own "forward-looking" approach with the "tired" Howard government, which had been in power for 11 years.^[58]

Senator Penny Wong drew wide admiration for her July 2015 speech supporting marriage equality at Labor's 46th National Conference in Melbourne.^[60][61] Wong had been a strong supporter of including marriage equality in the National Platform for over a decade, and was instrumental in the successful 2011 vote to include a statement supporting changing federal law. She was seconding a motion to bind members of the parliamentary Labor Party to vote in favour of marriage equality in federal parliament. She received an immediate one minute standing ovation by conference attendees prior to speaking and was moved to tears.^[62]

Speaking on being bound to vote "no" on the question of marriage equality prior to the 2011 National Conference, Wong passionately reflected: "I was asked to vote for my own discrimination."^[63] Wong was the first openly lesbian member of Australian parliament when she took her senate seat in 2002.

Ultimately, a compromise was achieved where the motion was passed but would not take immediate effect, meaning any vote to legalise same-sex marriage in parliament within the next term would not bind members to vote in favour.^[65] However as a result of the compromise, Labor Leader Bill Shorten pledged to introduce legislation to legalise same-sex marriage within 100 days of winning the next election,^[66] which followed his earlier introduction of a bill into the Australian House of Representatives to amend the Marriage Act.^[67]

• Known as the Commonwealth Conference from 1900 to 1971, and the Federal Conference in 1931, 1973
• A formal National Executive was not established until 1915. Until that time, there was no National President or National Secretary. At each conference, a president/chairman and secretary were elected from delegates present and served for the length of the conference.

Special Conferences are those which are not regularly scheduled biennial/triennial conferences, but are instead called by party leadership (either by the National Executive or the federal parliamentary caucus). These are usually called to resolve specific policy or structural party issues, and are often named as such.

• History of the Australian Labor Party
• Politics of Australia
• Faceless men
• The light on the hill