At Conference yesterday, it was said that OurALP is a front for the Left, that all of OurALP be reached by Ferry or Lightrail, that its entire membership can be found within on the shadow map for the Balmain Towers.

This is completely half true.

OurALP was born from the mass meetings held at the Tom Mann theater in the wake of Nathan Rees’ removal and after the 2011 NSW State Elections.

We ran a successful campaign for reform in the lead up to the 2011 State Confernce. Then, as now, there was widespread recognition that reform was needed, and no agreement on which reforms were needed.  We developed four ‘core’ motions, and encouraged branches to support these motions, or to amend them, or to raise their own, all of which they did.

At State Conference, the reforms that the Left wanted most failed on the floor, but some real reforms did get through – many of which were reversed yesterday.

The OurALP campaign was supposed to continue on to Federal Conference, but it didn’t happen – the movement split.

We now have ouralp.net, and ouralp.org (ouralp.org.au).

OurALP.net is and always has been factionally neutral – a network where views on reform may be aired – pro-reform, pro-status-quo, Left, Right or unaligned.  We have supporters in the inner city, the outer city, and in rural and regional NSW, and interstate.

OurALP.org is, as charged, dominated by the Left, particularly Darcy Byrne, a staffer of Anthony Albanese.

There are other pro-reform groupings too, such as the Victorian pro-reform movement Local Labor (http://www.facebook.com/groups/locallabor/), and groups in Canberra and WA. (Not to mention that Mr Byrne and his supporters, as well as setting up their own OurALP site, have set up their own version of Local Labor, locallabor.org.au. This, in addition to LaborRenewal.org, which is also run by Darcy Byrne.)

Let a thousand flower bloom. If there are two OurALPs, so be it.  Rather than complain that one of them represents the Left, the Right should create their own, and argue for the reforms they favour.