John Lannan, the Independent candidate for ALP President, will be visiting NSW on the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd October.
John will be telling a members only meeting why Party Reform is essential if the Party is to survive, at Alexandria Town Hall at 2pm on the 22nd.
John will be speaking to Gilmore FEC on the 23rd.
For more information, please visit http://johnlannan.net/ or contact info@johnlannan.net.
From John Lannan
Dear ALP member
I am contacting you to ask for your vote in the forthcoming election for National ALP President.
I am standing because of my commitment to reform and democratisation of the ALP.
As a rank and file member of the Party, I have experienced the frustration and sense of powerlessness of being a member of today’s ALP. If elected as National President I will be a voice for rank and file ALP members as I strongly believe that the only way forward for the Party is to make the role and contribution of the rank and file member the focus of major reform.
I have never held a paid position in the ALP or with an MP or an affiliated union. I have served in a range of positions mainly at the local level including branch president, local campaign director and state conference delegate. I joined the Party in 1975 to work for a better, fairer society and remain in the Party because I still want to work for a better, fairer society. Never a member of a major faction, I am a member of the small Victorian Independent group which has fought for Party democracy and against branch stacking.
The ALP is in deep trouble. Public support for the ALP across Australia is at record low levels and there are difficult times ahead.
A strong ALP composed of active, dedicated members is needed.
Instead the Party organisation is in decay. Local branches are closing. Membership is declining and disillusionment prevalent among those who remain.
Rank and file ALP members have little say in pre-selection, policy development or decision making generally. Instead of democratic decision making, the Party is run by a clique of factional and union bosses, often aided by branch stacking, who seem more interested in furthering their own ambitions than the principles of the Party. The result has frequently been bad policy and poor choice of candidates.
Reform of the Party is essential!
In fact almost everyone in the Party is now calling for reform, not least Julia Gillard, but we need to be wary of what is meant by “reform”. Some proposed “reforms” have the potential to reduce, not increase, the role of rank and file ALP members.
We need genuine reforms, not reforms that leave the same old gang of power brokers back in charge.
Genuine reform of the ALP means giving power in the Party to its ordinary members. It means direct election by the rank and file of major office bearers. It means state and national conferences which are composed overwhelmingly of rank and file ALP members, directly elected by their fellow ALP members. It means pre-selections for all parliamentary seats by local rank and file ALP members.
Genuine reform also means real secret ballots in pre-selections and other Party elections so that voters can’t show their completed ballots to factional enforcers, or worse, let the factional enforcers fill them in. And genuine reform means Labor governments implementing policies which have been democratically determined by the membership, using plebiscites where appropriate.
Genuine reform must go far beyond the tokenistic election of a proportion of national conference delegates by the rank and file, and it must challenge the capacity of union leaders to appoint blocks of delegates to state and national conferences.
The Party needs to attract and retain activists of all ages, people with a commitment to making the world a better place. There needs to be less control by factional and union power brokers, fewer factional deals, and much more real debate, diversity and encouragement of ideas.
When people join the ALP they need to be assured that they will participate equally with other ALP members in decision making, including pre-selections and policy determination. They also need to be assured that they have become a member of a Party which lives up to its values and implements its policies.
Rank and file democratisation of the ALP will not mean the overnight renewal of the ALP, but it is the essential starting point for any program to reform the Party, return it to its core values and build a more vibrant, diverse, open and ethical Party culture and a politically stronger and more effective ALP.
Now is the time for an ALP President who knows what it’s like to be a rank and file member of the ALP and who will strive for an ALP firmly based on genuine rank and file member democracy.
I encourage you to show your support for real reform of the ALP by giving me your number one vote in the election for National President.
I particularly ask you also to forward my email to all of the ALP members that you know so that they are aware of what is at stake in this election for ALP President.
For more information about my background and why I am standing:
My candidate statement at
http://www.alp.org.au/australian-labor/national-president-election/john-lannon/
Further information
John Lannan contact details
Phone: 0477 068 727
Email: john.lannan@bigpond.com
Yours in friendship
John Lannan
Mount Martha ALP Branch
From Jenny McAllister
To All ALP Members
At this year’s National Conference, members will face significant choices about the future of our Party.
We can allow Labor’s membership to continue to decline, and accept our transformation into a parliamentary party dominated by a professional political leadership.
Or we can act to revitalise ourselves; to grow our party through adopting reforms to strengthen democracy, renew our values, and enhance member participation.
I am standing again for National President because I believe strongly that our future lies in a rebuilding ourselves, not just as a party, but as a movement for justice and equality. Labor should have the courage to pursue its convictions in government, backed by a strong progressive party to advocate for our cause on the ground.
As Labor’s current National President, I have argued strongly for a serious response to the Faulkner-Bracks- Carr Review, drawing on the following principles:
We can’t afford to ignore this agenda. In meetings across the country rank and file members tell me of their pride in our achievements in government, but their frustration that their own role in Labor’s story is withering away.
As National President I seek to form strong partnerships with the groups and organisations from which our party draws strength. Our historical relationship with the union movement should be a source of pride, not embarrassment. Organisations such as LEAN, which I helped found in 2003, Rainbow Labor and Labor for Refugees give practical effect to Labor’s ideals and should be given support and encouragement I’ve worked hard since commencing my term in July as National President to be a genuine voice for members’ interests. After our National Conference in December, the serious task of implementing reform will begin. I want to be your voice in that process, and I ask for your support in the ballot for National President.
Yours Sincerely
Jenny McAllister
PS You might like to follow me on Twitter? @jennymcallister
Jenny McAllister
Candidate for ALP National President 2011
PO Box 3038
Redfern, NSW, 2013
jennymcallister@bigpond.com
BIOGRAPHY
Jenny McAllister is Labor’s current National President, having commenced her term at the end of July 2011. As the National Conference is being held early, her term is a short one and will expire after four months in December 2011.
Jenny joined the Labor Party in Queensland in 1992 and has been an active participant in Labor politics ever since.
She is passionate about creating opportunities for community participation in politics:
Jenny served on the National Policy Committee in 2006-7, and her interests include economics, indigenous culture and welfare, the environment and Australia’s relationship with the Pacific.
In 2001, she was Labor’s candidate for Richmond in the “Tampa” election, losing narrowly to the National Party candidate in her home town in the far north of NSW.
She was also campaign director for the federal seats of Sydney (1998) and Page (2004).
She currently works in the private sector, as an environmental and policy consultant. She has previously held senior roles in the NSW public sector, developing climate change and environmental policy. She also served as an environment advisor to NSW Minister for the Environment, where she was primarily focussed on water policy.
In 2009, Jenny was selected as Australia’s Eisenhower Fellow, undertaking research in the United States on leading edge approaches to drive innovation in the low carbon sector.
She has two small children, and lives in Redfern with her husband, John.
The Kings Cross Branch of the ALP expresses its deep concern to the Prime Minister about the proposal to legislate to allow the Government to send asylum seekers to Malaysia for processing of their applications for refugee status on the following grounds:
The Branch urges the Secretaries of each FEC to take up the matter with the Prime Minister as a matter of urgency in order to avoid another adverse High Court judgement or the defeat of the legislation in Parliament.
This is unofficial and unconfirmed, but word is that there will be an election for National President, and that the candidates are:
Assuming the originally announced schedule is kept:
Voters will be sent a statement of up to 500 words from each candidate.
Statements will also be available on the ALP website.
For more information, see National President & Vice-Presidents call for nominations
From John Lannan
Nominations for Federal President close on Friday 2 September and I need at least 10 nominations from each of 5 states and territories. I particularly need not just nominations from Victoria or NSW, but most especially nominations from other states and territories. Can ALP members please complete and sign the nomination form, write in their state or territory and return it to me.
This being the ALP, the relevant rules are ambiguous, and he could still be
rejected on a technicality.
Head Office have it in their power to choose to accept his nomination or not, and the decision they make will send a signal as how keen they are to have members involved.
We will keep you informed.
Contributed by John Lannan.
My Background
I am married with one child and two grandchildren. I live in Mount Martha, a beachside area on the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne.
For most of my career I was a secondary school teacher teaching (mainly) English and Social Education in public secondary schools. I resigned from the Victorian Education Department in about 1993 and for most of the time since have worked in administrative positions in universities. Currently I am a student services officer at Monash University Peninsula campus (Frankston).
I joined the ALP in 1975 and for much of the time since I have been an active ALP member serving in a range of roles including branch president and secretary, federal electorate president, state conference delegate, policy committee secretary, local campaign director and candidate. Over the years like other ALP rank and file members. I have spent many hours and days letterboxing, distributing how to vote cards, handing out leaflets in shopping centres, organizing fundraisers, and attending meetings.
I am a member of the Victorian Independent (or Non-aligned) group and have never been a member of one of the major factions. The Independent Group has for several years now worked for reform of the Victorian ALP and the elimination of branch stacking.
As an active unionist, I was for some years a member of the Council of the Victorian Secondary Teachers Association (one of the precursors to the current Australian Education Union) and I was a vice president of the Deakin University branch of the National Tertiary Education Union. I strongly support trade unions and I am dismayed at the decline in union membership.
Reasons for Nominating
I wish to stand in the election for ALP National President to draw the attention of ALP members and ALP leaders, MPs and office holders to the need for reform of the ALP.
The role of the Part president is largely a figurehead position, the main role is to chair meetings of national conference and national president. Under the ALP Constitution, the Party President does not even seem to have a vote as a member of National Executive. However the position has symbolic importance as it is the only National ALP position where all the members actually get a direct vote. To be elected as National President, a candidate needs the support of rank and file ALP members. This means that the occupant of the position could be a major voice for Party democracy and an influence for Party reform.
Note that there are actually three positions to be elected. Each of those elected rotates through the positions of National President and Vice Presidents over a 3 year period.
If elected I will to try to ensure that Party reform and democracy is on the Party agenda.
By nominating I will ensure that there is fact an election for National Conference. In 2008 the Party establishment ensured that there would only be three candidates for National President and Vice Presidents who were all duly elected. Those elected have failed to speak out on behalf of ALP members and for reform of the Party
Party Reform
Anyone who read section 3 of the National Review undertaken by Messrs Bracks, Faulkner and Carr would be in no doubt that the ALP is a sick organization. ALP members talk of their lack of say on pre-selections, ALP rules being ignored, decline of branches and so on. Morale is low, members feel powerless and disregarded by the Party leaders.
There is more that could be said, much of the Party seems to be in the hands of self seeking power seekers, who use corrupt practices such as branch stacking to achieve their ambitions.
While most (but not all) of the National Review recommendations should be supported, they did not really go far enough. To take one example, the Review calls for “increased participation of rank and file members through the direct election of a component of National Conference” This is tokenism. What is needed is a National Conference where the overwhelming majority are rank and file ALP members, elected by their fellow ALP members and not picked by factional and union leaders.
While I don’t argue that democratisation of the ALP is all that is necessary to rebuild the ALP and bring members back, it is definitely a precondition. The Party must become a genuinely democratic organisation based on membership participation. Failure to give members a meaningful role in the Party has been very destructive not just to the organisation itself, but also to the quality of ALP parliamentary representation, and the capacity to develop effective, soundly based policies which can attract public support.
Party decision making, including policy processes must be designed to maximise membership democracy and participation.
Reform of the Party also needs to be directed towards ensuring that all members, officers and MPs operate within a climate of integrity. Branch stacking and the practices which sustain it must end. While the link with unions should be maintained the role of unions in the Party must be re-assessed and there must be an end to the capacity of union leaders to control large blocks of votes at Conferences.
Measures must be introduced to de-institutionalise the factions and reduce their power so that people who join the ALP are not compelled to kowtow to factional leaders in order to contribute to the Party’s decision making processes or to obtain pre-selection. Links with communities and community organisations with which we have a commonality of values or interests must be re-constructed. We must build a stronger, ethically based organisation in which ALP members and the public can have trust.
I don’t know whether ALP members will elect as National President a candidate who stands firmly for ALP reform. At this stage I don’t even know whether I will be able to get the required 10 nominees from each of 5 states and territories. However with your help I will give it a try because I believe reform and democratisation of the ALP is very important.
Contact Details
Email: kla42424@bigpond.net.au
Local Labor is looking for support from Branch members around Australia
to support the following petition intended to put some pressure on the
delegates to National Conference to vote for change and reform of our
party structures.
Please take it to your next branch meeting and ask for members support.
Experience suggests it will get strong enthusiasm. The objective is to
send a strong message to party leaders and National Conference delegates
that they need to vote for change to help the process of rebuilding ALP
support in the community.
The objective is to get completed petitions returned to Race Mathews at
the email address below by the end of September.
LOCAL LABOR PETITION TO NATIONAL CONFERENCE
LOCAL LABOR SAYS: REVITALISE THE ALP
• Implement the National Review reforms
• Give members a stronger voice
• Uphold Labor values in policy
• Connect with local communities
We the undersigned ALP members urge all elements of the Party to support
urgent reform to achieve the reform objectives spelt out in the 2010 ALP
National Review conducted by John Faulkner, Steve Bracks and Bob Carr.
In particular we want action to reform voting to increase the say of
local members, expand the membership of the party, reform the policy
development processes and resource the recommended community-organising
model.
The Party should aim to empower and equip members to work in their local
communities on campaigns, to build stronger community connections and to
recruit new members and get former members to rejoin. This should be
achieved by providing training to boost the skills, awareness and
knowledge of members to allow them to better participate in
party-building and recruitment activities.
| Name | Signature | ALP Branch | Member No | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| … |
Return to Local Labor: c/o Race Mathews 123 Alexandra Parade South Yarra
VIC 3141 by September 30th 2011. email:race@netspace.com
By Ben Aveling
The below is my (strictly unofficial) impression of what was and wasn’t achieved at the NSW State Conference, as regards the Faulkner/Carr/Bracks recommendations, and other.
What was achieved:
Recommendations 4, 9: Budget allocation to new party-building Activities
A budget has been allocated – to be distributed via SECs
Recommendation 5: Community-organising model
Passed. Not sure what this means in practice.
Recommendation 8: Amnesty for former members
An Amnesty was granted prior to conference, and has now expired.
Recommendations 11, 12: Direct election of a % of National Conference
One delegate per FEC. May be elected by FEC or by direct election, at discretion of FEC. Remaining delegates to be chosen by conference as per current rules. Takes effect from next year.
Recommendation 15: Ministers to report progress on policy implementation
Passed.
Recommendation 18: Trade union conference delegates must be financial party members
Passed – not a great change from the current situation in NSW, which is that trade union delegates must be party members.
Recommendation 20: National party policy committees
Passed.
Recommendation 23: Central Policy Branches
Central Branch may now move motions. Also, Regional Policy Branches may be formed.
Recommendation 24: National Appeals Tribunal determinations be binding
Only that decisions of Review Tribunal are to be available to members.
Recommendation 25: Intervention in preselections a last resort
Intervention in preselections only in exceptional circumstances.
Recommendation 26: Primaries in open/non held seats (60/20/20 members/unionists/public)
Some LGCs to be decided through primaries in 2012 and 5 winnable seats in 2015 – weightings TBD. (Winnable means that the margin is less than that needed to retake government.)
Other successful reforms:
Admin may put rules in place to establish proof of entitlement to concession.
Nominations are to be called at least one year prior to elections, except in exceptional circumstances
Long term party members (10 years) are entitled to an automatic vote in preselections
Issues based branches are allowed – one such is to be an online branch.
Country Conference is to discuss the selection process for the Country Organiser and make a recommendation back to the next State Conference.
Not achieved:
Recommendation 1: That these recommendations be forwarded directly to the National Conference
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 2: National survey of Party members
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 3: Membership growth targets – set a target for growth
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 6: National Director of Organising
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 7: National campaigning organising and training Academy
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 10: Acknowledge correspondence promptly
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 13: Non-rotating presidents, with voting rights at National Exec
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 14: Direct election of Presidents
Not put to a vote.
Recommendation 16: No diluting member’s representation at conference with extra delegates
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 17: No dual (batt) voting
Nothing concrete
Recommendation 19: Ask trade unions to ask their members to be more involved
Nothing concrete
Recommendation 21: Engage with non-union 3rd party organisations
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 22: Non-factional, expert, members of policy committees
Some developments here, but will be factional, non-expert members.
Recommendation 27: Outreach organisation
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 28: Community Dialogue program
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 29: Permit progressive organisations to affiliate
Not sure.
Recommendation 30: Expand Labor Connect
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 31: Campaigns and Growth Forum
Nothing concrete.
Recommendation 32-97: –not made public–
Nothing concrete? Who knows.
Other unsuccessful reforms:
An end to bulk enrolments.
Contacts for secretaries to be shared.
All other proposals for direct elections.
For an official summary, see the August Political Briefing.
The official report can be downloaded here.
A paper regarding methods on reclaiming our party by reforming the party structure ‘At the Top’
By John McCutcheon – Kiama Branch
ADMINISTRATIVE (ADMIN’) COMMITTEE
It is my understanding that the NSW party machine is effectually run by a little group fashioned ‘The Administrative Committee’, made up of 25 ALP members plus the State President and three Vice Presidents, plus the General Secretary and two Assistant Secretaries together with the State and Federal Parliamentary Leaders (or their nominees) and a non voting nominee of Young Labor; a total of 35 personal.
This is, in effect, the ‘Board of Directors’, the group who administer all the affairs of the party on behalf of Conference, between Conferences and on behalf of members of the Labor Party and to also maintain the policies laid down by decisions of the majority of delegates voting at Conference.
I find a committee of this size unwieldy in the extreme; who ever heard of a Board of any Public Company this size? Normally a Board sits (within a set quorum) to exercise its allotted powers as laid down by the Company’s AGM.
But who are these people and what is their tenure? I have laboured long and hard to discover (officially) who the members are and when they were elected to office.
I once asked the receptionist in Sussex Street who the members were and she denied any knowledge of the existence of such a committee!
So there we have it, up until the publication of the members of this committee in the 2011 conference booklet – a Faceless Committee, the media turned out to be right this time.
Although it is said that the tenure on this committee is two years does the tenure of each member equal ‘Life’ membership due to the convoluted method of voting and the practice of ‘block voting’ by most delegates dictated by faction leaders? Does one only gain access to this exclusive ‘Club’, mid term between conferences, when a member ‘falls off the twig’ and the fellow members install a ‘mate’ in his/her place? Incumbency works wonders. Maybe members of the committee should only serve for two terms; then sit out a full term before renominating, should they so chose.
How can this committee decide on all things in their favour and massage the rules to fit their desire, on what rule do they excise this power, like the nonsense use of N40 whilst putting off a pre-selection until the very last moment then endorsing a candidate of their choosing (like the case of David Boyle, Steven Jones and Peter Garrett), who gives them the right? How can this committee defy the rank and file and then dispose of the Electricity Industry without resubmitting to Conference and prosecuting their case?
Now the next subject;
DELEGATES TO CONFERENCE
The ‘Voting Delegate Block’ to State Conference is made up of 50% Rank and File members voted in as delegates through SEC and FEC meetings and 50% of (party member) people ‘endorsed and anointed’ by affiliated union leaders. The strength of the rank and file delegation is diluted by other persons who are given a ‘franchise’ due to their membership of committees or rank or executive status thus decreasing and diluting the rank and file membership of the voting block.
This is grossly undemocratic.
With 3 delegates for every FEC and 2 delegates for every SEC we have a potential of electing 330 grass root member delegates thus giving the union movement the right to nominate 330 delegates also. Those aforementioned ‘franchised’ members who currently gain ‘an automatic voting right’; should they not, by their very nature, be non-voting delegates?
But why is this so? With unions only attracting, on average, 13-18% of the working population as members, (and that includes non affiliated unions) how can this be fair and representative, more especially as a number of delegates from the grass roots side would also be aligned to, or be, members of the union movement.
This is ‘stacking’ on behalf of the union movement.
Even if we gave the union movement a 5% uplift, in recognition of history, and rounded it out to the nearest 5%, they are still over represented.
A generous democratic formula would see the unions receive no more than 18% + 5% = 23% – round up to 25%.
This would create the voting block as; 330 rank and file + 83 union, a total of 413 voting delegates. As union membership increased as a total of the working population so would the number of union based delegates.
The NSW labour council would conduct the ballot for union delegates (who must be members of the ALP).
One could say that all this is just a ‘pipe dream’ but I offer it as a starting point.
It is not going to be easy to break the nexus; (or by what means). This is the question, when the committee is controlled by the executive, the faction chiefs and the unions; no one wants to give up power, do they?
ELECTING ‘THE ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE’
A more transparent method of selection of the ‘Labor Party Head Office Board’ should be devised. As follows, I propose that an Administrative Committee of 14 people be nominated and elected prior to Conference, to eliminate block voting and overarching faction control to insure a true secret ballot.
1). Invite each branch to nominate an ALP financial member to each FEC and SEC in NSW; then via a secret ballet of FEC and SEC delegates select one candidate for each EC, either a grass root member or affiliated union member. The names for nomination can be chosen from any NSW Branch or affiliated union and not be restricted to just the delegates regional branch or union.
2). From the members nominated, the 10 nominees with the largest number of nominations, would go forward to another postal (or web) ballot of all financial ALP branch members in NSW, conducted by the NSW Electoral Commission, in order to select 5 members to go onto the Administrative Committee; candidates from regional electorates, as prescribed by ‘Country Labor’, would receive a 20% loading to ensure a regional voice. (Members would only need to vote for 5 candidates; any less on a member’s ballot would be deemed informal and would not count).
3). Another 5 nominees would be elected, in a similar manner, from ALP members of the affiliated union movement.
4). In addition the State President, the leaders of the Federal and NSW Labor Parliamentary Party (or their nominee if the Federal leader is not an elected MP from a NSW electorate) and the State General Secretary, would be added (the General Secretary as an ex-officio non voting member); thus the Administrative Committee would be a total of 13+1 members. Five committee members, or more, plus the General Secretary would constitute a quorum.
5). This election would take place every three years.
This would deliver an Administrative Committee that would be answerable to ALP Members through the FEC’s, SEC’s and the Union Movement.
Like local government, all monthly meetings would be open to all financial rank and file or affiliated union members, without debating or voting rights, only the right to observe without comment. These observers could be asked to exit a meeting on a motion passed by the Committee, if discussion is centred on the fate of an individual member.
ELECTING ‘THE EXECUTIVE’
In the first instance and then every 5 years the Administrative Committee would nominate 5 senior employees of the ALP Head Office, supported by an extensive CV and individual short report from the Administrative Committee, (supplied to each branch Secretary for distribution to branch members) to stand for election as (a) General Secretary, (b) First and (c) Second Assistant Secretaries; the nominee with the highest vote would be deemed the General Secretary, the next highest First Assistant and third the Second Assistant.
The election of these ‘Executives’ would be undertaken by all financial NSW branch and union members by means of a postal (or web) ballot conducted by the NSW Electoral Commission.
Their tenure would be for 5 years and should any of the 3 retire or be removed from the post, for any reason, the next person in line would move up, then the position of Second Assistant would be filled by a vote of the Administrative Committee, to be ratified by the next Annual State Conference.
The Election of these ‘Executives’ would be undertaken by all financial NSW branch and union members voting by means of a postal (or web) ballot.
The individual members of the Executive could renominate after each 5 year term.
The Head Office Executive is answerable to the Administrative Committee.
Then;
A similar method would be employed in the election of the State ALP President, Senior Vice President and Vice President.
Any financial member with a continuous membership of 10 years, or more, can be nominated for these positions, as detailed above.
John McCutcheon
Secretary
Kiama Branch of the ALP
3rd August 2011
Our ALP 