Our ALP

The following motions were passed at the Leichhardt branch meeting of 6 April.

PREAMBLE

The proposed State Conference in July will be conducted with minimum opportunity to consider the wide ranging problems leading to the recent disastrous election. It will also have minimal involvement as branches will not be directly involved (delegates are selected from SECs) and the same old rules will apply. Further many branches will either not meet in April or not meet in time to satisfy the 29 April deadline for resolutions.

Party regeneration should involve:

• consideration of values, policies and practices;
• more time for members and ‘amnestied’ members to meet and consider where to from here; and,
• ensuring that State Conference has much broader representation.

MOTIONS

Moved that this meeting of Leichhardt branch on 6 April 2011:

1. notes the recommendation in the ALP 2010 National Review, and in the SMH article of Monday 28 March penned by State Secretary Dastyari, for an ‘amnesty’ for former party members who have left the party in the last five years.

2. notes that the State Conference called for July 2011 is unconstitutional, having been set without sufficient notice.

3. calls upon the ALP Federal Executive to urge the NSW State Executive to defer the proposed July Conference until October 2011.

4. calls upon all officers and committees of the NSW Branch to enter ‘caretaker’ mode until fresh democratic elections are conducted in line with recommendations of the 2010 Review.

Moved that this meeting of Leichhardt branch on 6 April 2011 endorses the following motions passed at the 2 April meeting of party members: namely that we:

1. endorse the findings of the 2010 National Review and demand that its recommendations be implemented in full

2. The structure of State Conference shall be changed so that the following positions are filled by postal ballot of the rank and file membership of the party and the rank and file membership of all affiliated unions, with each constituency having a 50% weighting in the final outcome: President, Senior President and Junior Vice Presidents; General Secretary and Assistant Secretaries; All elected members on the Administrative Committee;

3. That representation at State Conference by each affiliated union shall be conditional on the union selecting its delegates to Conference by direct election by the members of the union

4. That all members must pay their own membership fees direct to head office. The only exception is for immediate family members under the age of eighteen. Members paying a concessional rate must provide a photocopy of their concession card with payment.

The Leichhardt branch calls upon the ALP State Executive and officers to work with a standing committee of rank and file members to cooperate:

a. in conducting wide ranging discussion amongst party members, including former members and sympathetic electors, this discussion to be focused on values, policies and practices and to include online fora;

b. in drafting policies and rules designed to encourage member involvement, party growth and to form the basis for platforms to put to the electorate;

c. arrange and conduct a State Conference on the Labour Day long weekend in October 2011;

d. to ensure each branch has at least three delegates elected by the branch members to attend the Conference.

The Leichhardt Branch determines that, if these proposals are are not agreed to by 31 May 2011, the branch will work with other branches to oppose a July conference and coordinate a response which may include:

a. support a boycott of the July Conference and picketing of the meeting as it is no longer representative of the membership.

b. support the conduct of wide ranging discussion as above and conduct an alternative state Conference in October

All motions carried unanimously

–Benjamin Karalus, President

Require that union delegates be elected by PR given low turnout in most union elections the winning ticket in any union election could sweep conference delegate elections. — Geoff Robinson

Restore the initial Aims and Objectives of the Australian Labor Party — Ross Smith

As an antibranch stacking measure, we should restore branch boundaries – members should only be allowed to attend at their local branch  — Norman Hanscombe

Direct Elections for Upper House Vacancies should be filled by Direct Election, much as per the second of the Core Motions —Tanya Plibersek

All of the different Country Labor parties should be merged, so that we have one state-level branch per state, plus one Country Labor Party —Thomas Flood

As an antibranch stacking measure, we should reintroduce the 3 meeting rule – members must attend 3 meetings per year –Natalie Gould

Any direct election should include a mechanism in which candidate profiles are distributed to voters —Natalie Gould

The cost of nominating for a position must not be set at a prohibitive level –Ben Aveling

FEC and SEC elect their delegates to State Conference in the respective FEC and SEC by a vote of rank and file members in accordance with the rules of a rank and file pre-selection and,  to ensure that the winning delegates will be properly accredited at Conference, those winning delegates be endorsed by the FEC and SEC as the delegates for the respective FEC and SEC —Neil Kenzler

Alexandria Branch is pleased to report that it has passed the following motions, being an extension to the Core Motions.

1. Endorse the 2010 Review and demand it be implemented in full

We endorse the findings of the 2010 National Review and demand that its Recommendations be implemented in full.

2. Intervention in preselections only in genuinely exceptional circumstances.

We request State Conference to implement the 2010 National Review’s Recommendation 25 in full.  We ask that the party rules be changed so that:

Rank and file preselections may not be overridden or delayed except in exceptional circumstances. The following are not exceptional circumstances: unproven allegations of branch stacking; star candidates; insufficient time to hold a preselection; desire for balance in gender representation; low membership levels; nor any reasonably foreseeable event. Proven allegations of branch stacking may be grounds for delaying a preselection. The following is exceptional circumstances: no nominations being received by close of nominations.

If there is insufficient time for a preselection prior to the close of nominations, then any member may without repercussion nominate themselves for office, and all party members are required to vote for all such nominees in an order to be determined between the close of nominations and polling day but otherwise conducted as per the normal preselection process.

[This motion spells out what is called for in general terms in Recommendation 25. “That intervention in Party preselections by the National Executive and state administrative committees only occur as a last resort, rather than a first resort, and then only in exceptional circumstances.” It modifies rule N.4 (b) (no time to hold a ballot) and abolishes rules N.40 and M.7(d). This motion does not modify N.4 (a) (“Admin can organise selection… when the call for nomination fails”).]

3. Timely conduct of Preselections

We request State Conference to extend the existing rules around preselections so that:

If one year prior to the earliest date on which a General Election can be reasonably expected, nominations for an electorate have not been called, the local Electoral Council is empowered to conduct its own preselection, following the usual rules for a preselection. One month’s prior notice must be given to all branches in the Electorate and to the Administrative Committee before an Electoral Council can vote to conduct its own preselection.

[This motion extends rule N.1 (b) which currently requires preselections to be called one year prior to elections but do not say what should happen if a preselection is not called.]

4. Anti stacking

We request State Conference to strengthen existing branch stacking rules as follows:

All members must pay their own membership fees direct to head office. The only exception is for immediate family members under the age of eighteen. Members paying a concessional rate must provide a photocopy of their concession card with payment.

[This motion modifies rules A.25 and A.12(d) which currently allow party members to pay for any family member, and for dues to be paid to branch secretaries or the local MP. Although the current rules have not been published, I understand that since last conference, Admin have the option to require documentary evidence of entitlement to a concessional rate, but that it is only used selectively, if at all.]

5. Direct elections for Admin, General Secretaries, Presidents

We request State Conference to implement the 2010 National Review’s Recommendation 11 as follows:

The structure of State Conference shall be changed so that the following positions are filled by postal ballot of the rank and file membership of the party and the rank and file membership of all affiliated unions, with each constituency having a 50% weighting in the final outcome:

• President, Senior President and Junior Vice Presidents

• General Secretary and Assistant Secretaries

• All elected members on the Administrative Council

The ballot of the party rank and file is to be conducted by the AEC or some other independent electoral body. It may held concurrently with the ballots for the National President and Vice-Presidents when timing permits.

The ballot of an affiliated union’s membership shall be held concurrently with the normal ballot for the union’s other elected positions, using the same independent electoral body, if timing permits.  Otherwise that union’s membership shall be balloted by postal vote concurrently with the ballot of the party rank and file.

[This motion represents a possible and sensible implementation of Recommendation 11, “that the structure of the ALP National Conference be changed to enable the increased participation of rank and file members through the direct election of a component of the National Conference”, and extends it to the State level.]

6. Union delegates to Conference to be chosen by direct election by union members

We request State Conference to implement the 2010 National Review’s Recommendation 19 as follows:

That representation at State Conference by each affiliated union shall be conditional on the union selecting its delegates to Conference by direct election by the members of the union, concurrently with the ballots for other elected positions in that union, using the same independent electoral body.

[This motion represents a possible and sensible implementation of Recommendation 19, “To encourage the participation of more affiliated trade union members in the Party, that affiliated trade unions be requested to ask members to opt in to Party involvement (e.g. primaries, representing the union at Party conferences)”.]