On re-election in May 2025, Anthony Albanese pledged to run a “disciplined and orderly” government – hardly ‘the light on the hill’, but it struck a chord. Many of us were still scarred by the Morrison government’s dysfunction and trampling of due process.
Fast forward to last weekend’s ALP National Conference and “disciplined and orderly” had a different feel.
Debate was stifled and proceedings tightly managed at the 50th gathering of the party faithful. While careful choreography is hardly new to ALP conferences, it was pretty clear that not all were enamoured of the “radical centre” of which the PM boasted.
It may not be a huge event in the public mind, but the ALP party conference is a useful gauge of how the party is faring, internally and externally. It should be a place where the concerns of members, and the communities they represent, can break through the shell which can harden around parliamentarians and their staff.
One such member, former ALP Senator Margaret Reynolds, this week told P&I readers of the lost opportunities at this conference, with former Minister Ed Husic’s attempted Palestine debate scotched, and other key issues, like AUKUS, pushed to the fringes.
Reflecting on the leadership change in his home state of Victoria, former ALP Minister Kim Carr also took up the issue of party discipline. He said: “Labor’s greatest contemporary asset – discipline – can become a democratic weakness when it substitutes managed unanimity for genuine collective judgment.”
This morning, Kos Samaras takes a forensic look at all the factors that led to the Victorian leadership change and, more broadly, at the way the party of the workers has neglected them and their communities.
Over the weekend, George Browning will tackle the new Christopher Nolan epic The Odyssey as a way into the chaos of the Trump regime. Peter Briggs continues his major series on the risks and eye-watering costs of AUKUS.
Closer to home, I returned this week from annual leave energised, and better informed to make judgements about issues and topics to pursue on your behalf as we continue to increase the diversity of P&I authors and audience. Sincere thanks to the team, and the strong and loyal P&I community, for keeping the show running so well in my absence.
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Catriona Jackson is the Chief Executive and Editor of Pearls and Irritations.