Labor Right

The Labor Right (LR), also known as Labor Forum, Labor Unity or simply Unity, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is characterised by social democratic and Third Way economic policies, in contrast with the Labor Left faction, which leans toward democratic socialism.

Labor Right is composed of autonomous groups in each state and territory of Australia. The groups within the Labor Right come together as a broad alliance at the national level. The faction includes members with a range of political perspectives, including centrism, Third Way, partial privatisation, Keynesianism, Social democracy, and Labourism.

State branches

Factional power usually finds expression in the percentage vote of aligned delegates at party conferences. The power of the Labor Right varies from state to state, but it usually relies on certain trade unions, such as the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), Transport Workers Union (TWU), the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA), Plumbing and Pipe Trades Employees Union (PPTEU) and the Health Services Union (HSU). These unions send delegates to the conferences, with delegates usually coming from the membership, the administration of the union or local branches covered by their activists.

State-based factions (national sub-factions) which make up Labor Right include:

New South Wales

• Centre Unity

Queensland

• Labor Forum (dominated by the AWU)

Australian Capital Territory

• Centre Coalition

Victoria

• Labor Centre Unity (AWU: Consisting of Branch Members and both federal and state members of parliament aligned with the Victorian branch of the Australian Workers' Union, and representatives from the Plumbing and Pipe Trades Employees Union)
• Labor Progressive Unity (The Cons: Consisting largely of Branch Members aligned to and supporters of Labor Deputy Leader Richard Marles and the Transport Workers Union)
• Labor Unity (The Shoppies: Consisting largely of branch members aligned to and supports of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association)

Western Australia

• WA Labor Unity (AWU, SDA, TWU).
• Progressive Labor (Consists of AWU, SDA, TWU and CFMEU) An alliance between WA Labor Unity and the 'Industrial left' unions of WA, formed in 2019 for the purpose of binding at State conferences against some subgroups within WA's Broad left; such as the UWU. Historically, the MUA and CFMEU have voted at State conferences in alignment with the Broad left.

Northern Territory

• Labor Unity

South Australia

• Labor Unity (dominated by the SDA).

Tasmania

• Labor Unity

Political views

The faction is most famous for its support of Third Way policies such as the economic rationalist policies of the Bob Hawke and Paul Keating governments, including floating the Australian dollar in December 1983, reductions in trade tariffs, taxation reforms such as the introduction of dividend imputation to eliminate double-taxation of dividends and the lowering of the top marginal income tax rate from 60% in 1983 to 47% in 1996, changing from centralised wage-fixing to enterprise bargaining, the privatisation of Qantas and Commonwealth Bank, making the Reserve Bank of Australia independent, and deregulating the banking system.

Alongside these economic reforms, Labor Right also supported more traditional social democratic policies, such as the introduction of Medicare under Bob Hawke in 1984 and compulsory superannuation under Paul Keating in 1992. The faction also supported significant socially progressive policies, including the blocking of the Franklin River Dam construction and the passage of the Native Title Act in 1993 following the High Court's Mabo decision.

Federal members

‡ Sterle was formerly a member of the now-defunct Centre Left.

See also

• Labor Left
• Australian Labor Party Caucus
• Moderates – Centrist faction in the Liberal Party of Australia
• New Democrats – centrist faction in the Democratic Party of the United States
• Blue Dog Coalition – centrist faction in the Democratic Party of the United States
• Progress – organisation associated with the Labour Party (UK)
• Seeheimer Kreis – economically liberal faction in the Social Democratic Party of Germany

Further reading

• Cumming, Fia (1991). Mates: Five Champions of the Labor Right. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86373-021-1. – Paul Keating, Graham Richardson, Laurie Brereton, Bob Carr and Leo McLeay recount events which shaped the Australian labour movement from the 1960s to the 1980s.
• Richardson, Graham (1994). Whatever It Takes. Moorebank, NSW: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-1-86-359332-8. – Graham Richardson recounts his career and outlines the philosophy and operation of the NSW and National Labor Right during his time in the ALP.