With an election looming and criticism of the ALP now a national
pastime, Mark Latham considers the future for Labor. The nation has
changed, but can the party?
With wit and insight, Latham reveals an organisation top-heavy
with factional bosses protecting their turf. At the same time
Labor's traditional working-class base has long been eroding.
People who grew up in fibro shacks now live in double-storey
affluence. Families once resigned to a lifetime of blue-collar work
now expect their children to be well-educated professionals and
entrepreneurs.
Latham explains how Labor has always succeeded as a grassroots
party, and argues for reforms to clear out the apparatchiks and
dead wood. Then there are the key policy challenges: what to do
about the Keating economic legacy, education and poverty. Latham
examines the rise of a destructive and reactionary far-right under
the wing of Tony Abbott. He also makes the case that climate change
is the ultimate challenge - and even opportunity - for a
centre-left party.
Not Dead Yet is an essential contribution to political debate,
which addresses the question: how can Labor reinvent itself and
speak to a changed Australia?
"The grand old party of working-class participation has become a
virtual party. In no other part of society ... could an
organisation function this way and expect to survive. This is the
core delusion of 21st-century democracy, that political parties can
fragment and hollow out, yet still win the confidence of the
people." - Mark Latham, Not Yet Dead
Correspondence
This issue also contains correspondence relating to the previous
issue QE48After the Future: Australia's New Extinction Crisis by
Tim Flannery. Correspondence relating to QE49 will appear in the
next issue.
About the Author
Mark Latham was leader of the Australian Labor Party and leader
of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005. His books
include Civilising Global Capital and the bestselling Latham
Diaries. He has a column in the Australian Financial Review and
appears regularly on Sky News.
General
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