10 Facts About Labor Left

Labor Left, known as the Socialist Left and Progressive Left, is an organised left-wing faction of the Australian Labor Party.

Labor Left operates autonomously in each state and territory of Australia, and organises as a broad alliance at the national level.

Labor Left is a membership-based organisation which has internal office bearers, publications, and policy positions.

From 1965 organised internal groups emerged to challenge the control of the Labor Left, supported by figures such as John Button and Gough Whitlam.

The Labor Left suffered the loss of two of its key leaders in the mid-1970s with the downfall of Jim Cairns and the elevation of Lionel Murphy to the High Court of Australia, yet it continued to make advances in terms of nationwide organisation: right-wing power broker Graham Richardson has acknowledged that "at the beginning of the 1980s the Left was the only national faction".

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In Tasmania, the Broad Labor Left formalised itself in 1983, having taken control of the state party after reforms democratised it in 1976.

However, the Labor Left were unable to translate their organisational advances into a presence in the Hawke Government: although about a third of the Parliamentary caucus were aligned with the Labor Left at the time, only one member was appointed to Hawke's first cabinet, Stewart West: leading left-winger Brian Howe placed high in the ministry ballot, but was relegated to a junior ministerial position.

Labor Left influence was restricted by the ALP's binding pledge committing legislators to accept caucus discipline, allowing members little freedom to dissent.

Labor Left influence declined at the national conference, with the faction losing its conference majority in the early 1980s.

The Hard Left faction was more closely aligned with left-wing groups external to the Labor Party, maintaining "closer links with broader left-wing groups, such as the Communist Party of Australia, People for Nuclear Disarmament and the African National Congress" as well as trade union officials, political staffers, lobbyists and student politicians, while the Soft Left's main base of support was among rank-and-file party branch members.