Labor Right should not be confused with Labor rights.
| Labor Right | |
| Abbreviation: | LR |
| Leader1 Title: | National Convenors |
| National: | Australian Labor |
| Colours: | Red |
| Seats1 Title: | Seats in the House of Representatives |
| Seats2 Title: | Seats in the Senate |
| Seats3 Title: | Federal Caucus |
| Country: | Australia |
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[1] and Third Way economic policies, in contrast with the Labor Left faction, which leans toward democratic socialism.[2]
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.[3] The faction includes members with a range of political perspectives, including centrism, Third Way, partial privatisation, Keynesianism, Social democracy, and Labourism.[4]
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:
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.[13]
Alongside these economic reforms, Labor Right also supported more traditional social democratic policies, such as the introduction of Medicare[14] 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[15] and the passage of the Native Title Act[16] in 1993 following the High Court's Mabo decision.
| Name | Parliamentary seat | Other positions | State/Territory | Sub-faction/union | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Marles[17] | Member for Corio | Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Defence | Victoria | TWU, 'Cons' | |
| Dr Jim Chalmers | Member for Rankin | Treasurer | Queensland | AWU | |
| Don Farrell[18] | Senator for South Australia | Special Minister of State Minister for Trade and Tourism | South Australia | SDA | |
| Tony Burke | Member for Watson | Leader of the HouseMinister for Home Affairs Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Minister for Cyber Security Minister for the Arts | New South Wales | SDA | |
| Chris Bowen | Member for McMahon | Minister for Climate Change and Energy | New South Wales | ||
| Amanda Rishworth | Member for Kingston | Minister for Social Services | South Australia | SDA | |
| Member for Isaacs | Attorney–General | Victoria | AWU | ||
| Jason Clare | Member for Blaxland | Minister for Education | New South Wales | AWU | |
| Michelle Rowland[19] | Member for Greenway | Minister for Communications | New South Wales | ||
| Madeleine King[20] | Member for Brand | Minister for Resources Minister for Northern Australia | Western Australia | SDA | |
| Ed Husic | Member for Chifley | Minister for Industry and Science | New South Wales | CEPU (CWU) | |
| Clare O'Neil[21] | Member for Hotham | Minister for Housing Minister for Homelessness | Victoria | AWU | |
| Matt Keogh | Member for Burt | Minister for Veterans' Affairs Minister for Defence Personnel | Western Australia | AWU | |
| Anika Wells | Member for Lilley | Minister for Communications | Queensland | AWU | |
| Kristy McBain | Member for Eden-Monaro | Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories | New South Wales | ||
| Justine Elliot | Member for Richmond | Assistant Minister for Social Services Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence | New South Wales | ||
| Matt Thistlethwaite[22] [23] | Member for Kingsford Smith | Assistant Minister for Immigration | New South Wales | AWU | |
| Emma McBride | Member for Dobell | Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health | New South Wales | ||
| Anthony Chisholm | Senator for Queensland | Assistant Minister for Education Assistant Minister for Regional Development | Queensland | AWU | |
| Tim Watts[24] [25] | Member for Gellibrand | Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs | Victoria | 'Cons' | |
| Glenn Sterle‡ | Senator for Western Australia | Chair of Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee Deputy Chair of Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee | Western Australia | TWU | |
| Steve Georganas | Member for Adelaide | South Australia | |||
| Shayne Neumann | Member for Blair | Chair of Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Chair of Standing Committee on Procedure | Queensland | ASU | |
| Alison Byrnes | Member for Cunningham | New South Wales | |||
| Deborah O'Neill | Senator for New South Wales | Chair of Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services Deputy Chair of Select Committee on Work and Care Deputy Chair of Standing Committee of Privileges | New South Wales | SDA | |
| Helen Polley | Senator for Tasmania | Chair of Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement | Tasmania | AWU, SDA | |
| Rob Mitchell | Member for McEwen | Chair of Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests Chair of House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Resources | Victoria | 'Cons' | |
| Peter Khalil | Member for Wills | Victoria | AWU | ||
| Milton Dick | Member for Oxley | Speaker of the House of Representatives Chair of Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings Chair of Selection Committee Chair of Standing Committee on Appropriations and Administration | Queensland | AWU | |
| Matt Burnell | Member for Spence | South Australia | TWU | ||
| Meryl Swanson | Member for Paterson | Chair of Standing Committee on Agriculture | New South Wales | ||
| Luke Gosling | Member for Solomon | Chair of Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport | Northern Territory | SDA | |
| David Smith | Member for Bean | Government Whip | Australian Capital Territory | Professionals Australia | |
| Raff Ciccone | Senator for Victoria | Deputy Government Whip in the Senate Chair of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee Deputy Chair of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee Deputy Chair of Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills | Victoria | SDA “Shoppies” | |
| Dr Daniel Mulino | Member for Fraser | Chair of Standing Committee on Economics | Victoria | SDA “Shoppies” | |
| Josh Burns | Member for Macnamara | Chair of Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights | Victoria | 'Cons' | |
| Marielle Smith | Senator for South Australia | Chair of Community Affairs Legislation Committee Deputy Chair of Community Affairs References Committee | South Australia | SDA | |
| Tony Sheldon | Senator for New South Wales | Chair of Education and Employment Legislation Committee Deputy Chair of Education and Employment References Committee | New South Wales | TWU | |
| Dr Mike Freelander | Member for Macarthur | Chair of Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport | New South Wales | ||
| Cassandra Fernando | Member for Holt | Victoria | SDA | ||
| Jana Stewart | Senator for Victoria | Victoria | TWU, 'Cons' | ||
| Sam Rae | Member for Hawke | Victoria | TWU, 'Cons' | ||
| Varun Ghosh | Senator for West Australia | Western Australia | SDA | ||
| Andrew Charlton | Member for Parramatta | New South Wales | |||
| Sally Sitou | Member for Reid | New South Wales | AWU | ||
| Dan Repacholi | Member for Hunter | New South Wales | |||
| Joanne Ryan | Member for Lalor | Chief Government Whip | Victoria | 'Cons' | |
| Michelle Ananda-Rajah | Senator for Victoria | Victoria | TWU, 'Cons' | ||
| Tania Lawrence | Member for Hasluck | Western Australia | SDA | ||
| Sam Lim | Member for Tangney | Western Australia | SDA | ||
| Gordon Reid | Member for Robertson | New South Wales | AWU | ||
| David Moncrieff[26] | Member for Hughes | New South Wales | |||
| Richard Dowling | Senator for Tasmania | Tasmania | AWU | ||
| Corinne Mulholland | Senator for Queensland | Queensland | AWU | ||
| Emma Comer | Member for Petrie | Queensland | AWU | ||
| Claire Clutterham | Member for Sturt | South Australia | |||
| Matt Gregg | Member for Deakin | Victoria | |||
| Alice Jordan-Baird | Member for Gorton | Victoria |
