Holding Pattern

Secret ballots may certainly be necessary to ensure democracy in certain situations. But everything depends on the context. In some contexts, a secret ballot is clearly regarded as anti-democratic. We insist on open voting in Parliament and on Local Councils.  In these contexts, a secret ballot would be regarded as anti-democratic. We hold that members of […]

(See part 1 of this article here) Some people seem to imagine that if factions did not exist debates in the Labor Party would be more open and democratic. If not for factions, the issues could be worked through debates on the Conference floor and then voted upon democratically. Maybe the policy supported by the […]

The COVID-19 pandemic induced an economic panic in March 2020. Share prices declined by 30%. The Federal Reserve Bank responded to the panic by again expanding its balance sheet assets by a whopping 66%. It went from US$4.2 trillion on March 4, 2020, to in excess of US$7 trillion on May 20, 2020: Not surprisingly, […]

Kevin Rudd has called for factions within the ALP to be “abolished”. What are we to make of this? At the outset, I should declare for transparency that I am a long-standing member of the Socialist Left faction of the ALP and a former long-standing member of its executive. To start I think Kevin Rudd’s […]

Two remarkable opinion pieces appeared in ‘The Australian’ over the weekend. One was by Noel Pearson, the other was by economist William Mitchell. Pearson is well known for his connections to the Liberal Party. In 2009 he lobbied Rob Oakshot to support the formation of an Abbott Government. In 2011 he gave the Sir Robert […]