John Faulkner | The Australian | 10 June 2011
LABOR cannot thrive as an association of political professionals focused on the machinery of electoral victory and forming, at best, contingent alliances with Australians motivated by and committed to ideals and policies.
A party organisation staffed by experienced and competent strategists and managers is necessary to serve the campaign and organisational needs of Labor's members and supporters, not to substitute for them.
Some years back, I heard a member of Young Labor explaining a recruitment strategy: "Today's activists, tomorrow's leaders." I don't blame that individual for being absorbed into a culture that treats activism as a temporary phase on the way to the real work of entering professional politics, but I utterly reject the implication that our party is attractive only to those with the life goal of becoming parliamentarians.
Rather than "today's activists, tomorrow's leaders", I would say that "today's activists, tomorrow's activists" better represents the party I joined and the party I believe we must be to represent and help those Australians who most desperately need a government guided by the principles of making life better for working Australians.
We have lost a generation of activists from Labor and, if we do not face the challenges and opportunities of reform in structure and culture, we will risk losing a generation of voters as well. The party has become so reliant on focus groups that it listens more to those who don't belong to it than to those who do.
