The Role Of The Labour Party In Western Australia

Gough Whitlam remains one of Australia’s few leaders who can be truly said to have changed Australia, even for the brief period of his time in government. Elected on December 5th 1972 his government brought upon a vast range of reforms in the 1071 days it held office (Thompson, 2014). Within the first year alone, Labor passed 203 bills, which is the most bills passed than any other federal government had passed in a single year (Betts, 2015). The three bills that will be presented through this essay are the Education system, with what it was like before and after the Whitlam Government came into power, what Health care was like before and after the Whitlam Government and what the Indigenous Australians went through before and after the Whitlam Government.

The American Labor Movement of the nineteenth century developed as a result of the city-wide organizations that unhappy workers were establishing. These men and women were determined to receive the rights and privileges they deserved as citizens of a free country. They refused to be treated like slaves, and work under unbearable conditions any longer. Workers joined together and realized that a group is much more powerful than an individual when protesting against intimidating companies. Unions, coalitions of workers pursuing a common objective, began to form demanding only ten instead of twelve hours in a work day. Workers realized the importance of economic and legal protection against the powerful employers who took advantage of them.

Labor union were crucial in the late 1800’s when the workers were working long hours, doing hard work, without any extra pay. Job security (could be fired at any given time) and safety precautions did not exist in this era, jobs in this day was typically a threat to the workers due to the bad working conditions. When the union was formed in 1866 it was not easy, but if the workers understood how it would benefit them it would have been a greater successes. Due to lack of education, the communication between the union and the works was broken. Some of the religious beliefs created a hardship on getting the union passed. One of the unions called the AFL (American Federation of Labor) was created in 1881 that would try to fight for workers’ rights.

With the benefits of the objectives of a union evident, why has Australian unions witnessed a decline in membership? There are many reasons to suggest a decline in membership, but three main factors stand out. They are; the changing composition of employment; the casual effects of the business cycle; and, the introduction of the Accord (Deery et al, 2000).

The role of the minor parties within the Australian political system can be as their title suggests, quite minor. On the other hand, a minor party can influence the political proceedings of this country in more ways than one. Minor parties can highlight socio-economic problems that quite often fly under the radar of the larger political parties, or simply can broaden electoral debate. Often spawning from a social, or in the case of the Greens, an environmental movement, minor parties tend to only last through one election, due to a lack of support and relevance in the mainstream social fabric. The minor parties can become crucial players come election time, due to Australia’s law of Compulsory preferential voting. Jaensch (1983, p.21)

Labor unions have existed in one way or another since the birth of our country in 1776. They were created in an effort to protect the working population from abuses such as sweatshops and unsafe working conditions. From the start of our Nation there were a few unions organized unions in a scattered fashion, but many were disbanded after they had achieved their goals, such as when the printers and shoemakers briefly unionized in Philadelphia and New York City in 1778 to conduct the first recorded strike for higher wages. Three years later in 1971 the first successful strike happened, when Philadelphia carpenters campaigned for a ten-hour workday. This caused the need for skilled and unskilled laborers to skyrocket during the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War and also got the ball rolling with Labor unions. At this point in our Country, there had been nothing done yet for workers’ rights, conditions, pay, and so on. People at this time saw that they could come together and do something to make their lives better for themselves and their families. Many of these dates were important in shaping our country’s labor policies into what they are today. In 1847 New Hampshire enacts as the first state to enforce a 10-hour workday law. In 1909 the International Ladies’ Garment workers’ Union calls a strike in New York, demanding a 20-percent raise and a 52-hour workweek. Within two days, more than 20,000 workers from 500 factories walk off the job. This largely successful uprising

"Gough Whitlam has been a towering figure in the Australian Labor Party for longer than I can remember. For more than six decades in politics, Gough Whitlam has aimed at targets higher than personal success or vindication. His energy and enthusiasm combined with the continuing powerful relevance of his goals have made him a hero to many Australians & an iconic figure in Australia's political landscape.” (Excerpt of speech by Senator John Faulkner at Gough Whitlam’s 92nd Birthday, 2008) (Source 3)

Unions were formed to protect and improve the rights of workers. Their first order of business was to establish the eight-hour workday and in 1866, the national labor union was formed. Labor movements were around before 1866, but few organized up until this point. Unions created an environment for workers with difficult tasks, creating better pay, safer work conditions, and sanitary work conditions. Unions made life better for many Americans in the private sector. Collective bargaining became the way in which employers and a group of employees reached agreements, coming to a common consensus. From 1866 to the early 1900’s Unions continued to make headways increasing membership and power. The real gains started in 1933 after several pieces of legislature, which saved banks, plantations, and farmers. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) proposed an important, and controversial, amendment to the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. It insisted that language from the pro-labor Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932 be added to the simple declaration of the right to collective bargaining. The setbacks the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) suffered in Little Steel and textiles in the latter half of 1937, and in Congress from 1938 to 1940, despite the gains made by the AFL, by 1940 the amendment had stalled. WWII created a rapid buildup within the industrial complex, creating more work for women and African Americans, overshadowing the union’s inability to project their power

Edward Gough Whitlam well known as Gough Whitlam, he was an Australian politician and the 21st Prime Minister of Australia, he served from 5th December 1972 to 11th November 1975. He bought Labor to power for the first time in 23 years. He was a wonderful man who accomplished many things during his time as Prime Minister, but he was, as well the only Prime Minister to be fired by the governor general in all of Australian history. Gough Whitlam bought major changes across the fields of health, Indigenous rights, immigration, education, foreign affairs and industrial relations. He brought back all Australian troops from Vietnam, cut the White Australia Policy and increased funding for the arts.

The Labor Party saw the war as essentially civil, in which Australia should not get involved. Calwell and the Labor Party supported the Australian troops and did not deny them the support they needed. As the war drew on, the Labor Party was pushed into a firmer anti-war stance

Analysis, deconstruction and simplification of Research The 1960s was a revolutionary decade full of great changes and new beginnings. The decade saw political and social upheaval in Australia. One of the many changes politically was the anti-conscription and anti-war movements, after the Commonwealth parliament reintroduced the policy in 1964 in preparation for the Vietnam War. After the war commenced, a majority of Australia wanted the troops home, with 55 percent voting for them to be withdrawn from battle on a national gallop poll.

Billy Hughes voted with Labor against the government during World War 1 and was expelled from the parliamentary Nationalist Party. Hughes launched a party called the Australia Party which unfortunately faded away after polling poorly in New South Wales state elections. He joined the United Australia Party that defeated James Henry Scullin’s Labor government in December of 1931.

The United States and Australia’s conservative politicians and critics are more reluctant to accept climate change is a dire issue, unlike countries such as Great Britain and Germany. This is due to the factors of; the difference of perspective on conservatism, limitations due to parliamentary structure and environmental ideology viewed as a newer element to politics. The perspective of conservative politicians plays a key role in the influence they have over policy making and the public. Depending on their view on climate change, they can limit or expand exposure to the environmental crisis. Parliamentary structure, such as Australia’s two-party system can be restraining for smaller parties which support policy making for the environment. A country’s approach to newer ideology like climate change, can be resistant depending on their traditional values.

The late nineteenth century was a time of great change for people everywhere. Industries became staples of society in almost every major city; farming became more efficient due to steel and machines, and more jobs were available because of all the new industries. Between 1865 and 1900, the number of people employed in manufacturing rose from 1.3 million to 4.5 million. Working conditions were terrible, providing long hours, low wages, and unhealthy conditions. Millions of people were denied the basic amenities that their labor made possible for others.1 When reviewing drive for monopolies, Edward Bellamy, author of Looking Backward, wrote that "The individual laborer, who had

Behind every successful social movement is a well executed and planned system and strategy. One of the most common frameworks of social change is Saul Alinsky’s Community Organising, which is where another common framework known as Feminist Organising developed from. These frameworks remain relevant today, and more specifically Feminist Organising in relation to a rape culture on Australian university campuses.