The Australian Labor Party National Executive, often referred to as the National Executive, is the executive governing body of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), charged with directly overseeing the general organisation and strategy of the party. Twenty members of the National Executive are elected by the party's National Conference, which is the highest representative body of the party's state and territory branches. The other eight members are party ex-officio members.
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Members on the Executive may be officials of trade unions affiliated to the party, members of federal or state Parliaments, or rank-and-file ALP members. The ex-officio members are the National President, the National Secretary and two National Vice-Presidents (who are directly elected by Labor members), and the Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party,[1] but of these only the party Leader has a vote.
The National Executive is concerned mainly with organisational matters. It does not decide party policy, which is determined by the National Conference. The National Executive does not elect the party's parliamentary leaders, which is done by a ballot of both the Parliamentary Caucus and by the Labor Party's rank-and-file members. The National President or Vice-President are elected by party members. Its most public role is to act as the final arbiter of disputes about parliamentary candidacies (preselections). On these matters the National Executive usually votes on factional lines. The Labor Right faction holds a majority on the National Executive,[2] though it did not hold a majority at the 2015 National Conference.[3]
The power of the National Executive extends to the reorganisation of a State Branch. For example, in 1970 to improve the party's chances of electoral success, the National Executive intervened in the Socialist Left controlled Victorian Branch, involving the sacking of State officers and dissolution of the Branch. Less drastic forms of intervention are more common, such as the final arbiter of preselection disputes.[4] The executive has authority over policy as it can interpret the party’s constitution, platform and conference decisions.[2][5]
Members of the National Executive
editAs of September 2023[update], the current members of the National Executive are:[6]
| Member type | Member name | Position | Faction | State/territory | Voting member |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ex-officio members | Wayne Swan | National President | Right | Queensland | No |
| Paul Erickson | National Secretary | Left | Victoria | ||
| Susan Close MP | Vice-President | Left | South Australia | ||
| Mich-Elle Myers | Vice-President | Left[7] | New South Wales | ||
| Manu Risoldi | National President of Young Labor | Right | New South Wales | ||
| National Labor Women's Network Co-Convenor | |||||
| National Labor Women's Network Co-Convenor | |||||
| Anthony Albanese MP | Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party | Left | New South Wales | Yes | |
| Elected members | Senator Tim Ayres | Senator for NSW | Left | New South Wales | |
| Gary Bullock | Queensland State Secretary, National Director of Politics and Vice President, National Executive Committee for United Workers Union | Left | Queensland | ||
| Senator Raff Ciccone | Senator for Victoria | Right | Victoria | ||
| Melissa Donnelly | National Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union | Left | Queensland | ||
| Sandra Doumit | National Vice-president at The Australian Workers' Union | Right | New South Wales | ||
| Kate Doust MLC | Member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia | Right | Western Australia | ||
| Gerard Dwyer | National Secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association | Right | New South Wales | ||
| Senator Karen Grogan | Senator for SA | Left | South Australia | ||
| Gerard Hayes | National President of the HSU | Right | New South Wales | ||
| Graeme Kelly | General Secretary USU | Right | New South Wales | ||
| Michelle O'Byrne | Member of Tasmanian House of Assembly | Left | Tasmania | ||
| Josh Peak | Secretary of the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association South Australian Branch | Right | South Australia | ||
| Sam Rae MP | Member of Australian Parliament for Hawke | Right | Victoria | ||
| Zach Smith | National Secretary & ACT Branch Secretary at CFMEU | Left | Australian Capital Territory | ||
| Stacey Schinnerl | QLD Branch Secretary of the AWU | Right | Queensland | ||
| Carolyn Smith | RIght | Western Australia | |||
| Wendy Streets | Queensland State Secretary of the Finance Sector Union | Left | Queensland | ||
| Shannon Threlfall-Clarke | Victorian State Vice President of the Australian Workers Union | Right | Victoria | ||
| Senator Linda White | Senator from Victoria | Left | Victoria | ||
| Dylan Wight | Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Tarneit | Left | Victoria |
Executive leaders
editNational Presidents
edit| Name | State | Term start | Term end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Givens | Queensland | 1915 | 1916 |
| Jack Holloway | Victoria | 1916 | 1922 |
| Richard Sumner | Queensland | 1922 | 30 April 1924[8] |
| Joseph Hannan | Victoria | 30 April 1924 | 1928 |
| James Kenneally | Western Australia | 1928 | 1936 |
| Norman Makin | South Australia | 1936 | 1938 |
| Clarrie Fallon | Queensland | 1938 | June 1944[9] |
| Fred Walsh | South Australia | 14 February 1945[10] | 29 November 1946[11] |
| Abner McAlpine | New South Wales | 29 November 1946[11] | 1950 |
| John Ferguson | New South Wales | 1950 | 1953 |
| Denis Lovegrove | Victoria | 1953 | 1 May 1955 |
| Joe Chamberlain | Western Australia | 1 May 1955 | 1961 |
| James Stout | Victoria | 1961 | July 1962 |
| Jim Keeffe | Queensland | July 1962 | August 1970[12] |
| Tom Burns | Queensland | August 1970 | 7 June 1973 |
| Bob Hawke | Victoria | 7 June 1973 | 2 August 1978 |
| Neil Batt | Tasmania | 2 August 1978 | 8 September 1980 |
| Neville Wran | New South Wales | 8 September 1980 | 3 July 1986 |
| Mick Young | South Australia | 3 July 1986 | 7 April 1988 |
| John Bannon | South Australia | 7 April 1988 | 25 June 1991 |
| Stephen Loosley | New South Wales | 25 June 1991 | 6 June 1992 |
| Barry Jones | Victoria | 6 June 1992 | 31 July 2000 |
| Greg Sword | Victoria | 31 July 2000 | 1 January 2004 |
| Carmen Lawrence | Western Australia | 1 January 2004 | 1 January 2005 |
| Barry Jones | Victoria | 1 January 2005 | 28 January 2006 |
| Warren Mundine | New South Wales | 28 January 2006 | 10 January 2007 |
| John Faulkner | New South Wales | 10 January 2007 | 27 February 2008[13] |
| Mike Rann | South Australia | 27 February 2008 | 27 December 2008 |
| Linda Burney | New South Wales | 27 December 2008 | 30 July 2009[14] |
| Michael Williamson | New South Wales | 30 July 2009 | August 2010 |
| Anna Bligh | Queensland | August 2010 | 1 July 2011[15] |
| Jenny McAllister | New South Wales | 1 July 2011 | 17 June 2015 |
| Mark Butler | South Australia | 17 June 2015 | 18 June 2018 |
| Wayne Swan | Queensland | 18 June 2018 | present |
National Secretaries
edit| National Secretary | Period |
|---|---|
| Cyril Wyndham | 1963–1969 |
| Mick Young | 1969–1973 |
| David Combe | 1973–1981 |
| Bob McMullan | 1981–1988 |
| Bob Hogg | 1988–1993 |
| Gary Gray | 1993–2000 |
| Geoff Walsh | 2000–2003 |
| Tim Gartrell | 2 September 2003 – 20 September 2008 |
| Karl Bitar | 17 October 2008 – 16 March 2011 |
| George Wright | 19 April 2011 – 30 August 2016 |
| Noah Carroll | 26 September 2016 – 26 July 2019 |
| Paul Erickson | 16 August 2019 – present |
- Cyril Wyndam was the first full time Secretary. Prior to 1963 the position was not full time[16]
References
edit- ^ "Australian Labor Party National Executive". Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- ^ a b The Australian, 2 July 2015: Vote change to shift Labor’s power to the Left
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 18 June 2015: Labor powerbrokers lose control with reform back on the agenda
- ^ ABC News, 4 November 2015: ALP national executive pulls rank on WA branch attempt to dump MPs Gary Gray and Alannah MacTiernan
- ^ The Age, 27 July 2005: Labor Left accuses Right of stacking branch rules
- ^ "National Executive". Australian Labor Party.
- ^ Carey, Adam (13 April 2018). "Unions dump Butler, back one of their own in run for ALP president". The Age. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ "A.L.P. President: Mr. Hannan Elected". Evening News. Sydney. 30 April 1924.
- ^ "Mr. Fallon Resigns Labor Office". News. Adelaide. 7 June 1944.
- ^ "Federal A.L.P. President: Mr. Fred Walsh, M.P., Elected". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 15 February 1945.
- ^ a b "McAlpine New A.L.P. Federal President". Barrier Daily Truth. 30 November 1946.
- ^ Senate Biographies - Keeffe, James Bernard
- ^ "Australian Labor Party : Labor MPS, Senators & Officials". www.alp.org.au. Archived from the original on 5 February 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ "Australian Labor Party : Labor MPS, Senators & Officials". www.alp.org.au. Archived from the original on 22 July 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ "Australian Labor- Who We Are". www.alp.org.au. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ "Records of the Australian Labor Party, Federal Secretariat".