Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party
The Party for all Australians

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Labor has a long-term vision. What about the Liberals?

Labor has a long-term vision. What about the Liberals?

click on the above link to read the whole article

Labor has a long-term vision. What about the Liberals?

Transport,
education, climate change ... As contemporary Labor plots its political
recovery, we must embrace and modernise the best of our tradition

Share



A Power Station in Latrobe Valley, Victoria.
Climate change: the ultimate in long-term thinking. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/Reuters

Short-term thinking is the greatest enemy of good government. Whether politicians are dealing with complex policy problems or trying to communicate with the electorate, it makes sense to establish a clear, long term narrative underpinned by forward-looking policies to deliver on its vision.

That’s
my starting point as I consider what lessons the Labor party can draw
from last year’s election loss. I accept the verdict of critics who say
the Rudd and Gillard governments over-emphasised the 24-hour news cycle.
We worried too much about the media, and that was a mistake.


However, I insist that Labor policies in areas like health, education, the environment and infrastructure development fitted squarely with the Labor tradition of long-term thinking. I also insist that our economic stimulus response to the global financial crisis was an action of which we, as a nation, can be proud. 

Excerpt from the Article by Albanese