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Phillip Coorey
''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,'' he said.
Top-down control and focus group-driven politics had pushed away people who wanted to make a difference towards activist groups such as GetUp. ''We have lost a generation of activists from Labor and, if we do not face the challenges and opportunities of reform in both structure and culture, we will risk losing a generation of voters as well,'' he said.
He said the party was still too driven by focus groups rather than conviction. ''There is … something deeply wrong when we use polling to determine our party's policies, and even our values. Labor must never forget that you do not earn the right to lead by perfecting the art of following.
''In our desperation to avoid bad headlines, we have closed off the avenues for debate that are the lifeblood of our party.''
Dissent was kept behind closed doors. Some saw this as a triumph of party management but Senator Faulkner said it was ''a symptom of the anaemia that is draining the life from the ALP - an apparent aversion to the unpredictability of democracy''.
His comments were not aimed at the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, or any one leader. He implicitly warned against more change, saying recent leadership changes at state and federal levels to redress plunging support had proved futile.
''It is time for the party to realise that there is more amiss here than any one individual can be asked to shoulder the blame for,'' he said.
''It is time for us to realise that we have significant problems as an organisation and we must resolve them.''
Senator Faulkner and fellow ALP elders, Steve Bracks and Bob Carr, conducted an election review that concluded fundamental change was needed to the party's rules and structures not only to increase an ageing and declining membership, but to empower that membership through inclusion.
The reforms are facing resistance from the Right faction.
Last night Senator Faulkner said such was the strength of the resistance that he was ''very pessimistic'' about any meaningful change being adopted.
''As is the case in any institution, those with the power to effect or prevent change are always those most advantaged by the existing structures,'' he said.
But unless change was made, the party's long-term survival was uncertain.
Inclusion meant members and supporters must have a real say in preselections, electing party officials and policy debates. MPs and senators should also be allowed to speak freely rather than be forced to ''stay on message''.
He said that when he entered politics, the party had enormous rows over policy and ideas and was stronger as a result.
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