I was just curious whether Gillard is indeed the first Labor Prime Minister to be of the Left Faction. I'm aware that the Labor party is roughly divided into two factions (Labor Unity and Socialist Left) which were established during the Whitlam era. I'm also aware that the titles 'left' and 'right' within the Labor party don't mean that much, for example Rudd was a member of Labor Unity (the right faction) and Gillard Socialist Left yet their policies are very similar. However out of interest I would like to know whether this is true, further information on the factions would also be appreciated. I've heard accounts that Gough Whitlam was a member of Labor Unity yet his policies are arguably more progressive than any subsequent PM, is it true that in his day the Left were borderline Communists? Furthermore if anyone can tell me if any of the post-Whitlam, Labor Opposition Leaders were of the Socialist Left Faction I'd be interested. PS: This is my first post on this forum and I'm not really looking for a political debate, prefer objective facts rather than your personal opinions.
I dont look upon Gough Whitlam as a communist at all, rather i think he was a genuine Australian who looked after the interest of the people. I ask you is medicare a communist thing or a revolution in looking after rich and poor people alike. Gough's down fall was that instead of borrowing money from wall street he went looking in the middle east and brazil. Crysler threatened to close its doors putting thousands of Australians out of work, Gough simply said how much are you worth, here take the money and (*)(*)(*)(*) off we'll run it. Is that being communist i dont think so, i would prefer the government of the day ran all our utilities and sometimes maybe even companies. Under the government we never had such run away prices with electricity, gas and water. Now we are slaves to some big kahunas hidding behind the vale of a company who care for nothing more then where their next dollar is coming from, do they even think about expanding for the future? Gough and Malcolm Fraser were the last true partiot PM's of this nation, all the others that followed are all traitors and should be prosecuted imo. Oh yeah and Gillard is a first class communist that will ruin this country and its future.
I agree on your account of Whitlam. No he wasn't a Communist, nor did I say so, what I said was that he was progressive though in those days the party radicals drifted towards Communism and he was considered more moderate, believe he was of the right faction (Labor Unity). Wouldn't call Gillard a Communist at all, more of a gutless wonder, but that's irrelevant to this discussion. Just looking for historical information on whether any other Labor Prime Ministers/Opposition Leaders have been of the left faction.
