Australian Labor Party (ALP) (political party)

The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is a center-left political party with historical links to the Australian labor movement. Founded in the 1890s, the ALP is the oldest party in Australian politics, and one of its two traditionally dominant parties.

By the mid-2020s, the ALP had been elected as the majority government on a federal level for a cumulative forty years since Australia's foundation as an independent country in 1901. It had also served as the primary opposition party for over seventy years. Priorities of the Labor Party include supporting Australians with the cost of living by making childcare and medicine more affordable, investing in Medicare, building new homes and investing in affordable housing, managing the economy in a way that creates jobs, and tackling climate change for future generations.

The ALP made significant gains in the May 2025 federal election, securing ninety-four seats in the House of Representatives—the highest number of seats ever won by a single political party in an Australian election. The landslide victory positioned the party to pursue its agenda with unprecedented legislative leverage.

History

The ALP was founded with the goal of providing workers with greater representation in the colonial parliament. Originally called by a variety of regional names, the forerunners to the ALP were established in the wake of a strike in Barcaldine, Queensland. The strike was organized by unionized sheep shearers and spread to the pastoral and maritime industries in 1891. In their first campaigns for the South Australia and New South Wales state elections, these groups primarily ran on the basis of offering stronger protections for workers. These principles would also guide the party as it established itself on a national level.

The ALP officially launched itself as a single party shortly after the federal elections of 1901, Australia's first as a nation independent of the United Kingdom. Several candidates from various Labor parties organized at the state level were elected independently and chose to join together on May 8, 1901. Initially it drew its strongest support from rural regions and unionists, although by the elections of 1910, it had extended its base of support to include white-collar workers, women (who had gained the right to vote in national elections in 1903), and Catholics.

In 1910, the Labor Party was able to form a majority government—it was the first Labor Party in the world to do so. Under Australia's parliamentary system, a majority government only occurs when a single party is able to gain an absolute majority of seats in federal elections. The ALP was also capable of gaining straight majorities from 1914–1917, 1929–1931, 1941–1949, 1972–1975, 1983–1996, 2007–2010, and 2022–2025.

The ALP's greatest window of power came between 1983 and 1996 under the stewardship of Bob Hawke. The prime minister of Australia from March 11, 1983, to December 20, 1991, Hawke became one of the mobilizing forces of the ALP after heading one of Australia's leading unions. The ALP won four consecutive federal elections under Hawke, and enjoyed thirteen years in power—the longest tenure of any political party in Australia's history. Under his leadership, the ALP established national curriculum standards, drafted sex discrimination legislation, promoted advocacy for the Indigenous peoples of Australia, and established a Medicare system.

Divisions Within the ALP

The ALP has seen three major schisms in its history: 1916, 1931, and 1955. The 1916 split was the result of internal party anger over the ALP leadership's support of compulsory military service (which is called conscription). After this measure was defeated, the leader of the conscription effort left to form the Nationalist Party of Australia—one of the political parties that would eventually merge into the Liberal Party of Australia. The Liberals would later become the ALP's major opposition in Australian politics.

The 1931 division came as a result of the Great Depression (1929–32). The ALP became increasingly divided over how to handle the economic crisis and split into three wings: a conservative wing led by Joseph Lyons, which sought conservative economic policies and a balanced budget; a left-wing faction headed by Jack Lang, which promoted infusing money into the economy to stimulate growth; and a concessionist coalition, which negotiated for a middle ground between the two. The dispute proved disastrous for the party. Lyons and Lang both left the ALP to found their own political parties. Lyons founded the United Australia Party, which defeated the ALP in the 1931 elections, and Lang formed a splinter party popularly called the Lang Labor Party, which pulled votes away from the mainstream Labor party.

Rising anxieties about the influence of communism led to the ALP's third split. Australia chose to ally itself with the West during the Cold War in the 1950s. Although the ALP had been largely welcoming of its communist wing, it found itself under pressure to distance itself from these members as communism came under an increasingly harsh spotlight. These disputes heightened tensions within the ALP, and ultimately the anti-communist members were pushed out. This expelled group eventually went on to form the Democratic Labour Party.

These schisms had an intensely negative effect on the ALP's national aspirations. After each of these episodes of infighting, the ALP struggled through lengthy periods of reduced relevance and strength.

Objectives and Policies

The ALP is guided by a platform that is debated and endorsed at national conferences comprising elected delegates from all of Australia's states and territories. This platform is intended to guide the party in policy decisions rather than present specific rules for governance.

The ALP is traditionally associated with a liberal-leaning ideology that incorporates socialist political philosophies. In general, the ALP is pro-labor and against unregulated free enterprise. In addition, it supports progressive government programs, more environmental protections, and greater social freedoms.

The contemporary incarnation of the ALP has two primary voting blocs: the Socialist Left and the Labor Unity (or Labor Left and Labor Right), which represent its left- and right-leaning factions. In turn, these blocs have their own subdivisions, such as Centre Unity, which is a part of Labor Unity. These divisions are a legacy of the party's 1955 split, when the forerunners of the Socialist Left formed their own party. They rejoined the ALP in the 1980s, but have retained an individual identity within the ALP. Ideologically, the right-leaning members of the ALP favor greater economic freedoms, while the left-leaning members tend to be more socially liberal.

Bibliography

"ALP Split." National Museum Australia, www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/alp-split. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025.

"Australian Labor Party." Australian Labor Party, www.alp.org.au/. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025.

Conrick, Peter. "A History of the Australian Labor Party." LINKS, links.org.au/node/602. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025.

Coorey, Phillip. "Only Labor Can Form Majority Government: Albanese." Financial Review, 23 Sept. 2024, www.afr.com/politics/federal/only-labor-can-form-majority-government-albanese-20240923-p5kcm9. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

Crowe, David. "Albanese Leads Labor to Historic Victory as Dutton Loses Seat." The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 May 2025, www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-leads-labor-to-historic-victory-as-dutton-on-brink-of-losing-seat-20250501-p5lvp7.html. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025.

Farnsworth, Malcolm. "Australian Labor Party." AustralianPolitics.com, australianpolitics.com/political-parties/alp. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025.

Willingham, Richard. "Sunday Explainer: The Factions Running the ALP." The Age, 21 June 2015, www.theage.com.au/victoria/sunday-explainer-the-factions-running-the-alp-20150618-ghryk0.html. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025.