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ALP
Membership
If you would like to join the ALP or find out how you can support
the Labor cause in Wills, please call the Wills electorate office
on 9350 5777 or send us an email at Kelvin.Thomson.MP@aph.gov.au
Labor's
Values
Labor's
Priorities for Australia
Labor's
Distinctive Approach
Labor's
Values
Labor believes the truest measure of a good society is the care
it provides for those most in need and the opportunity it provides
for every person to realise his or her full potential. Labor's
commitment to a strong economy is therefore matched by its commitment
to justice, fairness and equity for all.
Fairness
Labor believes that all people are created equal in their entitlement
to dignity and respect, and should have an equal chance to achieve
their potential. For Labor, government has a critical role in
ensuring fairness by:
- ensuring equal opportunity;
- removing unjustifiable discrimination; and
- achieving a more equitable distribution of wealth, income
and status.
Compassion
Labor is committed to protecting and supporting those who are
disadvantaged, oppressed or simply struggling to cope
- The Labor tradition has always been to reach out, embrace,
protect and support those in need.
- The consequences of a society characterised by high levels
of inequality include poverty, crime, drug abuse, greed, envy
and insecurity. Accordingly, Labor believes that all Australians
have an interest in the creation of a more compassionate and
egalitarian nation.
Human
Rights
Labor is committed to a just and tolerant society which fully
protects the rights and freedoms of all Australians. Labor supports
the rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and other international treaties to which Australia is a party.
This includes:
- the fundamental political and civil rights of everyone to
freedom of conscience, expression and association, and to due
process of law.
- economic rights' such as, for example, access to tertiary
education on the basis of merit, access to adequate health care
and the right to rest and leisure including reasonable limitations
on working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Labor supports the introduction into Australian domestic law
of the rights recognised and protected in the international treaties,
conventions and protocols to which Australia is a party. In introducing
these rights, Labor will ensure that existing rights are also
protected.
Labour
Rights
Labor is committed to protecting and advancing the fundamental
rights of working people to join trade unions, and to organise,
collectively bargain and strike.
Responsibility
Labor believes that rights must be accompanied by responsibilities
to behave honestly, humanely and fairly. Those responsibilities
must be exercised:
- by individuals, toward each other and the community which
supports them;
- by social and economic groups and organisations, toward each
other and the wider community; and
- by governments, toward their own people, other governments
and the wider international community.
Democracy
Labor is committed to the essential democratic principle that
every person should have the right to a say, directly or indirectly,
in every decision that affects his or her life. That right includes:
- democratic participation in the choice of governments;
- the opportunity for a meaningful voice in decision making
in the workplace; and
- the opportunity for a voice in planning, the environment,
the delivery of public services and similar matters.
Community
Labor believes that the best chance for the future, for Australia
and all Australians, lies in our working together for the common
good.
- Within Australia, Labor is committed to a society in which
every person is able to actively and productively participate
in the life of the community, and the whole community responds
sensitively to individual needs.
- Labor is committed to a community that embraces cultural diversity
and reconciliation, based on mutual respect and acceptance.
Genuine reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people is crucial to our capacity to face the world as a united,
peaceful and just nation.
- Within the international community, Labor strongly believes
that every country's national interests, including our own,
are best protected and advanced by cooperation rather than confrontation
and conflict.
- Labor is committed to the strong role played by community
organisations in both serving the community generally and in
building a sense of community.
- The work of these organisations is an essential part of combating
alienation for vulnerable Australians.
Labor's Priorities for Australia
Providing Security
Preserving national security, and the security of individuals,
is a major Labor priority. Providing security for Australia and
all Australians includes:
- security of the nation against internal and external threats,
including the threat posed by terrorism;
- security at the international level through a strong commitment
to international forums, including the United Nations and its
agencies, and the International Court, that foster peace, cooperation
and justice;
- job security during our working years;
- income security during both working and retirement years;
- personal security in the event of serious illness, injury
or other crisis, or in the case of disability; and
- security and safety in the community living environment.
Creating Opportunity
Another Labor priority is to provide opportunity for all Australians:
- to fully realise their individual potential throughout their
lifetime;
- to advance their living standards and quality of life;
- to gain access to employment, education, housing, health and
welfare services, information technology, culture and recreation,
and the legal system; and
- to participate cooperatively in the life of the nation and
the communities within it.
Environmental Sustainability
Labor believes that protection of the environment is a key value.
Labor understands that the dynamic complexity of living organic
systems is vital to our social and economic existence and sense
of well being. Protecting the environment will involve developing
models for sustainable urban living, along with protecting wilderness
areas. Labor is committed to bringing regulatory, economic and
educational tools to bear on this important question. Labor will
prioritise sustainable water and land management, recognising
the importance of land and water conservation in enhancing biodiversity,
human health, and economic prosperity.
Managing Change to Ensure Security
and Opportunity
Labor has always sought to anticipate and understand the forces
of change at work in the national and international communities
- not to resist that change, but to gain the maximum benefit from
it while moderating and smoothing its impact.
- Successful governments are those which understand and communicate
the reality of that change, and manage it in a way that both
creates opportunity and provides security.
Labor recognises that the twenty-first century will inevitably
be a period of increased globalisation - with dramatically expanding
international competition and technological development, and ever-growing
interdependence.
- Labor believes that this offers Australia unprecedented opportunities
to become a world leader in balancing a dynamic economy with
a fair society.
Labor has led the way in recognising the necessary inter-relationship
between economy, society and environment. It is our fundamental
belief that:
- economic progress is not an end in itself but a means to achieve
social goals; and
- economic and social changes can only endure if they are environmentally
sustainable.
Labor's Distinctive Approach
What makes Labor governments distinctive is our belief in the
critical role of government:
- We believe that strong and active government leadership, with
an effective and efficient public sector operating in partnership
with a thriving private sector, best manages change to provide
security and opportunity for all Australians.
- We believe that government is not an impediment, but rather
a crucial force in building and realising the full potential
of individuals, the economy and our whole society.
Labor believes that government is critical to the achievement
of social justice, in ensuring:
- sufficient basic income and assets to provide a decent quality
of life for all Australians;
universal social rights (including fulfilling employment, quality
education and affordable health care and housing);
- equal rights for those in groups subject to discrimination;
and
- special support for those with particular needs (including
Indigenous Australians, women, people from non-English speaking
backgrounds, the long-term unemployed, homeless, disabled, frail,
aged and mentally ill).
Labor sees government as a guardian of the common good, not
only in achieving social justice but in securing many public goods
which are simply unlikely to be delivered as effectively, if at
all, by the private sector and a free market.
- We see our society as not just a market but a community with
mutual responsibilities. Not all values have dollar equivalents.
Labor has a distinctive vision of how Australia should present
itself in the wider international community. We should be:
- a modern, innovative, socially and economically advanced,
united, multicultural society;
willing to take a confident and independent position in advancing
our national interests, and doing so energetically and creatively;
- willing to pursue wider good international citizenship objectives;
and
- willing to pursue those interests and objectives by working
in cooperation with others.
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