Class politics is not dead. The Labor Party - which secured a slim majority - did so on a coalition of its more traditional (working class) base and the middle class (many of whom also voted independent and Greens). Key components of the Labor were support for an increase in the minimum wage and the notion that government has a role in supporting working people. Labor were assisted on this latter point by the deliberate neglect and failure of the former conservative government to provide effective services during Covid and a range of fire / flooding emergencies, and cost of living pressures that escalated during the course of the election campaign. Perhaps because of this, Labor were able to avoid / ignore the attempts to engage in Culture Wars that the Liberal Conservatives threw up. It is true that climate change, gender and government integrity issues also played key roles - especially with the middle class voters who voted Greens or independent but there was also a sharp focus on material concerns. What is clear is that for the working class who voted Labor or even Greens in some instances, did so on the basis of traditional class based material (economic) concerns. The new Labor government has inherited significant challenges in energy, the care economy sector, and the economy generally (inflation, low wages etc). The pressure will be on to move away from the neoliberal market based solutions that have caused damaged over the past 20 years. Failure to do could well risk a disintegration of the cross coalition that Labor secured in winning the election. In short, Class is not dead. If anything, the fragmentation of the vote across parties & candidates reflects the search by class actors to find the representation that bests addresses their interests.
Great analysis. I agree that the Labor campaign (rightly) focussed on cost of living, and much of its base likely voted based on economic issues - but despite winning the election, the party saw its lowest primary vote in a century! The Labor Party's aged care and child care policies (which will benefit women) were also central in their campaign and Albanese's victory speech, and gettting started implementing these policies will be important for winning the support of middle class voters. Class certainly remains a central division between the two major parties in Australia, but I think both material concerns AND issues like gender and environment are going to be important for the party to secure support into the future.
Class politics is not dead. The Labor Party - which secured a slim majority - did so on a coalition of its more traditional (working class) base and the middle class (many of whom also voted independent and Greens). Key components of the Labor were support for an increase in the minimum wage and the notion that government has a role in supporting working people. Labor were assisted on this latter point by the deliberate neglect and failure of the former conservative government to provide effective services during Covid and a range of fire / flooding emergencies, and cost of living pressures that escalated during the course of the election campaign. Perhaps because of this, Labor were able to avoid / ignore the attempts to engage in Culture Wars that the Liberal Conservatives threw up. It is true that climate change, gender and government integrity issues also played key roles - especially with the middle class voters who voted Greens or independent but there was also a sharp focus on material concerns. What is clear is that for the working class who voted Labor or even Greens in some instances, did so on the basis of traditional class based material (economic) concerns. The new Labor government has inherited significant challenges in energy, the care economy sector, and the economy generally (inflation, low wages etc). The pressure will be on to move away from the neoliberal market based solutions that have caused damaged over the past 20 years. Failure to do could well risk a disintegration of the cross coalition that Labor secured in winning the election. In short, Class is not dead. If anything, the fragmentation of the vote across parties & candidates reflects the search by class actors to find the representation that bests addresses their interests.
Great analysis. I agree that the Labor campaign (rightly) focussed on cost of living, and much of its base likely voted based on economic issues - but despite winning the election, the party saw its lowest primary vote in a century! The Labor Party's aged care and child care policies (which will benefit women) were also central in their campaign and Albanese's victory speech, and gettting started implementing these policies will be important for winning the support of middle class voters. Class certainly remains a central division between the two major parties in Australia, but I think both material concerns AND issues like gender and environment are going to be important for the party to secure support into the future.