South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas jokingly acknowledged activists at Labor's national conference in Adelaide, saying, 'There are people with placards, chants and a list of unrealistic demands – and we've given them all delegates passes.'
Staged-managed conference avoids conflict
The conference, part of the 50th Australian Labor Party national convention, has been characterized by a lack of floor debates, a departure from past events that featured major disputes, including those involving Anthony Albanese himself. This is largely due to the conference process, where the draft platform was developed by the Labor Policy Forum, chaired by Albanese and outgoing party president Wayne Swan, settling divisive issues before delegates arrived.
Delegates agreed to push the government to end fuel subsidies for mining companies, strengthen gambling advertising crackdowns, and provide cabinet cover to raise taxes on gas exports. However, Albanese's swift ruling out of a gas tax affirmed his control over the agenda.
Albanese's strategy and the risk of unity
The peace and order reflect Albanese's unchallenged power and his deliberate strategy to counter economic anxiety pushing voters to Pauline Hanson. Stability, unity, and 'practical' policies define his Labor, contrasting with the 'chaos' of opponents like One Nation. Albanese stated, 'We choose outcomes over outrage.'
His approach was validated by the 2025 election defeat of Peter Dutton, but the question remains whether it will work against One Nation, whose poll surge is partly due to voter disillusionment with conventional politics.
Unity and discipline could be viewed as flaws that alienate voters. Former minister Ed Husic, the lone voice sounding this alarm, warned that the party's allergy to 'dissent' could become an electoral liability. He told the ABC, 'It's almost we have become so obsessed about not showing disunity... I'd actually argue the counter: the public want to see people, politicians, particularly in our camp, that stand up for something.'
Husic's push for debate
Husic, who has championed causes like a gas tax, Indigenous truth-telling, and stronger criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza, has been pushed to the periphery, reduced to television interventions and a press conference outside the convention centre. He hopes to speak during debate on Israel and Palestine on Saturday morning, but this is considered unlikely, reflecting Albanese's firm control over the party.
