Category Archives: Australian Labor Party

The Catholic-Labor Alliance in Australia

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Connor Court Publishing has published my latest book Iron Law No More : The Rise and Demise of the Catholic-Labor Alliance in Australia (ISBN: 9781923568730, Paperback 277 pages, RRP $34.95).

It was once an iron law of Australian politics that the only way for a Catholic to participate and succeed in public life was through the Labor Party because the non-Labor side of politics was a closed shop and Catholics need not apply.… Read the rest

The Damage was done: Demise of the Catholic-ALP Alliance

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To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the dismissal of the Whitlam government, the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History held a conference in November 2025 at the Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne: ‘The Spirit of 1975: Transformations in Australian Labour History’. At the conference, I gave a paper entitled ‘The Damage was done: the demise of the Catholic-ALP Alliance’.… Read the rest