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'Future of
ALP at
stake'
This is the full text of Mr Whitlam's latest
statement:
The long-term future as well as the immediate
clcctoral prospects of the ALP are now at stake.
, Continuance of pn?'-ent trends will reduce the
: urea I est political p"' '-.V IK1,', -ountry has known
.'i into a ssctional ruiiip. ' c'
No party, however proud its tradition and great
its performance, is immune from destruction.
No party can afford to be controlled by people
who want to use it as a vehicle for their own
prejudice and vengeance.
The issue is not the Right and the Left.'It is be
tween those who want a broadly-based Social
ist and radical party and petty men who want
to reduce it t® their personal plaything.
The present extremist controlling group has bla
tantly breached Federal policy as determined by
the last Federal conference. The conference said
that "no educational benefit which is currently
established shall be disturbed,"
Last week this group of men sponsored High Court
action to challenge all existing aid. The);, re
solved, although there was no such agenda item,
that the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party
should oppose further aid for science blocks,
though this was clearly an established benefit at
the time of the Federal conference.
One would have thought that the scheme of assis
tance to students would have first been consid
ered by the Parliamentary Party. Instead it was
released over the weekend without any proper
consultation whatsoever.
. MPs 'humiliated' .
This extremist group has deliberately humiliated
the Parliamentary Party. It has promoted those
whom Caucus rejected. It has dismissed senior
persons whom the Caucus has chosen. Nine days
after they all came to Canberra to meet Mr
Denis Healey, nine members of the Parliamentary
Defence Committee were omitted from the cor
responding executive committee. A week be
fore he was to meet Vice-President Humphrey
with Mr Calwell and .me, the chairman of the
Parliamentary Party's foreign affairs commit
tee was dumped from the executive committee.
The executive preferred two other members of
the Parliamentary committee, two unsuccessful
candidates for the Parliamentary committee, and
two Senators whose motions had been rejected
by a Federal conference.
Does this extremist group ever spare a thought
for Labor activists in the electorate who make
great sacrifices for the party? Did they spare a
thought for our candidate in Dawson, who put
his career on the line in advocating and imple
menting Labor policy?
The Labor movement no longer fears to tabs on
that factional and unrepresentative controlling
group. The party is strongest when it is most
widely, representative, and when it can draw
upon comprehensive ideas and advice.
It is now urgent to reorganise the party -with a
Federal conference based on delegates from
Federal electorates and Federal unions, just as
State conferences consist of delegates from
State elecl/irates and State unions.
This extremist group breaches the party policy, it
humiliates the party's Parliamentarians, it ig
nores the party's rank-and-file. It is neither rep
resentative nor responsible. It will and must be
repudiated.
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