Downfall: How the Labor Party Ripped Itself Apart

by Aaron Patrick

In 2007 Australian Labor was one of the most successful centre left political parties in the world. Freshly triumphant from a federal election, it controlled states across Australia. Labor′s frontbench was full of young, smart and progressive activists. Their leader′s personal popularity rating was sky high. They had inherited a booming economy and the promise of a bright future.

Six years later, the party is in a death spiral, facing humiliating defeat in the forthcoming election. Observers across the country are asking: how did it come to this?

Commentators have pointed to the leadership struggle, to the lack of coherent policies, to an over-reliance on polls. All of that is true but Labor′s biggest problem is one that no-one wants to talk about - ethics. As Labor Party figures front up to corruption hearings, as revelations of deals for mates and misuse of funds come to light, as tales of faceless men exercising power for all the wrong reasons emerge, Labor′s brand is indisputably tarnished.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 11, 2013

About the author

Aaron Patrick is the Chief Writer at The Nightly. He worked at the Australian Financial Review for 18 years, the Wall Street Journal, London Daily Telegraph, Bloomberg News and Herald Sun. He was the Washington Post's Australia stringer for seven years and an op-ed contributor to the New York Times. He lives in Sydney with his two children.

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive retelling of Labour corruption in NSW; the HSU scandal with Craig Thomson; and the election of Kevin Rudd and subsequent political assassination by Labour Party and the installation Julia Gillard as prime minister.

I guess the only problem with this book is it was release just prior to the 2013 federal election where Tony Abbott defeated Kevin Rudd. This would have given closure to the "Downfall" circle of Labour at the federal level.

Apart from that it was excellent.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

good summation of the corruption, scandals, problems of the Labor party and unions at both federal and state levels over a certain period. Would be interesting to hear the author's thoughts on how things stand now, Shorten etc

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Downfall : How the Labor Party Ripped Itself Apart (2013) by Aaron Patrick is the first book in what will probably be a substantial number of books on how the Australian Labor Party (ALP) went from holding every Australian state, territory and Federal government to only hanging on in the Australian Capital Territory and perhaps Tasmania.
Patrick is a former Young Labor member who is now a senior journalist at the Financial Review. The book looks at the corruption scandals, the removal of Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister and also focuses on Bill Shorten, a major player in Victorian Labor politics and a probable leader of the ALP. The coverage of Shorten is of interesting because of Patrick’s background and knowledge of what Shorten was like before he came into parliament.
The book's coverage of Union and ALP corruption is detailed. The Corruption in the Health Services Union (HSU) and the also in the Australian Workers Union (AWU) in the early 1990s is chronicled in depth. In addition the staggering corruption in the NSW ALP by the Obeid family is also described in detail. The dodgy dealings of Peter Slipper are also outlined.
Much of what the book covers is either from, or is in the press. It’s a useful summary of just what has gone so very wrong with the ALP. Patrick still clearly sympathises with the ALP and when he’s describing the ultimate reasons for the probable thrashing of the Federal Labor government he points to one particular event, the removal of Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister as being the most critical mistake the ALP made. It’s hard not to think he is correct. He also points out that the ALP and the Union movement must become more intolerant of corruption in their midst.

[Toni Kely-Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is how the modern Labor Party has lost touch with its grass roots members and the people it is supposed to represent. It's written by a former young Labor member so I felt I could "trust" it more. The book covers the corruption scandals of recent years and I particularly found the NSW Labor Party and the Health Services Union stories the most interesting as they were the one's I knew the least about. I found it fascinating how the unions effectively own the Labor Party and control who are pres-elected for seats based on kick-backs and favours. I particularly found the story of how Bill Shorten rose in the party interesting, as he used the union movement as a platform to fulfill his own political ambitions. As a party that is supposed to represent the "working class" I expect the Labor Party (and some may say unfairly) to live up to much higher standards than other parties and this book show's how it has failed and there must be significant cultural change within the party for it to remain relevant.

[CF · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When yesterday's heroes become today's failures, those who follow are diminished"

A compelling and gripping account of the Australian Labor Party's fall from grace. Stateside and nationally. Exposing years and years of scandalous occurrences, including the disgraceful behaviour of NSW Labor and the spectacular pressure QLD premier Anna Bligh was under during her campaign.

Detailing the Rudd-Gillard PM switch and the 'faceless men' (a term I despise and that has been ridiculously overused) behind it, Downfall is shocking, unbelievable and reads like fiction. The writing is seamless and flows beautifully, with Aaron Patrick making some predictions (as this was published before the Gillard-Rudd PM switch of this year) that came absolutely true.

As a Labor supporter generally, this has gotten me more interested in the workings of the party and in politics. An excellent read.

[Cate · Rating 3 out of 5]

in a word: disheartening. its no mean feat to read about the life, times, failings and toxicity of the ALP and Australian politics of recent years distilled into a narrative of amorality, ethics gone missing and the pursuit of power for its own sake. i say disheartening bc the situation shows no sign of abating. the protagonists have just changed. How to shoot yourself in the foot for a generation to come. a caustic cautionary tale.

[Donherra Walmsley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth a read. No new information or insights.