Labor to move to the left?

Oh I hope so. For too long they've been too similar to the Lieberals. A move to the left would be a welcome breath of fresh political air. I may have voted for Labor under Gillard but was appalled by Labor's stance of asylum seekers. Rudd was even worse.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's right-wing faction has lost control of Labor's national conference for the first time since 1979, opening the way for a big push on traditionally left-wing issues such as party reform, same-sex marriage, tax, asylum seekers and trade. 

Internal party numbers obtained by Fairfax Media show that neither the major Right or Left factions will have a majority of the 397 delegates to the triennial conference, which is being held next month in Melbourne. 

............................. 

Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek has agitated for a binding vote on the issue in recent months but has run into strong resistance from across the party. 

"I think that marriage equality is a matter of legal discrimination not an issue for a conscience vote … but I have to say we are a lot further down the track towards marriage equality than I anticipated we would be going into national conference," she told Sky News this week. 

Other issues the Left is likely to agitate on include a greater emphasis on labour and human rights protections in trade deals, and the question of whether overall taxation levels need to rise. more