Will Labor live up to the values of Australians?

That depends on whether Anthony Albanese can lead with the necessary courage.

In his acceptance speech on election night Anthony Albanese emphasised his commitment to “Australian values”, singling out “fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all, the strength to show courage in adversity, and kindness to those in need.”

“Australians,” he claimed, “have voted for a future that holds true to these values,” and in the euphoria of Labor’s success he appealed to Australians saying,

Let all of us work together to build our national unity on the enduring foundations of fairness, equality and respect for one another.

After the divisive politics that Australians have had to suffer in the last decade, calls by a newly elected prime minister for “national unity” on these particular values are more than welcome. It’s a relief to see the fair go and equal opportunity for all reaffirmed as core Australian values and we might hope it’s more than a fleeting restoration.

The fact that around two-thirds of Australians did not give Labor their first preference might cause some cynics to question Albanese’s confidence that election of a Labor government equals a vote for the values he selected and this may not augur well for the durability of his preferred form of national unity. So if the sort of unity he wants is to endure, it may well depend on whether the members of the Labor government demonstrate genuine commitment to the fair go and equality of opportunity for all. Obviously, that can only be demonstrated by Labor if they align their policies with those values.

But this is where things get difficult, because it is an unfortunate fact that several important Labor Party policies, particularly in relation to defence, climate change, higher education, housing, human rights, biodiversity protection and electoral rules, are not fair and do not provide equal opportunity for all.

“Kindness for those in need” does not feature in an unemployment benefit that is well below the poverty line. A “fair go for all”, especially for future generations, does not feature in policies that lock in climate change. “Equality” does not feature in taxation policies that strongly favour high income earners or in persistence with subsidies for polluting corporations or in policies on negative gearing and capital gains that have locked younger and poorer Australians out of the housing market. Nor does “equality” feature in a voting system that allows massive donations by wealthy individuals and corporations. And it’s unreasonable to assume that Australians will be “strong enough to show courage in adversity” when defence policies are predisposed to create life threatening adversity for us all.

Overall there is a wide gulf between Labor Party policies and the values that Anthony Albanese claimed as “Australian”. The significant extent of this mismatch can be seen in a document released recently by Australian Community Futures Planning (ACFP) called Election 2025: Assessment of Major Party Policies. This report lists the policies of the Labor, Liberal and Greens parties and analyses them to determine the sort of future Australians can reasonably expect if elected governments follow those policies.

Labor Party policies don’t imply a rosy future where opportunity is equally available to all. The intent is there but there are far too many contradictions in Labor’s policies for Australians to be confident that they’ll all get a fair go. The reality is that the sort of policies selected by the Greens Party are the most likely to ensure everyone will get a fair go. In this comparative assessment Labor, by its own yardstick, is a long way behind. Its policies are quite selective as to who will get a fair go.

It's also a long way behind in commitment to Australian values other than those Albanese brandished on election night. Australians have freely responded in surveys over recent decades when they’ve been asked about what they value for themselves, their nation and their future. Comprehensive research on their expressed values has been collated in my most recent book, The People’s Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21^st century democracy. So we know what comes first for Australians and it’s not actually fairness and equality of opportunity, although they are certainly right up there.

Australians value their safety and wellbeing before anything else. Like any population, their capacity to think about a fair go is wholly dependent on whether circumstances have first established some confidence about their physical safety. A fair go is a luxury if you’re not safe. And at the moment, we are not. As shown in ACFP’s most recent comprehensive report on The State of Australia 2025, the physical and mental health of Australians is in steep decline and Australia’s exposure to threats from climate change and war is steeply rising.

That being so, Labor might do itself a favour by revising its policies to align with the preeminent value placed by Australians on their own safety and wellbeing. This would be likely to uncover the need for immediate and holistic review of policies on defence and climate change because policies in those areas are currently framed more to threaten safety and wellbeing than they are to safeguard it.

Labor has a comfort zone in policy development and historically prefers to play to its strength in being the party that we traditionally have recognised as committed to the fair go. If that commitment is really central to Albanese, then he shouldn’t have too much trouble leading his party to adjust those policies that are plainly unfair. These should be pretty easy political wins.

We might expect, however, that Labor will struggle with the process of adjusting the policies posing the greatest threat to our safety – those on defence and climate change. These are two areas where Labor’s policies have significantly increased the anxiety of Australians. And for as long as that anxiety is permitted to grow, it should not be expected that Australians will continue to judge Labor as the party of the fair go. It would be useful for Labor to recognise that failure to adjust those policies that pose a fundamental threat to our safety and wellbeing will negate all their efforts in improving fairness and reducing inequality.

Based on its current policies, it’s not apparent that Labor has an appetite for policy adjustments in defence and climate change. If, however, Mr Albanese truly admires his nominated Australian value of “strength to show courage in adversity”, he might choose to lead his party to demonstrate that same courage. That would be the ultimate demonstration of commitment to Australians and their values.

The People’s Constitution summarises the values Australians have expressed for themselves, their nation and their future in about 500 words. Find out more about this rendition of Australian values here.

This article was first published in Pearls and Irritations.

Are you interested in what Australians value?

ACFP routinely scans the results of surveys undertaken by others about what Australians value. The most comprehensive results from these scans have been published in Chapter 5 of The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy by ACFP's Founder, Bronwyn Kelly.

Click here to explore the research and how it is being used to help Australians build a plan to protect the public and national interest.

Want to become involved in establishing Australian values in our Constitution?

Australia’s Constitution is bereft of any statement about what Australians value and the sort of nation they want to be a member of. This has long been viewed as a serious risk. If the people of Australia provide no guidance on the overarching purpose of their nation, they can have no confidence that laws will be made consistent with that.

ACFP has conducted detailed research which shows that the Australian Constitution is incapable of safeguarding the future of Australians, primarily because:

• it offers the people no rightful share of power in their own country and therefore fails to establish democracy in Australia;

• it offers Australians few if any human rights and no protection from abuse of their rights by the state;

• it does not identify the people of Australia as the source of sovereignty;

• it makes no provision granting them a voice in their own governance; and thereby

• it renders Australians incapable of developing terms of trust with those they elect - a vital necessity to the accountability of governments.

In the next five years ACFP will therefore continue to work on establishing a National Collaborative Constitution Convention. This program is still in its infancy but readers can find out how to become involved here or at https://www.austcfp.com.au/collaborative-constitutional-convention

Want to know more about ACFP?

Find out all about ACFP and how to become involved here.