Australian Young Labor

Infobox Political Youth Organization
name_english = Australian Young Labor
logo =
party_wikicolourid = labor
president = Matthew Walton
colorcode =
foundation = 1891
headquarters =
ideology =
international = International Union of Socialist Youth
regional1_type =
regional1_name =
student =
secretary =
mother_party = Australian Labor Party
website = [http://www.australianyounglabor.com.au/ australianyounglabor.com.au]

Australian Young Labor is the youth wing of the Australian Labor Party. All ALP members aged under 26 are automatically members. Australian Young Labor is the peak youth body within the ALP. It represents about 9500 members in every state and territory in Australia. Former Presidents of AYL have included former NSW Premier Bob Carr, Federal Minister for Agriculture Tony Burke, Special Minister of State Senator John Faulkner, former Australian Workers Union National Secretary and current Member for Maribyrnong and Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services Bill Shorten as well as dozens of State Ministers and MPs. [cite web
title=Australian Young Labor
url=http://www.australianyounglabor.com.au/about.htm
accessdate = 2007-08-15]

Ideology

Young Labor emulates many of the functions of the senior party. Yearly federal conferences are held in Canberra, as well as conferences at a state level, where policy is submitted and debated by elected delegates and members of Young Labor.

The ideology of Young labor can be classified as Center left to Center. Although aspects of both economic liberalism and social concerns can be found in Young labor policy.

Organization

Each state has its own branch of Young Labor, functioning as a party unit (referred to as New South Wales Young Labor, Victorian Young Labor, etc). Nationally, the branches are federated to the National organisation, which has its own President and executive. The current federal President is Matthew Walton.

Regional branches

Activities and Roles

Young Labor is most active during state and federal elections, campaigning in marginal seats. The youth wing of the party may organize members to door knock an electorate or set up a stand in shopping centers to hand out political party notes. Young labor members have a reputation as strong campaigners and extremely keen on supporting strong candidates. Members are often also asked to 'letterbox' party advertising. Generally Young Labor is a valuable campaigning tool to under-resourced candidates that have limited funds. The strength of the Young Labor movement has been witnessed by candidates from both sides of politics. Unlike the youth wings of the Liberal/National party's Young Labor is one of the many important institutions within the Australian Labor Party able to make a difference.

Each year Australian young labor holds a conference in Canberra. This conference last for several days and is usually held over a weekend. Activities include the conference it self and other social activities such as sport.At the conference several positions are elected by delegates chosen from state branches. Eleven non-specific executive positions are also chosen. The National Young Labor President has a position at the National Executive of the Australian Labor Party.

*President
*Secretary
*Senior VP
*Junior VP (Two)
*Woman's Officer
*International Secretary

Criticism

On 8 December 2004, the Sydney Morning Herald published allegations that factional leaders within the Labor Party in New South Wales were “petty, faction obsessed and vindictive.” The article, authored by Aubrey Belford, then a member of the ALP and former editor of the Sydney University student paper, Honi Soit, laments a Young Labor dominated by factional infighting, “Put simply, the party culture encourages young people to devote their energy to pursuing objectives that ultimately have no impact on the real world, and to pursue them through ritual political violence.” [cite web
title=Labor's Bloody Rituals Lead to a Dead End
url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Opinion/Labors-bloody-rituals-lead-to-a-dead-end/2004/12/07/1102182295286.html
accessdate = 2007-10-21]

External links

* [http://www.australianyounglabor.com.au/home.htm/ Australian Young Labor]
** [http://www.younglabor.com.au/ New South Wales Young Labor]
** [http://www.younglaborvictoria.org/ Victorian Young Labor]
** [http://www.queenslandlabor.org/01_cms/details.asp?ID=10 Queensland Young Labor]
** [http://www.wa.alp.org.au/about/younglabor.php/ Western Australia Young Labor]
** [http://www.sa.alp.org.au/lhsmenu/younglabor.php/ South Australian Young Labor]
** [http://www.tasyounglabor.org.au/ Tasmanian Young Labor]
** [http://www.actyl.org/ Australian Capital Territory Young Labor]
* [http://www.alp.org.au/ Australian Labor Party]

References