page_title: Australian Labor Party
section_title: World War II and beyond
hierarchical_section_title: Australian Labor Party / History / World War II and beyond
caption_attribution_description: English: Gough Whitlam at the launch of the Australian Conservation Foundation's newsletter in 1973.
context_page_description: The Australian Labor Party, also simply known as 'Labor' and historically spelt Labour, is a major centre-left political party in Australia. The party has been in opposition at the federal level since the 2013 federal election. The party is a federal party with branches in each state and territory. Labor is in government in the states of Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia and also in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The party competes against the Liberal/National Coalition for political office at the federal, state and sometimes local levels. It is the oldest political party in Australia.
  Labor's constitution has long stated: "The Australian Labor Party is a democratic socialist party and has the objective of the democratic socialisation of industry, production, distribution and exchange, to the extent necessary to eliminate exploitation and other anti-social features in these fields". This "socialist objective" was introduced in 1921, but was later qualified by two further objectives: "maintenance of and support for a competitive non-monopolistic private sector" and "the right to own private property".
context_section_description: The Curtin and Chifley governments governed Australia through the latter half of the Second World War and initial stages of transition to peace. Labor leader John Curtin became prime minister in October 1941 when two independents crossed the floor of Parliament. Labor, led by Curtin, then led Australia through the years of the Pacific War. In December 1941, Curtin announced that "Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom", thus helping to establish the Australian-American alliance (later formalised as ANZUS by the Menzies Government). Remembered as a strong war time leader and for a landslide win at the 1943 federal election, Curtin died in office just prior to the end of the war and was succeeded by Ben Chifley. Chifley Labor won the 1946 federal election and oversaw Australia's initial transition to a peacetime economy.
  Labor was defeated at the 1949 federal election. At the conference of the New South Wales Labor Party in June 1949, Chifley sought to define the labour movement as follows:
  We have a great objective – the light on the hill – which we aim to reach by working for the betterment of mankind. [...] [Labor would] bring something better to the people, better standards of living, greater happiness to the mass of the people.
  
  To a large extent, Chifley saw centralisation of the economy as the means to achieve such ambitions. With an increasingly uncertain economic outlook, after his attempt to nationalise the banks and a strike by the Communist-dominated Miners' Federation, Chifley lost office in 1949 to Robert Menzies' Liberal-National Coalition. Labor commenced a 23-year period in opposition. The party was primarily led during this time by H. V. Evatt and Arthur Calwell. 
  Various ideological beliefs were factionalised under reforms to the ALP under Gough Whitlam, resulting in what is now known as the Socialist Left who tend to favour a more interventionist economic policy and more socially progressive ideals, and Labor Right, the now dominant faction that tends to be more economically liberal and focus to a lesser extent on social issues. The Whitlam Labor government, marking a break with Labor's socialist tradition, pursued social-democratic policies rather than democratic socialist policies. In contrast to earlier Labor leaders, Whitlam also cut tariffs by 25 percent. Whitlam led the Federal Labor Party back to office at the 1972 and 1974 federal elections, and passed a large amount of legislation. The Whitlam Government lost office following the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis and dismissal by Governor-General John Kerr after the Coalition blocked supply in the Senate after a series of political scandals, and was defeated at the 1975 federal election. Whitlam remains the only Prime Minister to have his commission terminated in that manner. Whitlam also lost the 1977 federal election and subsequently resigned as leader.
  Bill Hayden succeeded Whitlam as leader in the 1980 federal election the party managed to gain more seats however they still lost. In 1983, Bob Hawke became leader of the party after Hayden resigned to avoid a leadership spill.
  Bob Hawke led Labor back to office at the 1983 federal election and the party won 4 elections under Hawke. In December 1991 Paul Keating defeated Bob Hawke in a leadership spill. The Party then won the 1993 federal election. The Hawke–Keating Government was in power for 13 years with 5 terms until defeated by John Howard at the 1996 federal election. This was the longest period the party was in Government.
  Kim Beazley led the party to the 1998 federal election, winning 51 percent of the two-party-preferred vote but falling short on seats, and lost ground at the 2001 federal election. Mark Latham led Labor to the 2004 federal election but lost further ground. Beazley replaced Latham in 2005. Beazley in turn was challenged by Kevin Rudd.
  Rudd went on to defeat John Howard at the 2007 federal election with 52.7 percent of the two-party vote. The Rudd Government ended prior to the 2010 federal electio
caption: Gough Whitlam, Prime Minister 1972–75
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