Labour Party

The Australian Labour Party

The Australian Labour Party has been 17 years out of office and for the last 10 of those years it has seemed headed for inevit able disintegration and decline.

Post-mortems have been con ducted by every political writer of note and now R. W. Raw son, Senior Fellow in Political Science at the Australian National Uni versity, adds his views with “Labour in Vain”?

His conclusion is that the ALP is as capable now as ever of providing political leadership for Australia if trade union leaders get down to the job. But he comes to this conclusion only after he has dissected the party, historically and currently, measured it up against inter national politics and the altered aspirations of trade unionists, and discussed leading personali ties in the labour movement over the last 15 years. An interesting book for those interested in politics. (LABOUR IN VAIN? Longmans, Green & Co. Ltd. Paperback version, $1.95.)