ALP Left vows to fight to the end

By Patricia Karvelas and Steve LewisAugust 03, 2004
LABOR's Left faction will oppose the free trade agreement at today's special caucus meeting, ensuring a lively debate on one of the most sensitive issues to confront the Opposition in years.Despite pre-election fears that John Howard will seize on Labor's internal divisions, the Left last night rejected the case for the bilateral deal.
But both the dominant Right faction and most of the 12 members of the Independent/Centre-Left grouping will back the deal, ensuring it will be formally endorsed this morning.
NSW backbencher and socialist Left factional convenor Tanya Plibersek said last night the Left would vote as a block against Labor support for the FTA.
"We will argue against it in caucus. It's a very substantial feeling in the Left that it is not a good agreement," she said.

"We'll put the argument in the caucus strongly that as it stands this is a deal we can't support."
It is understood that left-wing frontbenchers including health spokeswoman Julia Gillard and deputy leader Jenny Macklin will also argue against the FTA in shadow cabinet.
It is also understood that several members of the Right also expressed their opposition to the deal, including Arch Bevis, Anna Burke and Julia Irwin.
But former leader Kim Beazley yesterday gave what one of his colleagues described as an "impassioned" speech at a meeting of the Right faction in favour of the FTA. The newly-appointed defence spokesman told his Right colleagues that passing the agreement will allow Labor to re-focus on its policy strengths such as health and education.
Ms Plibersek said while there were "some differences of opinion" in caucus there had been an overwhelming feeling that the FTA needed to be stopped, regardless of perceptions that the ALP was split on the issue.
"We are a democratic party. People have a right to a view. We are not like the Government."
Labor senator George Campbell said opposition to the deal was solid in the Left.
"With the exception of the first recommendation, my view is that the 41 recommendations of the Labor senators is the most solid grounds for why we should reject the free trade agreement," he said.
But while there was unanimous support in the faction for the deal to be opposed outright in caucus today, there was a fiery debate around the tactics the Left should use to oppose the deal.
Some MPs argued that the Left should stay quiet about their decision, in order to protect the ALP from Mr Howard's argument that the party was divided because Mark Latham was a weak leader.
"We were conscious of the fact that the Government would use this to undermine Labor and Mark but most people ended up agreeing that the deal had to be fought out publicly as well as in the caucus," one MP told The Australian.