Adapt to change or die in the Australian political landscape is the warning Labor leader Bill Shorten gave to his party’s faithful this week.

There has been a shift… [Greek Australians] can see themselves being more inclined to supporting the Liberal Party, but still, in the Greek Australian community there is a lot of support for the Labor movement.

In his speech to party members in Melbourne, the Opposition Leader sought to tackle the power of unions in the Party, increase membership and introduce greater community involvement.

The change in direction will not be met with complete approval, but almost everyone in the Labor party movement agrees that constructive change is overdue.

Labor’s long-standing requirement that prospective members have to be members of a relevant union will be abolished under Shorten, who wants to see a “membership based party, not a faction-based one”.

“I believe it should no longer be compulsory for prospective members of the Labor Party to join a union,” Mr Shorten said.

“People have said that this is a symbolic change – it is. And it is more than that. It is a change that makes it clear that Labor is not exclusively for one group of Australians.

“We are for an economy where everyone prospers, a society where everyone benefits, an Australia where the fair go is for everyone. Union and non-union employees. The self-employed, small business and wage earners.”

With the Royal Commission into union corruption, the links between the two will be drawing bad parallels. Mr Shorten has said any union official found acting corruptly won’t be given any help from Labor.

An up-and-coming member of the party, running as the Labor candidate for Bentleigh in the Victorian state election, Nick Staikos, believes that unions don’t have too much say in the party.

“We’ve got party processes in place that give union members a say but also give rank and file team members a say,” he tells Neos Kosmos.

“I think at times it does appear that it’s heavily weighted to one side, but this is about the Labor party constantly changing, constantly evolving to be a broad based party.”

Staunch unionists and party members see the shift as a good way to increase membership but are afraid the relationship will suffer if the hundred year old rule is revoked.

Former Rail Tram and Bus Industry Unionist (RTBIU) and a member of the numerous Greek-speaking ALP branches in Victoria, Christos Tsirkas says he isn’t completely sold on the idea of distancing the Labor Party from its union history, but can understand why transparency is needed.

“I’m not 100 per cent on that, but on the other side we have to see the influence some unions have on the party,” Mr Tsirkas said to Neos Kosmos.

“Some unions, not all of them, have too much say.”

“There will be some backlash from some unions, but most unions will accept it.”

He says he will be addressing the issue at the RTBIU to see if further action needs to be taken to solidify the union’s position in the party.

Fellow RTBIU former unionist George Zangalis sees a downward shift in the relevance of unions for new workers. The link between Labor and the unions isn’t relevant and can be seen as a hindrance for prospective members. He believes the young wanting to enter the party should not be hampered by the pressure of aligning themselves with a union.

“There are new people coming into the workforce and the appreciation of the movement is very low or non-existent, but they should have the right to enter a political party without necessarily being a member of a particular union,” he tells Neos Kosmos.

Mr Shorten wants to open up and simplify the way people can become party members, effectively introducing a “one-click online joining model for new members” to replace the current cumbersome and expensive application system by June.

Currently, to become a member, people have to attend a local Labor party branch meeting, sign up and pay the application fee.
Mr Shorten wants to see the membership fee decrease to entice younger prospective members and eventually increase membership from the current 40,000 to 100,000.

Has the Greek Australian vote shifted?

For decades, the Labor Party has had the majority of the Greek Australian vote, thanks to the migrant rights Whitlam brought in.

But, as time has passed, Greek migrants have moved past their working class roots and shifted into becoming business owners and professionals. That shift, followed on by their children, means the rights they once wanted to protect don’t affect them anymore.

This shift has been seen by Mr Zangalis for some time now. “There has been a shift, when social positions change the predominantly working class Greek Australians of the ’50s and ’60s are not so predominant now,” he says.

“A number of people have shifted into other professions, and therefore they can see themselves being more inclined to supporting the Liberal Party but still, in the Greek Australian community, there is a lot of support for the Labor movement.”

Mr Tsirkas believes the infighting during last year’s election has damaged the Greek vote, but support is still there.

“The problem with Labor last year was they made a lot of mistakes.

“Still today, if an election as held with the Greeks, we’d still get 50 per cent.”
Bill Shorten’s speech will be a starting point for changes that will feed into the 2015 Labor conference.