Factions before the 1950s Historian
Frank Bongiorno has noted that there had been several organisations associated with the left wing of Labor before the 1950s, from the
Australian Socialist League in the 1890s, the industrial left which emerged during
World War I, the early supporters of
Jack Lang, and the
State Labor Party of the 1940s. The earliest formal factional organization was the NSW Combined Unions and Branches Steering Committee (later known as the NSW Socialist Left), which was formed in January 1955. In Tasmania, the Broad Left formalised itself in 1983, having taken control of the state party after reforms democratised it in 1976. In the Australian Capital Territory, the Left Caucus was founded after a left candidate was not
preselected in 1982. However, the Left was unable to translate their organisational advances into a presence in the
Hawke government: although about a third of the Parliamentary caucus were aligned with the Left at the time, only one member was appointed to
Hawke's first cabinet,
Stewart West: leading left-winger
Brian Howe placed high in the ministry ballot, but was relegated to a junior ministerial position. This came against the background of an increasing factionalising across the party and the emergence of a centre-left faction which joined with the Labor Right to dominate the Hawke government. Left influence was also restricted by the ALP's binding pledge committing legislators to accept caucus discipline, allowing members little freedom to dissent. Left influence also declined at the national conference, with the faction losing its conference majority in the early 1980s. the latter of which was the successor of the Baldwinites. This divide can be seen through the career of
Joan Kirner, who served as Premier of Victoria between 1990 and 1992 and was the first member of the modern Labor Left to lead a government, who supported the ascent of
Paul Keating to the post of Prime Minister and his decision to privatise
Commonwealth Bank to finance a bailout for the ailing
State Bank of Victoria. This resulted in the formation of a splinter group from the Socialist Left, the Pledge faction, which opposed privatisation: in 1996, Pledge allied with another left split, the Labour Renewal Alliance, and the right-wing Labor Unity faction to take control of the party away from the Socialist Left. == State factions ==