The Affluent Worker or the Divided Party? Explaining the Transformation of the ALP in the 1950s

Abbott's Gambit: The 2013 Australian Federal Election

“…In the 1950s and 1960s some cultural commentators attributed Labor's woes to the relocation of working class voters from the tight-knit communities of the inner city to the outer suburbs (Scalmer 1997). This interpretation was challenged by the rise of Gough Whitlam and his appeal to outer suburban voters.…”

5. Political Cleavages, Class Structures, and the Politics of Old and New Minorities in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, 1963–2019

“…There have been significant changes in the policies proposed and implemented by the ALP in the past decades. Following the Chifley Labor government's attempt to nationalize the banks in the late 1940s and the party's failure to gain popular support in subsequent years, ALP leaders gradually reformed the party by limiting the influence of socialist and communist 6 movements (Scalmer 1997). Gough Whitlam, elected in 1972, conducted a series of social reforms, increasing the wages of public sector workers and introducing free university education and universal health care.…”

Abbott's Gambit: 2013 Australian Federal Election

“…In Australia it is the 'suburbs', in particular 'western Sydney' and the 'inner city', that have dominated recent discussions of political regionalism. In the 1950s and 1960s some cultural commentators attributed Labor's woes to the relocation of working class voters from the tight-knit communities of the inner city to the outer suburbs (Scalmer 1997). This interpretation was challenged by the rise of Gough Whitlam and his appeal to outer suburban voters.…”