Editing Australian Labor Party (section)

=== World War II and beyond ===
The [[Curtin government|Curtin]] and [[Chifley government|Chifley]] governments governed Australia through the latter half of the [[Second World War]] and initial stages of transition to peace. Labor leader [[John Curtin]] became prime minister in October 1941 when two independents crossed the floor of Parliament. Labor, led by Curtin, then led Australia through the years of the [[Pacific War]]. In December 1941, Curtin announced that "Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom", thus helping to establish the Australian-American alliance (later formalised as [[ANZUS]] by the [[Menzies Government (1949–66)|Menzies Government]]). Remembered as a strong war time leader and for a landslide win at the [[1943 Australian federal election|1943 federal election]], Curtin died in office just prior to the end of the war and was succeeded by [[Ben Chifley]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/curtin/ |title=John Curtin – Australia's PMs – Australia's Prime Ministers |publisher=Primeministers.naa.gov.au |access-date=5 July 2013 |archive-date=26 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726084256/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/curtin/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Chifley Labor won the [[1946 Australian federal election|1946 federal election]] and oversaw Australia's initial transition to a peacetime economy.

Labor was defeated at the [[1949 Australian federal election|1949 federal election]]. At the conference of the New South Wales Labor Party in June 1949, Chifley sought to define the labour movement as follows: "We have a great objective – [[the light on the hill]] – which we aim to reach by working for the betterment of mankind.{{Spaces}}... [Labor would] bring something better to the people, better standards of living, greater happiness to the mass of the people."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/chifley/in-office.aspx |title=In office – Ben Chifley – Australia's PMs – Australia's Prime Ministers |access-date=13 July 2011 |date=24 February 2009 |publisher=National Archives of Australia | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110613100927/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/chifley/in-office.aspx| archive-date= 13 June 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref>

To a large extent, Chifley saw centralisation of the economy as the means to achieve such ambitions. With an increasingly uncertain economic outlook, after his attempt to nationalise the banks and a strike by the Communist-dominated [[Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation|Miners' Federation]], Chifley lost office in 1949 to [[Robert Menzies]]' Liberal-National Coalition. Labor commenced a 23-year period in opposition.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/chifley/ |title=Ben Chifley – Australia's PMs – Australia's Prime Ministers |publisher=Primeministers.naa.gov.au |date=13 June 1951 |access-date=5 July 2013 |archive-date=16 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216203242/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/chifley/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/menzies/elections.aspx |title=Elections – Robert Menzies – Australia's PMs – Australia's Prime Ministers |publisher=Primeministers.naa.gov.au |access-date=5 July 2013 |archive-date=12 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512011252/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/menzies/elections.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> The party was primarily led during this time by [[H. V. Evatt]] and [[Arthur Calwell]].

In 1955, the Australian Labor Party split, and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) was formed. The preferences of the DLP were used to keep the ALP in Opposition until the election of Gough Whitlam in 1972.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/alp-split | title=National Museum of Australia - ALP split }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://theconversation.com/australian-politics-explainer-the-labor-party-split-74149 | title=Australian politics explainer: The Labor Party split | date=18 April 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://labourhistorymelbourne.org/about/past-conferences/171-2/ | title=The Great Labor Split 1955: Fifty years later | date=31 January 2013 }}</ref>

[[File:Shame Fraser Shame - ALP policy launch 24 November 1975 (16268632954).jpg|thumb|Labor Party policy launch before a crowd in the [[The Domain, Sydney|Sydney Domain]] on 24 November 1975.]]
Various ideological beliefs were factionalised under reforms to the ALP under [[Gough Whitlam]], resulting in what is now known as the [[Labor Left|Socialist Left]] who tend to favour a more interventionist economic policy and more [[progressivism|socially progressive]] ideals, and [[Labor Right]], the now dominant faction that tends to be more [[economically liberal]] and focus to a lesser extent on social issues. The Whitlam Labor government, marking a break with Labor's socialist tradition, pursued [[social-democratic|social democratic]] policies rather than [[democratic socialist]] policies. In contrast to earlier Labor leaders, Whitlam also cut [[tariff]]s by 25 percent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitlam.org/collection/1973/19730718_Tariff_Reduction/ |title=Tariff Reduction |work=The Whitlam Collection |publisher=The Whitlam Institute |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050720062736/http://www.whitlam.org/collection/1973/19730718_Tariff_Reduction/ |archive-date=20 July 2005 }}</ref> Whitlam led the Federal Labor Party back to office at the [[1972 Australian federal election|1972]] and [[1974 Australian federal election|1974]] federal elections, and passed a large amount of legislation. The [[Whitlam government]] lost office following the [[1975 Australian constitutional crisis]] and dismissal by [[Governor-General of Australia|Governor-General]] [[John Kerr (governor-general)|John Kerr]] after the Coalition blocked [[Loss of supply|supply]] in the Senate after a series of political scandals, and was defeated at the [[1975 Australian federal election|1975 federal election]] in the largest landslide of Australian federal history.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/general/the-dismissal-a-brief-history/2005/11/10/1131578175136.html | location=Melbourne | work=The Age | title=The dismissal: a brief history | date=11 November 2005 | access-date=22 March 2012 | archive-date=2 November 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102130937/http://www.theage.com.au/news/general/the-dismissal-a-brief-history/2005/11/10/1131578175136.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Whitlam remains the only Prime Minister to have his commission terminated in that manner. Whitlam also lost the [[1977 Australian federal election|1977 federal election]] and subsequently resigned as leader.

[[Bill Hayden]] succeeded Whitlam as leader. At the [[1980 Australian federal election|1980 federal election]], the party achieved a big swing, though the unevenness of the swing around the nation prevented an ALP victory. In 1983, [[Bob Hawke]] became leader of the party after Hayden resigned to avoid a leadership spill.

[[Bob Hawke]] led Labor back to office at the [[1983 Australian federal election|1983 federal election]] and the party won four consecutive elections under Hawke. In December 1991 [[Paul Keating]] defeated Bob Hawke in a leadership spill. The ALP then won the [[1993 Australian federal election|1993 federal election]]. It was in power for five terms over 13 years, until severely defeated by [[John Howard]] at the [[1996 Australian federal election|1996 federal election]]. This was the longest period the party has ever been in government at the national level.

[[Kim Beazley]] led the party to the [[1998 Australian federal election|1998 federal election]], winning 51 percent of the [[two-party-preferred vote]] but falling short on seats, and the ALP lost ground at the [[2001 Australian federal election|2001 federal election]]. After a brief period when [[Simon Crean]] served as ALP leader, [[Mark Latham]] led Labor to the [[2004 Australian federal election|2004 federal election]] but lost further ground. Beazley replaced Latham in 2005; not long afterwards he in turn was forced out of the leadership by [[Kevin Rudd]].

Rudd went on to defeat John Howard at the [[2007 Australian federal election|2007 federal election]] with 52.7 percent of the two-party vote (Howard became the first prime minister since [[Stanley Melbourne Bruce]] to lose not just the election but his own parliamentary seat). The [[Rudd government (2007–2010)|Rudd government]] ended prior to the [[2010 Australian federal election|2010 federal election]] with the overthrow of Rudd as leader of the party by deputy leader [[Julia Gillard]]. Gillard, who was also the first woman to serve as prime minister of Australia,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/australias-prime-ministers/julia-gillard|title=About Julia Gillard|publisher=National Archives of Australia|access-date=22 May 2022|archive-date=12 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112211542/https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/australias-prime-ministers/julia-gillard#:~:text=On%2024%20June%202010%2C%20Julia,by%20the%20Parliamentary%20Labor%20Party.|url-status=live}}</ref> remained prime minister in a [[hung parliament]] following the election. Her government lasted until 2013, when Gillard lost a leadership spill, with Rudd becoming leader once again. Later that year the ALP lost the [[2013 Australian federal election|2013 election]].

After this defeat, [[Bill Shorten]] became leader of the party. The party narrowly lost the [[2016 Australian federal election|2016 election]], yet gained 14 seats. It remained in opposition after the [[2019 Australian federal election|2019 election]], despite having been ahead in opinion polls for the preceding two years. The party lost in 2019 some of the seats which it had won back in 2016. After the 2019 defeat, Shorten resigned from the leadership, though he remained in parliament. [[Anthony Albanese]] was elected as leader unopposed and led the party to victory in the [[2022 Australian federal election|2022 election]], and became the new prime minister and was later re-elected with a landslide victory in [[2025 Australian federal election|2025]].{{thumb|content={{center|'''Membership of the Australian Labor Party (1948–present)'''}}
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|caption=
{{legend0|red|Members<ref>{{cite web |title=DATABASE BY COUNTRY |url=http://www.projectmapp.eu/database-by-country/ |website=Members & Activists of Political Parties |language=en |access-date=19 January 2021 |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118193100/http://www.projectmapp.eu/database-by-country/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Davies |first1=Anne |title=Party hardly: why Australia's big political parties are struggling to compete with grassroots campaigns |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/dec/13/party-hardly-why-australias-big-political-parties-are-struggling-to-compete-with-grassroots-campaigns |work=The Guardian |date=12 December 2020 |access-date=21 February 2024 |archive-date=22 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722044942/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/dec/13/party-hardly-why-australias-big-political-parties-are-struggling-to-compete-with-grassroots-campaigns |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Mark Butler: factions are destroying Labor's capacity to campaign |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/23/mark-butler-factions-are-destroying-labors-capacity-to-campaign |access-date=19 January 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=23 January 2018 |language=en |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127221300/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/23/mark-butler-factions-are-destroying-labors-capacity-to-campaign |url-status=live }}</ref>}}}}
Between the 2007 federal election and the [[2008 Western Australian state election]], Labor was in government nationally and in all eight state and territory parliaments. This was the first time any single party or any coalition had achieved this since the ACT and the NT gained self-government.<ref>In 1969–1970, before the ACT and NT achieved self-government, the Liberal and National Coalition was in power federally and in all six states. [http://elections.uwa.edu.au/ University of WA elections database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118085343/http://elections.uwa.edu.au/ |date=18 January 2015 }}</ref> Labor narrowly lost government in Western Australia at the 2008 state election and Victoria at the [[2010 Victorian state election|2010 state election]]. These losses were further compounded by landslide defeats in New South Wales in [[2011 New South Wales state election|2011]], Queensland in [[2012 Queensland state election|2012]], the Northern Territory in [[2012 Northern Territory general election|2012]], Federally in [[2013 Australian federal election|2013]] and Tasmania in [[2014 Tasmanian state election|2014]].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.news.com.au/national/barry-ofarrell-smashes-labor-in-nsw-election/story-e6frfkvr-1226028779988 | work=The Sunday Telegraph | first=Barclay | last=Crawford | title=Barry O'Farrell smashes Labor in NSW election | date=27 March 2011 | access-date=29 March 2011 | archive-date=30 June 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110630194232/http://www.news.com.au/national/barry-ofarrell-smashes-labor-in-nsw-election/story-e6frfkvr-1226028779988 | url-status=live }}</ref> Labor secured a good result in the Australian Capital Territory in [[2012 Australian Capital Territory election|2012]] and, despite losing its majority, the party retained government in South Australia in [[2014 South Australian state election|2014]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-24/weatherill-pledges-more-regional-focus/5340926 |work=the Australian Broadcasting Corporation |title=Weatherill pledges more regional focus amid Brock support |date=24 March 2014 |access-date=4 May 2015 |archive-date=6 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806021503/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-24/weatherill-pledges-more-regional-focus/5340926 |url-status=live }}</ref>

However, most of these reversals proved only temporary with Labor returning to government in Victoria in [[2014 Victorian state election|2014]] and in Queensland in [[2015 Queensland state election|2015]] after spending only one term in opposition in both states.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-state-election-2015/queensland-election-state-wakes-to-new-political-landscape-20150131-132ybk.html | work=the Brisbane Times | first=Amy | last=Remeikis | title=Queensland election: State wakes to new political landscape | date=1 February 2015 | access-date=4 May 2015 | archive-date=26 May 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160526163240/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-state-election-2015/queensland-election-state-wakes-to-new-political-landscape-20150131-132ybk.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Furthermore, after winning the [[2014 Fisher state by-election|2014 Fisher by-election]] by nine votes from a 7.3 percent swing, the Labor government in South Australia went from minority to majority government.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-16/labor-nat-cook-takes-seat-of-fisher-by-election-recount/5969402|work=the Australian Broadcasting Corporation|title=Fisher by-election: Recount sees Labor's Nat Cook win by nine votes|date=16 December 2014|access-date=4 May 2015|archive-date=30 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630081154/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-16/labor-nat-cook-takes-seat-of-fisher-by-election-recount/5969402|url-status=live}}</ref> Labor won landslide victories in the [[2016 Northern Territory general election|2016 Northern Territory election]], the [[2017 Western Australian state election|2017 Western Australian election]] and the [[2018 Victorian state election]]. However, Labor lost the [[2018 South Australian state election]] after 16 years in government.

In 2022, Labor returned to government after defeating the Liberal Party in the [[2022 South Australian state election]]. Despite favourable polling, the party also did not return to government in the [[2019 New South Wales state election]] or the 2019 federal election. The latter has been considered a historic upset due to Labor's consistent and significant polling lead; the result has been likened to the Coalition's loss in the 1993 federal election, with 2019 retrospectively referred to in the media as the "unloseable election".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/may/19/labor-unloseable-election-morrison-australia-plan |title=Labor lost the unlosable election – now it's up to Morrison to tell Australia his plan |date=19 May 2019 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |first=Katharine |last=Murphy |access-date=21 August 2019 |archive-date=31 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531001527/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/may/19/labor-unloseable-election-morrison-australia-plan |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-22/labor-strategising-on-how-to-rebuild-fortunes/11530354 |title=Labor was going to hit the ground running – it hit a brick wall instead |date=22 September 2019 |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |first=Jane |last=Norman |access-date=9 October 2019 |archive-date=11 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011201914/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-22/labor-strategising-on-how-to-rebuild-fortunes/11530354 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Anthony Albanese]] led the party into the [[2022 Australian federal election]], in which the party returned to power with a majority government. Despite Labor's win, Labor nevertheless recorded its lowest primary vote since either [[1903 Australian federal election|1903]] or [[1934 Australian federal election|1934]], depending on whether the [[Lang Labor]] vote is included.<ref>{{cite news |date=4 July 2022 |title=Barnaby Joyce says Labor's 2022 primary vote was its lowest since 1910. Is that correct? |work=ABC News |publisher= |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-05/fact-check-barnaby-joyce-labor-primary-vote/101129054 |access-date=5 July 2022}}</ref>

In 2023, Labor won the March [[2023 New South Wales state election]] returning to government for the first time since 2011. This victory marked the first time in 15 years that Labor were in government in all mainland states. In 2024, Labor lost in a landslide in the [[2024 Northern Territory general election|2024 Northern Territory election]], losing its first mainland state or territory since the [[2018 South Australian state election|2018 South Australian election]]. Labor would also lose in the [[2024 Queensland state election]].

Albanese later led the party into the [[2025 Australian federal election]], in which the party once again won a majority government in a landslide.