The graph is from page 101 of a Parliamentary Library paper on the 2007 federal election. It shows voting patterns disaggregated by electorates ranked in four socio-economic groups according to income.
As Brian Costar observes at Australian Policy Online, it doesn’t mean what you think it means - particularly if your perception of “Howard’s battlers” is that they’re all outer suburban. It’s an artefact of a correlation between voting patterns and low incomes in rural and regional electorates.
I haven’t had a chance to look at the full report, but I’m sure there’s lots of interesting stuff in there for the psephologically inclined.
“Low” class. Mmmm, used to be called working class in the ol’ days.
That’s quite a figure for “High”.
Low income rather than class, Darlene.
Thank Christ for that. I was shocked that in good old egalitarian (cough cough) Oz we were using terms like low class and high class etc. As I said, thank Christ we are not.
Lots of people with low incomes are quite classy, Darlene!
Most of the people who write for LP could attest to that, Kim.
A good chunk of the low income in rural electorates has to do with the large number of pensioners in, and the aging nature of, some of those rural electorates.
“It shows voting patterns disaggregated by four socio-economic groups.”
I think it shows voting patterns disaggregated by four socio-economic groups of electorates. So labor got 51.19% of the vote in high income electorates, not 51.19% of the vote from high income people. This is not the same thing, because there is a range of incomes in every electorate. Wentworth, for instance, is high income on average, but it ranges from grungy Surrey Hills to uber-rich Darling Point.
“Lots of people with low incomes are quite classy”
As a janitor, I’m flattered.
Spiros, yes, sorry I should have (and will) make that clearer.
And inversely, of course, lots of people on high incomes are bogans.
“Middle class” is a very vexed label in itself just at this point in history. In the US people are starting to point out how a vast number of families are one job loss, illness or accident away from complete penury. Many families who are appearing to lead a fairly middle class lifestyle are in fact hocked to the hilt, and markers of the “traditional” middle class, such as home ownership, are being priced out of their reach. It’s a bit odd that Labor would be reported as more middle class while others are pointing to the “disappearing middle”. Which one is right?
Could we get a NP?liberal split? That might tease out some of the rural poor.
They are afterall supposed to be separate parties.
Wonder which way the greens break? probably poor, due to age classes.
I’d suggest following the link to the report, wilful. There may well be more info. Sorry that I don’t have time at the moment.
Nah Wilful.
Green HoR votes rise steadily from 10% in high.
Here’s a more comprehensive version of the same.
Wilful and FDB, FYI the Greens by bracket:
Low 5.99%
Low Middle 7.03%
Upper Middle 7.80%
High 10.27%
Heh. I just elided half my sentence by using ‘less than’ and ‘greater than’ symbols. Should read “…from just under 5 in low income bracket to just over ten in high.”
Wilful, you missed Spiros’ point about it being based on the socio-economic profile of electorates. There’s two factors at work which makes the Greens vote break different to what you expected. Our strongest vote is mostly in high income Divisions (Sydney, Melbourne, Grayndler etc) and our weakest vote is mostly Rural electorates, which are generally lower income (Flynn, Dawson, Mallee, Calare, Parkes)
d
Interesting that the people who’ve done best out of the capitalist system are most likeley to vote radical socialist *tongue in cheek*
Stephen @ 18 - I think it probably has more to do with education levels than anything else.
Everyone”
Amazed [and sceptical too] at the extraordinarily high score for Labor in the low-income/worker part.
Labor abandoned the awful smelly proles back in the ‘Seventies …. and many of the ordinary workers, having no champions at all on what was once the Left side of politics, voted for Howard and kept on voting for Howard.
Howard may have been, in my opinion, the worst prime minister we ever had but he was cunning enough to exploit this political homelessness for all it was worth.
Labor will never never never try to win back all the workers it abandoned …. because it would go right against the grain of those with influence in the ALP nowadays to do so.
Maybe it’s time someone took consumer protection action against the ALP and forced them to remove the “L” from their initials.
Graham, that’s misreading the whole point of the graph. See all the previous discussion about what it actually demonstrates.
“many of the ordinary workers, having no champions at all on what was once the Left side of politics, voted for Howard and kept on voting for Howard.”
Graham, what’s your basis for this assertion? Once you take rural electorates out of the mix the ALP absolutely dominates low income electorates. I don’t think there’s any evidence to support the idea that ‘ordinary workers’ supported Howard, but I’m eager to be corrected.
d
“Maybe it’s time someone took consumer protection action against the ALP and forced them to remove the “L” from their initials.”
I know more than one Union official who wonders whether that was what the Labour Party had in mind when it became the Labor Party. :^)
d
“Once you take rural electorates out of the mix the ALP absolutely dominates low income electorates.”
But aren’t most of the poorest electorates rural so why has the ALP message so little appeal in these seats?
The ALP isn’t even running a candidate in the Lyne byelection .
P Comitatus thinks it reflects pensioner numbers in these seats but here in the Cowper electorate we have a very large welfare dependent population and the vote is closer.Still the Nationals think of this as a natural seat of theirs.
There is a labor party running in Lyne. It’s called the DLP. To compare with the above, the top 10 NSW electorates that received the highest % of DLP NSW senate votes (’07) were Parkes, Calare, New England, Blaxland, Wollongong, Riverina, Fowler, Prospect, Werriwas and Farrer. These voters are predominantly from poorer, working class and farming areas (top 3 are rural). Stat’s don’t prove everything, but it is true in anycase that the ALP has ceased in any real sense to be a Labor party (see Clive Hamilton’s ‘The death of social democracy’; for eg’s nationalisation policy) and it no longer represents workers (ask the unions). Further, no major party currently represents the interests of country people. Lyne symbolises this: neglected by the nationals, and the ALP doesn’t bother to run. Now that the DLP has reformed as a NSW state party, there’s some hope at both federal and state levels. Dale Higgins, DLP NSW Vice President.
Sorry, “privatisation” policy, not “nationalisation” policy (wishful thinking)
Good to see the DLP have reformed at state level in NSW to give real working people a party to vote for. The DLP will do better in Lyne, (especially in the southern part around Taree), than in Mayo. I dont think anybody will beat Rob Oakshot, he is very popular in that area.
This will give voters the chance to see DLP policies.
Beware the Communist menace!
I’m dying and all I hear is insults.
The working class can kiss my arse, I’ve got a Plasma screen at last!
Yeah must be about time for a DLP win.
The policies look good. Certainly suite the demographics of Lyne.
Maybe a longshot to watch ?
1984
The Communist Menace wrote:
“I’m dying and all I hear is insults.”
Really? Last time I saw you you were looking quite well, traipsing around Venezuela and Bolivia (and Germany, for that matter), in between writing all those text books you force down our kiddies’ throats in public schools.
Caught a stomach bug or something?
Honestly though, I’m not overly impressed with the DLP running in Lyne. I’m from the area, and while I’ll tolerate the Nats and Oakeshott, I feel unclean now.
It’s bad enough that we already have one right-wing “labor” party in this country.
That said, better Lyne than, say, Lakemba. Oh, wait…
Bolivia and Venezuela, eh? And what of the powerful Maoists in Nepal, Wombo?? Or do you think these days “Maoism” isn’t Communist?
Oh, I pine for the day the working class were the WORKING class rather than Rudd’s pallid “working families”. (Having finally brought myself to finally use that pallid Ruddism, I’ll spew up on behalf of those of you who find it as revolting as I do.)
I sometimes think people of my ilk were better off when we were the lower orders. At least back then, we could riot with relative impunity, tear down the houses of the ruling class and loot the shops of the profiteering middling sort if they tried to squeeze us on the price of bread or corn [ie wheat].
Just sayin’.
Maoism was never communism. It was only ever about Mao. What a wonderful confidence trick though. To con 800 million people like that.
RESPECT! Give the man respect!
Would also be interesting to see what some of these classes consisted of- is the lower bracket dominated by ‘rich kids’ with no income and simply living off mummy and daddy?
Hardly likely! As has been mentioned in the thread and in the post, it’s a division of electorates by income, and most of the ones in the “low income” category are rural and regional electorates. It’s not attempting to construct a measure of social class.
The Democratic Labor Party is neither of the Right or the Left as suggested by one contributor to this forum.
DLP policies are comprehensive; party structures open and democratic; constitution and principles founded on orthodox values and traditions.
I invite people to read our constitution, policies and comments section before forming a judgment. Please go to ourwebsite at: http://www.dlp.org.au/
Michael, I looked, I laughed, I left. (And what is with the laurel wreath? Imperial symbolism much?).
That said, we live in a (ahem!) “democracy”, where you are free to have your own wacky, red-under-the-bed, one-hail-mary-with-two-shotguns views, and I can have mine: http://www.socialist-alliance.org/
But please. “The Democratic Labor Party is neither of the Right or the Left”?
C’mon, you’re murdering me. Do I look like a cooked goose?
More relevantly to this dimension of space-time, does anyone know much on James Langley? Former ALP candidate in Lyne, now running as an independent for the Port Macquarie by-election.
He’s had a few less than pleasant things to say about Head Office, and the energy sell-off: http://laurieton.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/rallying-against-power-privatisation/1255492.aspx and http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2008/08/13/1218307006749.html
Dear Wombo
Admidst your laughing please spare a thought for the majority of ALP members ( over 7:1) at ALP State Conference you correctly rejected the sell off of NSW’s electricity. Start crying, because the Cabinet is still supporting Iemma…still.
Need for a change to the DLP where privatisation is against our policies.
Wakeup Wombat.