First term Labor and the question of identity: a discussion with the Hon Mark Butler MP

Abstract

In the wake of the culture wars and a clash of ideologies and visions around Australia’s national identity, this article examines the Rudd Labor government’s position within that debate around social identity and social policy. The article offers a provocation to the Labor federal Member for Port Adelaide and Parliamentary Secretary for Health, The Hon Mark Butler MP. That provocation highlights Labor’s past insufficiencies in the culture wars, and underscores the centrality of issues of national identity in the ideas debate. The provocation then questions how these issues are evolving under the Rudd Labor government as it moves through its first term. Mark Butler offers a broad ranging response, detailing his perspective on how Labor is navigating these issues of national identity and social policy, and putting these perspectives into historical context.