By Denis Hay
Description
Could a Corbyn-style party win an election? Discover why ordinary Australians are ready for bold, people-first politics.
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Introduction
Could a bold new Corbyn-style party reshape politics in Australia?
Support is rising in the UK for a new left-wing party led by Jeremy Corbyn. Despite relentless media attacks and no formal launch, polling shows 20% of Britons are ready to vote for it, and 52% of under-35s would support a Corbyn-Green alliance. So, what if a similar movement appeared here?
Australia is not short on political disillusionment. Our Labor Party is increasingly seen as timid, corporate-aligned, and afraid of its own base. Could a new political party – focused on justice, equality, and using Australia’s monetary sovereignty for the public good – ignite the same kind of momentum?
The Problem: Why Australians Feel Stuck
Root Cause: Politics that serve power, not people.
Let’s be clear. The main reason Australians feel stuck is not because there is no money or no solutions. It is because the two major parties no longer serve the public interest. They serve donors, fossil fuel lobbies, defence contractors, and the property industry.
Does that sound like democracy to you?
We have seen how neoliberal policies gutted public services, created insecure work, and pushed housing out of reach. Labor’s drift to the centre-right mirrors what happened under Keir Starmer in the UK. It creates a vacuum, a space where a Corbyn-style party could rise.
Related Reading: Why Labor Turns to the LNP for Dodgy Laws
Consequence for Citizens: Real lives, real harm
We are paying the price. Wages are flat. Housing is unaffordable. Climate policy is too weak. And young people feel abandoned.
According to the Lowy Institute, only 55% of Australians under 30 believe democracy is the best system of government. That is terrifying. But it also shows an appetite for change; many believe a Corbyn-style party could finally challenge this neglect.
Could a Corbyn-style party in Australia be the circuit-breaker?
The Impact: What Australians Are Experiencing
Everyday Effects: Rising stress, rising anger.
What happens when governments refuse to act in the public interest?
You get 1 in 4 renters skipping meals. You get aged pensioners living below the poverty line. Not only that, but you get billion-dollar surpluses while hospitals crumble. Australian left-wing parties have been calling this out for years, but the media ignores them.
Also See: Why It Feels So Hard to Get Ahead in Australia Today
Have you ever felt like no party truly speaks for you? A Corbyn-style party could change that. You are not alone.
Who Benefits: Corporate interests above all
While ordinary Australians tighten their belts, fossil fuel giants, toll road operators, and arms dealers cash in. It is no accident. Public money is being funnelled into private hands every day.
If a Corbyn-style party took root, it would directly call out the corporations, lobby groups, and politicians profiting from public money. It would fight to bring these services back into public hands. It would challenge this culture of greed.
Who is afraid of that? Only those who receive help from the status quo.
The Solution: What Must Be Done
Australia’s Monetary Sovereignty and Reform
Australia has dollar sovereignty. We issue our own currency. That means we can never run out of money to fund things that matter.
So why are we told we “can’t afford” to build public housing, restore free education, or guarantee a job for everyone?
A Corbyn-style party would make Australia’s monetary sovereignty a central part of its reform agenda.
A new party could break this lie. With ideas from Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), a Job Guarantee, and investment in peace and care, we could build a new economy based on dignity.
Learn More: How a Job Guarantee Can End Unemployment in Australia
Policy Solutions and Demands
A Corbyn-style party in Australia could champion:
- Free, fully funded public education at all levels.
- Medicare expanded to dental, mental health, and aged care.
- Massive public housing construction.
- Job Guarantee for all who want to work.
- 75% emissions cut by 2030, no more gas expansion.
- End all private donations in politics.
- Break up media monopolies.
- A Corbyn-style party would commit to a permanent peace policy, no war alliances.
Imagine an Australia where the economy serves the people. Not the other way around.
Frequently Asked Questions
Would a Corbyn-style party in Australia actually win seats?
Yes, preferential voting in Australia gives new parties a real chance. Look at the Teals, the Greens, and strong independents.
Are there any existing Australian left-wing parties like this?
Yes. Parties like the Greens, Victorian Socialists, and Socialist Alliance share many values. But none yet have the scale of Corbyn’s movement.
Why is a new political party in Australia even necessary?
Because Labor no longer stands for the working class. People are crying out for integrity, courage, and transformative ideas.
Is this movement anti-business or anti-wealth?
No. It is anti-exploitation. It is pro-people. It asks: who does the economy work for, and who gets left behind?
Final Thoughts
The time is ripe. A Corbyn-style party could capture the hopes of millions who feel ignored by politics as usual.
If the major parties will not build a fairer future, then we must.
We can do better. We must do better. Imagine an Australia where our vast public wealth is used to lift everyone, not just the top end of town.
That is not radical. That is justice.
What’s Your Experience?
Do you believe a Corbyn-style party Australia could work?
Have you been searching for a party that truly reflects your values?
We want to hear from you. Scroll down and leave a comment.
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References
21st Century Socialism in Australia
Jeremy Corbyn New Party
David Pocock
The Greens
Sustainable Party Australia
Victorian Socialists
Socialist Alliance
Australian Progressives
This article was originally published on Social Justice Australia
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Yes please
Yes please
Yes please!!!!!
As a carer for spouse for over 30 years, raising 3 children who are independent and working, and now being OAP living under poverty level and care about:
Homelessness
Sole parents
Medicare survival (needing teeth include)
Supporting free education from kindy to 1st degree Uni
Support for good public hospitals
As well as:
Caring for other nations undergoing Genocide and war
I would LOVE a Corbyn style Democratic Socialist Govt!!
Thanks Abbie, I think you’ve summed up exactly why a Corbyn-style democratic socialist government would resonate with so many Australians. You’ve lived through decades of political choices that chip away at the services we all depend on, and it’s clear that both major parties are unwilling to break from the corporate-first mindset.
The good news is we already have preferential voting, so people can give their first preference to a truly people-first party without fear of “wasting” their vote. To make it happen here, we’d need:
Candidates with deep roots in their communities, not party-appointed outsiders
Clear, costed policies for housing, health, education, and climate
A commitment to using Australia’s monetary sovereignty to fund these priorities
Year-round grassroots organising to keep the momentum between elections
If enough Australians vote according to their values rather than their fears, we could see a party like this hold the balance of power, and from there, build toward forming a government.
Dennis,
I reckon the two (well, one and half) main parties would be scared witless and go out of their way to try and utterly destroy a party like Corbyn’s (temporarily named) “Your Party”.
Without a doubt the quality of life has declined continuously since the’80’s, public assets privatised, jobs going offshore and politicians who talk fear of our neighbours all the time. The consolidation of the media in all it’s forms has contributed to a narrow and negative political scene., fresh ideas are not promoted.
Politics has become a plaything of corporation and the rich, what is needed is a cap on electoral spending, by both parties and candidates. without such changes, I doubt a new political party would get off the ground.
Preferential voting is certainly better than first past the post, but it has a down side, it forces people to vote for the lesser of two evils.
This is an issue so close to my heart as well (no disputes here about whether I actually have one).
Sums up what has gone wrong, particularly over the last generation. Rank and file and the ALP ethic have been swept aside for a fat walleted oligarchic version who have more or less bribed their way into a working society and corroded the ethic through dumbing down, right down to the current AUKUS farce and the obsequious responses here to the US, England and Israel.
Is not the whole sale theft of our gas reserves (when held up against Norway and Qatar), emblemic of our loss of sovereignty?
Thinking libs have also been distanced from the hard right that runs the Coalition. They’ve gone to the Greens, as have many ALP supporters disillusioned by the same issues that saw Corbyn’s demise and deep pain.
Now they have Sturmer instead- what a backstab!
Well Corbyn has not managed power in UK, why would he in Australia?
Many of the policies he brought to Labour were sensible, but he has some odd allies around him and many UK Labour supporters don’t trust him.
The latter is due to his faux non support for EU, while acting more like a Brexiter, against the wishes of most middle aged and younger voters.
There was, once, a Chipp attempt at a “democratic” party, and later, the Aust. Democrats. Gone…and so has any residue of an Asquith liberalism. Only the Teals hint at a “sensible, middle party”, nothing Corbyn there. Intelligent idealism crashes against rocks of media, materialism, consumerism, money struggles, imperious foreigner intrusion, apathy.
I would rather see the ALP brought back towards ideas like the social wage, that is, improving community assets and increasing their support of public facilities, as well as standing more strongly on climate change, peace, equity etc. These little new party groups tend to keep quite narrow focuses and eventually fizzle out and die (the Australia Party, the Democrats for example) and are unable to steer the debate in their direction. If the many supporters of the Greens etc were to join Labor, there would soon be a shift towards more progressive policies.
MMT is an economic theory, and I’m not persuaded that the evidence stacks up.
Perhaps if someone would provide a practical example of a successful economy and society that has applied it.
A Commentator, it’s good to question economic ideas. The truth is, countries like Australia already work under the core principles of MMT, even if they don’t call it that. Any nation with its own sovereign currency, like Japan, the UK, Canada, the US, or China, can always fund its public priorities in its own currency.
In fact, Australia’s own monetary system proves the point. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reserve Bank of Australia, under the leadership of Philip Lowe, created billions of dollars electronically to buy government bonds and support government spending. Lowe openly admitted: “It’s creating money out of thin air. It doesn’t need to print the money via the Mint” (ABC News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-09/coronavirus-economy-printing-money-quantitative-easing/12134560). That’s precisely what MMT describes: a currency-issuing government can always create money to meet domestic needs. Taxes and borrowing are not about “finding the money,” but about managing demand and controlling inflation.
Former RBA Governor Ian Macfarlane has also explained that modern economies no longer work under the constraints of the gold standard. The only real limit is our supply of workers, materials, and productive capacity, not a bank balance.
Japan is a good real-world example: with debt at over 250% of GDP, it still funds universal healthcare, advanced infrastructure, and low unemployment. China is another; its government uses the ability to create and direct its own currency to fund massive infrastructure, technological innovation, and poverty reduction programs, without relying on foreign borrowing.
The question isn’t whether Australia can create money; the RBA already does. It’s whether we’ll use that power wisely and fairly to serve the public good.
Thanks, GL, Jonangel, and Paul, you’ve each raised key parts of the challenge any Corbyn-style party would face in Australia.
GL, you’re right: the major parties would do everything they could to discredit or destroy a movement that threatened their grip on power. That’s why such a party would need strong grassroots organising, trusted local candidates, and a direct-to-voter communications strategy that bypasses hostile media.
Jonangel, the long decline since the 80s, the sell-off of public assets, and the concentration of media ownership have all narrowed the political debate. I agree that a cap on electoral spending would help, but in the meantime, a people-first party could reject corporate donations entirely and rely on community fundraising. Preferential voting can feel like a “lesser of two evils” trap, but it also provides voters with a safe way to express their first preference for a genuine alternative without losing their voice.
Paul, you’ve highlighted one of the most damaging trends: the hollowing out of party democracy, the loss of sovereignty over our resources, and the shift toward unquestioning alignment with foreign powers. That’s precisely the kind of issue a Corbyn-style party could put front and centre, alongside policies for housing, health, education, climate action, and peace.
The obstacles are real, but so is the public appetite for change. If enough Australians vote for their values rather than their fears, and if a movement can stay grounded in community and policy substance, it could break through, even against the odds.
“The obstacles are real”, so right, they are very real, as I have posted elsewhere I believe the introduction of the Credit Card is the greatest gag on the voice of the people. Allowing people to spend more than they earn, restricts their ability for protest. Continual condemnation of the union movement by both politicians and the media has also stifled the people’s voice.
If we are not careful I see Trumpism spreading across the globe, as the saying goes, “money is the root of all evil”.