Talk:Western Australian Labor Party

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 14:49, 30 April 2023 (UTC)

The ALP's stated 'position' in this article
User:Loytra has made the 'position' of the WA ALP in the Infobox read: -Centre -Centre-left In my view, the position of the WA ALP would be better stated as just: - Centre-left

This would also bring it into consistency with all of the other ALP state party articles on this site:
 * Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch)
 * Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch)
 * Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch)
 * Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch)
 * Australian Labor Party (Northern Territory Branch)
 * Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch)
 * Australian Labor Party (Australian Capital Territory Branch)

Another alternative is to state the positions as: - Centre-left - Centre

In my view it reads badly, and is misleading, to state that centrism is the primary position of the WA ALP. The party is primarily and historically considered a left-oriented party, and while it has centrist tendencies, its primary ideology has never been considered to be Centrism.

This is reflected in public campaigning, as well as the party's documents, and the historical position of the party in numerous sources.

User:Loytra has pointed to a few sources that state the party's position as 'Centre', but there are far more sources that state the party is left, or centre-left; especially historically. In my view to place Centrism at the front of 'position' gives undue weight to the centrist ideology within the party as it overstates it. Relying on recent sources like McGowan's public statements about governing in a centrist fashion (I note he's no longer premier) is also WP:RECENTISM IMO

Do other editors have thoughts on this? Jack4576 (talk) 13:02, 24 July 2023 (UTC)


 * I agree with you. Saying the WA Labor Party's ideology is "centrist" is inaccurate. We can't say the self proclaimed position of a single member of the party applies to the whole party, especially since McGowan has now resigned. We need a high quality source, preferably an academic source, that explicitly states the ideology of the WA state Labor Party. If a good source specific to the state Labor Party can't be found, it would be best to leave the political position entirely out of the infobox. Steelkamp (talk) 14:44, 24 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I can't make the change yet because I don't want to breach WP:3RR.
 * I'll make the change tomorrow on the basis there is a 2:1 consensus in favour of that position here. Jack4576 (talk) 14:55, 24 July 2023 (UTC)
 * There is consensus on this talk page that 'Centre-left' is more accurate than merely 'Centre'. I'm going to keep enforcing that consensus despite the repeat edit war attempts by an IP editor. Jack4576 (talk) 23:23, 7 March 2024 (UTC)