Party Officials and the Professionalisation of Australian Political Parties
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Campaign Professionals: party officials and the professionalisation of Australian political parties Stephen Mills Thesis submitted to satisfy the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Government and International Relations Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Sydney 2013 I affirm that this thesis is my own original work, that it has not been submitted for any other degree, and that I have acknowledged all the assistance I received in preparing it and the sources it employs. Word length: 95,500 words plus appendices and bibliography Stephen Mills ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements v Abstract vii Introduction 1 New Party Actors and a New Approach to Election Campaigning 2 Research Questions and Significance 4 Hypothesis and Research Design 5 Thesis Structure 6 Chapter One: Understanding Change in Political Parties and Election Campaigns 8 Changing Parties, Changing Campaigns 9 Party Officials: From ‘Back-room Boys’ to ‘Campaign Professionals’ 14 Understanding Change as Professionalisation 19 Discussion 22 Chapter Two: Research Design and Methodology: Institutional and Qualitative 24 Research Method: Semi-Structured Interviews 26 Research Method: Documentary Sources 28 Qualitative Data Coding and Analysis 29 Interpretation and Theory Building: Historical Institutionalism 31 Chapter Three: ‘I Do Regard Myself as a Professional’: Economic, Technical and Ideological Characteristics of Head Office Professionals 34 Professional Campaign Management 34 Professionals on Professionalism 37 Professionalism: a Distinctive Economic Status 38 Professionalism: Technical Competence 39 An Ideology of Professionalism: Serving the Client 43 Discussion 44 Chapter Four: ‘A Highly Contested Ballot’ and ‘Lines of Succession’: Professionalisation and Party Structures 46 Lifelong Party Members 47 Seasoned Campaign Practitioners 48 Elected or Appointed Officials 50 The Liberal Party: a consensus appointment model 51 ALP: a contested election model 52 ALP: a consensus election model 54 ALP: a consensus appointment model 55 ALP and Liberal Party: duration of employment 57 Contested Relationship with Party Leaders 59 Discussion 64 Chapter Five: ‘The Left Hand Never Knew What the Right Hand Was Doing’: Head Office and the Centralising Imperative 66 Decentralised Campaign Management pre-1970s: The ALP 67 Decentralised Campaign Management pre-1970s: The Liberal Party 70 Centralised Campaign Management in a Federal System 71 Appointing a National Campaign Director 74 Strengthening the Head Office 76 Building National Cooperation 78 i Imposing Consistent Internal Communications 81 Engaging Specialist Agencies 83 Building a national party 86 Discussion 89 Chapter Six: ‘What Is Required To Win the Election and What Do We Have To Do?’: Head Office and the Strategic Imperative 91 Strategy as a Plan of Action 92 Strategic Development: Intelligence Gathering 94 Strategic Development: Identification of Strategic Pathways 98 Strategic Development: Message Development 102 Strategic Development: Resource Acquisition and Campaign ‘Know-how’ 105 Strategic Implementation: Message Dissemination 108 Strategic Implementation: Targeting 110 Reviewing the Campaign 117 Discussion 120 Chapter Seven: ‘If I Had Another Couple of Million Bucks’: Head Office and the Funding Imperative 122 Federal Problems of Party Finance 123 Contrasting Models of Centralised Funding 124 ALP: Reforming Internal Funding 126 ALP: Promoting Public Campaign Financing 130 ALP and Liberal Party: Funding Crises of the 1990s and Beyond 132 Debt-funded Campaigns: Living Beyond their Means 137 Discussion 138 Conclusion: Party Officials, Party Professionalisation – and Party Decline? 140 …………. Appendices One: Party Officials: Biographical Notes 148 Two: The First Marginal Seat Campaign 159 Three: Party Officials: Interview Data, Demographic Data and Party Experience 161 Table 1: Research Interviews: where and when conducted Table 2: Interview Coding Schema: Principal Themes Table 3: National Secretaries and Federal Directors: Place of Birth and Education Table 4: National Secretaries and Federal Directors: Occupations and Political Experience Prior to Appointment Table 5: National Secretaries and Federal Directors (interviewed): Prior Election Campaign Experience Table 6: National Secretaries and Federal Directors: Age at Appointment and Years in Office Table 7: ALP Federal Conference Rules: Secretary’s Term of Office Table 8: Key Agency Relationships of Federal Head Offices, 1972-2010 Table 9: Methods of Centralising Public Funding Receipts Four: Interview Outline 175 Bibliography 178 …………. ii Tables and Figures (in text) Table 1: Structure of Major Australian parties: Three Faces (Katz & Mair, 1993) and Two Levels 17 Table 2: Federal/ National Secretaries of the Australian Labor Party: Life Dates and Terms in Office 25 Table 3: Federal Directors of the Liberal Party: Life Dates and Terms in Office 25 Table 4: Prior Campaign Management Experience (Summary) 50 Table 5: Methods of Selection: Consensus and Contested Models 56 Figure 1: O’Neill, Ward (1997), ‘Liberal Party director Linton (sic) Crosby consulting a map on his way to the next election, May 1998’; National Library of Australia Ward O’Neill collection ref nla.pic- vn3564956 96 Table 6: Major Party Receipts as a Percentage of Total Public Funding 131 Table 7: 40-year Electoral Record of the Professional Campaign Model 144 iii iv Acknowledgements The principal debt I owe is to the party officials themselves whose willingness to be interviewed made this research possible. I gratefully acknowledge their generosity in granting me their time, their careful attention, and their trust. I hope I have repaid them sufficiently with this study of their remarkable contribution to Australian political life. I must particularly acknowledge Cyril Wyndham who at the age of 81 graciously agreed to be interviewed in his home in Newcastle. In his heyday in the 1960s, Cyril was rightly regarded as a ‘professional among amateurs’. His death in July 2012 marked the passing of a pioneer. I also want to acknowledge the tremendous support I have received at the University of Sydney throughout this project and, first and foremost, from my academic supervisor Professor Rod Tiffen. Rod planted the seed of this research in my mind several years ago and as the project grew into the light of day he was a tireless, patient and insightful teacher and mentor. I could not have imagined a more constructive relationship and I am deeply grateful. I have also benefited from the advice and assistance of other faculty members in the Department of Government and International Relations, including Ariadne Vromen, Louise Chappell (now at UNSW), Rodney Smith, Anika Gauja, Peter Chen, Betsi Beem and Colin Wight. I have been fortunate to have a highly congenial and supportive second ‘home’ on campus, at the Graduate School of Government under the direction of Geoff Gallop, where colleagues Gabi Ramia, Zina O’Leary and Joanne Kelly, along with Leanne Howie and Richard Prekodravac, have provided support and advice in many ways. I also received great practical assistance from Karen Chilcott and her colleagues at the University’s Fisher Library. On board the PhD roller-coaster, I shared the thrills and spills with fellow riders including Drs Trevor Cook, Naser Ghobadzadeh and Stewart Jackson, and soon-to-be Drs Judy Betts, Ben Moffitt and Chris Neff, benefiting from their constructive feedback while enjoying their good humour and friendship. Thanks all. Off campus, this project evolved within a very supportive environment created by many colleagues and friends. Right from the start, Ian Marsh, now at the Australian National University, has been unfailingly enthusiastic and acutely insightful. Jennifer Lees-Marshment at the University of Auckland provided valuable feedback and, moreover, a publishing opportunity. Malcolm Mackerras kindly provided copies of his electoral pendulum. David Piggott gave me an early idea, Elias Hallaj gave me early encouragement, Imre Salusinszky gave me a contact or two, Vin Plant gave me a book, and Ward O’Neill gave me permission to use his drawing. Fergus Hunter chipped in when it mattered. Jeff Richardson arranged a stay at Trinity College at the University of Melbourne. Again, thanks all. To friends and relatives in Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Queanbeyan, Bawley Point and Tathra who listened to my ruminations on Australian party officials, interrupting only to offer another glass of inspiration, thank you. Thanks also for critical discussions during the many ascents of Red Hill and the one ascent of the magnificent Mt Gulaga. Most of all, I have been blessed with the loving support of my wife Helen O’Neil and our children Janet and Christopher. Their encouragement was vital; they will, I suspect, be delighted at the completion of this project. Stephen Mills November 2012 v vi Abstract ustralian political parties and election campaigns are often said to have become professionalised, yet the term lacks clear definition and the nature of professionalisation as A a process of institutional change is poorly articulated. This thesis elaborates the nature, the timing and the drivers of the changes in Australian elections and political parties, principally through depth interviews with present and former officials of the two major Australian political parties, who occupy the important but long neglected third face in Katz and Mair’s model of political parties. The interview data reveal the distinctive identity of party officials