Starmer should look to Australian states for inspiration on effective progressive governing

For 10 days between December 9 and 19 2023, the electricity grid in the state of South Australia, home to 1.9 million, was powered entirely by renewable energy. 

It was an Australian first, and reflected the real-world implementation of vision first articulated some two decades earlier by the state’s Labor premier Mike Rann. 

South Australia’s remarkable energy transformation — from a state largely reliant on aging coal power, to a jurisdiction that at times exports its clean energy surplus elsewhere in Australia — didn’t come about because of national government ambition. Its success coincided with an effective freeze in national energy policy in Australia at the federal level, as conservative governments balked at the idea of climate action. 

Conservative administrations, in office between 2013 and 2022, were actively hostile to South Australia, going so far as using a catastrophic weather event which resulted in blackouts as a vehicle to deride South Australia’s energy shift. It didn’t work. SA’s transition powered ahead. And it is today a global leader in clean-energy.

SA’s climate story is one of long-term ambition enabled by effective, popular — and entrenched — Labor governments at the state level. Since 2002, Labor has controlled South Australia for all but four years. There’s a lot to show for it. 

When I was growing up in South Australia in the early 1990s, the state was in a rut. It was riddled with high unemployment, anemic growth, and was down on itself. 

Today, SA has low unemployment, consistent growth, and is bursting with a healthy parochial pride, buoyed by the state government’s investment in its cultural and sporting economy. 

SA’s Labor government is now Australia’s most popular. And it is using this public trust to take a punt on big ideas — universal childcare, green steel and industry, and the abolition of money from politics altogether. 

Ahead of the UK general election, Starmer’s team weren’t coy about seeking inspiration and advice from Australian progressives. They looked carefully at the national election victory of Anthony Albanese’s Labor party in May 2022. They were right to do so: Albanese ran an effective, smart, disciplined campaign, and returned Labor to power after almost a decade in the wilderness. 

Labor’s win, though, was aided by the disdain Australians felt towards Albanese’s conservative predecessor, Scott Morrison. Albanese’s win was skillful, yes. But a weak conservative opponent helped assure victory. And while Labor’s campaign read the public mood, his government has been less able to capture its imagination once in office. 

After an effective start, the story of the Albanese Government now feels unclear. It has governed well but is on the back-foot politically. Critics cite its failed Voice referendum as the culprit, but its inability to craft a clearer long term story for the country appears equally responsible: the Voice is a convenient excuse for a broader malaise.

Despite significant reforms on climate, workplace rights, skills and education, and childcare, the Albanese Government’s slide in the polls continues. It is now all but certain to lose its majority government at the next election. 

This is in stark contrast to the fortunes of state Labor governments. Today, six of eight subnational jurisdictions in Australia are run by Labor. Three of those governments — in South Australia, Western Australia, and New South Wales — remain dominant, and look set to govern for another term or two, at a minimum. Those that look weak are long-term governments, in their 9th or 10th years. Each has been adept at delivering cost of living relief and practical service delivery, while also crafting a larger story about the future.

This week’s Fixing the Foundations speech delivered by Keir Starmer was a dark and gloomy attempt to be up front with the British public. It might be borne by hard truths, but it lacked a clear picture about what all the struggle will be for in the end. 

Australian state governments that are doing well have tended to avoid such dark framings.

With a number of progressive victories globally in recent years, it can be easy to ignore the fact that progressives remain in a state of flux worldwide.

Despite national victories in the UK, Australia and in the US, progressive grips on power feel weak, even fleeting. This period of progressive renewal could easily be looked back upon as an anomaly in the early history of the 21st century. 

Progressives in the US and Australia may be getting better at winning office in this era of political fragmentation, rising nativism and economic transformation, but they’re yet to master holding onto power at a national level. 

As Starmer and his team prepare for a difficult budget, and a difficult year ahead, they should start to closely examine the progressive jurisdictions where Labor governments are doing very well — at the state government level in Australia. These jurisdictions offer a wellspring of inspiration for progressives who don’t just want to win office — but want to hold on to it for the long run, and use their incumbency to oversee real and lasting change. 

For more ideas on how regional governance could work in practice see William Lord’s piece from 2023, ‘Governing for the whole country: Labour’s regional policy.’

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