Word: latham
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...While he is often described as a thinker, he's not one to dwell on the abstract. He's more of an analyst and problem solver: as Americans say, a policy wonk. Still, several themes have endured. First, there's enormous self-belief; Latham "backs himself" and would like others to aspire to better things. Second, he believes in Labor - not just as a political party, but as a movement - "a movement that needs to energize its base and create new causes and constituencies," as he wrote in From the Suburbs. These two streams come together in his desire...
...Labor's education, health, tax and welfare policies - the rungs of the ladder, as Latham would say - where his influence has taken hold. Education is the cornerstone of Latham's world: cradle-to-grave learning, the reform of tertiary institutions and teacher training, more resources, school funding based on need. As in Latham's own life, government schools provide the foundation, especially in disadvantaged areas. Universal health care forms another rung in Latham's social-equalization scheme. Reward for effort is his aim in tax and family policy: a "learn or earn" ultimatum for young people, the removal of high...
...Revolutionary Outsider This "new social democracy," as Latham calls it - rather than British P.M. Tony Blair's "Third Way" - makes a great deal of sense in Labor's evolution. But there's a radical, even revolutionary, core to the mission: a devolution of power. Today, Latham argues, Australians are divided not so much on economic lines as by their access to information and influence. Latham identifies with the pragmatists of the suburbs rather than the detached, latte-sipping cosmopolitans. In Lathamland, "what matters is what works," not dogma or ideology. Latham has said he wants to put power back...
...There's something strange about Latham's identification as an outsider, particularly when he stands a chance of becoming the supreme insider. Nevertheless, he has put himself on a course to fix modern politics, which he says is broken. The public distrusts politicians, he believes, and resents a political system that is wasteful and ineffective. Labor has pledged to improve the machinery of government through leadership: "It will require a government dedicated to advancing the public interest and committed to high standards of fairness, integrity, accountability and responsibility." He also advocates more "grass-roots democracy." Part of this comes from...
...well as promising more services to communities on the edge, Latham expects local people to manage them. He tried that approach when he was mayor of Liverpool, in western Sydney, calling residents' groups "precinct committees"; they quickly ran out of steam. On a national scale, it's a giant leap to think government "can live on the edge of politics" and be radically pragmatic. Is that really what the iconoclast is planning? It's already happening in the suburbs, argues Latham, in schools, child-care centers and sports clubs. Governments should enable outsiders to get on with running things themselves...