hits the fan. Progressive in social issues, but fiscally dry, and constitute the bulk of the parliamentary wings of the Labor Party. Bill Shorten (Former federal leader of the opposition) and Sam Dastyari are examples of people who fit into this category.

Centrists, Christian democrats - see above, but have more socially conservative quirky bits. Some may also be more economically left but socially conservative. Richard Marles and David Feeney fit into this category,

Conservatives - would be in the Liberal Party if they weren't otherwise unionists. Usually hail from the most conservative of unions, such as the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA), which holds considerable sway within the ALP, but even they are seeing the writing on the wall and long held viewpoints are changing. Actual conservativesand shackled with housing and other costs that give an edge of desperation to their efforts to hang on and scratch for the work they can find and hold...Reactive, defensive, yet strong, anger is the dominant mood..." —Prof. Michael Pusey[3]

The party was often accused of jumping into bed with the Australian Greens by its detractors. Although this was true to a certain extent in 2010, when Labor relied on the support of a single Greens MP to remain in power, it also relied on the support of three independents, two of which were former National Party members (and thus very conservative).

The truth was that Lab-Green tapped into a sense of revulsion going into 2007. Howard lost his own seat. It was like the hypnosis suddenly stopped working. Australians