A labour party

Last night in her address to the AWU conference Julia Gillard outlined in a very short statement what it is that the party she leads stands for.

At the relevant point she said;

The watch-words of this year; the watch-words of our Labor cause; the watch-words of this nation’s future: jobs, opportunity, fairness, being stronger, being smarter. Making sure that the next generation enjoys a better life than we do. Getting work pumping through the work troughs and the factories and the offices now. Creating the economy that will give back prosperity to the next generation of Australians and beyond. That is our mission, that is our cause in 2013 and beyond 2013.

I come here to this union’s gathering as a Labor leader. I’m not the leader of a party called the progressive party. I’m not the leader of a party called the moderate party. I’m not the leader of a party even called the socialist democratic party. I’m a leader of the party called the Labor Party deliberately because that is what we come from. That is what we believe in and that is who we are.

I gather there has already been on-line commentary suggesting that the PM said the party wasn't a "progressive" party. Clearly that is not the case. 

What she did was distinguished the party from just any old progressive party by tieing it very clearly to the interests of labour versus capital.  Useful for those who want to consider deeply the question of "what the ALP stands for."