“Light on the Hill”
“I try to think of the Labour movement, not as putting an extra sixpence into somebody’s pocket, or making somebody Prime Minister or Premier, but as a movement bringing something better to the people, better standards of living, greater happiness to the mass of the people. We have a great objective – the light on the hill – which we aim to reach by working the betterment of mankind not only here but anywhere we may give a helping hand. If it were not for that, the Labour movement would not be worth fighting for.
If the movement can make someone more comfortable, give to some father or mother a greater feeling of security for their children, a feeling that if a depression comes there will be work, that the government is striving its hardest to do its best, then the Labour movement will be completely justified.”
– Prime Minister Ben Chifley, 12 June 1949.
Articles 14 – 20 of the DLP Constitution
14. To establish, under Almighty God, the political, legal, social and economic foundations for a just, free and democratic society and for a self-reliant and secure Australia.
15. To decentralise, to the maximum extent practicable, the ownership, management and control of the means of production, distribution and exchange.
16. To protect the fundamental and inalienable rights of each person embodied in the common law, statute and tradition – to life, to the essential liberties of conscience, to equality and natural justice, to ownership of property and to a livelihood that enhances the dignity, status and security of the person.
17. To advance the rights, welfare and status of the natural family, founded in traditional marriage, as the primary provider in the nurturing, rearing and educating of the young and in the care of the infirm and the aged.
18. To assert the right of governments to supervise the nation’s economy, maintain the rule of law and protect the welfare of the less privileged.
19. To make a just contribution to the liberties and welfare of the peoples of other nations and to work for international understanding, regional stability and peace.
20. To promote the principles, objectives and policies of the Democratic Labor Party, through education, organisation and the selection of suitable men and women as candidates in federal, state and municipal elections.