Australia’s progressive forces show signs of fracturing – and a test on free and fair elections looms

Anthony Albanese’s government’s efforts to implement multi-employer bargaining to boost wages growth hasn’t won universal approval. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

If you’ve been following the parliamentary tussle over the Albanese government’s workplace reform package this week, you will have clocked some interesting divergences between the progressive forces in the 47^th parliament.

If you’ve missed it, let’s catch up quickly. Labor’s efforts to implement multi-employer bargaining to boost wages growth hasn’t won universal approval. The case study confirms progressivism in this parliament runs along a spectrum from centre-right to centre-left to hard left.