Jul 17, 2026 – 8.00pmThe last material push to distance Labor from its Socialist roots came just over a decade ago.It was 2015, a week or so before Labor’s triennial national conference, the party’s highest decision-making forum and Australia’s largest political gathering.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Phillip CooreyPolitical editorPhillip Coorey is The Australian Financial Review’s political editor based in Canberra. He has covered federal politics since 1998, beginning at The Advertiser before serving as a New York correspondent for News Corp and later as chief political correspondent at The Sydney Morning Herald. A two-time winner of the Paul Lyneham Award for press gallery excellence, he joined the AFR in 2012 and writes the weekly Canberra Observed column. He is a regular commentator on ABC TV’s Insiders program.Fetching latest articles