Working class lost to Labor, says MP

OUTSPOKEN Labor backbencher Joel Fitzgibbon says his party is “bleeding votes” to the Left and Right due to an “institutionalised elitism”.

Mr Fitzgibbon has reinforced the need for the party to reconnect with its working class base ahead of the federal election, due to be called within the next 12 months.

His push comes in response to comments from former British prime minister Tony Blair, who warns left-wing parties around the world are facing “extinction”. He said this was because “voter-repellent” culture wars and identity politics gave the party faithful a sense of righteousness.

“This is a real challenge to the Labor Party,” Mr Fitzgibbon told 2GB on Monday.

“We are bleeding votes to the Right and the Left, as those on the Left insist on going further towards them. I call it institutionalised elitism. The confident view that we in our parties are smarter, and know better, than those in the other.”

Mr Fitzgibbon, who represents the coalmining electorate of the Hunter, quit the frontbench last year, demanding the party ramp up its efforts with the blue-collar base.

“We have to get back to basics, remember why we were formed, what we were born to do,” he said. “And that is to focus on working-class people and to spend less time on issues like climate change; which I acknowledge again is really important.”

Mr Fitzgibbon said Labor secured only a quarter of the votes in northwest Tasmania, once a heartland area.

He said when traditional Labor voters woke up in the morning, they were worried about paying their mortgage, bills and getting their kids to school.

“They are the things the Labor Party needs to spend more time talking about,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.