Political insiders are those forces in Australian politics which use economic clout, political connections, extensive networks and reliable access to decision-makers to consistently influence political outcomes. Outsiders, by definition, are those which lack these characteristics.
The Catholic lobby now doubts its own strength and influence. The education sector is a good example. While the church's major archbishops have guaranteed access to prime ministers and premiers at short notice, the lobby is still reduced to running robo-call by-election campaigns on school funding issues.
It has great residual strength through its social networks, numerical strength, financial resources and extensive social services, but its brand is damaged by the current child abuse scandals in the eyes of the public, and it often sees itself as hard done by and under siege. Its public campaign strategies are, therefore, a sign of weakness, not of strength, making it better described as an insider/outsider in a state of flux.
The strength of insiders and outsiders can change over time and from state to state depending on political and social circumstances. The status of insiders and outsiders may also vary according to the political issue. Both these reservations apply to the Catholic lobby.
The Catholic lobby never has been a full-blown political insider. The early Irish-Catholic church was an outsider during the Protestant economic, social and political ascendancy. It began to exert political influence through its association with the Australian Labor Party and through its upward social and economic mobility.
It was still locked into the Labor side of politics until after the Labor Split in the 1950s. By the 1980s it was strong on both sides of politics through the migration of many Catholics into the Liberal and National parties.
But at the same time, from the 1960s onwards, Australian culture had begun to change in ways which disadvantaged the church. The sexual revolution, producing legislative reform on abortion, divorce, women's rights and homosexual rights, began to isolate the church from majority community opinion. Although led more often by the left, this new culture was essentially cross-party, including many progressive social liberals. The church was increasingly tagged as too conservative, and usually on the losing side of these debates. Catholics increasingly lost influence in the new Labor Party.
"Catholic values have no natural political party home. The Catholic community is fractured and Catholic MPs hold diverse views. That makes any Catholic lobbying by bishops or agencies difficult."
Similarly, Australian economic policy, led by the