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'Fun guy' Carr to heal Labor's wounds - Sydney Morning Herald

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'Fun guy' Carr to heal Labor's wounds - Sydney Morning Herald
Mar 16th 2012, 22:20

Canberra: Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Bob Carr, today Friday 16 March 2012. Photo by Penny Bradfield, story by Phil Coorey and Peter Hartcher.

Domestic duties … Senator Carr sees his non-ministerial role as reuniting the party. Photo: Penny Bradfield

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr, says it would be wrong to label part of his domestic political role as an ''attack dog'' as Labor seeks to take the fight to Tony Abbott and redress its ailing fortunes in the polls.

Senator Carr told the Herald yesterday that being an ''attack dog'' was ''not my role''.

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''My style is gentle fun and good humour with the opposition,'' said Senator Carr, who this week described the Opposition Leader as a ''cheap-skate hypnotist in a rundown circus''.

Senator Carr said aside from his ministerial responsibilities, he saw his domestic duties as helping heal the divisions in the Labor Party caused by the leadership tensions between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd and to unite the party towards a common cause.

Describing himself as an ''emollient to help people settle down'', the party elder and former NSW premier said it was incumbent on everybody in the caucus to play their part.

''If everyone makes a modest contribution we can ensure that Labor does not slide into a permanent minority status in Australian politics,'' he said.

''Do we want to be the side that's in government, more often than not, able to pursue our policy priorities, or do we want to be the party of protest and rhetoric from opposition benches?''

Senator Carr was recruited to the Senate by Ms Gillard to replace Mark Arbib, who announced he was quitting the Senate just hours after Ms Gillard triumphed over Kevin Rudd in the leadership ballot on February 27.

Along with fellow Labor statesmen Steve Bracks and John Faulkner, Senator Carr wrote the post-2010 election review into where the party had gone wrong and how to improve. He said yesterday being a member of caucus gave him a role in that pursuit.

''The most important thing about a political party is ethos, or culture. It's far more important than ideology or rule. The way we treat one another, the way we handle differences, the way we process change,'' he said.

''I'd like to make a contribution, a modest contribution towards a more healthful, respectful culture within the Labor Party.''

Senator Carr said Labor was not unlike other similar social democratic parties in Europe and the United States.

''I'm very conscious that social democratic parties are deeply challenged at this time by the contraction of the old industrial and mining workforces, by the fact they achieved many of their basic goals, and by competition from right and left,'' he said.

Senator Carr was ''struck''' by how quickly things had calmed inside Labor in the wake of the leadership ballot.

''Good sense and restraint and respect are coming to the fore in the party's councils,'' he said.

Senator Carr said his move to Canberra had been well received by those who wished Labor well.

''People who are attracted to this progressive side of the political spectrum were in despair about the grand old party of Australian politics tearing into itself,'' he said.

''They don't like the prospect of an Abbott government, to put it mildly, and they want our side to close ranks.''

''So often people came up to me in the last week and they said that.''

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