It should no longer be compulsory for members of the Labor Party to join a union and every supporter should be able to join up with one click of a computer mouse, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says.
In a speech outlining his vision for the Labor Party, Mr Shorten said he has instructed ALP national secretary George Wright to scrap the union requirement and create a one-click online joining model by July.
"Our world and our workforce are changing," Mr Shorten said.
"As a party we can't remain anchored in the past - we need to rise with the modern tide.
"I believe it should no longer be compulsory for prospective members of the Labor party to join a union."
It took too long for people to join Labor, he said, and he wanted to tap into vast numbers of supporters and drive up the party membership to 100,000.
Despite the changes, the union movement will always have a place in Labor, he said.
But there would be no room for corruption or illegality in the party, the former Australian Workers' Union national secretary added.
"If you have betrayed the trust of your members - you don't belong in the union movement," he said.
"If you are in the pockets of organised crime - you don't deserve protection - and you won't get it from us. We don't want you. Get out."
Mr Shorten is expected to deliver the speech outlining his ideas for sweeping party reforms in Melbourne on Tuesday.
He was due to give the address earlier in April but it was postponed after the death of his mother.
Mr Shorten also wants the weight given to local branch members' votes for pre-selecting candidates in every electorate with more than 300 party members to increase by 20 per cent.
He also said he wants to see more primary-style community pre-selections in non-held seats, a system recently trialled in New South Wales.
The national executive will also work with the ALP's Western Australia branch to recommend a way of giving local party members a meaningful say in the selection of senate candidates.
"Our work in Western Australia will be used to inform our other state branches in allowing local members to contribute to Senate pre-selection nationally," he said.
He said he wanted the Labor Party conference to be more representative and for low cost, uniform national membership fees to be established.
The Abbott government and the Liberal Party had always put the interests of powerful lobby groups ahead of the vulnerable, Mr Shorten said.
"If we want to change the government, if we want to change the country, we must change too," he said.
"So today is a day for facing up to some hard truths. Friends, Tony Abbott did not put Labor in opposition - the Australian people put us here.
"And unless we change, it is where we will stay."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/22822086/shorten-outlines-ambitious-plan-for-labor/
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