Top-down control and focus group-driven politics had pushed away people who wanted to make a difference towards activist groups such as GetUp. ''We have lost a generation of activists from Labor and, if we do not face the challenges and opportunities of reform in both structure and culture, we will risk losing a generation of voters as well,'' he said.

He said the party was still too driven by focus groups rather than conviction. ''There is … something deeply wrong when we use polling to determine our party's policies, and even our values. Labor must never forget that you do not earn the right to lead by perfecting the art of following.

''In our desperation to avoid bad headlines, we have closed off the avenues for debate that are the lifeblood of our party.''

Dissent was kept behind closed doors. Some saw this as a triumph of party management but Senator Faulkner said it was ''a symptom of the anaemia that is draining the life from the ALP - an apparent aversion to the unpredictability of democracy''.

His comments were not aimed at the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, or any one leader. He implicitly warned against more change, saying recent leadership changes at state and federal levels to redress plunging support had proved futile.