Reports of Labor’s death have been grossly exaggerated, writes Dennis Altman in Inside Story • THE LAST sitting day before the winter recess was a charged time in Parliament House. The day before, the House of Representatives had passed Rob Oakeshott’s attempt at a compromise bill on asylum seekers by a bare majority, and many MPs had revealed deep personal conflicts during their contributions to the debate. While I was in the building the arguments were being ritually repeated in the Senate, despite the lack of any prospect of success. At one point during the day, as I was sitting in the small cafe frequented by those who work in the building, a group of five MPs – three independents, one Liberal, one Labor – came down for coffee and an at...