A decisive shift in the Labor Party’s Western Australian factions has played a key role in dictating the momentous political changes of the past month.
A decisive shift in the Labor Party’s Western Australian factions has played a key role in dictating the momentous political changes of the past month.
The changes have brought to an end the powerful alliance between Jim McGinty’s left faction and Michelle Robert’s new right faction, which has dominated Labor in WA for several years.
More precisely, left faction members aligned to the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union are now working in concert with the centre faction and the old right faction.
The key question for party insiders is whether this grouping remains intact and whether the new right will join the new majority to try and preserve its influence.
The changes have clearly lifted the influence of former premier Brian Burke, who leads the old right and is very close, personally and politically, with centre faction heavyweight and militant construction union boss Kevin Reynolds.
The factional changes do not reflect policy debates or philosophical views; they have more to do with personalities and power plays inside the party.
Political pundits see the emergence of the new grouping in three events, starting with the selection of Alan Carpenter as Labor’s new leader.
Mr Carpenter, like his predecessor Dr Geoff Gallop, is not aligned with any of the factions; both men gained support because they are seen as electorally effective and because they are not factional warriors.
It’s no coincidence that the two losers in last month’s leadership contest were Mrs Roberts (a declared candidate) and Mr McGinty (an undeclared candidate), who now hold less sway.
The second event was the election to the ministry of Norm Marlborough from the old right and David Templeman, who is part of the left’s ‘metalworkers’ grouping.
Dr Gallop effectively vetoed the elevation of Mr Marlborough to the ministry because of his links to Mr Burke and therefore WA Inc, but Mr Carpenter believes Western Australians are ready to move on.
The third event was the pre-selection of young lawyer and local resident Ben Wyatt in Dr Gallop’s old seat of Victoria Park.
Mr Wyatt has the backing of the centre and old right factions.
The biggest loser in that contest was Helen Creed, who has long been regarded as a major powerbroker inside the Labor Party.
She is national president of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellan-eous Workers’ Union (the ‘missos’) and a vice-president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
Her defeat illustrates the diminished power of the ‘missos’, which is also Jim McGinty’s power base. However, the ‘missos’ are still an influential force, especially inside the broader party structure, and they are expected to try and recover lost ground in coming years.
Those to have gained more power as a result of the factional changes included AMWU state secretary Jock Ferguson and the centre’s Joe Bullock and Mark Bishop.
Mr Bullock is state secretary of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association and Senator Bishop formerly worked for the ‘shoppies’, which provides the industrial base for the centre faction.
Some pundits believe the factional power plays also help to explain last week’s ministerial reshuffle, such as the promotions of Francis Logan and Jon Ford and the demotion of the Mrs Roberts and John Kobelke.
However the majority view is that the changes were based on merit and Mr Carpenter’s desire to refresh and energise the government.
It is worth noting, however, that the leadership contest was not just about factions. In particular, two of Mr Carpenter’s main backers were the new environment minister, Mark McGowan (an independent), and Deputy Premier Eric Ripper, who is from the centre faction but is not actively involved in factional power plays.
They backed Mr Carpenter because they believed he was the best man for the job.
