Member for Florey Frances Bedford quits South Australian Labor Party
VETERAN Labor MP Frances Bedford has quit the party and will serve as an independent until the 2018 election. ANALYSIS
- ANALYSIS: Labor’s trouble with Fran only just beginning
- POLL SHOCK: Bedford on track to double Snelling’s vote
- LABOR FIGHT: Minister moves in on veteran’s seat
LABOR MP Frances Bedford has quit the party and will serve as an independent until the 2018 election.
And if she chooses to run for re-election next year SA Senator Nick Xenophon has pledged to do all he can to ensure she beats Health Minister Jack Snelling, who Labor has preselected to replace Ms Bedford in her current seat of Florey.
The move leaves Labor with 23 seats, just short of a majority, but the support of independent ministers Geoff Brock and Martin Hamilton-Smith will ensure the Government will continue to be able to pass legislation.
The ALP last month moved to cut short Ms Bedford’s parliamentary career against her wishes, shifting Mr Snelling from his electorate of Playford to Florey.
In a fiery speech to Parliament on Tuesday, Ms Bedford hit out at the “faceless men” who had made deals to parachute Mr Snelling into her electorate.
Speaking from the Deputy Speaker’s chair, Ms Bedford said she bore “no ill-will” to her former Labor colleagues but issued a warning that “things have irrevocably changed”.
“I say to the faceless men who have taken this course of action that it is the voters — not you — who will choose the next Member for Florey,” she said.
“The hostile takeover, under the guise and cover of the boundary redistribution, removes an acknowledged hard working local sitting MP — primarily because the seat is no longer marginal.”
Ms Bedford flagged that would continue to vote in support of the Government and insisted she still held the “same views, same policy positions” as she had done “all my life”.
She said she had not decided if she would run as an independent candidate for Florey in next year’s election — but it is a likely option, especially with the support of the popular Nick Xenophon Team.
Senator Xenophon told The Advertiser he would prefer to see Ms Bedford win the seat over Mr Snelling and would “discuss with Frances what works best for her”.
That could mean not running a NXT candidate there or directing his party’s preferences to Ms Bedford.
“Clearly in that seat I’ll be doing my best to ensure that she is re-elected, if she decides to run,” Senator Xenophon said.
“I hope that that makes a difference.
“No hard feelings to Jack (Snelling) but yes, there’s no question (of preferring Ms Bedford to hold the seat).”
Senator Xenophon said he had known Ms Bedford for two decades and she delivered a “strong community voice”.
Mr Snelling refused to comment when approached by The Advertiser.
Instead his press secretary said the minister had nothing to add.
As revealed by The Advertiser earlier this month, internal Labor Party polling found Ms Bedford was on track to double Mr Snelling’s primary vote if she ran as an independent.
The polling had Mr Snelling (15.7 per cent) running a limp fourth in the primary vote, behind Ms Bedford (33.4), the Liberals (17.2) and NXT (16.2).
In a statement, Mr Weatherill said he was “disappointed and saddened” by Ms Bedford’s decision and “ we have asked her to reconsider”.
“We’re as concerned as she is about the redistribution, which has been a challenging outcome for the Labor Party,” he said.
However, addressing reporters after making her speech in Parliament, Ms Bedford said she did not speak to Mr Weatherill before or after announcing her decision.
“I totally support the Premier, that’s not the reason I’ve left the Labor Party,” she said.
“It’s been a while coming. I think once the Health Minister was given the preselection that made me think very long and hard.
“I just think I had a problem with the preselection process. The party has rules. I don’t have any control over that.”
Labor Party state secretary Reggie Martin confirmed he had received Ms Bedford’s resignation in writing shortly after she finished her speech, but would not comment further.
In a written statement Mr Hamilton-Smith said he would “stand by” his agreement “to support the Weatherill Government and its delivery of stable and effective policies for SA”.
Mr Brock, also in a statement, said: “Nothing has changed that affects my agreement with the Premier as the Member for Frome”.
Ms Bedford rejected suggestions she could make trouble for the Government as an independent MP.
“I’m not running around with another agenda ... I just want to serve my community,” she said.
Liberal Deputy Leader Vickie Chapman said Ms Bedford had “stood up to the bullying tactics used by people in the Labor Party”.
“She’s said enough is enough,” she said.
“The unstable Weatherill Labor Government is clearly incapable of delivering for South Australians and things are only going to get worse.”
Ms Chapman said Ms Bedford’s decision was a “damning indictment” of Mr Snelling and his health reforms, including “slashing services at the Modbury Hospital”.
MS BEDFORD’S FULL STATEMENT:
“Until next March, I will continue to energetically represent the interests of the electors of Florey and promote their values and right to a ‘fair go’ and the policy issues of importance to them — fundamental things like jobs, affordable reliable energy, access to health and education services and bold new initiatives like universal ambulance cover,” Ms Bedford said.
“I have had the honour to represent the Florey electorate, with many boundary changes, since 1997. As someone who has chosen to remain factionally unaligned, any influence on the centrally controlled decision has been taken from me and I say to the faceless men who have taken this course of action that it is the voters — not you — who will choose the next Member for Florey.”
The hostile takeover, under the guise and cover of the boundary redistribution, removes an acknowledged hard working local sitting MP — primarily because the seat is no longer marginal.
“In all conscience and on matters of principle, I will be resigning from the ALP. I bear no ill-will to anyone in the PLP Caucus, however this a warning to them all that things have irrevocably changed. Without true democratic processes, it will be impossible for candidates to act for constituents and not be beholden to factional deals, and the community will not engage in the contest of ideas a robust party and parliament champions.”