‘Shoppies’ union’s Josh Peak wins powerful ALP role

The union top job was a springboard to political power for Don Farrell and Peter Malinauskas, now a new ‘shoppies’ face is climbing the political ladder.

Secretary of powerful SDA “shoppies” union Josh Peak has been elected as president of the Australian Labor Party in South Australia.

Mr Peak appears to be following in the footsteps of his influential union predecessors, Premier Peter Malinauskas and federal Trade and Tourism Minister Senator Don Farrell, who launched their political careers after being state secretary of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association.

SDA Secretary Josh Peak has been elected as president of the Australian Labor Party in South Australia. Photos by Kelly Barnes

Mr Farrell also was elected as state president of the ALP, while Mr Malinauskas was elected to Labor’s National Executive.

Mr Peak was the party’s senior vice president and replaces outgoing president Rhiannon Pearce, the state MP for King. He defeated one other nominee, Mark Meegan by 184 votes to seven.

Mr Peak told The Advertiser he was honoured to be elected and planned to focus on seeing the federal and state Labor governments be re-elected, as well as in the shorter term pushing Labor’s credentials in the Black by-election triggered by the resignation of former Liberal leader David Speirs.

“I am honoured the party has selected me, this is a very significant role and something I take very seriously,” he said.

As well as promoting the achievements of the Malinauskas’ government, Mr Peak said he would be dedicated to returning Louise Miller-Frost as the federal Labor MP for Boothby and trying to wrest Sturt from the Liberals in the federal election.

Asked about his further political ambitions, he said he was very happy working at the SDA supporting workers’ rights.

“As for what the future holds, right now I am focused on the SDA and its members,” he said.

In August, in a feature naming the Labor Party’s most likely future leaders, The Advertiser wrote: “If there is a template for a political career in South Australian Labor, Josh Peak is following it to the letter.”

The feature noted the Right-aligned SDA is the state’s biggest and most powerful union, handing the state secretary major influence within Labor and a prized springboard to enter politics.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said: “Josh has spent his adult life representing working people and I know he will bring great energy to the role of party president, just as Rhiannon Pearce has done.”

Mr Peak has been SDA secretary since 2019 and has driven campaigns over retail trading hours in South Australia, public holidays in the Northern Territory, stronger protections against customer abuse and free parking.

He started working at Foodland when he was 15, became a SDA organiser, served on the Australian Council of Trade Unions Executive from 2009-2015 and is a member of the Australian Labor Party National Executive.