Dominance of Labor’s Left Faction grows in Queensland
Queensland Labor’s Right Faction now holds just 30 per cent of the vote on the party’s conference floor after another dominant performance from the Left Faction.
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Queensland Labor’s dominant Left Faction has secured even more power to influence government policy while the Right has suffered a significant loss following an internal party ballot.
The Right has lost 12 branch delegates from across the state – meaning the faction now holds just 30 per cent of the vote on the party’s conference floor.
It’s understood the Left picked up three, while the Old Guard – which regularly supports the Left, secured an additional four.
The result follows an internal party ballot to appoint branch delegates which is undertaken every three years.
The 212 branch delegates join the 212 union delegates who vote on policy at the party’s annual conferences.
These policies then influence decisions that the Labor government of the day makes.
A senior Left source said they couldn’t understand how the Right had lost “that many” delegates.
“What was clear, the machine on their side of it wasn’t in full operation,” they said.
“It’s interesting how Lytton went really well (for the Right) but the rest of the state they didn’t perform.”
The source claimed the Right Faction wasn’t focused enough during the ballot.
“We had a team of people working on it and they did a great job but we should not have won four,” they said.
The result means the Right now has 63 branch delegates – meaning its vote now sits around 30 per cent.
This is significantly lower than 60 per cent which it boasted during the 1990s.
It’s understood the Left’s vote sits around 50 per cent while the Old Guard’s is about 15 per cent.
Another party source said, “The Left now utterly dominate.”
The CFMEU, which split from the Left in 2020, ran independently during the ballot and picked up two delegates.
There are also four independent delegates.
It’s understood the Right ran as “Modern Labor” on its ticket during the ballot while the Left was “The Left.”
The Old Guard ran as Labor Unity.
The CFMEU ran as the “Worker’s voice.”
The party’s 2022 conference is scheduled for November this year.
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