Labor leader Bill Shorten’s factional supporters ‘deeply unhappy’ with Sam Dastyari’s dumping
LABOR leader Bill Shorten’s factional supporters are “deeply unhappy” with his decision to dump Sam Dastyari from the Senate. Three senior Labor figures told The Daily Telegraph there was resentment within the NSW Labor Right.
NSW
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LABOR leader Bill Shorten’s factional supporters are “deeply unhappy” with his decision to dump Sam Dastyari from the Senate.
Three senior Labor figures told The Daily Telegraph there was resentment within the NSW Labor Right about the way Mr Shorten deserted Mr Dastyari over his links to Chinese donors, to the extent there are now cracks in their support for the Labor leader.
Shoring up support for his leadership is understood to be part of the reason Mr Shorten is negotiating a formal agreement with the hard-core Industrial Left.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained a copy of the agreement currently being negotiated which specifically states its “focus” is to ensure a “Shorten Labor government nationally.”
“The NSW Right is deeply unhappy about what he did,” one senior Labor source said.
“For the first time cracks have started to appear.” Another senior NSW ALP source said “there was no one more loyal to Bill than Sam and now that he’s gone, who is there to hold back the floodgates?”.
“This could be a real threat to Bill’s leadership,” the insider said. “Anthony’s (Albanese) relationship with the NSW Right runs really deep. They’ve always been there. They’ve just been held back by Sam and Kaila (NSW general secretary Kaila Murnain).”
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A third senior Labor source said Mr Shorten’s vulnerability was one reason he was negotiating the deal with the CFMEU and other unions. The source questioned why Mr Shorten was getting personally involved in dirty factional deals. “Bill needs to stick to his day job,” the source said.
On the eve of the last federal election, the NSW Right were understood to have discussed backing Left faction leader Mr Albanese if Mr Shorten’s performance in the 2016 poll went abysmally.
Powerbrokers — including Mr Dastyari and Ms Murnain — protected Mr Shorten.
They argued his performance at the federal election earned him another shot at the prime ministership.