Annika Smethurst: Bill Shorten tries to win by-elections while his troops battle for promotions
THE problems facing Labor leader Bill Shorten aren’t limited to the four electoral tests he must win next month in order to lock in his leadership, Annika Smethurst writes.
Opinion
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THE problems facing Labor leader Bill Shorten aren’t limited to the four electoral tests he must win next month in order to lock in his leadership.
The Opposition Leader is also facing a messy brawl over the make-up of his frontbench after the resignation of his shadow consumer affairs minister Tim Hammond.
Two years ago, Shorten expanded his frontbench from 30 to 32 positions to avoid a factional fight. It has since dropped to 31. With the resignations of Hammond from the outer ministry and dual-citizen Katy Gallagher from shadow cabinet, two spots have recently opened up.
Given the maximum number of paid positions permitted in the shadow ministry is 30, sources say Shorten is likely leave one spot unfilled in order to downsize his crowded benches. But that leaves one spot available.
Former NSW premier Kristina Keneally has been tipped to join the shadow ministry since she replaced Sam Dastyari earlier in the year.
But Keneally, who is backed by the NSW right, faces an uphill battle to replace Gallagher, who is from the left.
The vacancy left by Tim Hammond should technically be filled by a right-aligned member of the smaller states — South Australia, Western Australia or Tasmania.
The moment Hammond pulled the pin, his colleagues from the pint-sized states began jostling for his frontbench spot.
Shorten is yet to hold formal talks about filling the position but senior Labor figures believe South Australian Nick Champion is a frontrunner to be elevated to the outer ministry ahead of Western Australian hopefuls Madeline King, Glenn Sterle and Matt Keogh.
Champion, a parliamentary secretary, has more than waited his turn. He was considered a rising star after he was elected in 2007 but his fierce defence of Kevin Rudd during the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd wars sent him to the back of the queue.
Champion will also be aided by his longevity in Canberra. The resignation of Hammond — a first termer — spooked senior opposition MPs who are fearful an unpractised politician might walk away again. As one MP said “Tim was on the frontbench and he blows it off, we don’t want to see that again”.
To complicate matters, Shorten needs to retain and gain seats in Western Australia at the next election if he has any chance of becoming prime minister. It might be smart politics to pick a candidate from the West.
WA’s Progressive Labor faction — or “Regressive Labor” depending on who you talk to — is expected to ramp up pressure on Shorten to promote Glenn Sterle, a former organiser with the TWU. The powerful new grouping of previously opposing unions includes Sterle’s Transport Workers Union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association and the Australian Workers’ Union from the right and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and Maritime Union of Australia from the left. The powerful alliance is expected to flex its muscle over the federal ministerial positions.
Other powerbrokers within the WA right are angling for Brand MP Madeleine King, arguing that it would be a bad look for the party to overlook a capable woman for promotion.
King, 45, a new parliamentary entrant, is a former lawyer who ran an international policy think tank and is considered a rising star of the party.
Any momentum for right-aligned MP Matt Keogh to replace Hammond has ground to a halt.
With rival states, gender, factional allegiances and upper and lower house representation to consider, the factional fight is far from over.