James O’Doherty: Internal attacks will only hurt Labor’s chances of winning March election

Chris Minns’ parliamentary opposition is sitting on the other side of the chamber, but his MPs risk being too focused on enemies sitting beside them, James O’Doherty writes.

Tania Mihailuk cut a lonely figure in question time at State parliament on Wednesday.

Sitting alone on awkwardly placed benches in the middle of the chamber, a hangover from the Covid era of social distancing, the embattled member for Bankstown has found herself with few friends on her own side, after a stunning attack on a Labor Mayor and her own faction.

In fact, the only people who seemed to be defending Mihailuk on Wednesday were treasurer Matt Kean and One Nation leader Mark Latham. Mihailuk is no shrinking violet. She labelled bullying allegations levelled against her last month as a “stitch up,” declaring that she represents “Bankstown, not Newtown”.

But Labor has a big problem in southwest Sydney following a statewide redistribution.

There is now a stoush over whether Mihailuk stays in her seat or whether she moves to make way for Jihad Dib, whose seat of Lakemba has been abolished.

Bankstown Labor MP Tania Mihailuk unleashed on her own faction on Tuesday night. Picture: Tim Hunter

“I’m not going anywhere,” Mihailuk said last month.

But in trashing her own faction and alleging presumptive upper house candidate Khal Asfour has been “tainted,” and linking him with corrupt former Minister Eddie Obeid, Mihailuk has done herself more harm than good.

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour accused Ms Mihailuk of a “cowardly attack”. Picture: Tim Hunter

One Labor source told me yesterday that if the allegations do not stack up, Mihailuk “can’t remain in shadow cabinet”.

In response, Asfour accused Mihailuk of a cowardly attack and dared her to repeat her allegations outside the protection of parliamentary privilege.

It is hard to imagine a world where the pair could work together in Labor’s parliamentary caucus. The Asfour allegations are the latest in a string of own goals scored by Labor in settling its upper house ticket.

As I revealed last week, general secretary Bob Nanva’s authority has been weakened after he considered making a play for preselection but failed to get the support of parliamentary leader Chris Minns.

Chris Minns is under pressure to bring his MPs into line to focus on their real opponents. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

It does not bode well for Labor’s first in-person state conference since the Covid pandemic next month.

There is a saying in politics, often attributed to Winston Churchill, that while the opposition sits on the other side of the chamber, the real enemy is behind you. To Premier Dominic Perrottet’s credit, he has finally steered his cabinet through its own internal war, landing a compromise to deliver the government’s response to the Special Commission of Inquiry into the drug ice.

The response, delivered on Wednesday, came more than 18 months after Attorney-General Mark Speakman infuriated conservative colleagues by proposing a policy seen as going “soft on drugs”.

The two-strike diversion policy, which will let users caught with low levels of illegal drugs escape court and a fine twice if they complete a health intervention program, will no doubt be seen by some as weakening drug penalties. But even conservative ministers supported the government’s final position yesterday as striking the right balance.

“I lived and breathed this reform as police Minister but having gone through it now I’m comfortable that we have the balance right,” Transport Minister David Elliott told me.

It was Perrottet’s 40th birthday yesterday.

As one Minister observed, getting the cabinet on the same page and finally landing a policy after two years of delay was the best present the Premier could have received.

Minns is still in the box seat to win government in March but his lead will slowly erode if his team continues to attack their personal enemies over the parliamentary opposition.