You want to fix NSW Labor? Tear down its Sussex St HQ
Fresh from his walk of shame to and from the ICAC, former general secretary of Labor NSW, Jamie Clements has come forth to offer the Labor Party some free advice.
It could come in handy quite frankly. The horror stories swirling around Labor’s Sussex Street headquarters have reached an arrhythmic crescendo in recent weeks.
The walk of shame outside the ICAC has been well worn and not just by Clements, whose party membership was suspended some time ago. His successor, Kaila Murnain, has finally resigned her position seven weeks after being placed on gardening leave when she tearfully acknowledged to the ICAC she failed to disclose or report under the table donations from figures linked to the Chinese Communist Party.
Murnain had a bit of advice of her own for the party that had just given her an estimated $700,000 parachute.
“I believe it is inarguable that our party has never fully grappled with the nasty culture of sexism which women face in politics,” Murnain said.
Murnain is the first woman to become general secretary. She tops a long list of figures from the party’s right wing faction who have held the position, including our own Richo back when the NSW right was an immovable object. More recently, Karl Bitar and Mark Arbib have held the job.
Both were intimately involved in what was Labor’s most self destructive deed, the knifing of Kevin Rudd in 2010. The party has been reeling since. But as bad as their judgment might have been, they were never foolish enough to have left their prints all over illicit donations.
Ineptitude rather than gender would seem to be the issue with Murnain.
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The general secretary’s position, an anointing from right aligned trade unions, is regarded as the most powerful within the party with the exception of the federal parliamentary leader. The position lies vacant and will remain so until a review announced last week by federal Opposition leader, Anthony Albanese is complete.
The review conducted by former federal Attorney-General in the Keating Government, Michael Lavarch, will examine the role of the general secretary as well as reviewing processes and administrative structures.
Lavarch suggested he had a big task on his hands but it was not something he couldn’t put right. “Some of the behaviours that we’ve seen in the head office,” the former A-G said, “have brought such despair amongst the broader party. This is about fixing that and fixing it forever.”
Jamie Clements has made some suggestions of his own for making the general secretary’s role more accountable and not simply subject to a thumbs up from a coterie of union prince makers.
So many suggestions so little democracy.
I’d like to add to the list if I might be so bold.
Labor HQ. Sussex St Sydney in the heart of Chinatown district. It has to go.
Labor pollies and apparatchiks are never happier than when they’re plotting over a Chinese meal and the Golden Century Seafood Restaurant is only a waddle away.
Tear it down. Move them on.
It might seem misguided to blame the building rather than the people in it. But when you consider all the shenanigans that have taken place here, this is the Australian equivalent of the Overlook Hotel from Kubrick’s The Shining. The sense of poor judgments, crook decisions and bad history is so palpable, you’d half expect Eddie Ward to sidle up as the hallucinatory barman. If only those walls could talk. When they’re not cascading with blood, that is.
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I’ve spent time in the building. It’s not worth keeping. Most of it is a labyrinth of dusty alcoves, cheap carpet, broken furniture and assorted office detritus. Maybe not all of it is but venture into the 8th and 9th floors and it looks like the zombie apocalypse has come and gone.
If NSW Labor HQ must be saved on the basis of some arcane nod to heritage, then let’s keep the facade and turn into a theme park. You must be taller than Bill Shorten to ride. Which is almost everyone. For the littlies there’ll be a treasure hunt. But, please the contents of any Aldi bag remain the property of the party.
The building, like the party, is in need of radical redevelopment.
The question is do we tear down a few walls, create a fresh living space and do up the bathroom? Or do we swing the wrecking ball around?
I think NSW Labor HQ has got beyond a fixer upper. In real estate parlance it’s now officially a developer’s dream.