Matt Thistlethwaite to replace Joel Fitzgibbon as faction chief
Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite is expected to replace Joel Fitzgibbon convener of the Right faction on Monday, as the party moves to heal divisions over its policy direction.
Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite is expected to replace Joel Fitzgibbon as convener of the Right faction on Monday, as the party moves to heal divisions over its policy direction.
Nominations for the position of NSW Right faction convener close at 9am on Monday, after Mr Fitzgibbon announced his intention to step down from the role to become a “policy leader”.
Mr Thistlethwaite, the member for the Sydney seat of Kingsford Smith, is expected to take the post unopposed but there will be a vote on Monday afternoon if a contender emerges.
Labor sources say Mr Thistlethwaite is likely to also become national Right convener — an unofficial role usually handed to the NSW convener as it is the biggest group in the faction.
Mr Fitzgibbon quit the role after facing pressure to stand aside because of the controversy surrounding his public stance on climate change and energy policy.
He served as NSW Right and national Right convener since 2010.
Senior Right faction MPs, including Tony Burke and Mark Dreyfus, had complained Mr Fitzgibbon’s freelancing reflected badly on the entire faction.
After quitting the frontbench this month, Mr Fitzgibbon said he wanted to express his opinions “without the risk of them being taken as the views of every member of the faction”.
“I don’t want to any longer be talked about as a faction leader. I want to be talked about as a policy leader,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.
Mr Fitzgibbon has destabilised Anthony Albanese’s leadership since joining the backbench, leading to rumblings within caucus over the direction of the party and its ability to match Prime Minister Scott Morrison in an election.
While there is no immediate threat to Mr Albanese’s position, Labor sources say there is increased talk among MPs about the need for a leadership change if Mr Albanese’s performance does not improve.
With Mr Fitzgibbon pushing Labor to be more relevant in the regions, opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen, considered a future leadership contender, on the weekend delivered a speech declaring the party’s electoral success depended on winning over the suburbs of capital cities.
“Sometimes discussions of our political future and strategy seem like a zero-sum game between the inner cities and the regions, as if the millions of voters who live in suburbs are just flown over in the debate between the inner cities and the bush,” Mr Bowen said at the Jack Ferguson Memorial Lecture.
“Let me be frank, this debate sometimes frustrates me. We could win every inner-city seat and every conceivable vote from possible voters in the regions and still fall far short of government, if we are not winning the support of the millions of voters in the suburbs.”
Mr Bowen was in Melbourne last week and toured hospitals with Mr Albanese’s rival Bill Shorten, as well as Mr Shorten’s close ally Kimberley Kitching.
Mr Bowen also visited a COVID-19 vaccine development factory with Calwell MP Maria Vamvakinou, an ally of Mr Albanese’s factional enemy Kim Carr.
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