ALP Right faction searches for candidate to take on Albanese

Jim Chalmers may run against Anthony Albanese leadership after being encouraged by Right faction.

Labor leadership contenders Anthony Albanese (left) and Jim Chalmers.

Labor frontbencher Jim Chalmers is being urged to run against Anthony Albanese for the party’s leadership by elements of the powerful Right faction on a platform of generational change and an opportunity to rehabilitate the ALP’s damaged brand in his home state of Queensland.

Amid mounting anger and confusion within the party over its failed election campaign, Bill Shorten’s deputy, Tanya Plibersek, yesterday ruled herself out of ­contention for the party’s top job, citing family reasons for her ­decision but claiming she would have had the numbers if she chose to stand.

Mr Shorten was backing Ms Plibersek over Mr Albanese — his longtime leadership rival — and was expected to now throw his support behind a right-wing candidate, given his deputy’s decision to withdraw from the contest.

Mr Chalmers last night told the ABC’s Q&A he is considering running and has been consulting with colleagues in his party about whether they would support him.

“I’m talking to my colleagues about it. I don’t think it’s unreasonable that a few of us take some time to work out what we want to do.

“We had a heartbreaking defeat on Saturday. And we’ve got to deal with that. So I think it’s reasonable that I take some time to have a think about it. Talk to my colleagues about it. And see where it goes from there.

“I want to play a substantial role in the rebuilding of our electoral fortunes, a rebuilding of our policies up to the next election.

“I’ve got a mountain of respect for other colleagues who are capable of leading our party. And so I want to take the time to consult properly with people,” Mr Chalmers said.

Ms Plibersek’s decision not to stand sparked a push by Left-faction caucus members to publicly endorse Mr Albanese as the best option to reconnect with disillusioned Labor voters, while elements of the NSW Right also back the Left-faction powerbroker. Late yesterday there were growing calls from within the Right for the faction to stand its own candidate, arguing that Scott Morrison would “smash” Labor if it went to the election with a leader from the Left.

Labor's primary vote rises and falls.

Right-winger Chris Bowen, Labor’s Treasury spokesman, is still considering whether to throw his hat in the ring. But Mr Chalmers, 41, who had been awaiting Mr Bowen’s decision before considering whether to run himself, was yesterday being strongly encouraged by colleagues to put his hand up as the Right’s candidate.

The Australian understands Mr Chalmers, Labor’s finance spokesman, is receiving strong support from the faction in Victoria, Queensland and NSW, and from right-wing unions, amid concerns Mr Bowen — the chief salesman of Labor’s failed tax agenda — is “damaged goods”.

If the leadership is contested, Labor faces a month-long process to elect Mr Shorten’s successor, including a series of leadership debates which would dissect the party’s policy failings ahead of a likely review to be conducted by party elders.

Many in the party are pointing the finger at ALP national secretary Noah Carroll over the poor result, with NSW secretary Kaila Murnain among those criticising the Victorian-based party boss.

Some are also strongly opposed to Mr Shorten taking a senior role on the opposition frontbench, for which he is considering putting himself forward.

“He’ll be the next Simon Crean. He needs to rehabilitate himself on the backbench for a few years,” a member of Mr Shorten’s own Victorian Right faction said.

ALP's 20 best seats for primary vote swing.

ALP's 20 worst seats for primary vote swing.

Ms Plibersek ran on a joint ticket with Mr Shorten in 2013, helping him to defeat her NSW Left rival. She had planned to announce her candidacy for the leadership yesterday, but changed her mind, saying she could not reconcile the extra workload with her family responsibilities.

“I have support, from across the party, to be elected leader. But now is not my time,” Ms Plibersek said.

ALP president Wayne Swan said the party had to “understand what happened in Queensland and learn from it”.

But he defended the party’s election policy platform against criticism that it unfairly targeted aspirational voters.

“I reject that entirely. There is nothing more aspirational than giving people the capacity to work hard and be rewarded for their efforts and people on middle and low incomes get a fair go in the taxpayer tax system,” Mr Swan told the ABC.

“There was nothing radical about our policy offering but the government was successful in demonising that policy offering.”

But there are growing calls for a reassessment of the party’s position on key issues, including the Adani coalmine, with NSW frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon arguing Labor needed to make clear it stood for jobs and investment.

“We certainly have to get back to the centre and we have to reconnect to our working-class base, reconnect with those blue-collar workers, talk more about them and their cost-of-living pressures and less about some of those issues that are more … aligned with the left side of the debate,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

Following Ms Plibersek announcement, a number of Labor Left MPs emerged to endorse Mr Albanese’s candidacy, including Queenslander Graham Perrett, who declared “Albo” could connect with voters in the Sunshine State.

“In all the years I’ve known him, his No 1 political enemy has been the Greens, so he understands that dynamic,” the member for Morton said.

“And for God’s sake, the guy’s got a beer named after him. If that doesn’t appeal to Queenslanders, what will?”

Backbencher Pat Conroy said Mr Albanese had a proven track record of delivering for all Australians as a senior minister and deputy prime minister, and was also “an incredibly authentic person”. “What you see with Albo is what you get. People can trust him,” Mr Conroy said.

Some in the Victorian Left who previously opposed Mr Albanese, including Calwell MP Maria Vamvakinou, were also understood to be making the shift to support the former deputy prime minister.

Additional reporting: Rachel Baxendale