Factional enemies thwart Bill Shorten reform

BILL Shorten’s Labor modernisation agenda was dealt a humiliating blow in his home state yesterday.

BILL Shorten’s Labor modernisation agenda was dealt a humiliating blow in his home state yesterday when once-sworn factional enemies united to water down his key reforms.

The right-wing shop assistants union and the Victorian Socialist Left faction combined to impose a cap on new entries to the party just minutes after the federal Labor leader detailed the need for tens of thousands more members. In an acrimonious and at times chaotic state conference debate, Mr Shorten’s power base was ­defeated in its bid to dramatically expand membership through a modernised, uncapped central scheme.

The strategy would have ­allowed an unlimited number of members to gain voting rights by going directly through the party headquarters.

The new central members would also have to pay by so-called traceable means, such as credit card and not cash, to ensure that branch-stacking would be minimised.

But the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association — a traditional conservative right-wing union — and the Left combined to enforce a cap of 20 new members in any federal electorate in one month, thwarting Mr Shorten’s ambitions and intentions.

Senior Labor figures supportive of the Shorten position ­accused the shop assistants union of imposing the cap to enable it and the Socialist Left to organise “branch stacks’’ to ensure they ­retained power within the party even if there was an influx of new members.

Under the changes eventually adopted by the conference, only the first 20 people who join up under the new central branch system can become members in any month, with the remainder having to sign up the following month or months later if there are hundreds of new members in a branch. A senior right-wing ALP source said: “It’s very simple. Bill wants 100,000 members and the others want to make sure they can still stack the place.’’

However, a senior Socialist Left source said the Shorten backers had “exaggerated the changes’’ and that there was “only ever going to be a negotiated settlement’’.

The Australian understands that Mr Shorten had sought an “unimpeded’’ result on the central membership debate.

This debate, and some nuancing of affirmative action rules, was the limit of the rule-change discussions at the Victorian ALP state conference, with further debate on reform deferred until next March.

The March conference will deal with decisions such as the membership helping to choose the state leader.

Victorian Labor leader Daniel Andrews is in the Socialist Left faction and his key supporters wanted all debate on party reform delayed until after the November 29 state election.

However, Mr Shorten’s powerbase in the Victorian ALP — the Australian Workers Union — with the backing of the National Workers Union and right-wing powerbroker Stephen Conroy, pushed ahead with some reform changes in the interests of his leadership.

Their resolution was defeated and later overhauled to impose the membership cap.

Before the votes, Mr Shorten said the Victorian ALP in the past had seen the Communist Party and the Democratic Labor Party as its enemies.

“Now our danger is being taken over by the apathy faction. And we need to fight to be a strong party,’’ he told the conference.

“Making it easy to join up is a first step. We cannot shirk the task of modernising the party, we cannot shirk the task of rebuilding the party.’’

The Left and the shop assistants union combining bemused some observers, although a similar arrangement underpins Mr Andrews’ s leadership. They are fierce opponents on social policy but have the numbers to combine to dominate the party on the conference floor if it suits their cause on the day.

Mr Shorten also used the conference address to continue to criticise the Abbott government’s budget. He received a standing ovation after the speech.