Queensland Labor at war over Kate Jones’ looming Senate tilt

Senior figures in Queensland Labor are threatening to wage the biggest factional war in at least a decade over a plot to preselect Kate Jones for a safe federal Senate position.

Kate Jones is at the centre of a factional war over a safe federal Senate position.

Senior Queensland Labor figures are threatening to wage the biggest Right-versus-Left factional war in at least a decade over a plot to preselect Kate Jones for a safe federal Senate position.

United Workers Union boss Gary Bullock, the convener of the dominant Labor Left faction, is manoeuvring behind the scenes to pilfer the No.2 Senate spot from the Right and deliver it to Ms Jones, a former state minister and member of the Left-aligned Old Guard faction.

The scheme, revealed by The Australian on Friday, has triggered a major brawl between Queensland Premier Steven Miles’ Left faction and deputy Cameron Dick’s Right faction, which could derail Labor’s campaign ahead of the October state election.

A senior member of the Right said it would not roll over to Mr Bullock and “absolutely” planned to contest the position. The No.2 Senate ticket spot has traditionally been reserved for the Right-aligned Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association union.

“It is going to be a war,” the senior Right source said.

“Everything’s on the table. There’s always casualties in war and I think the first one will be Steven Miles.

“This is the last thing he needs, he is already under pressure. It’s nothing against him, but it is just going to be a consequence, people are going to be focused on this until it is resolved.”

United Workers Union State Secretary Gary Bullock.

The strength of the Australian Workers Union-Right faction has been in sharp decline over the past decade, replaced by the Left and powerbroker Mr Bullock.

A senior member of the Left said the Right now made up “barely 30 per cent” of the party so should not hold 50 per cent of the winnable Senate positions.

“They are talking about power sharing as if numbers haven’t changed in the past 10 years when they have changed completely,” the source said. “They have had five years to find a candidate and now we are right up to the deadline and they still haven’t, so it is no wonder people have started thinking about other options.”

Mr Bullock told a private meeting of the Left executive on Tuesday night that he had spoken with Ms Jones about running for the Senate and she “had expressed interest”.

Ms Jones has not responded to The Australian’s repeated approaches for comment but a source close to her said she was actively considering nominating.

If the No.2 position is contested, it would spark a statewide Labor ballot, with rank-and-file members getting 50 per cent of the vote and unions receiving the other 50 per cent. Labor’s gender quota rules would likely require the candidate to be a woman.

The SDA lost its Senate position at the 2019 election when Labor’s primary vote in Queensland collapsed and Chris Ketter failed to get re-elected.

Another senior Right source said there had always been a power-sharing arrangement between the factions and the Senate position would not be handed over without a fight.

“If it went to a ballot, I am pretty confident we would win that second spot,” the source said.

“It is a bit irresponsible to be doing this before a state election and heading into what could be a very challenging federal election as well.”

Queensland Education Minister Di Farmer, a factional ally of Ms Jones, said her former colleague would be “an amazing senator for Queensland”.

“We know what her contribution was as a state minister, she’s outstanding,” she said.