Rise and fall of Labor kingmaker Mem Suleyman

Mem Suleyman has been accused of ‘harassing behaviour’.

When Labor powerbrokers gathered to carve up electorates before the last Victorian election, it’s not surprising the chosen venue was the headquarters of the Transport Workers Union in Port Melbourne.

It was November 22, 2021 – a year out from the election – and in walked the Left’s men: among them Labor-aligned lobbyist and pollster Kos Samaras and then lobbyist and now Labor MP Mat Hilakari.

Waiting for them were the kingmakers of the Right. They got down to business allocating electorates between the factions and paving the way for MPs being preselected to contest those seats.

For decades now, the Rouse St office has been a base for the TWU’s industrial and political ­operation. The union, and its officials, are players in the Right of the Victorian ALP.

And as state secretary of the union, Mem Suleyman is one of the most influential figures. “He’s a big fish, or at least was until Friday afternoon,” one party insider said. “The powerbase Suleyman has built is crumbling.”

The Socialist Left, the faction of Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan, controls the Victorian ALP. The TWU and Suleyman control the minority Right.

“The TWU is as much a political operation as an industrial one,” a Labor figure said.

You only have to look to federal Labor MP Sam Rae, the member for Hawke, to see just how tight Suleyman and the TWU are with the ALP.

Rae, a member of the TWU, has paid gushing tributes to Suleyman in parliament as he’s given a “special shout out” to his “dear friend” and also “great mate”.

On August 1, 2022, Rae offered this: “I especially want to acknowledge and thank my great friend assistant secretary Mehmet Suleyman. Mem has devoted his life to serving the members of our union, to fighting for their rights and their safety.

Suleyman, centre, with transport workers during a 2018 bus strike.

“I would not be here were it not for his friendship, encouragement and strategic nous.”

On Sunday, The Australian asked Rae if he continued to support Suleyman in the wake of the allegations of “harassing behaviour” that saw him pushed from the TWU on Friday. Rae did not respond.

Suleyman did not respond to questions from The Australian over the weekend. But it’s believed he was telling those close to him that he would vigorously contest the allegations in a bid to clear his name.

Suleyman sits on the ALP’s public office selection committee, the body that helps preselect state and federal MPs. It’s the same committee of which four CFMEU officials are members. In fact, the 100-strong body is stacked with multiple union officials from all factions.

When things are going well, this nexus between the political and industrial arms power the Victorian ALP’s election-winning machine.

But when things turn bad, as they have in recent weeks, then this partnership starts causing the ALP grief. Since the scandal broke last month about the CFMEU’s misconduct, ALP leaders have been forced to distance Labor from the militant union.

In fact, Labor has moved to force the CFMEU into administration, which just shows you how on the nose the militant union is with the electorate. Allan has called IBAC and the police into ­investigate the union

Suleyman joined CFMEU John Setka in the sin bin when The Australian broke the story that he had been stood aside pending an investigation into allegations of “harassing behaviour” and other claims.

These allegations have yet to be tested. But clearly the TWU considered them serious enough to show Suleyman the door. And this is not just a big problem for Suleyman and the TWU, but also the Victorian ALP.