Union deals decide candidates

A UNION deal has saved the ­career of outgoing Queensland senator Mark Furner.

A UNION deal has saved the ­career of outgoing Queensland senator Mark Furner during a weekend rush of Labor preselections dominated by former MPs, union officials and political staffers endorsed to stand at the next state election.

As senior Labor figures urge more direct rank-and-file votes on preselections, union-led factional deals have decided a swag of the 52 candidates for the poll. The Australian Workers Union-dominated Right and the Left, dominated by building unions, used backroom deals to ensure more than 25 candidates ran for preselection uncontested.

Senator Furner had to rely on union support after he lost the vote of the local members for the seat of Ferny Grove. He lost the rank-and-file vote 32-20, but was endorsed after the electoral college, made up of union delegates, gave him unanimous support. In a reversal of that outcome was former MP Grace Grace who won the rank-and-file vote after failing to win majority support in the electoral colleges.