Shorten moves to limit ALP infighting

Bill Shorten has pledged to protect federal MPs from preselection challenges as he attempts to limit party brawling.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Picture: Gary Ramage

Bill Shorten has moved to limit the damaging fallout from ALP factional brawling in Victoria, pledging to protect federal Labor MPs from preselection challenges.

Supporters of Mr Shorten today denied he had decided to back the push by left-wing unions and section of the ALP Right in Victoria to overturn an existing stability pact between the party’s factions.

“This idea that he’s signed up to some deal is bulls***,’’ a source close to Mr Shorten told The Australian.

“People are getting worked up over nothing. Bill has stepped back from active faction matters since becoming leader and intends to continue that approach.”

But Mr Shorten met with leaders of the new breakaway group in his electorate office last Friday. Opponents of the group claim that sitting MPs, including Jenny Macklin and Andrew Giles, could be targeted.

Supporters of Mr Shorten were adamant today that he did not support any move against sitting MPs.

“The party has been united under Bill and he’s not about to do anything to change that,’’ the source said.

“He doesn’t support anything that will see sitting MPs get knocked off. His absolute priority is seeing sitting MPs re-elected.”

South Australian opposition frontbencher Nick Champion acknowledged Bill Shorten was not “universally popular” within his party but predicted he would be the next Labor prime minister.

“What goes on in Victoria is more smoke than fire. Often it’s people sort of positioning themselves in the run up to what tend to be long-term deals, let’s just wait to see what happens,” Mr Champion told Sky News.

“Bill’s the leader of the Labor Party, I mean no one’s universally popular but he’s been leader now I think longer than any leader in modern history and he’s been doing a very good job. “He’s held the Turnbull government to account, he had a better than expected result in the last federal election and he’ll be the next Labor prime minister.

“Whatever road bumps are around at the moment I don’t think they’ll really derail Labor from its cause, which is to seek government on a reformers platform to help the country and to protect working and middle class families.”

Shorten hit by dual faction fury

Bill Shorten is navigating the two biggest factional flare-ups since claiming the Labor leadership ahead of Anthony Albanese as he deals with a grab for power by militant unions in Victoria and growing unease within the NSW Right.

Members of the NSW Right — a key power base for Mr Shorten — remain deeply unhappy at the treatment of Sam Dastyari after he announced he would resign from the Senate. Citing “anger” and “disunity”, Labor right MPs have conveyed to Mr Albanese, a former leadership rival of Mr Shorten, their disappointment at the treatment of Senator Dastyari. However, yesterday they said the disunity had not manifested in any movement against the leader.

With the prospect of three by-elections next year in the Labor- held seats of Batman, Braddon and Longman over potential breaches of dual citizenship rules, some NSW Right figures said negotiations between Mr Shorten and the Industrial Left in Victoria were aimed at consolidating his political position.

“It’s about national conference numbers, caucus numbers, and more broadly it’s about leadership,” one NSW Right member said.

Mr Shorten’s negotiations over a draft agreement to expand the political power of the construction union in Victoria comes as he faces a tough start to the new year, with the Greens targeting the Melbourne seat of Batman, held by David Feeney.

Former Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie has also flagged her intention to run in Braddon, held by Labor’s Justine Keay, while the Liberal National Party is focused on winning back the Queensland seat of Longman, which Labor MP Susan Lamb holds by a margin of just 0.8 per cent.

The skirmishes over Senator Dastyari’s departure and the rewriting of Victorian Labor Party battlelines means Mr Shorten could enter a potential election year having to manage factional brawls across two states.

The row unfolding in Victoria was sparked by an attempt by the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union to expand its power base and take control of a new federal lower house seat, in a new alliance with the Right.

Figures in the Victorian Right yesterday said Mr Shorten was broadly supportive of the plan.

“Let’s put it this way — this whole thing wouldn’t have gotten as far as it would have without Shorten being okay with it,” one said.

The plan involves the CFMEU and other unions in the Industrial Left splitting from powerbroker Kim Carr to give crucial support to the Right-aligned Centre Unity faction, controlled by controversial state MP Adem Somyurek, in exchange for the lower house seat.

Critics of the deal argue it is too favourable to the Industrial Left and is too vague on what will be given to the Right in return.

Others raised concerns the new alliance would move on sitting members, with reports on Tuesday that Left frontbenchers Jenny Macklin and Andrew Giles were in the firing line.

Labor Deputy Leader Tanya Plibersek yesterday defended both MPs, saying they were “two of our best performers” who had made significant policy contributions to the Labor Party and the country. But an architect of the Centre Unity deal gave an assurance that ambushes on sitting members were off the table. “That’s been explicitly ruled out. That was never the intent of the plan.”

As revealed by The Australian, Mr Shorten left the Bennelong campaign trail on Friday to meet Mr Somyurek, factional player Andrew Landeryou and plumbers union secretary Earl Setches to discuss the deal.

Sources within the Victorian Right say Mr Shorten is still supportive of the deal because it will help shore up crucial support he needs ahead of the ALP national conference to pursue a hard line stance on issues including Labor’s refugee policy.

In 2015, Mr Shorten relied on the CFMEU and the maritime workers union to help him move closer to the Coalition on the critical issue of asylum-seeker policy in a key victory for the Labor leader. It is understood Mr Shorten is keen to lock in their support again, but reservations among some ­elements of the Right about the agreement are causing delays.

Industrial Left officials met Centre Unity members on Wednesday, expecting to reach an agreement but left disappointed when officials from the National Union of Workers and shopkeepers’ alliance said they wanted more time to consider the plan.

“We’re not dismissing it completely, but that shouldn’t be interpreted as us saying we’ll sign the agreement,” one union official told The Australian.

Mr Shorten has refused to answer questions put to his office about his part in the plan.

Members of the NSW Right yesterday told The Australian there was still disappointment over Senator Dastyari’s forced exit over the scandal triggered by his relations with Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo. One source said the NSW Right was “more than disappointed — it is angry”.

“It is nowhere near manifesting in any move against Bill, but it does represent the first signs of disunity with the NSW Right in four years,” they said.

Another NSW Right figure said it had set a new precedent that individuals could be “chased out of parliament ... That’s a very big shift”.

The battle for the Senate vacancy created by Senator Dastyari’s departure deepened yesterday when Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon publicly indicated his interest after The Australian revealed a possible showdown with former NSW premier Kristina Keneally, who is still considered the frontrunner.

“I think that it is particularly important that whoever takes the Senate seat ... it’s the right person who fights for Australia,” Mr Sheldon said. Opposition workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor gave support to Mr Sheldon.

With Rosie Lewis