Factional bloodletting cruels view of Labor as stable option

THE knives are out and the competing narratives have started. The Labor Right is tearing itself apart.

Whether Labor would have done better or worse under Kevin Rudd's leadership at this election is immaterial; Rudd is, by and large, disliked and his departure is widely welcomed.

The criticism of those who marshalled the factional numbers against Rudd is chiefly that they had no plan for how to deal with him once he was gone. That job was Mark Arbib's, according to senior Labor sources who now seem intent on crushing Arbib's dominance in the party.

As Rudd's factional guardian for much of his time as prime minister, before moving against him, Arbib needed to take more care managing the leadership transition, critics are now suggesting. They are saying that, by choosing to ignore Rudd, leaks became more likely.

One of the reasons Labor failed to maintain its majority, according to national secretary Karl Bitar, is because of the second-week leaks.

No doubt that is true, but perhaps leaks would have been less likely if Rudd hadn't been so poorly treated.

Of course, most people who know Rudd will tell you that in the wake of his deposition he wasn't exactly of a mind to be calmed down.

Irrespective of how influential the leaks were to the election outcome, Labor got out-campaigned in the crucial final week of the campaign.

When the electronic advertisements stopped at midnight on Wednesday, the Coalition stepped up its internet and print ads while Labor was found wanting. For a campaign that had more money than the Coalition, that error was entirely avoidable.

Those who are out to get Arbib intend to do it by destroying Bitar. It is well known in the Labor Party that they are "joined at the hip", as one Labor MP put it.

The duo's critics are of the view that forcing Bitar from the national secretary's position, where he has access to the focus groups and the polling research, would be like "cutting Arbib's power off at the knees".

The most telling part of the erupting war inside the Labor factions is not who wins but that it is happening now.

Labor still has a chance of forming a minority government. But with the bloodshed already under way, convincing the independents that Labor would be the more stable option as a minority government is going to be difficult.