Labor’s by-election pain to be drawn out to late July

Mark Butler says if an early election is called Labor may not be able to hold a national conference to thrash out policy.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in question time yesterday. Picture: Ray Strange

ALP president Mark Butler has warned that an early federal poll could force the Opposition to contest an election without first holding a national conference to thrash out the shape of key policies on issues such as border protection.

The date of the “Super Saturday” series of five by-elections has been set at July 28 by Speaker Tony Smith based on advice received from the Australian Electoral Commission - the same date Labor’s premier policy-making forum is due to meet Adelaide.

“We will obviously do everything within our power to convene a national conference before the election,” Mr Butler told Sky News.

“But if for some reason the election is called so early that that’s not possible, obviously the party will make sure we have a comprehensive policy platform before the people”.

Mr Butler said the move to hold the by-elections on July 28 - an outcome triggered by the failure of several Labor MPs to renounce their foreign nationalities ahead of the 2016 election - was deliberately aimed at disrupting the Opposition’s policy development process.

He also flagged the prospect of the ALP using, as a last resort, a separate mechanism to present a new policy platform to the people if an early election rendered the holding of a national conference impractical.

“This is a very significant event that I think has been deliberately targeted by the government to disrupt the alternative government of the day from going through its usual policy processes,” he told Sky News.

“Now, of course, we will make do with whatever circumstances are presented to us and ensure that there is a comprehensive policy platform we’re able to put to the Australian people with or without a national conference”.

The party’s executive committee is meeting today.

.@billshortenmp: The date's been set. This fellow, my opponent, always has an excuse. When it came to his own people, he could knock a by-election together in the blink of an eye.

MORE: https://t.co/XsUnyAYUBV #newsday pic.twitter.com/8QmH0Y4b84

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 25, 2018

Earlier, Malcolm Turnbull blamed Bill Shorten for the raft of July by-elections, in response to Labor fury at the poll date.

“Bill Shorten... thought he could get away with it and leave them there, sitting there, drawing their parliamentary salary, spending their parliamentary expenses, for all of those months when it was clear that the highest court in the land had said they were not eligible to sit there,” the Prime Minister said of Labor MPs.

“So, why are the by-elections being held in July? Why are they being held in 2018? They are being held now because Bill Shorten did not do the right thing by the Australian people and by the constitution and ensure his ineligible members resigned last year, when John Alexander did or when Barnaby Joyce did.”

Mr Turnbull said it was “outrageous” for Labor to question the actions of the Australian Electoral Commission.

“The electoral commission is utterly impartial and non-partisan. And you saw the way in which the electoral commissioner rejected the suggestions of partisanship in the Senate estimates committee yesterday.

“It was outrageous of the Labor Party to make those accusations or inferences.”

Labor and Mr Shorten face a punishing nine-week fight to hold four Labor seats in Super Saturday by-­elections and shore up his leadership, with the party’s infighting over border protection and opposition to the Coalition’s tax ­reforms set to dominate the ­campaigns.

Speaker Tony Smith’s decision to hold five by-elections on July 28, on advice from the Australian Electoral Commission, infuriated Labor MPs and left the party scrambling last night to shift its nat­ional conference, which falls on the same weekend.

In a heated exchange yesterday afternoon, Labor frontbencher Penny Wong accused AEC commissioner Tom Rogers of making a “partisan call”, saying the timing would prevent ALP members from campaigning on the ground on the day of the polls.

Mr Rogers hit back at the ­accusation, reminding Senator Wong that four of the five by-­elections were forced by MPs who ­admitted they were dual citizens when they nominated, three of them from Labor.

The resignations came nine months after the Opposition Leader declared there was “no cloud over any of our people”.

“Several members of the house have resigned; they’ve resigned as a result of failing to follow pro­cedures, and now somehow the AEC is being fingered as being responsible for the outcomes of this, and I’m sorry, I’m not taking it,” Mr Rogers told a Senate estimates hearing yesterday.

Labor will defend four seats following the resignations of Susan Lamb (Longman, Queensland), Justine Keay (Braddon, Tasmania) and Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Western Australia) — who admitted they were dual citizens when they nominated for the 2016 federal election. Perth MP Tim Hammond had earlier resigned citing family reasons.

Voters in the South Australian seat of Mayo will also be forced to the polls following the resignation of Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie, who was a dual British citizen when she nominated.

The Australian understands the Coalition will pump resources into Longman, a seat the Liberal Nat­ional Party lost at the 2016 election, and Mayo, where Georgina Downer, the daughter of former foreign minister Alexander Downer, is running.

The Coalition will use the later-than-expected by-elections date to ramp up attacks on Labor’s border-protection policies, which will be the subject of a ­divisive debate at the ALP ­conference.

Liberal Party sources said last night Labor’s record on border protection would be particularly highlighted in Longman, held by Labor by a margin of 0.8 per cent, where One Nation preferences will be crucial in determining whether Ms Lamb holds on.

The Coalition campaigns in Longman, Mayo and Braddon will also focus on the “risk of Shorten” and the government’s plan to ­create jobs and drive the economy.

Labor will campaign on the government’s company tax cuts and its pledge to nearly double the Coalition’s promised personal ­income tax cuts for low and ­middle-income earners.

In advice to the Speaker, tabled in parliament following question time, Mr Rogers recommended July 28 as the “optimal” date for the polls. The advice said this ­allowed two weeks for new regu­lations to be implemented to help candidates comply with section 44 of the Constitution, which precludes dual citizens from standing, as well as avoiding school holidays.

Manager of opposition business Tony Burke suggested the AEC had delivered the date the Coalition had wanted. “If the Prime Minister went down to Yarralumla and called an election today, they would be able to conduct it with 150 seats in 33 days.

“Instead, they say it has to be delayed all this period and it just happens to be on the day of the Labor Party national conference.

“What a coincidence from the Australian Electoral Commission,” Mr Burke said.

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek blamed Malcolm Turnbull for the “disgraceful” and “sneaky” delay, and signalled that the ALP conference would be postponed. “Our activists will want to be out in the community campaigning for Labor, not sitting in a conference centre,” she said.

ALP national president Mark Butler said the decision to hold the by-elections on July 28 would force the party’s national executive to “consider the implications” for Labor’s national conference. He said arrangements would be confirmed in the “near future”.

The draft ALP platform proposes an overhaul of the government’s home affairs portfolio and calls for asylum-seekers to be shifted out of mandatory detention after 90 days.

Labor’s approach to the Palestinian issue is also expected to be pushed by left-faction members. Pro-refugee Labor activists have flagged that they will seek to soften the party’s immigration platform further, with proposed amendments to bring refugees on Manus Island and Nauru to Australia.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton accused Labor of trying to take a “moral high ground” on asylum-seekers, but said its policies would see the return of asylum boats and drownings at sea.

With Ben Packham, Rachel Baxendale