Queensland election: Palaszczuk’s pick sparks federal Labor brawl

An internal brawl has erupted in federal Labor over preselection in Rockhampton.

Tanya Plibersek with schoolchildren in Rockhampton.

An internal brawl has erupted in federal Labor after ALP preselectors rejected the Queensland Premier’s pick of a local mayor to sandbag the party stronghold of Rockhampton against the rise of One Nation.

On the eve of Annastacia Palaszczuk calling the state election, public servant and old-guard faction candidate Barry O’Rourke convincingly defeated Rockhampton mayor Margaret Strelow in both the grassroots local vote and the Brisbane-based electoral college vote for preselection.

Ms Palaszczuk had backed her right-faction ally Ms Strelow, a veteran mayor who recently fought for Adani to base one of its fly-in, fly-out hubs in Rockhampton, near the central Queensland coast. The vacancy follows the shock announcement that former agriculture minister Bill Byrne will retire at the election because of ill health.

One Nation is a threat in the Labor heartland electorate, with Pauline Hanson’s party thought to hold primary support of almost 13 per cent in the seat held by Labor with a margin of 13 per cent.

Barry O'Rourke.

Party insiders are angry at Friday’s preselection result, which saw Mr O’Rourke win the backing of the Rockhampton branches and the left faction-dominated electoral college. Some feel the decision undermined Ms Palaszczuk’s authority in the party, after she publicly endorsed Ms Strelow.

The preselection contest has had national ructions, raising Labor Left’s hopes of gaining power over the right faction at next year’s national conference.

A mid-October meeting of the old guard (Labor Unity) executive decided to withdraw its estimated six to eight votes from the national Labor Right and vote independently at next year’s conference, sources told The Australian.

“The executive of Labor Unity made a decision to withdraw from the national right. Instead, Unity will not be bound by any caucus and will vote independently, case by case,” a senior old-guard faction source said.

The faction said the move was over a decision by the Queensland right to run Ms Strelow against the old guard’s Mr O’Rourke just before the election.

Federal Labor Left sources said the call to withdraw the votes is “potentially really significant at a national level” as both left and right scramble to gain a majority on the national executive at next year’s conference.

The rise of the left could reopen serious internal divides over such issues as Israel and refugees.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, of the right, narrowly won an argument over asylum-seeker boat turnbacks at the 2015 national conference.

The old-guard source said Ms Strelow’s defeat would not affect the faction’s decision to withdraw votes. “No no, it’s done and dusted,” the senior source said.

The faction believe the right — known as the Labor Forum in Queensland — is trying to “destroy” them. “It’s not a fight with Bill Shorten, not a fight with the national right, it’s just that we can’t sit with people who are trying to destroy us,” a source said.

The faction points to the right’s decision to back Ms Strelow as the “straw that broke the camel’s back” after a series of disagreements.

In Queensland, the old guard has already distanced itself from the right, after it did a deal with the left following the 2015 state election.

On the campaign trail yesterday, Ms Palaszczuk denied her leadership had been undermined and her endorsement ignored.

“They didn’t ignore me at all, let’s talk about democracy,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“I said very clearly that I think that if Margaret decided to put her name forward, she’d make a good candidate. I said I would respect the views of the branch membership, and now I think they’ve got the best of both worlds, because they’ve got Barry as the local Labor candidate for Rockhampton and Margaret is still the mayor.”