Backroom buffoonery gets an airing as ALP champions deals with party democracy

Mark Butler is already the frontrunner for the best use of alliteration in 2018. The outgoing ALP president at the Victorian Fabian Society, Monday:

Continuing to practise the old ways of machine politics will see trust in the Labor Party continue to wither away … That sort of backroom buffoonery does not reflect a healthy party organisation.

Does Bill Shorten think the factions have too much power? The Opposition Leader speaking about Butler’s speech in Cairns, yesterday:

I haven’t seen the entirety of this speech (by Butler). The Labor Party before I became leader had 42,000 members, so now we have 56,000 members.

If there’s one man who hates backroom buffoonery, it’s Bill Shorten. Samantha Hutchinson reporting for The Australian, December 18 last year:

ALP federal leader Bill Shorten left the Bennelong campaign trail the day before the by-election to meet with Victorian powerbrokers and consider a factional power grab that could sideline Victorian powerbroker Kim Carr.

He’s a man of the people after all. Shorten in Cairns, yesterday:

The party will discuss further ideas about increasing party membership.

Party democracy will come after the deals have been done and the warlords are safe? Ewin Hannan in The Australian, December 21 last year:

Let’s look at who stands to benefit from the latest wheeling and dealing. There’s Adem Somyurek, an aspiring factional kingmaker forced to resign from Daniel Andrews’ cabinet over bullying allegations ... Jane Garrett, the former Victorian cabinet minister who resigned after a dispute with Andrews ... Shorten has involved himself in a high-risk factional powerplay. It could well end badly for him.

One man who loved a bit of backroom buffoonery was infamous bookie and Victorian Labor powerbroker John Wren, The Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1990:

Jack Lang, no friend of Wren, called him “a champion wire-puller” … Aside from protecting his own interests, Wren obviously enjoyed political fixing ... An eight-hour day procession gave “Three Cheers for Jack Wren” as it passed City Tattersalls.

The Age has given the late Melbourne underworld figure a very interesting title. Fairfax’s Melbourne daily, yesterday:

Melbourne’s Festival Hall could be flattened to make a way for a $65 million apartment complex … Built by legendary businessman John Wren in 1915 …

“Legendary” is one way of describing Wren’s career, we suppose. The Australian Dictionary of Biography, continued:

Wren launched his Johnston Street totalizator in 1893 … Undoubtedly Wren employed ex-criminals as henchmen, punished “narks” and, under the lax police commissioner Thomas O’Callaghan, “fixed” witnesses in gaming cases … A sleazy reputation clung to Wren.

The old crook is an Aussie legend now due to Frank Hardy’s masterpiece. Herald Sun, September 20, 2012:

Hardy was best known for his controversial bestseller Power Without Glory. The book told the fictional story of the rise of corrupt businessman John West, who orchestrated bombings, bashings and even murders on his way to the top …. The West character was based on Melbourne businessman John Wren.