Labor’s lurch to the left will get it nowhere

It didn’t take long for Ged Kearney to prove why the loony left are lead weight in Labor’s saddle bags

It would seem that every commentator has his or her oar in the water pushing the idea that Labor is moving to the left.

When it suits Bill Shorten to move to the left he does so with great ease and speed. Last December he was involved in holding talks with the likes of the CFMEU, which he now sees as pivotal to his support base, to give them more power in the Victoria Branch of the ALP. Following the resignation of David Feeney, he knows that the Greens are a big show to take the seat of Batman off Labor. Therefore, he does two things to appeal to an inner-city crowd which don’t like or trust him very much. He insisted on the preselection of ACTU president Ged Kearney, a smart short-term move because a left-wing woman activist is the only way Labor has a snowflake’s chance in hell of surviving in Batman. The State seat of Northcote was won by the Greens in a by-election a few months ago after the untimely, tragic death of Labor’s Fiona Richardson. Northcote represents a big chunk of Batman.

Why is it that sensible people in the Labor Party just don’t get it? There is a reason that the Greens vote has been firmly stuck on 10 per cent for two decades.

Australians by and large will never put a truly left-wing party into government. Because Labor looks and sounds sensible most of the time, the party stays in the hunt for government. If all Labor does is mimic the Greens, then Shorten can forget all about Labor’s lead in the polls. Lurching to the left and back again will only further weaken the Opposition Leader’s awful poll ratings.

It did not take long for Ged Kearney to prove why the loony left are still lead weight in Labor’s saddle bags. She stated immediately upon her selection that Labor would consider supporting the Greens’ plans to nationalise power distribution. This is the risk Shorten takes when playing footsie with the Greens or Labor’s far left. Kearney should have been taken aside and told in no uncertain terms to pull her head in.

Meanwhile back at the ACTU there is talk that Kearney was so ineffective as president that her job could be abolished. That would leave the even-madder left Sally McManus in total control.

These days supporting anything to do with coal is anathema to inner city votes. So, on comes Batman and totally in line with my expectations, Shorten continues to walk away from support for Adani. The Greens have been so successful along with Get Up! on this issue that even the Turnbull government walked away as well. Ordinary punters in the suburbs, the provincial towns and cities and the far-flung hamlets may well look upon a handful of inner city types, holding views vastly different from their own, seeming to have the real influence on national affairs with some angst. Perhaps that’s why One Nation flew high for a while.

All the real activists are on the left and Get Up’s success is really scary. It is now an organisation with real grunt and real power. Broad left parties such as Labor will face an increasing battle to win government on their own. Pandering to those who will make government so much harder to achieve is a dangerous game.