Federal Government
THE PARTY’S HANGOVER: If Labor can’t govern its own finances how can it govern Australia’s?
As the ALP National Conference hunkers down for a series of speeches and debates about not much, much of the action occurs in endless private discussions.
And central to those discussions at this National Conference is the former National Secretary Tim Gartrell. In June, VEXNEWS revealed that the Lefty ex ALP boss had left the Party with an $8 million debt.
Despite the ACTU spending an unprecedented amount on the 2007 federal election campaign, despite them raiding the Queensland ALP owned company Labor Holdings for many millions more and a reasonably positive boom-time fundraising climate, Gartrell’s incompetence led to a blown budget and a financial crisis that he kept secret from members of the ALP’s supposedly supreme National Executive.
This has left the new National Secretary Karl Bitar in an appalling position and he is believed to be seeking scalps from the National Secretariat staff. VEXNEWS understands he has sought to find out who know what and when about the massive financial mismanagement. Long-term party hacks like Sandy Rippingale operate under a cloud of suspicion, as the party struggles to figure out what when wrong.
One senior party source from NSW told VEXNEWS this morning:
“I’ll be sickened if Gartrell shows his face around here. He is Bernard L. Madoff of the ALP this c*nt. Many people want to whack him. Who did this piece of sh*t actually consult before running up $8 million in debt? Not even his little mate John Faulkner knew, I’m hearing…”
Since the end of 2007, many of the large corporate donors to both sides of politics have endured the global financial crisis and have cut back on much of their support for charitable and non-core activities. It makes Bitar’s job extremely difficult. Before even starting to raise money for Kevin Rudd’s 2010 re-election bid, he needs to pay down the reckless Gartrell’s monster debt. Many fear that he’ll struggle to achieve this without continuing under the massive debt load.
Bob Hawke once hacked into the then dysfunctional and divided conservatives saying “If you can’t govern yourselves you can’t govern the country.” It was a fair criticism. Because of Tim Gartrell’s highly irresponsible mismanagement of the national ALP’s finances and because their party has done nothing to ensure Gartrell’s mistakes are not repeated, the same criticism could easily be levelled at Australia’s ruling party.
Discussion
21 comments for “THE PARTY’S HANGOVER: If Labor can’t govern its own finances how can it govern Australia’s?”
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Looks like the ALP manage their party just like the Country – on the credit card! Debt and defecit, they’re Labor’s favourite words!
I voted for Kevin Rudd at the last election because I believed all his promises for Australia’s future.
Stupid me! They’ve turned out just like the Liberals said they would – economic mismanagement and broken promises.
I can’t see myself voting Labor again for a long time…
He is as clever ‘counting coins’ as Newnman – who’s another ineffective ALP hack.
I remember my first ALP National Conference where there was discussion in faction meetings about forcing the NSW branch to hand over a list of it’s members. How could it be I thought that the ALP did not have a national list of it’s members but indeed it was true. The fact that the ALP both Nationally and in Victoria are run as a personal fiefdom of the factions and an alternative route to parliament, has now impacted in such a way that widespread incompetence is the norm and everybody just complains but nothing ever changes.
It is really up to the National Executive to fix up the mess. But we know they won’t do anything about it despite the issue being a running sore that never heals.
How could they lose $8 million dollars when they barely pay rent…lol….
Can we get a look at the other side of their balance sheets?
This is what happens when former Young Labor hacks get their hands on the till.
Labor is stuffed because the hacks now run the show…that includes Bitar and Arbib, who will prove to the be the worst of them…look at how they left the NSW Branch of the ALP!
…anyway…for Tim’s incompetence he will probably get a safe seat…isn’t thats how the ALP works now?
Gartrell is the envoy of Satan.
Imagine if they started paying full price at Centenary House!
Isn’t that Inga in the picture?
Right on the money Mommies little Secret 18:03 look what the ALP have to look foward to in victoria: cargill, french, o’brien,tapinos et al and don’t even get me started on the lefties!
Tim Gartrell is just another smart-arsed lawyer in the ALP who thinks they are genius political masterminds. Picked out of the putrid clamour of Young Labor Left by Dubious Bob Debus, Gartrell suckoled his way along the food chain by being a bright-young-thing and by blowing hot air up Debus’s bum. Shame his maths ability was f*cked, oh well. Now, the ALP have gone from a Lefty dope to two slimey used car salesmen running the outfit in the form of Karl Bitar & Mark Arbib. The only reason they are living it large at the moment is because they scored Saint Kevin the gig over Beazley…with lots of sleazy deals and by having a bag of dirt on a few major players…funny how loyalties change when someone has a few scary tidbits of info in their locker.
Lets face it, Labor 2009 is as sleazy now as the Libs ever were in their heyday…only with Labor the finances are surely squandered because the YLA spivs were to busy learning how to knife their friends instead of doing accounting 101.
My prediction: The Labor machine will get so bogged in debt that a major scam to fill the till will be hatched in the coming few years by the used car salesmen, and once exposed will leave Rudd up to his neck in hot, steaming crap. And if you want to know what kind of hot, steaming crap the used care salesmen can produce, just look at NSW Labor….and the sh*t that Karl ‘n Mark left up there!
The day of wrath soon come upon the likes of Gartrell as the LORD sweeps all those from this land.
how much debt did you leave Melbourne Uni Students Union in, Andy?
None, actually.
Karl can do it.
Sorry, Karl is just a hack puppet of Arbib. He’s as shonky as his boss.
Well if Hulls can have a convicted fraudster in Gordon Lennox working for him then these guys are well credentialed. How long before the ALP recruits Hugo Rich?
how are the Victorian finances?
Tim is better at managing finances than me! I’m just an idiot.