Federal Government
KING KEV: Labor gives PM Rudd the right to meddle anywhere anytime
The execution of externally controversial but internally respected NSW state minister Joe Tripodi has sent shockwaves throughout the ALP nationally.
This isn’t because Tripodi is a national figure, he is seen as the ultimate Sydney politician , but because the Premier Nathan Rees relied on the imprimatur of the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to implement his plan.
REES RELIES ON RUDD
According to the well-informed Simon Benson at the Daily Telegraph, Premier Rees consulted the PM’s chief of staff Alister Jordan about the move and sought the PM’s support. It was forthcoming.
The Tele reports:
Mr Rudd’s office swung into action behind Mr Rees, lining up a host of federal ministers – Mark Arbib, John Faulkner, Anthony Albanese and Tony Burke – to appear on stage before the conference that afternoon and back Mr Rees – if the union-dominated delegates at conference wouldn’t.
Of course patriots with long memories will note that this is exactly the kind of support NSW Right member and Premier Morris Iemma desperately needed to proceed with his economic reforms. He never got it.
But the lefty Premier got all the backing he needed. The fully-fledged support – it seems – of Sussex Street and of Mark Arbib in Canberra to shoot two ministers.
SUCCESSFUL AMBUSH
As it turned out, the ambush at the conference worked and Rees had obtained party backing to choose his own ministers.
It’s not even a bad idea per se, it certainly worked well enough for many successful Liberal Prime Ministers, but many will be greatly troubled that Rees had to resort to an ambush. It suggests that he can only win arguments by shock and awe not merit.
The questionable conduct didn’t end there:
By 3pm rumours were circulating that heads were about to roll. Deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt assured senior ministers that the power would not be used to sack people.
Mr Macdonald told Mr Tripodi that he had heard otherwise. Mr Tripodi confronted Mr Rees and the Premier denied anyone would be sacked…
It wasn’t until 11pm on Saturday that Mr Rees called Mr Tripodi and told him he wanted him to resign the next day. He gave no reason.
THE ERA OF THE STRONG MAN
In the Putin/Rudd era, perhaps this is what the gallery and even the punters want. Decisive, even brutal treatment of underlings in the greater good.
Putin has equally corrupt rivals shot or jailed after show-trials. The punters in Russia cheer. The PM profanely gobs off at faction chiefs. The Gallery loves it. We live in the era of the strong man. Political doctors talk endlessly about the value of authenticity. But it’s authority that seems to be so much more important in these times. And once it’s gone it’s very hard to win back.
There is talk around Sydney from Tripodi’s outraged colleagues that Rees is “cactus”.
We don’t believe it. At least until the election comes, and then he really will be cactus.
And we don’t believe it because we suspect that – in this very strange new world – Rudd would intervene to prevent any move on him.
For those familiar with the way the ALP works, that notion sounds ridiculous. But we suspect it’s true.
LIVING UNDER KING KEV’S PROTECTION
Prime Minister’s don’t opine freely about internal party matters, particularly about the business of a state caucus but consider his words reported in the Herald yesterday:
”The days when, you know, someone who was a factional powerbroker behind the scenes should dictate the show, I think, should be stuck in the past,” Mr Rudd said.
And that’s code for the Leader is in charge. Especially King Kev. If the NSW caucus come after Rees, we suspect the PMO would wield every weapon in its arsenal including using the National Executive to disendorse ALP MPs to bring them into line.
And whatever the rights or wrongs of all that for process junkies or Rees backers, that is a startling development for observers of the political process. It’s a fully fledged monarchy. Arise King Kev.
The implications of the use of Prime Ministerial authority on the selection of state cabinet ministers ought not be lost on any of the state Labor governments.
With poll numbers showing he enjoys tremendous support from the community – currently – his internal political authority will continue to soar. When it changes, that authority might change too but for the ALP all of this is uncharted territory.
His authority has been used to resolve preselections in a number of states. It’s been used to pick his own ministry, in a way that seemed to pretty blatantly reward those who’d previously voted for him. It was even used to resolve an impasse over the State Secretary’s position in Victoria. And now to sack a couple of supposedly unpopular ministers in the NSW state government.
As one senior NSW Labor insider asked this morning:
“Who’s next?”
FLUKEY LUKE BATS ON
Presumably untroubled by these developments is cricket tragic and “Hard-Left” lieutenant Luke Foley who is settling in for a Bradman style innings after years playing 12th man to Anthony Albanese. Some think he’ll be moving on the departing lefty minister Ian Macdonald to take a state seat. Not a bad idea perhaps. But Foley was cock-a-hoop about the Rees power-play:
Labor sources claimed the Left’s assistant secretary, Luke Foley, was boasting at a Left caucus dinner on Saturday night that the win by Mr Rees meant the Left had won control of the Government.
Just when you thought things couldn’t have got worse in the failed state of NSW.
Discussion
88 comments for “KING KEV: Labor gives PM Rudd the right to meddle anywhere anytime”
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I would like the era of strong men to continue pretty pwease…
Why don’t you report on tony sheldon almost being arrested on conference floor
The line has always been “it doesn’t matter that he’s in the Left – the Right put him up, he relies on the Right, the Right can control him more than they could Bob or Morris”.
What a joke. Now you’ve got the custodians of HO all sucking Rees’ codger, and the Right-in-name-only Kevin Rudd providing him life support. The power of the party apparatus is Nathan’s.
They can’t roll him. The 21 or so lefties (minus Macdonald) will vote as a bloc even if Rees cancels the Mardi Gras. He then needs less than half of the Right to get over the line – easily purchased.
Disloyal, disorganised, without an alternative Premier both about 18 months ago, and right now. The culture is centralised in Arbib, Bitar, Thistle – terrorists all. The NSW Right is dead.
NSW are behaving almost as worst as Brumby, Hulls, and Wynne. NSW we feel your pain we have a deputy premier with unpredictable and unusual behaviour who has clearly demonstrated that his team were always lefties hiding behind the right umbrella.
As a delegate to conference from a right wing union, I can tell you that the media is simply making a story out of nothing.
Rival groups come to blows
BITTER rivalry between two unions spilled on to the floor of the ALP state conference as the Transport Worker’s Union Secretary, Tony Sheldon, became involved in a scuffle with delegates from the National Union of Workers.
Witnesses say two police officers, who were standing nearby when the incident broke out, had to separate Mr Sheldon and the NUW delegates.
The unions have a history of acrimony, which has become heated as they compete for transport members.
The NUW secretary, Derrick Belan, said Mr Sheldon directed insults towards a group of his delegates as he walked past them. ”He became agitated after not getting his own way in some of the resolutions and he decided to take his anger out like a spoiled child,” Mr Belan said.
He said the matter was being dealt with internally but ”we don’t believe we acted inappropriately in any way”.
Seth Tenkate, from the TWU, said police have been asked to investigate a possible charge of assault against one NUW ”thug”.
Mr Sheldon had earlier criticised a plan to parachute the seatless Labor frontbencher, Laurie Ferguson, into Mark Latham’s old constituency of Werriwa.
A spokesman for Police Media said no charges had been laid.
Brumby government war on councils and patriots contunie!!! Media release just sent out. PLease Give us a story Andy!
Tony Sheldon have a cry.
How much has the separation of the siamese twins in Melbourne cost the taxpayers of this nation?
If we were serious about saving as many lives as possible, that money, probably in excess of $100,000 should have been spent in India to save the lives of dozens of sick kids.
The decision to separate the siamese twins for cheap publicity has in effect costs the lives of countless others in 3rd world countries.
Man In Black:
You forgot to mention that the NUW thugs were kicked off the floor TWICE.
TWU Supporter have a cry.
Cry? No chance.
I’ll be laughing … when you and your knuckle-dragging moron mates get pinged again.
Are you angry because of your irrelevance?
I’m sure you can get some counselling for that.
Never mind the NUW and the TWU. If Laurie gets Werriwa and Hayes gets Fowler, what does Husic get? Don’t tell me he dips out please. What is the state of play now? Will Ed be getting a run before the unions are cut adrift?
knuckle dragging – hilarious.
Man in Black should read “Chorus line of ladyboys”. Took eight of them to surround Sheldon so Wayne Meaney could gather his remaining balls to have a go.
In the end Meaney= no weeenie
So how does Foley get a seat now if Macca is committed to staying just to f..him over? Foley has snookered himself….
Why doesnt Ed run for a seat in Melbourne?… get the drift?
And bring back a bit of biff , hey chaps
Funny thing was,it was sheldon who was screaming out like a big sheila,talk about no balls.Where were the twu girlyboys?They looked the other way and pretended they were unaware of what was happening.
They were still drinking beer at lunch. But on another note – where was Belan? I have been told he was jerking off with Robbo in the observers area so he would not have to face anyone, and only turned up when Bernie was there to protect him
Talking of pre selections – is Ptolomey now going to go the state seat of Penrith? Is it the only one left he has failed to get?
A bit distasteful to have a picture of HM associated with a story about Labor internal processes and union fights…
Shock horror The Left are taking over in NSW. Whilst in Victoria the Left have been handed control by the Shortcons. The Left will have the Presidency of the ALP in Victoria for the next 10 years under the so-called stability deal
It was the Ambition Faction that tried to destabilize the party by sacking a Labor Unity state secretary.
The Socialist Left was a more attractive bed-fellow than Michael Donovan, Charlie Donnelly and Jeff Jackson. Does that say more about them or about Labor Unity?
Time for the sulking in the Ambition Faction to end. Your antics have cost you plenty.
Rudd is a power mad [deleted] >I know.
Andrew, Stop whinging about the Left taking over in NSW when you actively support a deal where the Left take over in Victoria.
Rees not only finds favor with Grub Rudd but now even Alan Jones appears to have joined his cheer-squad.Of course I don’t expect that Jones has really become a true believer but will help to prop him up simply because he sees the Libs as having a much better chance in the March 2011 Election if Rees is leading the Labor lambs to the slaughter.
Come and get me TWU, just try.
sing a long like Will Smith …
Here comes the Man in Black
Little Derek’s defenders
Here comes the Man in Black
In no way a contender
Nah Nah Nah Nah
Tony got hysterial because he didn’t get his own way. The pressure has got to him…and he is ready to crack…look at what the TWU did on sunday – voting for Debus against Riordan, and for Butterworth against Matt. Not a smart move….but hen again, they aint real smart.
Tony is totally isolated.
The TWU will have new leadership within 12 months.
And who did the NUW vote for? Nobody – they were kicked out
Meanwhile, my old man is going to continue my hobby and register website names conected to the TWU
see http://www.smh.com.au/national/domain-hijacking-causes-a-union-stir-20090818-ep44.html
Tony was not there to vote on Sunday.He was at home washing his underpants.
Tony Sheldon I didn’t think you’d pick the name “Girl in Pink” to post under.
Continue to have your little cry.
Man in Black = Ptolemy
Knuckle dragger = Meaney
Natural selection = Robbo
tHe Joker = Belan
It is just one big Lemon Party and a big suck-fest daisy chain over at the NUW
Guess again Mark
c’mon – is the internet slow in Granville today?
The girl in pink is Nimrod. It used to be his nickname at the Hellfire club.Tony and Nimrod were legends at the place.If any of you NUW boys want to learn about daisy chains,Tony and Nimrod are the perfect boys to teach you.
Can’t wait till pat stands against derek. Then we can take our union back and do good for the workers again. Sure the twu did not plant those guys intentially, but it will work out all right in the end.
Wrong again mark!! Funny story though- only took six hours for a response and all you had was hellfire??? I expected more from one with hours to kill on the trawl.
“Names Revealed”…ha ha …you are SO wrong with that list….it’s funny
Has Foley invited Sheldon & Forno for a beer to formally welcome them to the Hard Left?
You TWU
guys sure know how to win friends and influence people!
But I never thought you’d stoop so low as to vote against you factional allies.
Treacherous dogs. I only hope someone over at Cowper Street has enough guts to challenge the “leadership team” and give the TWU back so of its integrity of bygone days.
The TWU voted for Fat Bernie even though he is under investigation by ICAC for getting a mate a job. It’s a pity his influence does not extend to getting NUW leadership a job at the Philippines Embassy, where they can partake in their enjoyment of watching ladyboys undress. That secondment alone would restore voters’ faith in the ALP.
tHE jOKER:
The list appears to be right. Stop lying and get over it.
Good try but no, it aint right…ha ha…would you like to really know who is who in the zoo?
pissing myself over Scruitineer’s comments…ha ha ha…”…watching ladyboys undress…” bwha ha ha ha
“Tony is totally isolated.
The TWU will have new leadership within 12 months”
Good call….let’s lay bets.
Is the NSW Right dead because of Mark Arbib & Karl Bitar?
It’s funny how they POQ…..can it be that they smelt the cat shit behind the sofa and scuttle out before someone had to clean it up?
Hey, Nimrod….will the TWU be represented at the meeting of Right Unions tomorrow?
Are the TWU still in the Right?
Been reading some of the comments. TWU vs NUW. Nice.
Catwoman mentioned here that the NUW were kicked out of conference. I was sitting across from them and they were there the whole weekend.
The word is out that Tony & Sarah had a big tiff and it was all about Tony’s plan to rat on his won faction at State Conference.
Sarah’s absence was noted by many….lots of questions were asked. Certain members of the HSU were more than happy to oblige in answering them!
Sometimes we can’t chose our enemies but we do have to take responsibility for our choice in friends.
Rival groups come to blows
BITTER rivalry between two unions spilled on to the floor of the ALP state conference as the Transport Worker’s Union Secretary, Tony Sheldon, became involved in a scuffle with delegates from the National Union of Workers.
Witnesses say two police officers, who were standing nearby when the incident broke out, had to separate Mr Sheldon and the NUW delegates.
The unions have a history of acrimony, which has become heated as they compete for transport members that the TWU neglect often.
The NUW secretary, Derrick Belan, said Mr Sheldon directed insults towards a group of his delegates as he walked past them. ”He became agitated after not getting his own way in some of the resolutions and he decided to take his anger out like a spoiled child,” Mr Belan said.
He said the matter was being dealt with internally but ”we don’t believe we acted inappropriately in any way”.
Seth Tenkate, from the TWU (who hopes to be a media officer when he grows up), said police have been asked to investigate a possible charge of child abuse. “Well, from the way he squealed like a child, it is obvious that my boss is in fact an 8 year old girl”.
Mr Sheldon had earlier criticised a plan to parachute the seatless Labor frontbencher, Laurie Ferguson, into Mark Latham’s old constituency of Werriwa, currently held by some guy no-one knows the TWU used slush money funds to help get elected.
A spokesman for Police Media said no charges had been laid but they were terribly embarrassed for all TWU members for having such a girly-man as their so-called leader.
TWU where are you?
Steve Bali is the man in black
Google it…it will come up as Steve Bali
What’s so bad about the Hellfire Club? Those daisy chains were some of the happiest of my life….such fond memories of me, Filthy and Captain Hotwax (you know who you are!)
Ah, good times.
Oh dear, such mental pictures….
Is there a man in beige?
Or only black?
What a weekend session from Bobo the Clown at the ALP circus. First of all he sprays Ferguson, then Cristadoulu, then trys to spray the NUW. But goes to water when he is left standing alone whilst his “loyal” officals studiously looked the other way, perhaps with a sly wink and a nudge towards their supposed “rivals”. How alone must this poor clown feel to be the only one standing in his own mental three ring circus. Why is it the poor clown screams foul and calls “thug” when half of his own officals who got over him are working for other unions in NSW? He was’nt screaming thug when they were doing the clowns bidding! Apparently the only thing that Bobo missed on the fateful day was the TWU officials high fiving the NUW guys outside the conference and buying them beers at the Covent Garden on Sunday avo!
I know what Tony really screamed at ALP Conference.
I can read lips.
Tony: What do you mean my shoes don’t match my handbag? How dare you? Don’t you know who I am??!! I am very very powerful! I have funny sideburns! But I want hair like Laurie Ferguson! Do you hear me! I support Laurie’s hair! Do you support Laurie’s hair?? I wont be a victim of bad hair!! And my shoes do match my bag!! Officer! Officer! He said something bad about my fashion sense!
No, no…you got it all wrong. Here is what he REALLY said:
“Hotwax? What have you got against hotwax? I love it and so should everyone else! I am very, very powerful! All my people love me…see there they are – looking in the other direction and pretending they are with someone else. Officer! Officer! Those people over there are ignoring me! I demand they are arrested and covered in hot wax!!”
Steve is not the man in black. He never wears black.
The man in black is someone who wants to feel thinner. Black is very thinning.
This site has gone too f*cking far. It is an outrage!
I have known Tony for years. Not once in all those years has ever worn shoes that do not match his hand bag. Not once!
Now all you nasty, nasty people, all you NUW thuggie types with your horrible black (but somehow stylish) suits shoudl really just say sorry for the hurt you have caused Tony. He never leaves the house without being perfectly matched.
You say sorry…or so help me, Wayne Forno will complain to the Sydney Morning Herald. He will…you just wait and see.
Rival groups come to blows
BITTER rivalry between two unions spilled on to the floor of the ALP state conference as the Transport Worker’s Union Secretary, Tony “The Squealer” Sheldon, became involved in a hissy-fit with delegates from another , cooler union.
Witnesses say two police officers, disguised as potplants, were nearby when the incident broke out, and had to stop themselves laughing at Mr Sheldon’s pubescent rant.
The unions have a history of acrimony, which has become heated as lots of TWU members realise they can get a better deal by becoming members of the NUW.
The NUW secretary, Derrick Belan, said Mr Sheldon directed insults towards a group of his delegates as he walked past them. ”He became agitated after not getting his own way in some of the resolutions and he decided to take his anger out like a spoiled child,” Mr Belan said. Another witness said Tony is sad because he’ll never be a pollie due to a electoral fraud conviction in Queensland in the 1990s. Too bad – so sad.
Mr. Belan said the matter was being dealt with internally but ”we don’t believe we acted inappropriately in any way”.
Seth Tenkate, a nobody from the TWU, said police have been asked to investigate a possible charge of overacting due to Sheldon’s bizarre antics.
Mr Sheldon had earlier criticised a plan to parachute the seatless Labor frontbencher, Laurie Ferguson, into Mark Latham’s old constituency of Werriwa. Mr Sheldon said that Ferguson’s hair “scares him a lot and he wants it to go away”.
A spokesman for Police Media said no charges had been laid yet, however they would like to becasue Tony is such a twat. NIDA has been contacted to give free acting lessons to Sheldon so that ALP Delegates wont ever have to suffer such over-acting at future conferences. A voice coach has also been offered for gratis to help Tony should more like a man rather than a mouse with it’s genitals caught in a trap.
Any one who knows Ptolemy’s history knows he will not be going for preselection at the next state or federal election.
He is currently seeking the Left preselection for Mt Druitt High School SRC.
He is spending all his hours ‘polling’ the electorate.
Man in Black will not reply: it is 3:30 and he will be hanging around schools.
So what if I wear a black suit….it makes me look thin and I can easily get into the Hellfire Club….Tones and Nimrod wont invite me…how else can I get some daisy chain of love action???
Fat thugs need lovin’ too.
Tony Sheldon keep having that cry.
Rival groups come to slaps and hard stares.
BITTER rivalry between two unions spilled on to the floor of the ALP state conference as the Transport Worker’s Union Secretary, Tony Sheldon, became involved in a hysterical scuffle with anyone he thought was plotting against him (that was most of the room).
Witnesses say two police officers, dressed as Young Liberals who were standing nearby when the incident broke out, had to separate Mr Sheldon from a mirror.
The TWU has a history of acrimony, because they are all sell-outs.
The NUW secretary, Derrick Belan, said Mr Sheldon directed insults towards a group of his delegates as he walked past them. ”He became agitated after not getting his own way in some of the resolutions and he decided to take his anger out like a spoiled child. He was also wearing a cap with a propeller on top,” Mr Belan said.
He said the matter was being dealt with a giggle but ”we don’t believe we acted inappropriately in any way”.
Seth Tencraps, an American Indian Chief on secondment from the US Teamsters, said police have been asked to investigate a possible charge of impersonating a human being against slush-fund boss Sheldon.
Mr Sheldon had earlier criticised a plan to parachute the seatless Labor frontbencher, Laurie Ferguson, into Mark Latham’s old constituency of Werriwa.
A spokesman for Police Media said no charges had been laid nor had Mr Sheldon been laid as he is blueing with his missus because she did not agree with him ratting on the Right faction at NSW ALP Conference.
Police responded to hysterical calls by the TWU for a shoot-on-site order against the NUW with an appropriate level of contempt and laughter. A spokesperson for the Police Association said that they feel the TWU is a joke, just as all other unions do.
A portly p-of called Derek Belan,
Rode so many d-cks he lost all feeling
In his sagging, stretched blot:
Now he must take the c-mshot
In the mouth, or the eyes, while kneeling.
There once was a man named Tony
How turned out to be quite the phony
A slush fund he did create
To cover his plate
Now caught and discredited he feels very lonely.
The Union boss called Zorro
Loved to take, beg and borrow
From bosses he did take
And that was his mistake…
Because as a unionist he now has no tomorrow!
Will you all just please shut up and tell me-has another seat been found for Ed Husic………I have to f*ckin know. Can you all just focus on that and not on the silly girly war. I want information on the silly girly war of preselections. Thankyou
My informant tells me that it looks like the deals done for Searley…..
Ed is still out in the cold although he could end up in Chifley IF Roger Price decides to hang up his whip after being in Parliament since 1984.
Lindsay MP David Bradbury was whispered to be eying off Chifley, as it would be a safer bet than Lindsay. If Roger goes Ed Husic would be a good choice for Chifley.
Macarthur is still without a candidate. If Sussex Street were smart they would go with Nick Bleasdale again. He is still active out Campbelltown way and did a good job last time.
…oh…and what about Robertson? There’s no way Belinda will get another go at it.
AND Dobell….Craig The Massage Parlour King Thompson must be out of contention…surely!
Roger the dodger go? you have to be kidding, though if they put anyone in Ed would be a fantasic candidate or they could run him in Greenway. Maybe put Ed into Lindsay and put David into chifley..
Ed is working hard to make sure he is found a spot. He is deeply embarrassed about being dumped for Fowler, especially as he was telling everyone it was his. The branches out Fowler way are very happy tho’ they did not want Husic the failed Greenaway candidate. Husic tried currying favour with the hard left and the right by getting into Gillard at every opportunity. Now even his own faction are getting a little tired of his arrogance and sense of entitlement. It’s been a bad few weeks for Husic, his own shameless self promotion is coming back to bite him. Husic thought that playing up his ‘close relationships’ with certain ministers would impress the top echelons at Telstra & Australia Post, that failed, they now realise what a bullshit artist he is. Husic was foisted upon the CEPU through the same rhetoric, of guaranteed access, now rank and file members of the union are in revolt, tired of waiting for Ed’s ego to deliver results, they do not intend to be sacrificed for Husics political ambitions. Behind his back Ed’s ‘mates’ are privately saying that he has had his run and its likely he won’t get another this time around. All that crawling and self promotion for nothing eh Ed. And you have pissed off the people you are paid to represent to boot……..well done mate, well done.
The love for Ed is waning somewhat. I guess when people keep saying so or so would be a great MP the BS snowballs and it’s all spin and no substance. Look at Bradbury, he is a fizzer in the true YLA sense. Pretty, perky and empty as a shell. Maybe Ed is just the same.
Could not agree more about those two seats. Is it just my take on things that many of these terrible candidates that were preselected were done through the patronage of right wing unions? I am more than prepared to accept that the left wing unions have also put up some shockers; but Dobell & Robertson stand out like dogs b*lls. Also I have seen the list of delegates to the NSW ALP Conference and how many delegates each union sends which is based on how many members they claim to have, I believe this also determines how much they pay in affiliation fees, is that right? If that is right, when you go to most of the unions web pages they have the annual report easily accessible. Many of the unions have huge differences between the number of members they affiliate on and hence number of delegates and how much they pay the ALP. Does that mean that a lot of these unions are rorting members money to put some absolute deadheads into parliament? Is this how the likes of Belinda and Craig Thomson, who allegedly used his HSU credit card to finance his campaign, get preselection. If this is the case (sorry if it all sounds a little naive) then no wonder we have some absolute losers in various seats and no wonder unions are on the nose. When I look at some of the candidates and also at some of the people who have got elected (I am thinking of Mark Arbib) it is quite clear that they are not there because of talent and compelling personality, so it has to be something else unrelated to likeability and competence. I am no Rudd fan (or Gillard come to that) but I am enjoying the fact that they are at least wanting to clean up the mess, especially in NSW. The electorates deserve better than what is being served up to them, and so do union members come to that.
The last post is pretty spot on. A lot of unions do the dodgy to up their affiliation to the ALP. Look at the TWU. Their delegation is 48. Yet their membership in NSW is only around 22,000. The sums just dont add up.
An external audit would be a step in the right direction.
The ALP machinery in candidate selection has many, many faults, yet there must be a way to fix it. A primary style process may do it, maybe not, but there has got to be a better way.
Thanks ‘Close to the storm’ for your thoughtful replies. That TWU discrepancy is enormous isn’t it. They are not the only ones though; even the smaller unions are doing it-someone in the factions must keep an eye on the numbers to make sure they always have the power, and this has implications right throughout the whole political landscape as well as for the unions. The majority of union members could not give a stuff about all the factional crap and I think they would be pretty pissed off about so much money going into ALP coffers, or to dickhead candidates for preselection. The ALP is not necessarily the party of choice for workers anymore-they just do not have the same affinity and relationship with the ALP but they are forced to support it through affiliation. What will most of these unions do if the Electoral Funding Reforms Legislation is passed and they are automatically disaffiliated? This round of preselections is pretty important as it represents almost a ‘last chance’ to get a spot through using union members and union affiliation doesn’t it?
If we excluded the dickheads from ALP preselections the Libs would hold government forever as there would be no ALP candidates!
Such cynicism Clingwrap, funny but cynical. Lets not get started on the dickheads in the Libs. That actually becomes an argument for NOT having rank and file preselections. I mean………….Bronwyn Bishop!! That song is playing in my head ……’clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you………’ lol
I think any prospective pollies should all be preselected via a duel at dawn. That way at least we will get rid of 50% of the wankers.
I really like the idea ‘Clingwrap’ on the face of it it does sound fair, but then I got to thinking about it and I reckon that the NSW Right will still rig that by any number of means. Their is a few of them that I reckon might have had a bit to do with guns so they have more experience. What about a playoff against each other using that game Twister. The rank and file members could look on and look for the subliminal choices of Green, Red, Blue & Yellow circles. Nah on second thoughts you are right……………bring on the guns. We can always fire from the grassy knoll if the wrongun wins.
Well back in the day when I ran YL, we used to have competitions on how many twinkies we could eat, suffice to say that Reba couldnt swallow and I would puke my self silly….. the good old days when we could stack and stack, now the leader just executes us at his discretion, when I put him there after dumpn my best bro