Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's right-wing faction has lost control of Labor's national conference for the first time since 1979, opening the way for a big push on traditionally left-wing issues such as party reform, same-sex marriage, tax, asylum seekers and trade.
Internal party numbers obtained by Fairfax Media show that neither the major Right or Left factions will have a majority of the 397 delegates to the triennial conference, which is being held next month in Melbourne.
The loss of his faction's control of the ALP federally is an additional stress for Mr Shorten, who is experiencing declining popularity, a resurgent government, and a $61 million royal commission probing his past as a union leader.
Labor's right-wing faction controlled the national party through the Hawke, Keating, Rudd and Gillard governments.
Loss of control means the factional chiefs who have traditionally wielded influence will now be answerable to a handful of maverick independents, who are likely to hold the balance of power.
Among them is veteran Victorian activist Eric Dearricott, who has been a thorn in the side of the factions in Victoria for many years with his campaigns against branch-stacking and his advocacy of party reform.
"We believe the rank and file membership should have greater say in the party both in pre-selection and policies," he said on Wednesday. "We want to see the conference adopt reforms."
Mr Dearricott and fellow independents are likely to call for a reduction in union sway over the pre-selection of parliamentary candidates, less intervention by the party's national executive in pre-selections, and for the direct election of national conference delegates.
They are also expected to seek action on branch-stacking -- a process by which factional chiefs pay the membership dues of masses of members to build their internal power. Mr Dearricott wants dues to be paid by traceable means.
These reforms, if adopted, would result in the watering down of the power of the factions and unions in the Labor Party.
Direct election was a key recommendation of a 2011 review by party elders Steve Bracks, John Faulkner and Bob Carr.
In a major speech in early 2014, and in the aftermath of Labor's thumping election defeat, Mr Shorten promised party reform, notably a reduction in union influence over parliamentary pre-selections. But ahead of the recent Victorian ALP conference, factional chiefs rejected the push, and Mr Shorten has spoken little about it in recent months.
With the numbers so tight, Labor sources said policy positions previously thought settled may now be revisited, including a binding vote for same-sex marriage. However, the handling of the same-sex marriage issue may also depend on the position of the Abbott government.
If the Coalition indicates it will not allow a conscience vote on the issue, Labor delegates are more likely to renew a push for a binding vote in a bid to maximise the numbers in Parliament who support change.
Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek has agitated for a binding vote on the issue in recent months but has run into strong resistance from across the party.
"I think that marriage equality is a matter of legal discrimination not an issue for a conscience vote … but I have to say we are a lot further down the track towards marriage equality than I anticipated we would be going into national conference," she told Sky News this week.
Other issues the Left is likely to agitate on include a greater emphasis on labour and human rights protections in trade deals, and the question of whether overall taxation levels need to rise.
The shift in power from Right to Left groupings comes from a number of factors.
The delegates are tallied up around the country largely from the state branches, the Left gaining ground in Western Australia and, in particular, Queensland, where the state party's power balance has shifted since the state election massacre of 2011.
The influence in the party of the powerful right-wing NSW Transport Workers Union has been reduced after Fairfax Media exposed the rorting of union membership numbers in 2013.
The ALP's national executive will meet on Friday to endorse the draft Labor platform for the national conference, to be held in Melbourne, in late July.
Another independent is Chris Bourke, a member of the ACT Legislative Assembly who describes himself as being "independent of party factions".
