Bleak House

Anyone seeking for reasons behind the decay of the ALP needn’t look very far. For much too long, party power brokers have treated Upper Houses as an elephant’s graveyard. The Legislative Council and the Senate are a retirement a village for unionists who have ‘paid their dues”. Dinosaurs like Bob Sneath and John Gazzola are soon to be joined by some young blood, relatively speaking, in 57 year old leftie Gerry Kandelaars. Yet again, powerbrokers are ticking off their favours list instead of considering what is good for party, the Government and the State.

From the outset, let me say that Gerry Kandelaars has contributed much to the Labor movement, and probably would have made a valuable Parliamentarian if he had been pre-selected 10 years ago. As a 57 year old, however, his pre-selecting is baffling. Surely he will need to spend at least the first four years of his eight year term “learning the ropes”. Following this period, it wouldn’t make much sense to give him a ministry in his 61st year, because he is unlikely to serve another term from 65-73. It is unlikely that the ALP will even be in Government during much of his term. Why pre-select such a person to be a glorified seat warmer for eight years?

The decision is particularly baffling given the absence of Ministerial talent for the ALP in the Upper House. Gail Gago and Russell Wortley are the existing ministers, and neither could be described as superstars destined to more senior portfolios. The retirement of Holloway, Zollo and Sneath in 2014 will only worsen the current situation. Managing an Upper House requires skill, especially given that the Government does not hold a majority. The manner in which candidates are elected to the Upper House, however, explains the reason ALP pre-selects in the way it does.

Legislative Councillors are elected on proportional basis, not individually. For this reason, the ALP pre-selects people that would probably be unelectable on their merits. Gail Gago, for example failed on numerous occasions to win a lower house seat. Bernie Finnigan would have required gastric banding to even stand a chance. The LC is the domain of the fat and the socially awkward within the ALP. While these people are likely to be incapable of winning a lower house seat, they are capable of earning the favours of the factional powerbrokers. Once they have attained their seat on the red couches, they sit in relative obscurity for their entire term, occasionally raising their snouts from the trough to raise a grievance. This is a ridiculous situation.

Upper Houses, both Federally and at a State level, should be used to pre-select candidates that might not have the charisma to hold marginal seats, but have the brains and the diplomacy to navigate bills through the hostile house. They should also be future leaders, who can use the stability of their tenure to build the party. Paul Holloway, for example, is not the most personable politician, but his eye for detail and skill made him a valuable contributor over many years. Whilst I abhor the Liberal Party, they ensure that they preselect Senators such as Nick Minchin, Simon Birmingham etc whose names are actually known outside of political circles. The toughest question in any quiz night would be; name four South Australian ALP senators. This should not be the case.

The fortunes of the ALP will continue to deteriorate unless they begin pre-selecting candidates capable of becoming future leaders and/or ministers. Fortunately, it appears that highly capable female candidates are in line for seats in Ramsey and Port Adelaide, but given the amount of media scrutiny that exists with by-elections, this is hardly surprising. Meritorious candidates are only pre-selected for the ALP when they stand a chance of losing (marginals, by-elections). Candidates like Chloe Fox, Amanda Rishworth, Nick Champion and Grace Portolesi are great, but they are a minor swing away from being out on their ass. The holders of the safest of seats, such as those in the Upper House, determine the future of the party, because they will be around for the long haul (apart from Gerry Kandelaars, who is one term away from retirement age).