Hunter becomes the hunted

Ever since the failed Rann coup story broke in the media, there has been debate over the identity of the leaker. I can now confirm that the person responsible for leaking this information to the ABC was former State Secretary and current seat warmer in the Upper House, Ian Hunter MLC. (Hunter has since denied any involvement.) Hunter is a member of the left faction and close ally of Premier-in-waiting Jay Weatherill. Initially, I discounted the Left of being responsible for the leak, mainly because it had caused such damage to their hero, Jay. Having said that, it is also highly unlikely that anyone from the Right would have risked incurring the wrath of the SDA. The fact that Michael Atkinson ruefully anticipated that the leaker will probably receive a promotion strongly suggests that the leaker was part of the Left faction. The Right would not publicly criticize one of its own in such a manner. I must admit that I totally underestimated the degree of stupidity of which the Left is capable of. Now that we know who leaked the information, we should examine why he leaked it.

In the aftermath of the failed leadership coup, it was reported that Ian Hunter was part of a transition team assisting Weatherill plan his ascent to the top job. Given that Hunter is such an integral part of Jay’s inner circle, it must be asked; was the leak ordered by Jay as a way of speeding up Rann’s departure? It certainly makes sense. How else would Hunter have possessed the information of the meeting, if not through a conversation with Jay? I assure you that Hunter is not on Jack or Peter Malinauskas’s Christmas card list, and from recent comments I doubt Mike Rann engaged in many deep and meaningful conversations with him either. This leaves only two possibilities; either Jay ordered Hunter to leak the info to the media or Hunter acted autonomously in conflict with the instructions of his factional leader. Neither option reflects generously on Weatherill.

If Hunter was acting upon the instructions of Jay, then both of them failed to anticipate the manner in which Mike Rann would react to their actions. Anyone that thought that a political animal with the nouse of Rann would meekly retreat when confronted with a threat is lacking in even the most basic political judgment. Surely, if Jay was part of the plot, he should have had some contingency plans. A quote from The Usual Suspects comes to mind. “How do you shoot the devil in the back. What if you miss?”. I think it is unlikely that Weatherill would have sanctioned the leaking unless he was prepared to challenge the Premier if things went wrong. Things did go horribly wrong, and Jay seemed like a deer in the headlights. This adds weight to the argument that Hunter acted alone. This does not bode well for the future.

The assorted crazies within the Left faction of the ALP have been locked in a box by the Right for the last 15 years. It appears that the anointing of one of their own as the incoming Premier, however, has opened Pandora’s box, releasing an array of nut jobs from the shackles. For the past ten years, lefties like Hunter and Bob Sneath would have been impotently muttering and whinging to each other at SA Unions BBQ’s about the nasty Right faction and their abominable WorkCover laws. For the Left, the slightest whiff of power has been akin to a starving dog catching wind of a juicy steak. You wouldn’t expect the dog to behave rationally, and nor should you expect the Left. This is the problem that Jay faces. He must restrain the members of his own faction, whilst still appeasing the Right faction who is responsible for his ascent. With the Hunter situation, does he punish Ian for causing such damage to the party, or reward him for being a loyal servant over so many years? Time will tell.