Shotgun wedding

While debate continues to rage about the identity of the “leaker” at the centre of the “shoe-gate” scandal, it is clear that the leak was designed to prevent the all powerful Right faction from reneging on its support for Weatherill. The Right had agonised over this decision for approximately six month, vacillating between Rau, Snelling and Weatherill. For the Right, anointing a talented Left wing candidate is analogous to a groom deciding whether or not to marry a beautiful bride spawned from a family of hillbillies. While the wife is the one you will be going to bed with every night, every Christmas you will be stuck with the in-laws. Unfortunately for the Right, it only took until the father of the Bride speech for the whole arrangement to fall apart at the seams.

For the past ten years, Jay Weatherill has been the darling of the Left, destined for great things. The faction had swallowed its medicine dutifully, acquiescing when the Right enforced its will regarding WorkCover reform etc. In order to be able to sleep at night, many factional members would have rocked backwards and forwards chanting “Jay will change it, Jay will change it”. Unfortunately, however, such feverish obsession has meant that they were unable to contain themselves at the crucial moment. Instead of letting Malinauskas and Snelling deliver the news covertly, a media spectacle was created, irreparably tarnishing the prize that Jay had sought for so long. The recent Gillard experience has shown how important an untainted ascension is.

When the initial leadership coup story broke, much mention was made about Rann standing down before State Convention. One only needs to recall the scenes of last years Convention to understand the Left’s motivation for impatiently seeking this timeline. Not only would the inevitable “love fest” provide Jay with plenty of photo opportunities fronting his adoring masses, but also the Left would wish to use the momentum of such occasion to force policy reform in their pet areas (WorkCover, Gay Marriage). Allowing Rann to stay on until March would have ensured policy status quo for another year. Following the botched coup, however, the Parliamentary ALP is in a state of fracture and chaos, with bitter recriminations being launched from all corners. The last thing the party wants is a weekend of the media filming the its internal machinations.

While it is unlikely that we will ever know whether Jay Weatherill had any prior knowledge of the leak, Mike Rann’s public demeanour towards his deposer speaks volumes. Rann, the consummate media manipulator, has gone out of his way to marginalise the Premier-in-Waiting. The party and the Government cannot afford nine more weeks of hostility. One wonders if Mike is answering Jay’s calls yet? Where is a News of the World journalist when you need one?