Strings Attached

Well, it has been an interesting few days for your friendly neighbourhood political blogger. The purpose of this blog always has been to shine a light onto a traditionally shadowy aspect of our political system, the factions of the ALP. The purpose of today’s post is to highlight one area in which our current system of democracy is flawed; the allocation of Cabinet portfolios.

Every day since Mike Rann announced his retirement time table, Jay Weatherill would have been popping the chocolate out of his little political advent calendar. As he nibbles on these chocolates, he will be busily considering the make up of his inaugural Ministry. Unfortunately, for the electorate, it is highly unlikely that Jay will have unfettered discretion when he makes this decision.

In the ALP, it is convention for the factions to determine who will be included within a Ministry, and then the Premier allocates the portfolios. While the Premier technically has ultimate power, they are inevitably provided with strong suggestions, especially regarding certain portfolios. The fate of Kevin Rudd is a highly relevant case study highlighting the risks involved in autonomously determining one’s cabinet. When Jay was granted the support of the Right faction, it is likely that conditions (or “suggestions”) regarding the allocation of portfolios were foreshadowed. It is a taint upon our democracy that we are not privy to such machinations.

While we cannot be certain as to the conditions suggested by the Right regarding portfolio allocation, recent history can be examined to make an educated guess. The Right has been in possession of the Sport and Recreation portfolio since Michael Wright defected from the Left, so we can expect a continuation of this. Arguably, Leon Bignell, former sporting journalist would be most suited to this job, but merit doesn’t necessarily always matter. Responsibility for shop trading hours resides with the IR Minister, and as such is of high importance to the Shoppies Union, fount of power for the Right faction. Industrial Relations, and WorkCover in particular, are the purpose of existence for many within the Left faction, but at the same time the ideologies of these people deeply clashes with that adopted in recent times by the Right. It will be fascinating to see who is given this portfolio, and whether Jay keeps WorkCover and IR divided, especially given his special interest in the portfolio area. The fates of Weatherill’s two leadership rivals will also be fascinating.

I venture to guess that the terms of any Jay/Right negotiated arrangement would have included ensuring that the status quo remains for Jack Snelling and John Rau. Treasurer and AG are two of the most senior positions within any Government. Demoting either Rau or Snelling would possibly be seen as Jay punishing his rivals. Jay faces a difficult time, however, in finding an appropriate portfolio to reward long time ally Grace Portolesi with. Portfolios such as Education, Police and Emergency Services are potential options, but none are as sexy as AG or Treasury.

The public has legitimate cause to be concerned when a Premier is elected, not by the public, but by the factions. It is of greater concern when the negotiations and machinations surrounding this elevation occur in backrooms or cafes, often involving un-elected and unaccountable members of the public. Until the party is reformed, we are forced to observe alterations to the tip of the ice berg, then extrapolate these observations to the organisation as a whole. The healthiest democracy is one which can be described as all tip, no berg.