Senate selections

Labor sorts out its Senate ticket for Queensland, while both parties in Tasmania appear loath to learn from the preselection lessons of 2016.

We seem to be going into an ill-timed poll drought, so to keep things ticking over, here’s a post focusing on Senate preselection news. Please note there’s a post below this one on this Saturday’s Wagga Wagga by-election, which is developing into a fairly interesting contest.

• Queensland Labor’s state conference determined its Senate preselection on the weekend, having been hurried along by a national executive concerned the Liberal leadership crisis might bring on an early election. In doing so it bypassed a vote that was granted to the party membership under rule changes in 2013. The top position has gone to Nita Green, a former staffer to Senator Murray Watt and the favoured candidate of the CFMMEU and United Voice. The position is reserved to the Left, and is being vacated with the retirement of Claire Moore.

Green’s ascendancy has been contentious because party rules reserve the position for a regional representative and she lives in Brisbane, though she says she will move if elected. Supporters of rival Left candidate Tania Major, a Cairns-based indigenous youth advocate and protege of Cape York leader Noel Pearson, have further complained of being ambushed by a process for the factional ballot in which a three-day nominations period was followed immediately by the start of voting.

The second place on the ticket, which is reserved to the dominant Labor Forum sub-faction of the Right, has been retained by incumbent Chris Ketter. The cancellation of the party membership vote saw off any threat from rival nominee Pat O’Neill, former army major and candidate for Brisbane in 2016, although he was reportedly unlikely to win in any case. Number three goes to Frank Gilbert, a former Mackay councillor and candidate for Dawson in 2016, and a member of the Old Guard sub-faction of the Right.

• Matthew Denholm of The Australian reports Tasmanian Labor’s union establishment has again lined up against Lisa Singh for Senate preselection, undeterred by the success of a below-the-line voting campaign in overturning her demotion at the 2016 election. Singh will presumably dominate the party member component of the vote, but is reportedly unlikely to do any better than the loseable third position. This is because the dominant Left wants places for an incumbent, Carol Brown, and John Short, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union official for whom Singh was relegated in 2016, while the Right is defending incumbent Catryna Bilyk.

• Tasmania’s Liberals are also conducting their Senate preselection vote on Saturday, and there are suggestions they too may repeat unhappy history from 2016. Richard Colbeck is again under pressure from conservative forces associated with Senator Eric Abetz, despite having almost matched Lisa Singh’s feat after being dumped to number five in 2016. He found his way back in the recount that followed Stephen Parry’s disqualification in November, and was promoted last week to the outer ministry, making him the only Tasmanian at that level of seniority. Brett Worthington at the ABC reports conservatives want the top position to go to Brett Whiteley, veteran of three winning and three losing campaigns at both federal and state level in Braddon, or alternatively to a woman. Further demotion beyond that would be particularly remarkable for Colbeck, as he is the only one of the four Tasmanian Liberal Senators facing re-election, the others having scored six-year terms. The other nominees for the preselection were detailed in an earlier instalment.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

4,088 comments on “Senate selections”

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  1. Interesting story this

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/03/call-for-hybrid-permanent-casual-workers-after-landmark-court-case

    AT one point in my working life In the 90s I spent nearly two years as a full time casual employee.

    Under the award I worked under I accrued annual leave and it was paid as a lump sum in December.

    I was strapped for cash in those days and didn’t want to take a break in case the bosses figured I wasn’t really needed so in one year worked 50 weeks and got an extra four weeks “holiday” pay just before Christmas. Handy.

    The provision in the award was designed to stop employers saving money by using casuals.

  2. From lizzie’s posted article

    “That’s why I want to protect the religious freedoms of independent schools.”

    Morrison’s interpretation of the doctrine of separation church and state is that it is to protect the churches from the state, not the state from the church.

    This is a know-all bigot whose modus operandi is the imposition of his values on others.

  3. guytaur @ #100 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 7:00 am

    Barney

    I made it clear in my post my comment was not relevant to the post. That was the first thing I posted.

    Your defence is interesting. Are you a supporter of scrapping the Refugee Treaty because it’s politically expedient too?

    Or do you think like me that approach is appeasement to the right and a sell out of Labor values and will lose more votes than it gains?

    The relevance to election outcomes is simple. Dutton has been screaming BOATS BOATS BOATS!!!!!

    Its not working.

    You’re a tangential debater who is looking to deflect the debate! 🙂

  5. Yes, it is going to be an ugly election campaign, 2007 on steroids. But it is worth remembering that this is always where the Liberals go when they are trying not so much to win elections, but to hold on to their base. Remember the 70 percent ads from 2007? Or the one with the union official screaming “we’re coming back”, complete with scary voiceover about revenge and standover tactics? They weren’t about winning, they were about saving the furniture. Same in 83; then it was all about Bob Hawke’s union history, complete with the scare that he would be owned by the unions who would cause a wage and inflation explosion. Again, all about hanging on to the furniture. Meanwhile, Labor will tie Morrison to his staunch defense of the banks, which will have much broader impact.

  7. Roger @ #91 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 9:57 am

    “dtt

    My point here is ….

    To sledge Labor.

    You do not have a point. All you’ve done is to denounce Labor candidates, giving you a pretext to pose as a G.”

    It is hard to work out whether these Green political party apologists here are so lacking in self awareness they have entered the realms of self parody….or whether they just trolls (of some subtlety and skill it must be acknowledged)

    Anyway, I’ll continue to call the Greens Political Party out for what it is and sure as hell won’t be deterred by that kind of risible hypocricy

    Roger

    As most on here know I am a member of the ALP. I am on the left. I am green leaning for sure but not a Green. My political priorities (in more or less order) are:

    1. Peace now- avoiding wars or oppressive colonialism disguised as “protection”. This means standing independently and not as part of the US alliance. The greens are best on this – not perfect
    2. Palestine and the injustice – The greens are are better than labor but increasingly less so after Rhiannon gone.
    3. Economic equity and control ie no privatization more equitable taxes etc – I see the greens and labor pretty much the same although with the move rightwards of the Greens, Labor may now be a notch or two ahead.
    4. Infrastructure spending – I think Labor is better here – or at least I see no evidence of the Greens delivering
    5. Protections against oppression and the creeping rise of a totalitarian system. Labor is bloody appalling on this. Truly as bad as the liberals or even the PHON RWNJ.
    6. Building our economy up via industry support – Labor is better here
    7. All the bag of immigration issues. Horribly difficult subject. Despite recognising the inhuman cruelty of our behavior I probably am a little more aligned to ALP than greens
    8.Environmental issues in total including Greenhouse gases. Obviously Greens are better on these issues, especially one you add in uranium mining and actually step just a tad broader that Greenhouse gas emissions and consider some of the other issues – pesticides use, waste management etc.
    9. Progressive issues relating to behaviours- gay rights etc. Once the greens led here but now I think Labor is fully into the same tent albeit with some SDA types being reluctantly dragged in.
    10. Union rights issues. Important but fairly low priority for me. Obviously ALP is better on these issues.

  9. Heard Sarah Ferguson interviewed on ABC Breakfast radio this morning, re tonight’s program on Steve Bannon.

    In answer to those wondering about that weird 4Corners publicity photo
    linked here last night (of her leaning cosily into Bannon as they posed for the camera), from what I heard of her opinion of Bannon on the radio this morning, she seems mightily impressed by him.

    Sarah Ferguson went missing as Sarah Fer-GUSH-on took over. Bannon is “remarkably intelligent”, has a “fine mind”, is a “compelling advocate”… and he’s coming after Australia next, because we here are a “canary in the coal mine” in the world war to stop Chinese influence and its quest to control global politics.

    Sadly, older workers will be the inevitable casualties of the trade wars to come, and that’s a shame, but you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. Trump understands this, because Bannon explained it to him before being sacked.

    Speaking at times-two, with the manic excitement of the recently impressed (if not recently converted) Ferguson could hardly contain her enthusiasm for Bannon’s ideas. She was almost girlish in her praise of him as a man who can influence the fate of nations.

    Not the calm, collected Sarah Ferguson we are used to hearing. She sounded like she had been king hit by the Bannon Thunderbolt.

    http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/

  11. Barney

    Nope. You just don’t like the reminder.

    I don’t know why you are defending the erosion of human rights when Morrison is attacking unions for using free speech to defend the right of unions to exist.

    Its all related to winning the election and thus very relevant to wining the election and pointing out the numbers are correct and that the fear campaign is failing is very relevant and not tangential.

  15. guytaur @ #116 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 7:16 am

    Barney

    Nope. You just don’t like the reminder.

    I don’t know why you are defending the erosion of human rights when Morrison is attacking unions for using free speech to defend the right of unions to exist.

    Its all related to winning the election and thus very relevant to wining the election and pointing out the numbers are correct and that the fear campaign is failing is very relevant and not tangential.

    Where have I said anything of the sort.

    Just another example of your bizarre imagination.

  16. Barney

    Then why did you comment? My point was about Labor not listening to right wing thinking. Its all related to winning the election. You would have had lots less attention paid if you had just scrolled by like I note the other posters have done.

    Or is it you just object to human rights talk?

  17. Stories of ScoMo’s fiddling of two votes last week seem pretty arch to me.

    He is supposed to have had his troops vote for his enemy TWICE to effect his rise to the PM-ship.

    I can understand supporting the “Spill” vote. He’d have needed to get Turnbull out of the way.

    But supporting Dutton while Bishop was still a candidate – in order to get rid of her – could have gone horribly wrong. I’m not sure whether Morrison is that smart.

  18. BW

    Yeah I am a chump because I don’t fall into line with your right wing Labor view of politics.

    I think you are the chump for Edit: sorry arguing not advocating informal votes in an election. You have that in common with Mark Latham.

  19. ScuMo tells Alan Jones what he wants to hear..

    Asked whether he could deregister a union because its leader had used his children to attack the ABCC, Mr Morrison said Mr Setka’s latest actions were “the straw that breaks the camel’s back”.

    “I mean these guys are already demonstrating their lawlessness and their thuggery and their brutality, their threats. This goes on all the time as we know,” he said.

    “We’ve put the ABCC back in as the cop on the beat, but I’m looking very seriously at this. I’m not rushing anywhere on it, as I won’t rush into anything, but I’m looking very seriously at it and I’m working with Kelly O’Dwyer and the question is: is Bill Shorten going to stand up to militant union thugs?”

    Asked how he could deregister the union, Mr Morrison said that was what his government was working on.

    “I will have more to say about that once we’ve gone through that proper process, but you’ve got to decide that you’re willing to actually engage in that,” he said.

    “The process is through the legislation, and the powers that might need to be created under legislation or regulatory powers that we could look at, and that’s what I’ve asked the minister to look at, and come back with a plan.”

    Asked whether he was really prepared to legislated to deregister the union, Mr Morrison said: “Potentially, yeah.”

    “We got rid of the BLF (Builders Labourers Federation) under Bob Hawke, and that was done with bipartisan support, and so the question is will the Labor Party finally do something about militant unionism,” he said.

    “There are a lot of great unions in this country.

    “I mean my great, great aunt, Dame Mary Gilmore, was the first female employee of the Australian Workers’ Union, so I know there are people who work in unions who do a good job for all the right reasons, so this isn’t about unions per se.

  20. Bushfire Bill @ #109 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 10:15 am

    Bannon is “remarkably intelligent”, has a “fine mind”, is a “compelling advocate”… and he’s coming after Australia next, because we here are a “canary in the coal mine” in the world war to stop Chinese influence and its quest to control global politics.

    Perhaps Dutton will deny a visa to someone who actually deserves having their visa denied, for once?

  21. Bushfire Bill says: Monday, September 3, 2018 at 10:15 am

    Heard Sarah Ferguson interviewed on ABC Breakfast radio this morning, re tonight’s program on Steve Bannon.

    Not the calm, collected Sarah Ferguson we are used to hearing. She sounded like she had been king hit by the Bannon Thunderbolt.

    *******************************************************

    GOP stategist Rick Wilson on Bannon

    Steve Bannon “looks like the spokesmodel for a new line of gout medication … His rheumy-eyed stare and an odd constellation of facial moles, warts, scrofula, weeping sores and grizzled beard patches make him look vaguely piratical.”

    You could dip Steve Bannon in a hogshead of bleach, sandblast every inch of him, laser off the thick dermis of scrofula, warts, wens, tumescent bullae, and hobo dander, then send him to a spa for a week and he’d still look and smell like he slept below an overpass.

    Sean Penn also chipped in on Bannon :

    “Bannon was then, as he is now, simply another bitter Hollywood wannabe who went rogue by way of toxic narcissistic iconoclasm,” Penn said. “But, deep in his heart, he’s just a conniving hateful bloated punk who despises mankind. And then there are also the bad things about him…”

  22. BB

    Sarah Ferguson was impressed By Bannon?
    Wtf!!

    Yes Victoria, very much so. She was tripping over herself to get the words out quickly enough about how “fine” a mind he has, how he is a working class hero, a past naval officer, and about the magnetic influence he has in geopolitical circles – UKIP, Brexit, Trump and now he has set his sights on bringing Australia into the RWNJ fold.

    All said not with trepidation, but with admiration.

  23. There is just so much to weep over in this article …

    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-abs-is-under-an-owellian-efficiency-siege-20180902-p5018y.html

    But the really stonkingly stupid part is this …

    In 2016 the bureau struck trouble with its first go at having many people complete their Census forms online. At the start of the filing period, the system was offline for nearly two days.

    It was a “teachable moment”, but the bureau “owned the process errors, has reflected upon the learnings from this experience” and has revised its operating arrangements across the bureau. As proof it has learnt its lesson, Kalisch points to its trouble-free conduct of the same-sex marriage postal survey.

    So, we have an ABS that has made a great leap backwards in technology of about 30 years under David Kalisch. From being an online “big data” marketeer to conducting postal surveys.

    A great Australian success story indeed!

  24. Just had a very frank chat with an NBN technician.

    He says Turnbull was the problem all along and the previous NBN CEO. Tthey are now progressively replacing the cheap, shitty hardware components in the system that came on Turnbull’s watch, with upgraded Australian-made stuff.

    He also says he hopes Labor wins because fibre optic is infinitely superior.

  26. Bushfire Bill @ #117 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 10:26 am

    I’m not sure whether Morrison is that smart.

    Me either. I think all this crap about Morrison having some long-term scheme to wrest the PMship from Mal is just a form of post-coup justification.

    The Libs can’t bring themselves to acknowledge they dumped their best hope of avoiding a rout at the next election for no reason at all, so now they are pretending it was all part of some cunning master plan.

    It is designed to make Morrison look like a clever schemer rather than an undeserving chump.

  27. Bushfire Bill @ #122 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 10:31 am

    BB

    Sarah Ferguson was impressed By Bannon?
    Wtf!!

    Yes Victoria, very much so. She was tripping over herself to get the words out quickly enough about how “fine” a mind he has, how he is a working class hero, a past naval officer, and about the magnetic influence he has in geopolitical circles – UKIP, Brexit, Trump and now he has set his sights on bringing Australia into the RWNJ fold.

    All said not with trepidation, but with admiration.

    Keerist! No wonder China has banned the ABC! It’s about time Australia followed suit.

  28. Grimace if you’re around, my seat tip in the sweep or whatever you’re calling it is 89.5 with the .5 for a Labor supporting independent.

  29. It’s astonishing just how much money has been pissed up against the wall by the Libs over the “NBN”.

    At first just a method of allowing Foxtel to catch up (or simply keep pace) on movie streaming, then a shallow, churlish get-back at Labor and its Minister, Conroy, and finally a Turnbull vanity project, spruiked and talked-up simply to feed his ego and cover-up for his mismanagement.

    Truly a national tragedy.

  30. Bushfire Bill says: Monday, September 3, 2018 at 10:31 am

    BB

    Sarah Ferguson was impressed By Bannon?
    Wtf!!

    Yes Victoria, very much so. She was tripping over herself to get the words out quickly enough about how “fine” a mind he has, how he is a working class hero, a past naval officer, and about the magnetic influence he has in geopolitical circles – UKIP, Brexit, Trump and now he has set his sights on bringing Australia into the RWNJ fold.

    All said not with trepidation, but with admiration.

    ********************************************************************************

    Hard to believe its the same person :

  32. Apparently Turnbull made the already inferior FTTN option far worse by buying the cheapest possible components to throw at us mere taxpaying peasants. That’s why its so frequently down. It is all being progressively replaced – so he saved no money in this destructive exercise.

    And what shits me most? The LNP clearly believes we’re undeserving of quality infrastructure. And yet we actually pay taxes. Its their mates who dont.

  33. BB

    I didn’t catch Ferguson’s interview. Did she express admiration for the political and communication skills or for the message?. Not defending her it’s a serious question.

  35. lefty e @ #132 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 10:49 am

    Apparently Turnbull made the already inferior FTTN option far worse by buying the cheapest possible components to throw at us mere taxpaying peasants. That’s why its so frequently down. It is all being progressively replaced – so he saved no money in this destructive exercise.

    And what shits me most? The LNP clearly believes we’re undeserving of quality infrastructure. And yet we actually pay taxes. Its their mates who dont.

    Quality infrastructure for all is too equalising. The rich will look after themselves, like Turncoat (and Run) with his solar roof panels.

  37. Sarah Ferguson and Tony Jones, ABC bandwagon jumpers and survivalists.

    Someone should tell Sarah that the Devil has a ‘fine mind’ too. Doesn’t mean that what he uses it for is right.

  38. Between the cost of building The Turnbull NBN and the inevitable cost of fixing it the cost to the taxpayer will probably not get too much change from $100 billion. Lucien Aye Australia’s costliest PM.

  39. DaretoTread says: Monday, September 3, 2018 at 7:40 am

    It may interest you to know the Clare Moore was a union official prior to being elected to the Senate.

  40. ItzaDream @ #140 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 7:54 am

    Barney in Go Dau @ #134 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 10:52 am

    ItzaDream @ #135 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 7:49 am

    God told them to get rid of Turnbull. Dutton’s the dumbfuk, and Morrison outplayed him.

    Just hope he doesn’t try and climb any mountains! 🙂

    Reminds me of the Moses joke —

    Ok guys, good news and bad news. I got him down to 10, but adultery is still in.

    I had the thought looking down from My Nebo over the Dead Sea.

    No wonder Moses did a runner after declaring it the “promised land,” the Israelite’s must have been pretty pissed off when they got down there to discover all that water was saltier than the sea. 🙂

  41. Re Ferguson… I’m not sure.

    She expressed no doubts or caveats about Bannon’s message, but went out of her way to impress on listeners just how smart and influential he has been, and intends to be with his takeover bid for Australian politics. He intends to stiffen Aussie spines once he arrives here.

    Ferguson says that Bannon sees Australia as a country too closely linked with China, and thus too easily influenced by it at both economic and political levels. She revealed no dissent from herself with this view.

    She praised his personal strengths, intelligence and his “fine mind”, saying she is intrigued by and attracted to such people.

    Watch tonight, I guess.

  43. Morrison is ever so remorseful that he was against a RC into the Banks because he just didn’t understand the pain people were suffering.

    But now that he completely understands the pain people are suffering with power prices, and will campaign hard on the issue, you’d think he’d be quick to support a RC into Energy Sector, but no, mmm, no, not right now, maybe later.

    Quick, look, over there, the CFMEU.

    https://outline.com/pv7rdy

  45. Peter Stanton @ #139 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 10:56 am

    DaretoTread says: Monday, September 3, 2018 at 7:40 am

    It may interest you to know the Clare Moore was a union official prior to being elected to the Senate.

    Yes i do know that.

    Since I do not know Nita Green well I cannot comment on whether she is a hack or not. Clare was very far from that.I first met her at a policy function when she was a Union official. I was very impressed that such an official would turn up to such an erudite Policy forum. I have continued to be impressed.

    However there is a HUGE difference between people who are social justice and policy advocates who happen to work for a union and people who are union officials as a career stepping stone and commit to social justice as part of their job duty statement. rather than full on emotional commitment.

  47. BB

    Thank you. Hopefully the show will show how dangerous it is that the better the salesman is the worse for democracy the message is. 🙂

  48. The catalyst for the Borrison run at the leadership was the knowledge that Dutton’s “bag man for numbers”, Sukkar was to be treasurer and Deputy Leader under Dutton

    That is when Borrison moved using “anyone but Dutton” to protect his status

    The numbers in the Party Room and on the floor of the Lower House have seen Dutton “kept close” whilst an attack to neutralise him and fracture his numbers continues

    Ditto with most of Dutton’s supporters given positions – including at the behest of Abbott – to fracture Dutton’s numbers

    The big loser from this jockeying is Sukkar, from thinking he was treasurer and Deputy Leader (the new generation) to back bencher and in a real fight to retain his seat in the Parliament

    Without that seat (or any seat) Sukkar will be cast aside by Bastiaan and his wife in Victoria – hence his agitation for Menzies to Bastiaan’s anger

  49. Dtt says:
    Monday, September 3, 2018 at 11:09 am
    Peter Stanton @ #139 Monday, September 3rd, 2018 – 10:56 am

    DaretoTread says: Monday, September 3, 2018 at 7:40 am

    It may interest you to know the Clare Moore was a union official prior to being elected to the Senate.
    Yes i do know that.

    Since I do not know Nita Green well I cannot comment on whether she is a hack or not. Clare was very far from that.I first met her at a policy function when she was a Union official. I was very impressed that such an official would turn up to such an erudite Policy forum. I have continued to be impressed.

    However there is a HUGE difference between people who are social justice and policy advocates who happen to work for a union and people who are union officials as a career stepping stone and commit to social justice as part of their job duty statement. rather than full on emotional commitment.

    Dtt….again…resorting to stereotyping of unionists. This is the kind of utterance made by Abbott and Morrison. In the LNP, sledging unions is a staple. It defines who they are and how they see themselves. Dtt is on the same page as the LNP. This is all of a piece with their general hostility to Labor and their ongoing attempts to foment division and doubt.

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