SA Labor’s Left faction is celebrating a “moral victory” in a strongly-fought internal ballot, but Senate heavyweight Penny Wong has slammed the “perverse” interpretation of a new rule designed to help democratise the party, saying members will be “rightly disappointed” in the process.
Two opposing members of the state’s Upper House have asked that parliament avoid discussing contentious legislation to decriminalise abortion on Remembrance Day – branding the scheduled debate “both disrespectful and inappropriate”.
The state ALP’s new rank and file preselection ballot process has exploded in controversy, with the process under a legal cloud after party officials determined to downplay the influence of ordinary party members – and leader Peter Malinauskas conceding he is powerless to intervene.
For a low-key contest to decide four relatively low-profile parliamentary appointments, Labor’s internal Legislative Council ballot is generating a level of electioneering generally reserved for state election campaigns.