A faction too much Labor Party friction
CORIO’S jet-setting Labor MP Richard Marles may find himself embroiled in a Victorian factional civil war, despite being more than 16,000km away.
While the federal frontbencher and prominent player in Labor’s Victorian Right-wing faction was in Jerusalem this week, a move by his leader Bill Shorten threatened to cause major infighting.
Mr Shorten announced he would not allow sitting Labor MPs to be challenged for preselection ahead of the next election, denying grassroots Labor members a say in who represents them, The Australian has reported.
Under the proposal, the federal executive would tick off candidates chosen by factions for seats without a sitting member, rather than put it to a branch vote that could be bitterly contested.
The move is tipped to have risked igniting a civil war in Labor’s Victorian Right faction, and it was strongly opposed by key Right figure Adem Somyurek MP.
If a factional war does break out, Mr Somyurek and Mr Marles may find themselves facing off, after factional repositioning led to Mr Somyurek sending a series of expletiveridden texts to Mr Marles’ mate and state MP John Eren in February.
“I’m going to f--- that Marles,” one text read. “I better not see that c---. “I’m really pissed with u that u trusted u and dealt with him honestly I am so f---ed off
“No one f--- lies to and rat f---s like that and gets way with it (sic)”
The texts led to Mr Eren and Mr Somyurek reportedly almost coming to blows in the parliamentary dining room, with Mr Somyurek allegedly picking up a butter knife during the incident — an accusation he has denied.
Marles did not respond to the Geelong Advertiser’s requests for comment this week.
On the home front, things are looking much more positive for Mr Marles, who could be facing a federal election cakewalk, with the Liberal Party’s Corio branch yet to meet this year.
While a federal election could be just months away, the Liberals’ Corio Federal Electorate Conference (FEC) has not met since its AGM in December 2017 — with one party insider blaming a belief the seat is “unwinnable”.
The local Liberal member, who asked to remain anonymous, also said the Corio FEC lacked political perspective and knowledge, and had instead been concentrating on an attempt to have executive member Helen Whiteside preselected to run in the state seat of Bellarine.
The lethargic approach to meetings could cost the party an opportunity to make inroads in the electorate after a redistribution that is expected to have chipped away at Labor’s safe 10 per cent margin.
“The members, because they haven’t met, are not aware of either the political opportunity or calendar,” the insider said.
“The political opportunity is that Corio is more marginal with the redistribution. That may not turn it into a winnable seat this time around but it may the next.”
The redrawing of electorate battle lines may have chipped away at as much as 2 per cent of Mr Marles’ margin.
The redistribution cost the Labor frontbencher his northern half of the Bellarine Penin- sula, and gave his electorate Liberal-leaning Highton as well as Belmont, Wandana Heights and some of Grovedale.
Based on polling booth figures from the 2016 electorate, Corio’s notional margin would be about 8.3 per cent.
Corio FEC president Antonia Kerr confirmed the party had not met this year.
“There’s a lot of things that actually happen without having to call members in for a meeting,” said Ms Kerr, who did not respond to a request for further comment.
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring electorate of Corangamite, Libby Coker was preselected by Labor in December and has been campaigning since, giving the ALP a major headstart compared to their rivals in Corio.