By Pamela Williams,
National Correspondent (Australian Financial Review Saturday 10th
October 1998)
It was an election result that could have signalled a massive campaign to destabilise Howard's Government, but the ALP has become embroiled in some nasty post-mortem infighting, writes Pamela Williams
On the latest counting, the gamble has probably failed. Seat after seat,
the Coalition's vast majority has been swallowed by the GST. It was an election
result that prepared the ground for a massive campaign to destabilise John
Howard's leadership. But there hasn't been much talk about the GST in ALP
post-mortems. And there hasn't been much chance for Labor to gloat over Howard
or, for that matter, over the woes of Warwick Smith.
Instead, Labor has provided its own drama.
And the rumblings include a power play between the NSW and Victorian right
wing, and between the NSW branch and national ALP headquarters. It is being
decoded by some as part of a bigger power play – an attempt to clip
the wings of the legendary NSW right machine for good.
Along the way, the parliamentary wing of the party has provided its own
embellishments.
Take this comment yesterday from the angry former ALP frontbencher and education
spokesman, Mark Latham, who has attacked the party leadership over policy,
and who in turn was accused by former shadow treasurer Gareth Evans of not
being a team player.
"Gareth was a real team player when he presented the tax plan to the shadow
ministry team and told us it was already on the way to the printers and the
'team' couldn't make any changes," Latham snarled. "I wasn't allowed to play
with his document, but they sure as hell played with mine," he told The
Australian Financial Review.
"And from a Labor point of view, why, in policy areas just dripping with
caution, and not wanting to give any ammunition to the Government, did we
take the courage pills on just two issues: four-wheel drives and the capital
gains tax?"
Quite.
On machine politics, take this comment from Graham Richardson, former
Labor Government Graham Richardson minister and right-wing number-cruncher,
now broadcaster and Olympics big wheel.
"I've spoken to no-one about plotting against anyone. If I've got anything
to say to Della I'll say it to his face. And I haven't got anything to say
to him."
Plotting? Pardon?
Richardson's reference is to reports that his influence is once again on
the rise as part of an orchestrated campaign to dilute the power of the current
NSW party boss, John Della Bosca.
In a classic case of intra-factional intrigue, Labor operatives have spent
a week searing each other over the near-win which should have seen the party
stalking Howard. Labor's tax policy, the management of Labor's marginal seats
strategy and tensions between the ALP national office and the NSW branch
have tumbled together in a mix of recriminations and blame, while the tantrums
of the stars have rivetted the media.
There have been rumblings from NSW about Gray's management of the campaign;
complaints that Della Bosca failed to run a strong enough campaign against
the GST and spent too much time on his wife Belinda Neal's campaign for the
marginal seat of Robertson; there has been rage vented against the Victorian
branch which is suspected of white-anting the NSW branch; and fury at the
utterings of Latham, Evans and the sour loser who still could win, Cheryl
Kernot.
All this after Labor hauled back from the brink.
Evans' comments about quitting politics on election night were followed by
a front page photo in the Melbourne Herald-Sun with Gareth on the
golf course, and a report on the superannuation he stood to collect –
all plastered under the headline, Gareth Drives Your Dollar Further. It nearly
caused fainting spells in Beazley's office. Evans was contacted by a senior
colleague who conveyed the information that the party need him to correct
the damage by announcing he would stay on. By midweek, the NSW Right was
apoplectic over a report in The Sydney Morning Herald that there was
pressure within the party to wind back the power of John Della Bosca and
to give greater influence to past strategists and powerbrokers, including
Graham Richardson and Peter Barron.
Barron, a former adviser to Neville Wran, Bob Hawke and
Mark Latham Kerry Packer, was involved in
the federal campaign before the election was called, spending time at the
Saatchi office as Gray's man. But Barron pulled out when the campaign began.
His supporters say he withdrew because he wanted to; his enemies say he was
"punted" by Della. Whatever happened before the start of the campaign, what
is certain is that Della Bosca was not happy with Barron's columns in
The Australian Financial Review after the campaign began – which
were critical of Labor's slow start to savaging the GST.
The names of both Barron and Richardson were in fact floated some time ago
within the NSW ALP as possibles for a campaign group to be established ahead
of the NSW election – a proposal that hasn't gone anywhere.
But the story sparked a round of speculation about relationships within the
Right and the control of the biggest branch. It also sparked suspicions which
would be incomprehensible outside the Sussex Street headquarters of the NSW
Labor Party. "Did you notice David Tierney sitting next to Richardson on
election night?" whispers one worried player. Tierney, a former chief of
staff to Richardson has been singled out because he is suspected of harbouring
ambitions to challenge for Della Bosca's position against assistant State
secretary Eric Roozendaal – the anointed successor when Della Bosca
makes his expected move to the NSW Parliament.
"There's no way David is going to be ALP secretary in NSW," declares Richardson.
"He doesn't want it. This is all coming from the enemies of the NSW branch
and NSW will circle the wagons."
Richardson still sounds pretty tribal himself.
His advice to Della Bosca has been to ignore the critics and go and lie on
a beach with a book. Della Bosca is now on leave.
By yesterday, a witchhunt had been started and concluded by the NSW Right
to investigate whether national secretary Gary Gray had any part in backgrounding
journalists about the poor performance of the NSW branch in the election.
"We thought it was Gary, but we've declared him innocent," announced one
leading NSW right-winger (strictly anonymous of course).
Instead the witchhunt has moved to Victoria, and the culprits are now presumed
to be in that State's Right Wing, motivated by jealousy, hunger for power
and the usual factional fare. Tried and convicted in traditional NSW ALP
Right machine style.
Ask members of the Victorian Right if they have been stirring up trouble
between Gray and the NSW Right and there are dark mutterings about on-going
anger directed at Gray because of his falling out with Paul Keating during
the 1996 election campaign. Revenge is a dish best served cold, they say.
In reality, there have been increasing tensions over the past year between
long-time friends, Gray and Della Bosca, particularly since the arguments
over Labor's advertising agency which culminated with John Singleton losing
the account to Saatchi& Saatchi at the behest of the NSW and Queensland
branches. It was a fight which affected the trust between key machine players
and which has soured relationships and friendships across the Right in NSW
as well as between State and national offices.
There have also been simmering tensions between the national ALP Anon.
headquarters and some States about campaign funding. The NSW branch in particular
believes the branches should control their own destiny and that they should
not have to rely on the national machine to dole out the cash.
In the federal campaign, NSW went its own way with its marginal seats campaign.
Gray has a system which identifies marginal seats to be given a large boost
of campaign funds depending on the size of the swing required. NSW differed
from Gray's analysis, and identified all seats needing 6 per cent or less,
a tally of 12 marginals to fight.
The national office provided $360,000 on the basis of its marginal seats
assessment and the NSW branch poured in well over $1 million in additional
funds. With just two seats in the bag, NSW is desperately hoping to secure
Eden-Monaro after the postals are counted to prove the value of its 12-seats
campaign.
On the Monday before the election, Della Bosca singled out Labor's tax plan,
in particular the capital gains tax and the cut-off for tax relief, as a
problem preventing Labor "hitting" with voters in his Anon. State. As far
as the crucial young families in the outer suburbs were concerned, Labor
wasn't offering much. Della Bosca briefed the NSW administrative committee
to expect victory in no more than three NSW seats. Anything more would be
a surprise.
There were tensions, too, about the advertising strategy and the balance
between positive and negative messages.
In the past couple of days, Gray and Della Bosca have been trying to iron
out their problems and Gray has told colleagues the differences are minimal.
What they all hope now is that a few of Labor's parliamentary stars will
also keep their mouths shut. Most especially Mark Latham.
Latham's opinions on Gray would warm the heart of Paul Keating (who in fact
did a little campaigning for Latham during the campaign, dazzling the guests
at a Werriwa fund-raiser with a dissertation on the economy).
Yesterday, Latham was reluctant to have another go at Gray (who he thinks
should just "go") but he welcomed the opportunity to make some further points
about Labor's economic policy.
"Keating transformed the Labor Party by giving the commitment to the open
economy. Why would anyone ever think it's good economic policy to dole out
handouts to multi-nationals? It's impossible to fund industry welfare at
the same time as all the national investments for a highly skilled workforce
to stand on its own feet in the inter- national economy. If you smother companies
in handouts they lose the competitive edge. It doesn't address jobs and it
doesn't address insecurity."
So how were Latham's colleagues feeling yesterday about his outbursts?
"I'd like a kilo of whatever Mark is on," said one, adding, "and maybe we
can send Gareth on the UN trip. That'll get him out of the country for three
months.
And it's only three years until the next election.
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