Perth Voice Interactive

ALANNAH MacTIERNAN says WA Labor reforms hail the start of a more mature union movement in WA.

At WA Labor’s state conference last weekend, delegates passed rules to give rank-and-file members more say on leadership and pre-selections.

The changes follow the severe embarrassment of Labor’s senate election re-run. A well-publicised deal between two powerful unions resulted in arch conservative “shoppies” union boss Joe Bullock being handed the top spot on the Senate ticket, relegating gay-rights champion Senator Louise Pratt to second.

Labor’s vote was so abysmal Ms Pratt lost her seat.

“I was impressed by the number of unions that wholeheartedly supported the reforms, including people like [Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Union secretary] Peter O’Keefe ,” Ms MacTiernan says. “They were amenable to the idea that we needed a culture that was open and transparent.

“Most of the unions have come to a mature realisation that we need to change some things to make the Labor party successful.”

Inordinate influence

Ms MacTiernan adds the modernist reforms are appropriate in WA where “because of a number of structural factors, a small number of people have an inordinate influence”.

“There’s more work to be done, but there’s no doubt there has been a seachange in the structure of the party.”

Fremantle state Labor MP Simone McGurk, formerly head of the ACTU-affiliated peak body for unions in WA, says union leaders are comfortable with WA Labor’s changes and unfazed by waning influence.

“Unions will still continue to have a strong say, but so will rank-and-file members,” she says.

“We need to engage with the rank-and-file more: we expect them to volunteer a lot and do a lot, so it’s only reasonable they get to have a say on a number of elected positions.

Martin Drum, Notre Dame University politics academic, says ”factional leaders will find it harder to influence votes under the reformed model.

“They will help the party function more effectively, which should help it perform better at future elections.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK