The Left Witch-Hunt to Regain Hegemony after the 2004 Debacle
Jim McGinty’s sidekick Alan Carpenter is full of indignation and moral outrage when it comes to the behaviour of those who don’t see the world his way.
Carpenter a recent draftee to the ALP, was handpicked by Jim McGinty and given a free ride into a safe seat in Parliament. Some would say that Left faction boss Jim McGinty is his puppet master. The Desert Rat has the view that when let off the leash Carpenter shows little understanding of politics, the ALP or the workings of Parliament.
Carpenter’s recent behaviour shows that he doesn’t appreciate the long traditions of the Parliament and the good reason for them. The Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly are separate Houses and should not interfere in the business of each other - particularly their deliberations. Each House is master of its own destiny – so if you’re from the Assembly Mr Premier, don’t tell the Legislative Council who they should or should not expel, as that won’t happen – particularly when petulantly demanded.
Worse still was Alan Carpenter's other big mistake in forcing the resignation of Shelley Archer from the ALP. That foolish action was taken without the knowledge of other Cabinet Ministers, who were horrified when they found out. Carpenter had failed to realise that action would cause the balance of numbers in the Upper House to change - with the ALP losing control! The only remedy for that stupid error was to try to kick her out, so that another ALP appointee could take her place. That explains why Carpenter is so desperate to get Shelley Archer out of Parliament.
What irks McGinty and Carpenter most, is anyone in the ALP who has the ability to influence the ALP and the Parliamentary party; who can challenge or thwart their internal control.
2004: The ethnic cleansing of the Centre Right.
In the pre-selections for the 2004 election, the National Executive of the ALP intervened because of internal turmoil and branch stacking within the WA Branch. McGinty was gobsmacked and devastated by the large number of non- Left candidates that got up in winnable seats. The Left thought it had the pre-selections sown up. Effectively the Left fared badly and the disastrous result was attributed to Burke and Grill. It is not surprising that many non-Left MP’s seek strategic advice from Burke when they are under pre-selection pressure from the dominant Left faction controlled by McGinty.
McGinty set about regaining the lost ground; the control and influence that had suddenly evaporated. The demonising of Julian Grill and Brian Burke was part of the strategy to regain control and influence of the ALP.
On many occasions, the posturing Carpenter has sought to portray himself as the great “Western” hero who took on the “big bad” factional bosses. Kevin Reynolds has been the whipping boy. The truth is that the ALP in WA has been the hegemony of McGinty’s big Left faction in an alliance with the New Right. McGinty is Carpenter’s mentor and Carpenter is closely aligned with McGinty’s faction and uses it as his de facto power base. Kevin Reynolds, on the other hand is the head of a relatively small union that has not had much say in the affairs of the ALP for some years.
Much of what has happened since 2004 revolves around McGinty re-establishing the Left hegemony. Earlier moves by McGinty to quarantine Burke and Grill were to thwart their (legitimate) influence within the ALP. Events since then, the activities of the CCC and the savage attacks by the media, have been partly fuelled by this partisan warfare within the ALP.
The real question is how was the influence used?
Despite the demonising, the real question is; was the influence of Grill and Burke good or bad? That will require a follow-up analysis. The Desert Rat’s view is that it can be argued that their influence was very constructive and in probably in the best interest of the State, in most, if not all cases.
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