McGinty: In total control of the ALP - and out of control?

Who will stand up and be counted?

The Desert Rat was surprised at the level of control that Jim McGinty and his Socialist Left faction now has over the Labor Party.

The control was reflected by the State Executive 126 to 23 vote for Reece Whitby, the landlord and property speculator who is being parachuted into the Labor Party and the seat of Mt Lawley by McGinty.

It is highly unlikely that Alan Carpenter made this choice or his "Poodle " Mark McGowan who tried to claim some credit, in one news story. This control of the numbers underlines McGinty's ultimate control of the Labor Caucus and the Labor Government and Western Australia.

The vanquished are the Centre and New Right factions who could only muster 23 votes. McGinty crushed and humiliated Ministers Michelle Roberts, John Kobelke and Margaret Quirk in the vote. That was the nett effect of these now stranded MP's who stupidly abandoned Brian Burke and have tried to politically cohabit with and outwit McGinty.

To make matters worse Jim McGinty got rid of Prisons and Correction from the Attorney General's Justice Ministry because he was getting too much bad publicity and had no ideas for reforming the corrections system.

He jettisoned these troublesome areas to Margaret Quirk and she has subsequently been starved of funds, making it doubly difficult for her to adequately fund the demands of dealing with the results of McGinty's chaotic court system.

Michelle Roberts has also been starved of funds by Carpenter and McGinty for her Aboriginal affairs portfolio. She will never look good trying to make ends meet while McGinty appropriate most of the funding for his own Ministeries.

The Desert Rat thinks that John Kobelke is a factional poodle and will never show any strength or independence and will try to join with whoever has numbers. Can he prove this assessment by the Desert Rat wrong?

These politicians have been unmercifully crushed and will see out their days with their tails between their legs - like camp dogs.

There is little prospect of these humiliated politicians publicly seeking help from Burke - at least not until he has seen off the attacks by McGinty's wretched Secret Police at the Corruption and Crime Commission.