Labor’s history of eastern factionalism

In the wake of last year’s election where the Liberal Party prevailed with an absolute majority in Waverley Council, questions remain over the broader influence of issues facing NSW Labor.

The recent history of the NSW Labor Party has shown the fracturing effect of internal party politics and how its impact on public perception can spread to other levels of government.

Although the 2012 local government elections did see a slight swing to Labor, the 8 per cent swing against the Greens’ vote went to the Liberal Party, indicating Labor’s steady voting numbers were somewhat misleading.

Although historically a strong Labor region, the Bondi branch has not been immune to the effects of internal political jockeying. It saw an active effort by the Labor’s right faction to obtain more influence around 2005.

Waverley Labor Councillor Ingrid Strewe, who was Mayor from 2007 to 2008, said certain “less progressive elements” of the party made a push to take over branches in the region around the time she was elected to Council in 2004.

“I have never been a ‘player’ in the Labor Party and it annoyed me that they were prepared to endanger our work here in Waverley for some perceived greater prize. By ‘they’ I mean [Eric] Roozendaal and [Walt] Secord, and a few others who have not appeared since,” she said.

Ms Strewe said internal Labor Party politics and the behaviour of a minority few at state level may have unfairly affected the reputation of the party in aggregate.

“Of course we have been damaged by the activities of some in the party. I always hoped the public would be able to differentiate between the majority party members who are ethical and committed, and the minority – who incidentally we kept out of Waverley – who are unfortunately working only for their own advancement. But it was not to be,” she said.

Former Mayor of Waverley and past member for Coogee Paul Pearce is of the Labor left and said the Bondi branch’s strategic importance was a motivation for right faction members to make a push in the area.

“Bondi branch is what’s known as a composite branch. The branches are set up according to the boundaries of the state seats; the Bondi branch actually straddled two state seats … Vaucluse and Coogee,” he said.

“Because Coogee straddled two federal seats – Kingsford Smith and Wentworth – if you controlled [the] Bondi branch, then it was possible to warehouse potential preselectors there. Then depending on where they personally lived, [they would] have a vote in Vaucluse or Coogee at the state level and Wentworth or Kingsford Smith federally.

“If you controlled the branch, potentially you could warehouse voters for preselections in three councils, two federal seats and two state seats with a view to obviously influencing the outcomes of preselection ballots.”

Although acknowledging a push, Mr Pearce said the ideological position of the party in Waverley has managed to remain progressive and strong on issues of community importance.

“Certainly if the right’s attempts to take over the eastern suburbs branches had been successful, then it’s fair to say that as far as the party machine is concerned in the area, it would have been less stringent in its opposition to development,” he said.

“As you see with our three representatives now on the Council, they take a pretty solid line in terms of development issues.”

Ms Strewe is confident the Labor Party in Waverley still holds the trust of its constituents and is not in decline.

“The party has not shrunk locally … I can only hope that the pendulum does not take too long to swing back, it always does. The current Liberal Mayor is doing her best to make it a brief exile for us and we appreciate her effort,” she said.

Current Mayor and Liberal Councillor Sally Betts said the current councillors are from the “very left-wing” of the party and this has contributed to their demise and also the decline of the Greens.

“I believe that the demise of the left-wing has been because of their complete lack of expenditure on infrastructure, the policies and the fact that the Liberals have worked so hard to earn the trust of the electorate,” she said.

“The NSW Labor demise did affect Labor in Waverley to a slight degree, when in 2008 none of the three elected Labor councillors managed to get a quota; that is 25 per cent of the actual vote in their ward plus one.

“However, when that bad result was not improved in 2012, you cannot continue to blame the state Labor Party.”