Labor senator Kristina Keneally is a former NSW premier.Credit:Rhett Wyman
But this nasty bout of intra-Left fighting carries significant implications for the future of Labor,and its ability to maintain a sufficient voter base to support the alternative party of government in our Westminster system.
Last week,I found myself caught up in this fight,after posting what I thought was a fairly obvious rhetorical question on Twitter:Could anyone imagine that a man of Keneally’s seniority within the party would be scrapping for pre-selection six months out from a federal election? I anticipated (and received) the usual denial from men that gender had anything to do with it,despite the obvious double standard:Bob Carr stitched up the top spot on the Senate ticket on his entry to Federal Parliament,and no one would have successfully challenged the position of my old boss,and Keneally’s predecessor,as deputy Senate leader,Stephen Conroy.
More worrying were the attacks from younger “progressives”,who took this question about gender inequality – which mentioned Tu Le not at all – as an attack on people of colour and their right to equal representation in Parliament. Indeed,this fairly typical situation – experienced party leader in search of a seat challenges first-time candidate – has been painted by some as a “takeover” of the culturally diverse seat by a privileged white woman,who has “booted out” the legitimate representative in a gross display of white supremacy.
Such critics were having none of the argument that women,regardless of racial background,remain woefully under-represented in federal Parliament. Women still make up less than 40 per cent of parliamentarians,despite being 51 per cent of the population. Nor did they care that the situation in Fowler has arisen because the Labor Right fails to pre-select enough women to winnable seats. This means that the ALP must use the Senate to meet its gender quota of 50 per cent female representation,resulting in too many talented women competing for Senate spots.
The only conflict many of Keneally’s progressive critics recognised as valid was between people of colour and the “white privilege” that locks them out of power. Albanese’s attempt to paint her as a migrant success story,given her American roots,only inflamed their scorn.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese has defended the decision to “parachute” Kristina Keneally into Fowler.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The Opposition Leader is right to point out that,a generation ago,an ALP with a leader named Albanese and a Senate leader named Wong was unthinkable. But as my colleague Osmond Chiu has pointed out,young Australians are not comparing the state of diversity in our politics with the Australia of yesteryear:they look overseas and see that Britain,New Zealand and the US,despite having less culturally diverse populations than Australia,do much better in the representation of people of colour in their parliaments,media and other institutions.