Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Politics is a dirty business. Until you have been a member of a political party and seen the deals that are done, it is difficult to see how factions control everything. Power is concentrated in the hands of one or two faction or union leaders who use political parties to pursue their own self-interest. In the case of the Australian Labor Party and WA Labor, every preselection is a deal between the "Left" or "Broad Left" faction and the "Right" faction. Candidates are groomed from a young age to accept deals as part of the process. Any person with honesty is excluded from the political party and preselection.
The major unions in the"Left" faction of the Labor Party are United Voice, AMWU, CEPU, CFMEU and MUA (Maritime union). The major unions in the "Right" faction of the Labor Party are AWU, SDA and TWU. The factions regularly ignore the rules of their own political party to achieve their goals. They control every process that may lead to change including rule changes, preselection and the policy of the parties. They will parachute their own candidates, and often themselves, into safe seats. There is no "merits-based" process. Candidates are handpicked or selected as "captain's picks" by the faction leaders.
Most candidates are party hacks, officials or staffers whose only goal is to enter politics at any cost. They often have no professional qualifications and no local connections. People who are "yes men" and who have "done their time" in a faction or union are preferred over any person who is not affiliated with a faction and who has professional or personal ethics.
There are many examples of factions in the WA Labor Party doing deals. United Voice did a deal with Joe Bullock to put him in the Senate and Simone McGurk in the State electorate or seat of Fremantle and, in the process, removing local favourite Louise Pratt. The Left faction is now attempting to put Louise Pratt in the Federal electorate or seat of Perth so that they can put Patrick Gorman in the Senate without Patrick Gorman ever being selected by local members.
In 2013, I ran as Labor's candidate for the Federal electorate or seat of Cowan. I was then excluded unlawfully three years later in 2016 because the Left faction wanted someone to represent its ideology and self-interest. The only thing I can do to challenge them is to take legal action or write a book (Keeping One Eye Open: What the Parties aren't telling you!).
Political parties are virtually entirely unregulated. While they have to report political donations, there are still ways they can avoid disclosing the real donor. Political parties should be regulated and political donations banned. Self-regulation does not work. Political parties are not democratic or democracies. They are dictatorships, driven by the personal ideology of those at the top with all the power. Members are expected to follow suit or they are excluded or expelled.
They say that all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. This is definitely true of a political party. Local members are sidelined in favour of faction members. Faction leaders will even sideline their own faction members to hold on to power. Local branches are stacked by unions and factions. Labor can never remove the unions because the unions fund the Party. Campaigning is focused around getting the candidates of the unions elected. Campaigning issues are focused on the issues that the unions or factions care about, rather than what local constituents, electors and voters care about.
The party heirarchy know the likely election results 6 months out from any election. They get this from polling data or results. They can then parachute in their preferred candiates to seats they believe they will win. Power corrupts.
