Bill Shorten’s office has had to clarify a statement from the Labor leader at a press conference on Wednesday, after he failed to give unqualified backing to his current parliamentary team.
Addressing reporters on Wednesday, the Labor leader was asked about his controversial backing of the lawyer Kimberley Kitching to replace Stephen Conroy in the Senate, and about turmoil that has erupted in Victorian Labor in the wake of that decision.
Shorten responded to the questions on Wednesday by issuing only qualified endorsement of Labor’s team, and he told reporters he believed Kitching would make “a positive contribution” in the Senate.
In response to a question about recent threats to the preselections of leftwingers including Andrew Giles, Jenny Macklin and Catherine King, Shorten replied: “On balance, I am happy with the team I have got in the parliament, including some of the people you just mentioned.”
Shorten’s office later qualified the leader’s statement at his press conference. “Bill is very happy with his entire team,” a spokesman said.
Guardian Australia reported on Monday that the left caucus convened a special meeting to try and head off a damaging bout of infighting in Victoria, and a deputation from the left has asked Shorten to intervene to ensure the current ill feeling doesn’t escalate.
On Monday, the Victorian Labor senator Gavin Marshall – a senator closely aligned with Carr – signalled publicly that he intended to back a preselection challenge to Giles, and the two frontbenchers, Catherine King and Jenny Macklin, the threat which triggered the special caucus discussion.
During Wednesday’s press conference, the Labor leader issued a general warning about disparaging colleagues. Shorten suggested the current bout of ill discipline extended beyond Marshall.
“I don’t want to hurt the feelings of the media but I encourage all my members of parliament, including but not limited to Senator Marshall, not to either on the record or off the record, disparage colleagues,” the Labor leader said.
The Carr group – which has split from the national left – feels Giles and other Victorian leftwingers are aligned with Anthony Albanese and the left power structure in New South Wales, and have displayed disloyalty both to the faction and to the Labor leader.
Marshall recently lost the support of the majority of the faction to maintain his position of Senate deputy president in the new parliament, and stood aside at Shorten’s behest. Carr ultimately remained on the frontbench after an intervention from the right faction and Shorten.
On Tuesday Albanese publicly slapped down the insurgency in the Victorian left and delicately criticised Shorten’s captain’s call to put Kitching in the Senate. Albanese said ALP members should have input into preselections, which was a rebuke about the process installing Kitching.
Shorten on Wednesday agreed with Albanese’s call for more participation from the membership. “The process of change is ongoing. I agree we could look at improving opportunities for people to participate more in the Labor party,” he said.
