Andrew Leigh is going where very few Labor politicians are willing to tread.
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He is questioning the "all-time high" power of Labor's influential sub-groups, the left and right factions, and is urging a space for people to remain outside the factional system.
Decrying shenanigans and actions "plucked from a John le Carré novel", the Assistant Minister - who "will die with my Labor membership still valid" - will use a lunchtime speech in Melbourne, a month out from the ALP national Conference in Brisbane, to say "remaining unaligned - loyal only to the Labor party - should remain a viable choice."
"The result will be a stronger, more competitive, more democratic and more effective Labor party," Dr Leigh will outline in the speech seen by The Canberra Times.
The Fenner MP regards Labor's left and right factions as dominating the party like never before.
![Fenner MP Andrew Leigh is not aligned to a faction in the Labor Party. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Fenner MP Andrew Leigh is not aligned to a faction in the Labor Party. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/128375134/f964aa5d-745d-4e69-9fab-221b19f36dbe.jpg/r0_340_5459_3421_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Despite a left-faction stint in the 1990s, Dr Leigh is an unusual entity as a federal ALP politician as he is unaligned. As is Canberra MP Alicia Payne. Every other MP and senator is supported by a faction.
He is to say Australia's "oldest and greatest" political party is thoroughly dominated by factions and he is concerned there is a shortage of healthy competition between the party's factions, unnecessary division, profoundly undemocratic processes, and a great risk of alienating party members put off by factions.
"Factions control the national executive and allocate positions in the federal ministry," Dr Leigh is expected to say.
"Factions determine the agenda of the national conference, decide almost all preselections, and even choose who will travel on international parliamentary delegations."
Dr Leigh will point to the Liberal Party's groupings including the Monkey Pod Lunch Conservatives and the Prayer Group, the Nationals split of "landed gentry versus the angry populists", and the Greens divide of "deal-makers versus protesters".
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"Labor's factions have become a duopoly. As their power has grown, the factions have become more structured. These are not lunch clubs or informal gatherings," Dr Leigh will say.
"Within the Labor Party, factions operate as formally as the party itself."
The Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury argues that factional dominance has played a role in Labor's recent electoral successes across the nation by providing stability and reducing internal dissent.
![Member for Fenner Dr Andrew Leigh. Picture by Keegan Carroll Member for Fenner Dr Andrew Leigh. Picture by Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/128375134/10e7f26a-8c93-463a-8a40-3a70a3411e9c.jpg/r0_267_5000_3078_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
But he highlights four reasons to be concerned. He is to say there is now a shortage of healthy competition between the party's factions. He says imperfect, uncomfortable, but healthy "feisty" internal ideological debates are rare.
"When both factions see it as desirable to find a 'fix', debate can be viewed as unhealthy. Calling a truce in the battle of ideas is not the Labor way," Dr Leigh is to say.
He says Labor's factions can be "profoundly undemocratic," particularly over the factional divvy-up of seats and "show and tell" practices at ballots.
Dr Leigh is also concerned about unnecessary division. Asking new members to pick a left or right side risks an "uncomfortable choice" or it's a case of "left, right, or out."
The fourth argument is that it alienates people who simply choose to be part of the party, Paul Keating's True Believers.
"They are motivated not by power, but by altruism. They joined Labor to shape a better nation. They should not be treated as second-class citizens within our party," he is expected to say.
And so the unaligned MP, makes the case for more like him, "Factions are fine. But not being in a faction should be fine too."
He suggests the ALP renews and refreshes its structures and institutions. Not a ban, or banning factions from binding members, rather a more modest proposal.
"I merely propose that not being in a faction should be as valid a choice as joining a faction," the Assistant Minister suggests.
"The silence over factions and the way they operate should be a clue. If a group's practices and deals start to sound like they've been plucked from a John le Carré novel, those people should ask themselves whether their shenanigans befit Australia's most important political party."
"There is nothing wrong with people being in factions. Equally, there should be nothing wrong with being outside the factional system."
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