Labor’s Senate leadership under attack from within as three leading Senator’s are smeared in the ugliest factional fight to date from a repeat offending sub-faction of the Victorian Right. So what’s it all about and who’s involved?

Another Labor factional shitfight. What’s new eh?

What is new is the depths this particular sub-faction will attempt to drag the party down to. This group have sunk so low that they can probably hear people speaking Mandarin under their feet, something else for them to rant about in their anti-China “Yellow-Peril” propaganda rags perhaps?

This factional fracas is sponsored and bought to you by the same faction that lost the last federal election. Remember the unlosable election that even Morrison declared a miracle upon winning?

This is a faction so right wing that some members count as friends the likes of Gerard Henderson, Greg Sheridan, Rohan Dean and Andrew Bolt. This is a faction so far to the right that even the SDA (Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association) split from them.

The way I see it, this particular fight is not over any imaginary bullying for three star Labor Senators, this fight is about two things that happen to both revolve around the same Victorian sub-faction.

The first of these is the same thing that has no doubt been at the core of backroom chats in the Party since Rudd felt the sting of the first knife in his back, Bill Shorten’s ambition to be Prime Minister. The second is the Zionist push to ensure an incoming Labor government does not recognise a Palestinian state or do anything else that might upset the apartheid Israeli regime.

Under attack Image -ABC

The starting pistol was fired by none other than Michael Danby, perhaps the Australian record holder for longest serving politician to remain on the backbench with no prospect of promotion.

In the distortion that is Danby’s mind the sudden, untimely, and tragic death of Senator Kimberley Kitching was directly linked to perceived, and in all likelihood imagined ‘bullying’ from Labor’s leading Senators, Penny Wong, Katy Gallagher, and Kristina Kenneally.

By sheer coincidence (ahem) this bullying has suddenly come to light as Labor’s Senate selections are being decided. In the Victorian Right Shorten would have been able to pick the Senator as he did with Kitching, but now he no longer has the numbers as his sub-faction is being recognised for the cancerous cyst on the arse of politics that it is.

Danby’s delusions are based on a throwaway comment in a seven page document Kitching sent to Richard Marles after she was taken off the Labor tactics team.

Some would say “what would Danby know about bullying?”

Other’s would say he’s an expert.

Former ABC Foreign Correspondent Sophie McNeil may have a view considering Danby spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on advertising that included photos of her. Advertising designed to bully, harass, and intimidate.

My understanding of Mr Danby’s prowess in this department is from spending over two years working in his office, a place I endured for so long in order to gain a working understanding of how foreign influence is exerted in our parliament, a story for another day. Whilst there I am aware of at least five staff who made complaints about bullying, and that’s not including my own numerous complaints.

For those interested below is a link to my submission to Jenkins Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces. I have removed some of the names for privacy reasons.

My Jenkins Review Submission (linked here)

Kimberley Kitching, who was well aware of Danby’s repeated and prolonged record of bullying, referred to him as a ‘mentor’.

I expect repercussions for publishing these details as Danby has already prepared an attack via his Zionist lobby mates at the John Curtin Research Centre.

The supplied email below shows that he has sought, and received fabricated complaints to smear me with. Complaints from organisations and people I’ve never met or spoken too.

The security funding he mentions was regarding a tweet I sent in response to Dave Sharma around an election commitment he announced regarding a pile of taxpayer funds for security for a synagogue that had never had a security incident worthy of reporting.

The Henry it is addressed to is Henry Pinskier, Chair of the John Curtin Research Centre. The others included are Nick Dyrenfurth, Director of John Curtin Research Centre (JCRC), Tonya Stevens is a former AWU official, Jennie George is a former Labor MP and the former Secretary of the ACTU, Jamie Bingham is a former Danby staffer, and Andrew Landeryou the husband of Kimberley Kitching who was also a member of the JCRC.

The John Curtin Research Centre appears to be the place to approach when you require false information with which to slander and harass.

It’s also worth noting that Danby wrote this in direct breach of an order he signed before a judge at the Fair Work Commission just three weeks earlier.

Another name that has popped up related to this that my readers may be familiar with is Diana Asmar, Secretary of the Health Services Union where Kitching used to work and aligned with Shorten’s sub-faction. Her brother, David Asmar may also be familiar to readers, some may remember he fled and became ill overseas and was unable to return to give evidence at the Trade Union Royal Commission. Fortunately though he recovered in time to be arrested for vandalising Green’s election material on election eve along with George Droutsas also of that HSU Branch and Kimberley Kitching’s husband, the Greens material was that of Steph Hodgins-May who was running against Michael Danby. After the arrest David went to work for the taxpayer in the office of Senator Kitching.

Some may remember that during the last Labor conference it was announced that an incoming Labor government would, as a priority, recognise a Palestinian state, something members had long sought. Danby requested to speak against the decision but was shut down by none other than Penny Wong. One of the several ridiculous points against this recognition was that Palestine doesn’t have defined borders, they keep shifting. These would be the borders they share with Israel. As the occupier, Israel is breaking international law by seizing and confiscating traditional lands of the Palestinians, house by house, village by village, burning of olive grove by olive grove. However,  it’s fair to say when the border shifts on one side it also shifts on the other, however in the brain of a bigot one side is somehow stable despite sharing the shifting line.

This shut down at conference explains why the short-fused Danby would leap at any opportunity to point the finger at Senator Wong.

Michael Danby Image- The Guardian

On February 17 this year the Morrison government announced that it would be adding the political wing of Hamas to Australia’s terrorist list. This announcement came out of the blue, Hamas had not been in the news in Australia since the Israeli regime tried to use them as an excuse for their missile attacks on Palestinian schools, hospitals and the international media that killed hundreds and injured thousands of civilians.

Several I have spoken with believe that the reason for this sudden announcement is to make it hard for Labor to fulfil its commitment to recognise Palestinian statehood as it may have to overcome the possible claims that they will be recognising a terrorist group as a legitimate government. Several also believe that Kitching may have been involved in floating this idea to the Liberals in a bid to sabotage her own Party’s commitments. Certainly Niki Savva’s piece on Thursday discussing Kitching shone a light on her apparent baking cakes for the enemy.

“Politicians leak. And they do have friends across the aisle. But the breadth and depth of hers fed the distrust.”

Another Labor MP that this is a prickly issue for is Josh Burns, the Member for Macnamara. Burns replaced Danby after a right faction only nomination event secured his candidacy for seat. This same sub-faction were the only ones invited to vote, robbing the only female and non-Jewish nominee, former Glen Eira Mayor Mary Delahunty of any hope of winning despite being the most popular amongst all of the Labor membership in the electorate. Burns was fortunate to succeed as the lead candidate, Nick Dyrenfurth being so unelectable, that even an event stacked to ensure his victory failed to get him more than a handful of votes as listening to him speak inspired those in attendance to vote for someone else. Dyrenfurth took his charisma deprived dross back to the John Curtin Research Centre.

Those watching closely would have noted Burns was all over Wong like ants on candy at Kitching’s funeral, a valiant attempt to convince people he‘s on Wong’s side in all of this. Burns had spent the 8th March with Wong in the Macnamara electorate and taken the likely incoming Foreign Minister to meet those in the electorate whose views matter to him, Zionism Victoria and the Jewish Community Council of Victoria. It is no wonder people are calling him the new Member for Tel Aviv, just as they called his predecessor, former boss, and backer Michael Danby.

Burns takes Wong to meet with the Zionists
Image – AJN

The problem for Burn’s is that he is only there due to the support of this sub-faction, even if he was their second choice. He can crawl all he likes, his backers are the ones putting the boot into Wong.

It’s not only Wong his backers want to put the boot into, they regularly put both boots into most of Burn’s constituents. For those at the John Curtin Research Centre, which is this factions unsuccessful version of the IPA. These Burns backers consider ‘progressive’ a swear word, and tirelessly bemoan the move away from coal mining and fossil fuels.

Many are confused by Victorian Labor’s factional antics, recently and accurately described to me as a kaleidoscope. The thing to remember is that all the issues and constant changes stem from this particular sub-faction, and are all about the numbers. The Somyurek saga, the failed Industrial Left that always voted with the Right and so on. Even now attempts are still being made to split the Left with the sub-factions recruitment of former left Assistant Secretary Kos Samaras. His new company Redbridge work closely, if not together, with the John Curtin Research Centre pushing their agenda. His recruitment was seemingly to pull people from the left over to their group.

Sponsored by Redbridge
Image – Twitter

The JCRC’s aim was always to lobby for safe seats and Senate spots for pro-Israel candidates ensuring caucus was always Zionist friendly and saw the rights of Palestinians as something quite separate to Human Rights.

Burns has shown his support for the problem sub-faction by coming out regularly in support of the apartheid Israeli regime, even attending a pro-Israel rally where those who attended cheered on the occupations military as the suffering Palestinians buried there slaughtered children or watched them suffer Gaza’s bombed hospitals during the Israeli regime attack that killed close to 300 and injured over 2,000 more.

A Palestinian girl cries for her family as Josh Burns supports and smirks at the bombing and carnage at the pro-Israel rally

As children became orphans in Gaza, and thousands took to the streets to protest all across Australia, Burn’s joined Avi Yemini and those celebrating the death and carnage.

I wonder if Macnamara residents will remember this open support of apartheid in May?

It’s no coincidence that Labor’s Deputy Leader Richard Marles has been thrown under the bus in this show of this sub-factions ethics. Marles holds the numbers in the Victorian Right. Replacing Kitching with one of his faction is likely the death-nail for Shorten’s ambitions to move into the lodge and is also likely the death-nail for the Zionists at the JCRC hopes to see Labor’s position on Palestinian Statehood overturned.

As much as Morrison and Murdoch don’t want us to believe it, Labor is a unified party aside from the small faction of rogues determined to spit the dummy if they can’t have their way. You don’t hear speculation about Marles mounting a leadership challenge or biding his time to knife Albo, you know why? It ain’t gonna happen is why.

This sub-faction is a band-aid Labor needs to take the opportunity to rip off.

Yeah they may lose a few hairs in the process, but the currently weeping wound will heal quicker once it’s off and in the bin.

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