The Head Office of NSW Labor finds itself facing a test that I am sure they wish would just go away.

The Independent Review Tribunal, which is the highest body the Labor Party has to settle matters will soon be passing judgement on Hicham Zraika.

Zraika many of you will recall is the man who was opposing Barbara Perry for pre-selection for the seat of Auburn. That battle is now over with NSW Labor Leader Luke Foley standing as the candidate for the Auburn seat with Perry deciding to bow out gracefully and Zraika pulling out of the race, apparently in the hope that a deal for a guaranteed NSW Upper House seat for eight years comes off.

The test for those in Sussex St will be whether they allow this to happen no matter what the result of the upcoming Tribunal findings are.

Surely character must play a part in whether to grant someone a position on an Upper House ticket, and Zraika certainly has some questions hanging over his head in regards to character. After all there seems to be some tactics that would rival the artful dodger when it comes to the allegations of Zraika’s branch stacking.

One of these allegations involves hundreds of membership forms being handed in at Sussex St on the one day by the one. This person was alleged to have been Hicham Zraika himself, however Sussex St conveniently claims to have no record of who dropped them in.

As the Tribunal pointed out;

“if no record was kept of the identity of the person or persons who handed in those forms, then the party’s record keeping was clearly deficient”.

This is a valid point, however I also wonder if Sussex St may just be trying to dodge a bullet.

Surely those in Sussex St can tell what day these forms were handed in? Or even if their record keeping is in a dire state they should be able to narrow it down to within a couple of days.

Then, and I’m going to go out on a limb here, I’m reasonably sure that somewhere in the building, maybe Labor’s reception area, maybe the lifts, maybe the café downstairs, maybe at the buildings entrances, but more than likely somewhere there would be lurking a camera that would have footage of who enters the premises with a recording date on the video. I’m no Sherlock Holmes but I’d say the odds are that if there is footage of Hicham coming in carrying bundles of paper, a manilla folder, or a bag on the same day that hundreds of membership forms were delivered for his branches there is a pretty reasonable chance he may have dropped them off.

Even without footage of Hicham stumbling in struggling with the weight of so many membership forms there are still the issues of these questionable branch members places of residence.

Having the residential address of numerous families in one average size house is strange. Having several families living at another address in an industrial estate raises questions. Having eight members living in Hicham’s house along with his wife and daughters looks a little more than suspicious. But to have some members and their families down as living in a PO Box is just plain ridiculous.

I find it extremely coincidental that now volunteers are needed for campaigning purposes these hundreds of “legitimate” members are suddenly nowhere to be found, sick or on holidays I guess. However they always seem to be available for voting at pre-selections.

There is also the issue of branch records and minutes at two of the branches Regents Park and Newington which sources have alleged are worse than those from the Mt Kiera branch which were so bad NSW Labor was forced to close the branch.

Members are not keen on seeing a return to the days of old where favours are done and blind eyes turned. The vast majority of members abide by party rules and expect those rules to be upheld and enforced by the Party Head Office.

No matter what deals have been done behind closed doors, the rank and file members are not idiots and do not like being taken for fools. The membership long for the days when we don’t have to worry about things like factionalism’s faceless men destroying the Party in the public’s eye.

There are two things that I can think of that will tear the heart out of the rank and file members and show that the Party is heading down a dangerous slope.

Those two things would be Hicham Zraika being given an Upper House position, and Noreen Hay being given the Party Whips position, and I am of the understanding that both of these things are on the cards.

Being the Party Secretary involves making tough decisions and often tearing up deals that may have been done without enough thought put into their consequences. Sometimes pissing off powerbrokers is just part of the job.

Rank and file members want a General Secretary that will look after their interests and further the Party’s long term interests, not back deals put forward by factional powerbrokers.

Over the next few months the issues of both the Upper House ticket and the Party Whip will need resolving, and although the Party Whip position is voted on by caucus, the Party Secretary will certainly wield considerable influence over some within that caucus.

As I said, these are tests, the results of which will determine the direction of the Party and allow the public to better determine whether we have turned over a new leaf or headed back to the days of old. It will indicate either a willingness to shake off past shackles, or to continue to let them bind us. It may even be the indicator for whether Labor can make an effective government or opposition.

Luke Foley is showing himself to be the strong leader that we need and is coming out with some policies that show a strong and progressive agenda, I hope Sussex St has the strength to back him by making the right decisions.

I trust that  NSW Secretary Jamie Clements is up to the task and will make the right calls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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