Alice Dawkins stuns the SA ALP, with a preselection legal threat, serving it a legal letter claiming the campaign process in the safe Labor federal seat of Spence is unfair and ‘anti-democratic’ – and threatening Supreme Court action if her concerns are not addressed.
Her lawyer, Greg Griffin, alleges the party has broken its own national rules dictating women must be preselected in half its winnable seats.
Read full article – Labor hopeful stuns party with shock legal threat [external link]
Update
Labor rejects SA hopeful’s appeal against “oppressive and anti-democratic” ballot Tom Richardson, InDaily, 21 July 2021. Richardson writes that Alice Dawkins’ claim was rejected one month later following a hearing by a tribunal chaired by former Queensland MP and Attorney-General Linda Lavarch.
“I am thoroughly considering what other steps I can take to work for the application of the national rule in South Australia to ensure greater female representation in the federal parliament,” said Alice Dawkins.
“The impact of Ms Lavarch’s determination is that the national affirmative action rule, a much-celebrated reform of this party, is whittled down into an opt-in scheme applied selectively and at the whim of state branches”.
Dawkins rejected the claims that if her appeal was successful all current preselections would have to be redone, and said that the SA Branch had used “on a sensationalised ‘slippery slope’ argument.
“Endorsement of Ms Lavarch’s determination would be a crushing blow for the women and men who fought so hard for progress on affirmative action… any delinquent branch [would be] henceforth permitted to shirk and rort AA without fear of national intervention.
The SA party has requested the national executive hold an urgent meeting to respond to the tribunal’s determination on this preselection legal threat.
Related readings
Supreme Court cases challenge Victorian ALP intervention – Open Labor, Aug 2021
Alice Dawkins stuns the ALP with shock legal threat – by Tom Richardson, InDaily 22 June 2021
Labor rejects SA hopeful’s appeal against “oppressive and anti-democratic” ballot – Tom Richardson, In Daily, 21 July 2021.
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