They don’t call him “The Don” for nothing.
The 56-year-old senator is as polite and mild-mannered as they come, but inside the Labor Party, Don Farrell engenders a genuine respect – even fear.
“I don’t go out of my way to frighten people,” he tells me. “If I have a point of view, I try to express it clearly, but people don’t always agree with you and they’re entitled to their own point of view.”
But his view matters more than just about anyone else’s within the South Australian branch of the ALP. Don Farrell is the Godfather of Labor’s dominant Right faction, Labor Unity. And they don’t call it Labor Unity for nothing. Farrell runs a tight ship.
Mike Rann has enjoyed a stable premiership largely because Farrell is happy for him to remain there. Kevin Rudd is no longer prime minister because Farrell joined with other Right-wing powerbrokers to bring about his demise.
The swiftness of his disposal says something about the way Rudd was viewed within the party. It also says something about the power wielded by the party’s factional leaders.
Not that Farrell’s keen to talk about it.
“Look, I think the change is behind us now,” he says. “I think, certainly from my own point of view, I’m looking forward. Or, what’s the word? Moving forward.”
His Senate career is still young. But Don Farrell’s influence within the Labor movement stretches back decades. For 32 years he steered the Shop Assistants’ Union, which during his reign has become the breeding ground for the Labor Right.
“I see myself very much as Churchill described Attlee: as a humble man with much to be humble about,” he says.
And he sees his mission as helping those of humble origins. “It’s a sense of being able to achieve something for ordinary Australians. I did that in the union role and you actually have a much greater ability to do it in a political role.”
His political opponents are not convinced. To the Liberals, and some within his party, Farrell embodies everything that’s wrong with modern Labor. He’s seen as a factional warlord who ruthlessly exercises his power.
“I think that’s a gross exaggeration, to be perfectly honest,” he says. “ Look, I’ve been a member of the Labor Party since 1976, so I want it to do well. I think it does best when it works co-operatively.”
Labor Unity certainly works smoothly. Its parliamentary members form a solid voting bloc, which in the past four years has grown in strength.
Farrell is unapologetic. “There are factions in tennis clubs, bowling clubs; all sorts of organisations have factions. They’re a mechanism to run an organisation and I think, on balance, the Labor Party does it as good as it can be done.
“I think it’s a case of trying to ensure everybody sees themselves as having a role in the party, a mechanism for putting their point of view. And you hope that’s enough to hold the party together. And so far I think that’s generally been true.”
Not all within his party share this view.
During the pre-selection process for the 2007 election, Don Farrell ousted a sitting senator, former Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) industrial officer Linda Kirk. At the time, Kirk lashed out at Farrell and other members of the union. She claimed the deeply Catholic elements within the SDA instructed her to vote against stem cell research. She also claimed Farrell instructed her to vote for the then Opposition leader Kim Beazley over up-and-comer Kevin Rudd. She did neither.
This time, Transport Workers’ Union boss Alex Gallacher sits first on the ticket, ahead of two incumbent senators. It’s not just coincidence that he has the backing of Farrell.
“Ultimately, the electors make a decision who is and isn’t going to be in Parliament,” says Farrell.
But there’s little doubt he has a significant say in who leads Labor.
For now, the South Australian Senator seems genuinely pleased with his latest selection – Julia Gillard.
“I think she’s sort of seen as almost the home-town girl, and I think that’s working well for Labor,” Farrell says.
“She obviously has a sense of what the issues are in the state and I think people are rewarding her with their support.”
Should she win the right to remain as Prime Minister, his support will be crucial to Ms Gillard remaining in the top job.
ITALICS: Nick Harmsen is the ABC’s state political reporter. Tom Richardson is on leave.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter