Labor Mps Welcome Decision To Hand Over The Leadership
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday September 15, 2008
FLANKED by his wife, Annmarie, a teary-eyed Alan Carpenter said he would stand down as Labor leader in Western Australia but remain the member for Willagee after the Nationals revealed they would form a minority government with the Liberal Party.
Mr Carpenter, who took over as Labor leader after the sudden resignation of premier Geoff Gallop in early 2006, said he took full responsibility for his party's poor performance at the election. Outgoing senior ministers Eric Ripper, Mark McGowan and Alannah MacTiernan emerged as front-runners to take over as Opposition leader yesterday. Others being touted for the job are Jim McGinty and Michelle Roberts. Nominations are likely to be made at a caucus meeting at Parliament on Tuesday. The leader may not be decided until another caucus meeting within days. None of the outgoing Carpenter government ministers declared their intentions to the media yesterday. A number of Labor MPs and rank and file members yesterday welcomed Mr Carpenter's decision, saying he had jumped before he was pushed. Some said the massive swing against Labor combined with Mr Carpenter's failure to strike a deal with the Nationals had made his position untenable. Many predicted if he had not resigned he would have been forced out within weeks. "Alan Carpenter's political career died [on the night of the election] and the only argument anyone was going to have was the time and place of the burial," one Labor insider said. "Alan is someone who was given everything on a silver platter ... he didn't understand the importance of grassroots politics and he took bad advice from former journalists and the politically incompetent." But Joe Bullock, the secretary of the powerful shop assistants' union, aligned with the Right faction, said he spoke to Mr Carpenter yesterday and urged him to stay on as leader. "I'm very disappointed that Alan has found the pressure on his family too much," he said. "I tried to get to him early [yesterday] just to try to encourage him to stay. I believe Alan could have stayed for the long haul and perhaps been Premier again."
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
