LATIKA M BOURKE: SA Labor titans Penny Wong and Don Farrell announce plans to run for Senate re-election
LATIKA M BOURKE: Two of Labor’s rival factional titans have declared their candidacy for the next Federal election — both seeking another term in the Senate.
Two of Anthony Albanese’s most loyal Cabinet allies have announced they will seek another term in the Senate, showing confidence in Labor retaining Government despite the party’s poor performance in the polls.
Senator Penny Wong said in an exclusive interview that she had decided to run again, and would seek a fourth six-year term in the Parliament’s upper chamber.
Speculation has been rife in Canberra for years that Senator Wong would retire on top of her political career as Foreign Minister and Government leader in the Senate before the next election, when her Senate term expires.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.But she laughed off the rumours, saying she had no idea how they started and that they were dead wrong.
“I don’t know why — no,” she said when asked about the rumours during an appearance on the Latika Takes podcast recorded in collaboration with The Nightly on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“I suppose you keep asking over half a decade, and eventually it might be right one day, but no, I’ve made really clear last election I would serve this term, and I would make a decision about standing again, and I’m gonna stand again so there you go.”
Senator Wong is the Labor Party’s most senior left-wing figure and female figure. She is extremely close to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and was one of the few ministers who spent election night with him at Kirribilli in Sydney.
Entering politics in 2002 after winning in the 2001 election, the 57-year-old has already spent almost a quarter of a century in Parliament.
Her factional rival in South Australia, Don Farrell, is also up next election. He is central to the right faction’s ongoing support for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has suggested he too would seek a third shot in office at the next election.
The right-wing powerbroker, often dubbed “The Godfather” in Labor circles confirmed to The Nightly that he too would be contesting.
The federal Trade Minister, who has struck deals with the European Union and UAE during his tenure, submitted his application to Labor head office on Wednesday.
He was first elected in 2008 but lost a factional battle to Senator Wong’s left faction in 2013 and left Parliament.
He successfully renominated in the 2016 double dissolution election and was appointed Trade and Tourism Minister as well as Special Minister for State when Labor won power in 2022.
He said he had unfinished business in the job.
“Last year Australian trade with the world reached a record $1.32 trillion,” he said.
“But there is more work to be done. Shepherding the EU FTA through Parliament, a new FTA with India and resolving tariff issues with the US.
“So there is still more to be done and I hope the voters of South Australia have the confidence to let me be part of that.”
Ryan Lidell, who served as chief of staff to former Labor Leader Bill Shorten and is now a lobbyist based in Adelaide, said there was no question the party would wholeheartedly endorse the two titans of South Australian Labor.
“Don Farrell and Penny Wong have built the kind of influence that shapes not just the state’s Labor machine, but the federal government’s direction too,” he said.
“They’re both huge assets to the state, the party and the Albanese Government.”
In New York, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and Antonio Costa, the President of the European Council which convenes the leaders of the EU member states.
Both sides called for parliamentarians to swiftly pass the free-trade agreement. In Australia, the Coalition and One Nation have both attacked the deal.
In a statement, the leaders said they welcomed the conclusion of negotiations “and looked forward to its signature as soon as possible.”
“They agreed to remain in close contact with a view to explore the potential for further strengthening and deepening of EU-Australia relations,” the statement said, stopping short of the associate membership the EU is promising Canada.
