Architects of their own demise

The ALP has often been criticized, from all sides including its own, for its Byzantine structure of factions, branches and promotion, which leads in turn to an inability to promote people of real talent and diverse experience, instead of political hacks, timeservers, and people who happen to have the same surname as previous incumbents. Acres of print have been written on this subject, but I've never read a better, punchier, or more concise assessment than Matt Price's recent column in the Australian. In brief, he takes the case of David Fawcett, an outstanding candidate who was Federal member for Wakefield within a year of first fronting up to a Liberal office. Much of Matt's column is given over to a devastating analysis by former ALP numbers man Chris Schacht, of what would have happened to someone like Fawcett in the ALP. Read it all, as they say.