By David Rood
LABOR'S bitter fight over choosing a candidate for the Broadmeadows byelection could go to the Supreme Court, as the preselection for the prized ALP seat descended into open factional warfare.
A bloc of four Labor unions is threatening to launch legal action today to reverse a Victorian ALP decision calling in Labor's national executive to choose a byelection candidate - virtually guaranteeing Frank McGuire preselection.
In a letter to outgoing ALP state secretary Nick Reece, seen by The Age, the unions state it was a matter of principal that local members be given the chance to vote for candidates and the decision to refer the preselection was contrary to party rules.
''Most regrettably, it may be necessary to seek orders from the Supreme Court … and urgent relief would be sought,'' said the January 25 letter, signed by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, the National Union of Workers, the Health Services Union and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.
The Broadmeadows preselection, triggered by the resignation of former premier John Brumby, has revived festering tensions within state Labor, with accusations of membership rorts and the imposition of celebrity candidates on local party members.
Mr McGuire - who is not an ALP member - is being supported by the Socialist Left and a bloc of the party's Right faction aligned with federal government ministers Bill Shorten and Stephen Conroy.
But the rival group threatening legal action, largely from the party's Right, is supporting Hume councillor Burhan Yigit.
Their letter calls for a normal vote of local Labor members and a central party selection panel to choose a candidate on Sunday as well as for a meeting of the Victorian ALP's disputes tribunal to consider the issue today.
The preselection stoush is a blow to new Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews's hopes of a smooth rebuilding process after November's election loss.
Yesterday, Mr Andrews said he was ''confident the party will select a strong candidate who can be an effective voice for the Broadmeadows community''.
A senior Labor Right source said the legal threat was a desperate attempt to appear driven by conviction when the motivation was rank opportunism.
''They have threatened to show up with a bazooka but have come with a pop gun,'' the insider said.
The Socialist Left has accused Mr Yigit of branch-stacking that has ''effectively killed local activism'' in the electorate, arguing Labor should not reward the practice.
Mr Yigit has denied the claims, with his supporters attacking Mr McGuire's past work for former Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja and saying local members are being denied the chance to select their candidate.
Mr McGuire, brother of Collingwood Football Club president Eddie McGuire, was unavailable for comment but Mr Yigit said the decision to refer the preselection to the ALP's national executive further disenfranchised local Labor members.
Incoming ALP state secretary Noah Carroll, who is managing the preselection, declined to comment.