For over a century Labor party prime ministers and premiers have been forced to cobble together governments from a selection of ministers chosen by the various political factions.
That started to end when Kevin Rudd won office. He demanded - and was given - the right to choose his own ministry. The same demand was later claimed by Anna Bligh in Queensland - and this past weekend the Labor conference bestowed this choice on New South Wales premier Nathan Rees.
It can only be a matter of time before exactly the same demand is made by the Labor premiers of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, and it is hard to see it being denied.
When an era comes to an end it is not without consequences. The bun fight between the factions to nominate their candidates to the ministry and the power that conferred was the basis of trade offs on policy that defused tensions.
The Labor party has never been a singular political party. At best it is loose consortium of several different ideologies who tolerate one another because of united opposition to the alternative Conservative parties.
Now that the horse trading over cabinet posts has been abolished the factions will have to find new ways to demonstrate their strengths. Back benchers maintained discipline in the hope of being rewarded with advancement to the ministry. We may see faction bosses planning revolts from the rank and file to demonstrate that they still hold power.
Hopefully, Labor ministries may in future contain the brightest and best of the party rather than a weird collection of party hacks chosen because of their factional alliances.
It would be a brave soul that thinks that this new order will see the end of factional power plays - or that leaders will be assured of discipline by their ministers.
Politics is all about power - and power is a numbers game !
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