Joe Bullock, the controversial Labor Senate candidate at the centre of a row about his political future, has defied calls to stand aside and says it is not his current intention to go anywhere.

The union which helped parachute Mr Bullock into Labor's number one spot on the West Australian Senate ticket is now calling on the controversial union leader to quit, saying he is unfit to represent the party.

United Voice says it regrets helping to get Mr Bullock onto the ballot, after details emerged of a speech he gave in November last year.

Mr Bullock has since apologised for the address, in which he praised Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott, criticised some Labor members as "mad", and took aim at some of the party’s more progressive policies.

The speech was made public on the Friday before the re-run election, the same day he emailed members to say sorry for commenting on his running mate Senator Louise Pratt’s sexuality and her advocacy of same sex-marriage.

"If we had had the information we have now, if we'd known the comments and his views on party members, if we'd known the sort of comments he'd made about Louise Pratt, we would not have supported him," the union's Carolyn Smith said.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 4 minutes 37 seconds 4 m 37 s United Voice has called on Joe Bullock to stand aside days after he was elected to the Senate Download 2.1 MB

"I don't want people to believe that just because United Voice endorsed Joe Bullock in the Senate election that we endorse the comments he made, I think they are inexcusable.

"What Joe Bullock does is his decision, we just want to make it clear that we no longer support him and we think he should resign."

Bullock says he's not going anywhere

Mr Bullock is likely to be the only Senator elected for Labor out of Saturday's re-run election, and has told the ABC he plans to "continue serving the working people of Western Australia".

"It's not my current intention to go anywhere," Mr Bullock told ABC News Online.

"I have been and will continue to be a good representative for the working people of Western Australia, it's my intention to continue doing that in another venue."

Mr Bullock says he is still hopeful that Senator Pratt will also be elected when the final votes and preferences are counted and allocated.

Joe Bullock's apology email to Labor: I am writing to apologise for the offensive remarks I made last year which have been widely reported in the media today.



My comments were ill-considered, and I apologise unreservedly. I have the utmost respect for Labor members and our supporters and share your concern for the interests of working people in this state and this country.



I have enormous respect for Louise, she has served the Party and this state magnificently for over a decade and I'm confident that with the support of us all she'll be returned to the Senate tomorrow.



Both Louise and I need your support on booths tomorrow and I know we can count on you.



Thank you



Joe Bullock

"I do hope Louise gets over the line," he said.

He says that would leave the party in a better position than it would have been if the original Senate vote were upheld, in which the Greens and Palmer United Party beat Labor to a second Senate spot.

A spokesperson for Opposition Leader Bill Shorten backed Mr Bullock.

"Joe Bullock was pre-selected by the WA branch and was voted into the Senate by Western Australians on 5 April," the spokesperson said in a statement.

"Joe Bullock has spent the last 30 years of his life standing up for low paid workers and he’ll stand up for them and Western Australian as a Senator."

Union didn't think factional deal would hurt Pratt's Senate chances

Labor's primary vote collapsed to less than 22 per cent in last Saturday's Senate election re-run in WA.

That was bad news for Labor's number two candidate Senator Pratt, who is fighting for her political life against Liberal Linda Reynolds.

Senator Pratt was consigned to Labor's second spot due to a factional deal brokered by United Voice and the right.

Sources say the deal was one of many, stretching back more than five years, which involved the selection of candidates for state seats and the Senate vacancy caused by the departure of former minister Chris Evans in 2013.

That position was filled by United Voice's candidate Sue Lines, but the union's secretary denies the move helped deliver Mr Bullock the number one on the senate ticket, saying it related to getting a left candidate installed in the state seat of Fremantle instead.

Ms Smith says the union never imagined the deal could cost Senator Pratt her job.

"I don't think anyone in West Australia thought that for the first time ever we would lose two positions in the Senate," she said.

"So we certainly didn't envisage Louise Pratt being number two as her losing a Senate position."

ABC election analyst Antony Green says while the union can call on Mr Bullock to stand down, they cannot force him to leave.

"Nobody can force him to resign, nobody can resign on his behalf, the seat is his," he said.

Manufacturing union says issue a 'train wreck'

The WA secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, Steve McCartney, says he agrees with the sentiments of United Voice.

But the AMWU has stopped short of calling on Mr Bullock to stand down.

"I'll let that train wreck get dealt with by the state executive and the national executive," Mr McCartney said.

"We've got processes in the party to eliminate people that bring the party into disrepute, that will be a decision they'll make."

He says the current pre-selection system has seen people become disenchanted with the Labor Party, and members should have more say in the process.

"We should open the doors for more of that discussion so that people in the branches that belong to the party can have more say in the pre-selection process," he said.

"We've lost those people's hearts and minds, we have to build the culture back in the party so it's a party they want to belong to."