The decision to oust Gavin Marshall from a winnable position on the Victorian Senate ticket could have ramifications as far north as Queensland, as Labor looks to resolve contentious preselection battles as soon as possible ahead of the next election.

Marshall, who has held a top Senate ticket spot for Labor in Victoria since his election to the upper house in 2002, is expected to be a casualty of a factional shake-up, after his own left faction moved to install Jess Walsh in his place.

But that move may quell the left’s moves in Queensland to replace Chris Ketter, who remains under threat, despite his own right faction moving in behind him.

Ketter’s uncertain position, first reported in March, may depend on how the Marshall situation plays out, with Bill Shorten’s request to the national executive to endorse all sitting MPs not being seen to include senators.

“Senators are always a bit different, because it is all factional,” a senior Labor source said. “Senate preselections have always been more of a chessboard.”

If the left, which holds the numbers in Queensland, decide to preference Ketter as their second candidate at the upcoming executive meeting, having won some key battles in Victoria, Ketter will be safe, but that decision is still to be made.

“There are still conversations to be had but it might be a case of stability,” a left factional member said. “Victoria has been where most of the focus has been, so it might mean that having some wins there, means there is a backing off up north.”

Moves to shift Claire Moore, who has held a Queensland Senate position for almost two decades, have quieted in recent months.

Victoria’s preselection process has been particularly fraught, with the long-held left-right stability pact coming under challenge from alternative groupings within the party.

The flare-ups have been flamed by the decisions of the Melbourne Ports MP, Michael Danby, and the Jagajaga MP, Jenny Macklin, to retire, allowing rising powerbrokers, such as Adem Somyurek, to flex new muscle.



Somyurek played a key role in securing the deal that will see Daniel Mulino, currently a state upper house MP in Victoria, shift to Canberra in the newly created seat of Fraser, with the former state emergency services minister Jane Garrett shifted into his eastern Victorian seat.

Fraser is expected to be one of the safest Labor seats in the country.

Danby’s favoured candidate, Nick Dyrenfurth, lost the preselection vote last week, with Josh Burns snatching the vote to stand as candidate in the renamed Macnamara electorate, following a late insurgency.

Meanwhile, Ryan Batchelor, described as “one of the most outstanding Victorian talents not in the parliament”, has lost his bid to take Macklin’s place, losing out to the former ABC journalist and Macklin staffer Kate Thwaites.

The decision to select Thwaite was almost a direct result of Burns’ win in Macnamara, with the Labor left concerned about its female representation.

Shorten wrote to the party federal executive and officially asked it to take over Victoria’s preselections, with the final decisions expected to be made later this week.