By Bill Hannon
ADELAIDE — Premier John Bannon's minority ALP government may be forced to an early election by the resignation from the party of one MP and the threatened resignation of another.
Labor emerged from the last state election relying on the support of two Independent Labor members, Norm Peterson and Martyn Evans, for its majority of one. Both independents are former ALP members.
The latest problems began when an ALP preselection conference decided not to endorse sitting members Colin McKee (member for Gilles) for the seat of Torrens, and Terry Groom (member for Hartley) for the seat of Napier.
Groom announced his resignation, leaving the government with only 21 members in the 47-seat house. McKee gave Bannon until the end of February to find him a winnable seat for the next elections. When Bannon was unable to do this, McKee postponed his resignation indefinitely, saying he didn't think this was an opportune time to "spit the dummy".
Crisis talks between McKee and Bannon on March 2 are understood to have centred on a proposed move of emergency services minister John Klunder from the House of Assembly to the Legislative Council, with McKee moving into Klunder's seat of Torrens. The snag is that no member of the upper house seems willing to retire.
Klunder in any case is something of a liability, having presided over disasters such as a $60 million loss on the Scrimber plant. The opposition is pressing for his dismissal and seems to have a curiously high opinion of McKee. "It is a tragedy that Mr Bannon has not got the guts to sack Mr Klunder who has been incompetent, and replace him with an up-and-coming member like Mr McKee", said Liberal leader Dale Baker recently.
The ALP State Executive is scrambling to calm other troubles in the party. It recently decided to hear only selected evidence on charges that state secretary Terry Cameron issued credentials to a member of the Port Lincoln sub-branch who was not a duly elected delegate.
Cameron is also facing difficulties on the business front, as the Australian Securities Commission has deregistered his family company, Cameron Valley Fruits, for failing to lodge annual returns since it was set up in 1981. The company owns the Cameron family home, valued at $250,000, but has not traded since its establishment.