Fed: Dems members may find out if new ballot necessary

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-2003
Fed: Dems members may find out if new ballot necessary

CANBERRA, Dec 9 AAP - Australian Democrats members may find out today if they will
be voting in another leadership ballot, as leader Andrew Bartlett considers his future.

Senator Bartlett has taken leave while his party gauges the fallout from his drunken
manhandling and verbal abuse of government whip Jeannie Ferris in the Senate last week.

He has been considering his options at home in Brisbane ahead of a telephone hook-up
with his Senate colleagues which is expected to take place today or tomorrow.

The hook-up will be the third since media reports of his behaviour sparked a leadership
crisis at the weekend.

While a spokeswoman for Senator Bartlett said it was impossible to put a timeframe
on how long it would take him to sort out his personal issues, his Senate colleagues are
understood to want him to end the uncertainty at their next telephone conference.

Democrats founder Don Chipp has called on Senator Bartlett to quit the leadership,
warning it could have fatal electoral consequences for the party.

"I am of a mind to think that he should (quit) and go back to the backbench," Mr Chipp
told ABC TV.

"I just don't know whether he can win with this.

Senator Bartlett's fellow Queenslander John Cherry and acting leader Lyn Allison are
tipped as the frontrunners if the leadership were thrown open.

The Democrats leadership is voted for by the entire party membership.

If Senator Bartlett steps aside, the new leader would be the party's fourth in just over a year.

AAP so/tma/jlw

KEYWORD: BARTLETT DAYLEAD

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