SLOW ON UPTAKE: The Age Scooped Repeatedly

After the shameful Fakegate scandal involving supposed SL faction secretary Andrew Giles and close associate Farrah Tomazin, even the Left are beginning to see the benefits of sharing their lerv and their secrets with the OC.

The OC stunningly revealed the candidacy of transport tsar Khalil Eideh for the Socialist Left on Saturday evening at 7.23 pm

Three days later, the HUMBLED Aged political correspondent Paul Austin, paid in excess of $100,000 per annum to receive edicts from Senator Kim Carr finally ran the yarn, without acknowledging the OC's role in breaking the story. Such a shocking lapse of protocol among journalistes. I have a good mind to report him to my union.

He also revealed "Gail Tierney" was going to be a candidate.

The OC reported this in October last year and unlike Austin and The Age, we even managed to spell her name correctly. Gayle Tierney is set for the number two spot in the upper house in the Western Regional seat.

AT LEAST six Bracks Government MPs, including two parliamentary secretaries, face being dumped or demoted in Labor preselections despite the Premier's so-called peace deal.

The looming purge of MPs, mainly from the minority Left faction but including members of Steve Bracks' Right faction, could destabilise the Government in the lead-up to the November state election.

Under the deal signed on Sunday night by Right leader Senator Stephen Conroy and Left leader Senator Kim Carr:

OC: Will the deal stick? That's the real story. Many have their doubts but not because of "Parliamentary Secretaries" but due to the challenge of pleasing everybody when there is a shrinking Legislative Council from 44 to 40 (John Lenders' doing) and the injection of two pudgy dudes as *star* candidates.

�Deputy Premier John Thwaites' parliamentary secretary, right-winger Elaine Carbines, is facing demotion to a hard-to-win spot on an upper house ticket.

OC: But many say the Labor Right's Elaine Carbines will attract votes and possibly tip the balance in a hard-to-win spot. Surely this should be encouraged.

�Parliamentary secretary for the Commonwealth Games, Mary Gillett, is expected to be challenged by the Right for her safe seat of Tarneit. She has resisted pressure from the Right to "retire".

OC: Mary Gillett - a former very close associate of the crazed and maniacal Greg Sword - is retiring or being retired. Enjoy the freebies at the Games, dear. Local ALP members want her outski.

�Left-wingers Don Nardella and Dale Wilson will be challenged for their respective seats of Melton and Narre Warren South.

OC: Don Nardella is in a seat known as the Killing Fields for factional deals. Dave Cunningham defeated an official Labor Unity candidate way back when despite a deal between Left and Right on the seat, he got 80% of the vote. Can Don repeat? Dale Wilson, possibly the least presentable candidate in Parliamentary history should be taken out and shot.

�Two upper house left-wingers, Glenyys Romanes (Melbourne Province) and Lidia Argondizzo (Templestowe Province), are expected to be dumped or demoted to hard-to-win spots as the Legislative Council is reduced from 44 to 40 members.

OC: Glenyys Romanes is gone, although no one in her faction will tell her. (Why are they so cruel we ask?) Lidia doesn't expect to be re-elected and will comfort herself in a fortune estimated to exceed $10 million. If the OC is feeling festive, we might publish her pecuniary interest form, she owns many millions of dollars worth of property. Multi-millionaire socialist Dale Wilson, also under challenge, favours equities.

Another potential victim of the purge, unaligned Arts Minister Mary Delahunty, is under pressure from the Right to vacate her safe seat of Northcote.

OC: The OC hears conflicting reports about Mary. She may well stay on. A nice person who has struggled as a Minister is the general view. Nice does not necessarily help you as an ALP MP.

Under the cross-factional deal, new blood to be injected at the election will include Mr Bracks' two "star" candidates, his chief of staff Tim Pallas and internet entrepreneur Evan Thornley.

OC: Oh yes, bring on Evan Thornley. Please do.

Other newcomers expected to contest preselection include: Khalil Eideh, managing director of the Bluestar Logistics transport company and president of the Alawi Islamic Association (Left); Brian Tee, an adviser to Industrial Relations Minister Rob Hulls (Left); unionist Gail Tierney; and Fiona Richardson, secretary of the Right.

OC: Paul Austin really gets paid a lot to repeat stuff from blogs and the scraps of data from Kim Carr's Information Feating Table.