AAP
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has dismissed claims she dumped NT senator Trish Crossin because she was a Kevin Rudd supporter, in order to recruit indigenous athlete Nova Peris to the Labor fold.
On Tuesday Ms Gillard exercised her "captain's pick" to override NT Labor's preselection processes to endorse Ms Peris for the number one Senate ticket spot.
The decision sidelines Senator Crossin who has served in parliament for 15 years.
Labor left co-convenor Senator Doug Cameron described the move as brutal and "a night of the long knives against a senator".
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott welcomed more indigenous people in national politics but said Ms Gillard had shown poor judgment.
"I don't want to pretend to be an expert on the rather murky machinations of the Labor Party but I guess we've seen the prime minister involved in a political hit on Kevin Rudd, a political hit on Harry Jenkins, the former speaker, and now this political hit on Trish Crossin," Mr Abbott told Macquarie Radio.
Ms Gillard defended her decision.
"I wanted Labor to break the history we had of not having an indigenous person serve in the federal Labor caucus in the parliament," she told ABC Radio.
"I knew it would be controversial.
"I chose to do it this way because the outcome was important."
Asked if Ms Gillard had targeted Senator Crossin because she was a known Kevin Rudd supporter, the prime minister replied, "All of that is completely irrelevant," adding that Ms Peris was a woman of "incredible merit".
Ms Peris said she wouldn't get involved in "the nuts and bolts of the party process".
She felt "honoured" to have been selected for her work in health and education rather than her high profile as an athlete.
"When I had the talks with Labor officials they said it wasn't what I'd done on the sporting field, with all due respect, it was actually what I had done at the national level with the community work and the amount of stuff with health, youth and education," the Olympic hockey gold medallist told the Seven Network.
Former NT education minister Marion Scrymgour, who was Australia's first indigenous female minister, had stuck up her hand to run against Senator Crossin for preselection for the Senate ticket.
Ms Scrymgour said that the prime minister would have her way but the NT felt robbed of having its say.
Former ALP national president Warren Mundine, who quit the party out of frustration last year, said he was glad Ms Gillard had intervened to recruit Ms Peris.
"You can't go on continuing to say you are the champion of the indigenous people when you don't have an indigenous person sitting next to you in the parliament," he told ABC TV.
Labor stalwart Simon Crean acknowledged the decision had been "pretty hard on Trish".
It was important for the party's rank and file to have a say but preselection processes were not always perfect, he said.
Prominent Aboriginal sovereignty campaigner Michael Anderson condemned Ms Gillard's choice of Ms Peris.
"I do not have confidence in her ability to stand up for and fight the hard fight that is coming our way," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Ms Peris is only being used as a public relations exercise for Labor."
Mr Anderson, who founded the tent embassy in Canberra 40 years ago, said he feared that Ms Peris would be used as a show pony for the Labor party at an international level.
"Ms Nova Peris has not been involved in major political processes, rallies or otherwise. She has been missing in political action all the time," Mr Anderson said.
"I appeal to Ms Nova Peris to rethink this offer so as to ensure that she is not a puppet of Julia Gillard's Labor party, otherwise we need her to come out and simply say that just because she is Aboriginal she is not our voice."
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