Long-time Labor figure Bill Kelty has come to the defence of Martin Ferguson, who faces expulsion from the ALP over his intervention in the NSW state election campaign.
"All members of the Labor Party deserve the right, but he in particular deserves the right, to have a different view," Mr Kelty told ABC radio on Tuesday after an expulsion motion from the Victorian branch of the party was referred to a dispute committee.
Mr Ferguson, a former minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments, backed the coalition's plan to privatise parts of the NSW electricity sector in direct opposition to Labor's position.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the ALP is a broad church and he accepts that members will sometimes publicly disagree with policy.
"But on the other hand, if there's been active cooperation with another political party to undermine Labor's electoral chances, that's a different thing altogether," he told Sky News on Tuesday.
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