[Edition 30] SYDNEY, Thursday: The NSW Special Minister of State and noted feminist John Della Bosca criticised Fairfield MP Joe Tripodi for his alleged activities at a drunken party during the recent Olympics. It is claimed that Tripodi lured a female Young Democrat into his office, where he allegedly exposed himself and assaulted her. Della Bosca said that Tripodi's activities were completely inappropriate, and a betrayal of the party's interests.

"We don't need any more Democrat chicks recruited to the party," said Della. "Kernot has been a disaster." The NSW Right powerbroker says Kernot has an inability to cope with public life, and points to her many breakdowns over the past two years in arguing this. Mr Della Bosca says that the fact that the victim of the alleged assault has been very upset in its aftermath, and not even come forward to capitalise on the publicity that has surrounded the event shows that she is just as unsuitable as Kernot for what he terms the "cut-and-thrust of politics".

Meanwhile, Cheryl Kernot herself has come out in support of the ALP's recruitment of Democrats, but says Mr Tripodi's approach was somewhat extreme. The former Democrat leader said she had personally been trying to recruit Natasha Stott-Despoja for several years, and while she admitted she had never gone so far as to attempt to grope the young politician, she tended to see that as a good thing.

Ms Kernot pointed out that she rolled after a mere cup of coffee with Gareth Evans, and said that if she had instead been confronted with Evans' genitalia, she might have rethought her decision to join the Party.

Former ALP heavyweight Graham Richardson has spoken out in favour of the Party's extreme recruiting tactics, and says that members should use "whatever it takes", quoting the title of his autobiography.

Richardson referred to the ALP's quota to preselect one third of women in winnable seats, and said that Tripodi's approach, which he termed "member-focussed", was the right way to achieve that figure. "We have lots of very talented women coming up through the ranks at the moment, and if we don't start using these kinds of tactics, we risk preselecting many more than one in three."

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