Deputy Premier John Rau open to Labor leadership reform if it works Attorney-General and Deputy Premier John Rau answers a question in Parliament. DEPUTY Premier John Rau says state Labor should consider letting rank-and-file members elect their leader if the national experiment is shown to have reinvigorated the party. Mr Rau, who was overlooked for Premier Jay Weatherill when SA Labor changed leaders in 2011, said he had watched the federal race with "much interest." SA Labor is set to hold its annual convention in a fortnight, where the success of the new federal leadership voting model is expected to be discussed. More: New Labor leader Bill Shorten to oppose Abbott's dismantling of carbon pricing Mr Rau said he was "not opposed" to the concept of reform in SA Labor's rules. "Before we rush in, we should watch and see how it works (and) see whether it does have the effect of reinvigorating the organisation," Mr Rau said. If it does, then that's a very positive sign and it may well be something that we should pick up here. On the other hand, it is a national arrangement where obviously people from all the different states have to participate. We're obviously a smaller community. Whether that makes any material difference, I don't know. Mr Weatherill has previously given strong support to the federal reform and said it would be sensible to review state leadership election rules once it had been observed in practice. SA Speaker and Labor Right faction figure Michael Atkinson told The Advertiser he opposed moves to allow members to elect the party's parliamentary leader. Mr Atkinson said a situation where the Caucus and membership disagreed on the best candidate, as has occurred with the election of Bill Shorten, left the party open to political attack. "The people who are in the best position to assess the merits and demerits of a leader of the parliamentary Labor Party are the people work intimately with the candidates," he said. They will generally go for the person best equipped to lead the party into victory.