Labor frontbencher defends Keneally over ‘wannabe westie’ claims

Kristina Keneally was labelled a ‘wannabe westie’ by a senior NSW Liberal, but now Labor has come to her defence, dragging the prime minister into the spat.

A senior Labor frontbencher has defended Kristina Keneally as a Western Sydney local, comparing her to Prime Minister Scott Morrison who moved to the Shire to contest the seat of Cook 15 years ago.

Labor campaign spokesman Jason Clare said it was “rubbish” to label Ms Keneally as a “westie wannabe,” saying she “lives in the electorate (and) works in the electorate”.

“If the Liberal party wants to make something of this, have a look in your own backyard,” he said.

“Here’s a hot tip for you. Scott Morrison doesn’t come from the Shire.”

Mr Morrison moved to the Shire shortly before seeking preselection for the seat of Cook in 2007. He grew up in Bronte.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: Jason Edwards

The comments come after The Daily Telegraph revealed Ms Keneally – who is running in the Southwestern Sydney seat of Fowler – is flying across the country for campaign events rather than spend time in her own electorate.

“She’s campaigning to earn the support and the trust and the votes of the people without electorate,” Mr Clare said of Ms Keneally.

Kristina Keneally attending Assyrian New Year celebrations in Fairfield on Wednesday. Picture: Instagram.

He highlighted her visit to Cabra-Vale Diggers on Anzac Day as an example of Ms Keneally campaigning locally.

It comes after NSW Transport Minister David Elliott unloaded on Labor’s picks for two crucial western Sydney seats, claiming they are “wannabe westies”.

Mr Elliott lashed Labor’s candidates for Fowler, Kristina Keneally, and Parramatta, Andrew Charlton, at a press conference on Tuesday, slamming the pair’s parachuting by their party into the seats.

“Andrew Charlton today, like Kristina Keneally, is trying to be a wannabe westie, and as far as I’m concerned, the people of this district just won’t cop it,” he said.

NSW Transport Minister David Elliott.

“They cannot live in their million dollar houses in Bellevue Hill and Pittwater and then come out here and in an attempt to swindle a seat, just to get a bigger office in Canberra.”

He also took a shot at Mr Charlton’s pledge to spend $6.2m to upgrade local ovals as well as tackling unemployment in the electorate, with Mr Elliott stating it was “very courageous given that their leader doesn’t even know the unemployment rate”.

Referencing a story published in The Daily Telegraph today, Mr Elliott said “I think that the people of Parramatta should not be swindled today by the story they saw out of Andrew Charlton and they shouldn’t be swindled by the story they see out of Kristina Keneally,” he said.

It came as the Minister unveiled the results of 12 days of fare free travel on public transport, saying 12 million free trips were taken over the period.

While he acknowledged the government had budgeted the lost revenue of the trips would cost between $8 and $20m, the cost would likely be higher due to the popularity of the free travel.

“There’s has been a lot of forgotten fares, but those people went out and spent money. So that’s money that’s now been collected through GST. That’s money that’s now been collected through payroll tax,” he said, calling the economic stimulus “well worth it”.

Kristina Keneally is running for Labor in the federal Election in the seat of Fowler. Picture: David Swift

A Labor spokesman said “David Elliott ought to be focused on his job as transport Minister and getting the trains running on time instead of leading grubby smears against federal candidates”.

Mrs Keneally’s toughest opponent in the contest for Fowler, independent Dai Le, accused the ALP of taking the people of Fairfield, Cabramatta and Bossley Park for granted.

“The most local thing about Kristina Keneally that we can see is her posters,” Ms Le, who is deputy mayor of Fairfield council, said.

“She’s not running to represent our community. She’s not here to understand or fight for us.

“The Labor Party thinks our community are fools and has taken us for granted by putting someone from Scotland Island to represent us,” Ms Le said.

“But just like when we were locked down, our community will stand up and demand that we are not treated like second-class citizens, and we deserve a representative who cares about our area.”

Independent candidate for the seat of Fowler Dai Le says Labor are taking Western Sydney voters for granted. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Mrs Keneally was campaigning on Labor’s ‘Pacific plan’ while in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Juggling her responsibilities as the Opposition spokeswoman on home affairs and immigration, Mrs Keneally had planned to head to Darwin from Brisbane for the official launch of the plan, but there was a problem with her flight.

She was due to return to Sydney last night and be in the Fowler electorate until mid Wednesday morning, before flying to Melbourne.

From the Victorian capital, Mrs Keneally will return to Sydney – and Fowler – before flying to Perth in coming days.

Ms Le is aiming to attract 30 per cent of the primary vote, with all the minor candidates placing Labor last. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Mrs Keneally’s series of trips north, south and west commenced less than a week after being forced off the local campaign trail for seven days while she isolated following a positive test for Covid-19.

Ms Le believes she can win Fowler if she can attract just 30 per cent of the primary vote – provided Mrs Keneally polls no higher than 40s – courtesy of an avalanche of preferences.

The Daily Telegraph understands Mrs Keneally will be placed last on the how-to-vote cards of all the minor parties.

Mrs Keneally was the only Fowler candidate who did not attend the ballot draw last Friday.

She did attend an Anzac Day ceremony in Cabramatta on Monday, as well as the Chestnut & Wine Festival at Club Marconi at Bossley Park. She visited the Liverpool Women’s Health Centre late last week.

Mrs Keneally’s office declined to respond to Ms Le’s comments.

Labor is upping the stakes in Parramatta, pledging millions of dollars in hyper-local election commitments to strengthen the campaign of captain’s-pick candidate ­Andrew Charlton.

Mr Charlton, who was parachuted into Parramatta from his $16m home in Bellevue Hill, will on Tuesday announce Labor would spend $6.2m to upgrade Belmore Park and Richie Benaud Oval.

Andrew Charlton has been parachuted into Parramatta, swapping his $16m Bellevue Hill home for a place in North Parramatta (below). Picture: David Swift

Mr Charlton told The Daily Telegraph he had “absolutely no plans” to shop around for another seat if he loses Parramatta, which his party holds on a margin of just 3.5 per cent.

But Mr Charlton stopped short of ruling out an election bid elsewhere.

“I could not see it happening,” he said.

He vowed to be “super focused” on his electorate if he won, despite not naming the seat when asked why he wanted to run for office.

“I’ve always believed in the power of policy to change people’s lives for the better and the opportunity to become part of the Labor team is something that I couldn’t pass up,” he said.

Andrew Charlton’s Bellevue Hill home.

Mr Charlton said voters cared more about what he would do for the area than the fact he was not a local.

“People come here from all over Australia, from all over the world, to build a better life for themselves. They want to know which candidate is going to do that,” he said.

One of his three stated goals for Parramatta is for the electorate to be a “jobs hub,” by boosting work close to where families can afford to buy homes.

Its unemployment rate is slightly higher than the national average, and youth unemployment is about 10 per cent (figures Mr Charlton accurately outlined).

Andrew Charlton’s new North Parramatta home. Picture: David Swift

The number of jobs in Parramatta was still trailing the pre-Covid benchmark in February and there had been a drop in construction jobs.

Mr Charlton said he wanted to increase investment in education, TAFE, and university places – while also luring more private businesses.

Mr Charlton declined to comment on whether a migration boom was needed to increase productivity, saying he would leave commentary on the issue to relevant Labor frontbenchers.

The former economics ­adviser to Kevin Rudd, who is on leave from his role as a managing director of Accenture, refused to be drawn on whether he wanted a seat on Labor’s frontbench.

“I’m very, very, very focused on winning and retaining this seat and I’m very conscious of the amount of work that (outgoing MP) Julie Owens put into it,” Mr Charlton said.

Labor will commit $6.2m to fund stage 1 of the Belmore Park and Richie Benaud Oval upgrade, which comes on top of $12m already promised for better aged-care services.

Mr Charlton said that Labor had listened to the “strong advocacy” by the ­Parramatta Council when ­deciding to invest in the oval project.

“Cricket Australia has also identified this as a priority project,” he said.

Mr Charlton has moved into the electorate and has vowed that his family will ­“absolutely” join him in North Parramatta.

– With Daniel Petrie