Bennelong by-election: Kristina Keneally won't rule out taking Sam Dastyari’s Senate seat
KRISTINA Keneally has pointedly — and repeatedly — refused to rule out taking up Sam Dastyari’s Senate position if she loses the Bennelong by-election on Saturday.
NSW
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KRISTINA Keneally has pointedly — and repeatedly — refused to rule out taking up Sam Dastyari’s Senate position if she loses the Bennelong by-election on Saturday.
Ms Keneally has been dogged by rumours she would make it to Canberra even if she didn’t win Bennelong ever since she launched a surprise return to politics last month.
While some polls have put Ms Keneally and Liberal candidate John Alexander neck-and-neck, both internal party polling and the most recent Fairfax-ReachTEL figures puts Mr Alexander in the winning position.
In a heated interview on Sky News, in which she was also grilled about her relationship with corrupt former Labor powerbrokers Eddie Obeid and Joe Tripodi, Ms Keneally declined three times to rule out taking Mr Dastyari’s position.
She was also reportedly considered by Labor to take a third federal seat in the Australian Capital Territory, where she was scheduled to move early next year to present a daily Sky News program from Parliament.
“You can ask me any way you want, I’m not ruling anything in or out after the polls come in on Saturday night,” Ms Keneally finally said after being asked three times whether she would contemplate taking a Senate spot.
Labor's @KKeneally won't rule in or out taking @samdastyari vacant spot if she falls short in Bennelong https://t.co/zvfyv72Y89
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) December 14, 2017
Mr Dastyari said he would resign from the Senate earlier this week as the China political donor scandal threatened to continue into the new year.
“It’s easy to rule (taking the position) out,” Sky News journalist Samantha Maiden asked Ms Keneally.
“I’m also not ruling out coming back to Sky News, where I still have a contract,” Ms Keneally responded.
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The former NSW premier was also asked her relationship with disgraced powerbroker Mr Obeid, and about a quote from Mr Dastyari contained in a book in which he says her rise to the top job would not have been possible without his help.
“That book you are reading from was pulped, it was reissued and the statement wasn’t in it,” Ms Keneally said.
“It wasn’t pulped for that reason, it wasn’t pulped for the quote from Sam Dastyari,” Ms Maiden replied.