Dai Le to run as independent candidate for seat of Cabramatta

She knocked back Premier Gladys Berejiklian to run for the Liberals — and now Fairfield councillor Dai Le is also set to give Labor leader Michael Daley some competition by running as an independent for the safe Labor seat of Cabramatta.

• Premier wooing ousted Liberal for key seat
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She knocked back an offer by Premier Gladys Berejiklian to run for the Liberals — now high-profile Vietnamese refugee Dai Le is set to give Labor leader Michael Daley a headache.

More than a decade since the outspoken women’s rights campaigner turned the safe Labor seat of Cabramatta into a marginal as a Liberal at the 2008 by-election, the Fairfield councillor is back to finish the job — this time as an independent.

Fairfield councillor Dai Le will run for the seat of Cabramatta as an independent. Picture: Supplied

Ms Le, who was sensationally dumped from the Liberal Party two years ago for breaking party rules after running for the position of mayor against an endorsed candidate, said her decision was a difficult one.

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But speaking exclusively to The Sunday Telegraph, Ms Le said she believed the Cabramatta community was desperate for better representation after being ignored by both the major parties.

“The major political parties have totally ignored this area — it is a safe Labor seat so Labor doesn’t care and the Liberals don’t think they can win it so they don’t care,” she said.

“It’s the dumping ground for the crappiest trains. There is no airconditioning, no commuter carpark and no express service to the city. Fairfield Hospital is under-resourced.

The changes Dai Le wants to make if elected.

“Cabramatta and Fairfield have become the forgotten cities for Labor. They have not committed one dollar of funding to our people. We are the one place in Sydney where Labor has not committed any money during this election. We are the place that Labor forgot.”

Since the by-election, Cabramatta has returned to being a safe Labor seat with Ms Le having to overcome a 17.2 per cent margin to defeat the recently endorsed Labor MP Nick Lalich.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian tried to lure Dai Le to the Liberal Party. Picture: AAP/Dan Himbrechts

Michael Daley and the Labor Party can’t afford to lose the seat of Cabramatta. Picture: Justin Lloyd

At the by-election, Ms Le achieved a swing of 21.8 per cent towards the Liberals.

Last year, Ms Berejiklian tried to woo the former Howard government staffer back to the party.

Since Me Le refused, the Liberals have yet to put up a candidate.

The seat had not been on the Labor radar, but with the party needing to win 13 to govern outright, it cannot afford to lose any.

Nick Lalich was recently endorsed by the Labor Party to run for the seat of Cabramatta. Picture: AAP/Joel Carrett

The recent spotlight on Chinese donations to political parties has thrown a spanner in the works for Mr Lalich, with sources revealing the local community is nervous about contributing funds against the backdrop of an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation.

Ms Le, who has been accused of not living in the area, said her husband owned a property in Dulwich Hill.

She said she lived in the Fairfield City Council area.

As for preferences, Ms Le said she would not be directing them to any party.

Both the Coalition and Labor are finalising the last of their preselections, ahead of their individual launches.

It is understood Labor will unveil its last candidate in the seat of Albury in the coming days.