Federal election 2022: Labor branch members blame Kristina Keneally for Fowler loss
Longtime Labor diehards from Sydney’s southwest have turned on parachute candidate Kristina Keneally, saying their warnings to Labor HQ of the impending loss fell on deaf ears.
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Kristina Keneally is set to lose one of Labor’s safest federal seats to local independent Dai Le with longtime Labor diehards from Sydney’s southwest scathing towards head office for ignoring their warnings.
For one local branch member who worked on the Kristina Keneally campaign, the writing was on the wall for a loss in Fowler well before the polls opened on election day.
“It was the wrong decision to parachute someone in with no connection to the local community,” they said. “She was imposed on us.”
The insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, has been an active local member for years.
They said branch members were unhappy with the decision to shunt the northern beaches resident to southwest Sydney from the moment her candidacy was announced in September, but their warnings fell on deaf ears.
“The Labor head office disregarded that, and caused us to be thrown out of office,” the insider said.
Once the campaign started, members which had volunteered for past elections refused to do so for Ms Keneally, because she was not a local.
“It made it a lot harder for us to man the booths,” the Labor insider said.
Their fears were confirmed during pre-polling, when Labor volunteers were reporting how lots of voters were refusing to take their how-to-vote cards and would only take Dai Le’s.
“That started to reverberate through the whole campaign,” the Labor insider said. “There was a swing against us.”
While the final vote count is yet to be tallied, it’s currently an 18 per cent swing against Labor.
In 2019, Chris Hayes won the seat with a clear majority of 54 per cent, despite a 6 per cent swing against him. As recently as 2016, Mr Hayes won 60 per cent of the primary vote for Labor in Fowler.
Kristina Keneally is currently on 35 per cent of the primary vote.
When Chris Hayes retired from the seat he put forward community activist Tu Le as his preferred replacement.
He maintains Ms Le would have won Fowler for Labor, as she had a real connection to the community, and is well known across the different diasporas which make up the seat.
“I wouldn’t have nominated Tu Le if I thought she wouldn’t win the seat,” Mr Hayes said.
He hopes the lessons are learnt and it’s an end to parachuting candidates.
“The Labor Party has to understand it’s the party of community,” Mr Hayes said. “Where possible, we should always be looking to develop community based candidates.”
Tu Le spent the election campaign helping out in nearby seats, including Sally Sitou’s successful tilt in Reid, instead of contesting in Fowler.
“I think I could have won the seat,” Ms Le said. “It was probably unlikely for a viable independent candidate such as Dai Le to want to run if it wasn’t for the decision Labor made in installing Kristina Keneally.”
She acknowledged how tough the outcome was for local Labor members who worked tirelessly throughout the campaign in Fowler, and congratulated Dai Le for making history as the first Vietnamese-Australian woman in the seat, and independent.
Liverpool Labor councillor Nathan Hagarty said voters reacted strongly to the decision to parachute Ms Keneally in.
“I think there’s a perception in the electorate that Kristina Keneally is the consummate politician,” he said. “Covid and this election showed there is a strong push against the major parties, and professional politicians. She may have been collateral damage.”
Cr Hagarty said people want candidates with strong roots and a connection to the community.
“I’m hopeful it’s the last time we see a parachuted candidate in Fowler, but I’m not sure it would be,” he said.
Mr Hayes said there was a reason why Dai Le was so popular with voters, having built up a strong reputation over many years.
“People can’t say she’s not active in the community,” Mr Hayes said.
Ms Le came to Australia as a refugee in the late 1970s, fleeing violence in southeast Asia, setting down roots in the area and working as a local journalist before getting into politics.
Ms Le was a fierce advocate for southwest Sydney residents during the strict lockdowns of 2020 and 2021.
Several voters at booths across the electorate told NewsLocal they were voting against Labor for the first time in this election, and were frustrated with the party for sending Ms Keneally in.
Ms Le will now need to be replaced as deputy mayor of Fairfield Council following her surprise win.
Ms Keneally did not have much time to win over the locals and build relationships with the different community groups in Fowler, having moved to Liverpool from Scotland Island in the northern beaches at the end of 2021.
In a city as geographically spread and territorial as Sydney, you would be hard pressed to find two communities as different as Liverpool and Scotland Island.
After initially refusing to concede on election night even as the path to victory narrowed, only saying “I gave it everything I could”, Kristina Keneally formally congratulated Dai Le for winning last night.
On election night, Ms Keneally characterised her potential loss as part of a broader movement away from the major parties and towards independent candidates.
The Labor insider said Ms Keneally’s loss would filter down to the preselection for the upcoming NSW state election.
“Hopefully we have someone from the local area running,” they said.
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