Frank McGuire makes bold bid to save political career

Broadmeadows MP Frank McGuire has launched a bold bid to save his political career, months after he was on the wrong end of a factional carve up of seats.

Frank McGuire is set to leave parliament later this year. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Broadmeadows MP Frank McGuire has made a bold bid to save his political career, appealing to the Labor Party to move his replacement to a different seat.

Mr McGuire was at the wrong end of a factional carve up of state seats in December, with Kathleen Matthews-Ward picked to run for Broadmeadows at the 2022 election.

The move meant Mr McGuire was set to leave parliament this year and came about because a federal takeover of the Victorian branch had put control of preselections in the hands of the ALP’s powerful national executive.

At the time, Mr McGuire hit out at the process and the decisions of the senior party officials.

He criticised backroom deals that were moving around candidates ahead of the election.

But on Friday Mr McGuire wrote to the national executive, asking them to intervene again and alter the preselection process to allow him to run for Broadmeadows again.

Pascoe Vale’s nominated Labor candidate, Jana Stewart, was endorsed for the federal Senate and he said Ms Matthews-Ward should move to the northern suburb seat in a shuffle that would allow him to continue his political career.

Broadmeadows is currently the safest state Labor seat in Victoria.

“My disendorsement is a denial of the most basic natural justice,” the letter reads.

“Please forward this ‘opportunity for resolution’ as a matter of urgency to all members of the national executive for consideration and decision.”

Mr McGuire was originally selected by the national executive to replace former premier John Brumby in the seat of Broadmeadows, a decision which triggered a court battle calling for members to be given the right to choose a candidate.

He won the resulting by-election.