National Labor wants to decide Victorian Labor’s preselection seats ahead of federal election
Labor’s national executive wants to determine preselections in all Victorian seats under a proposal being put to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Victoria
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Labor’s national executive will decide preselections in all Victorian seats, bypassing local branch member ballots after the new draft seat redistributions, under a proposal being put forward by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
In a letter addressed to the Australian Labor Party National Secretary Paul Erickson, on Friday, Mr Albanese said that he would seek the executive take over the power to determine preselections ahead of the Federal Election.
The move comes after the Australian Electoral Commission, proposed a redraw of the state’s seats as a result of population changes.
Sources have said the move also ensures that the CFMEU does not have any influence in the preselections.
In the draft Labor will lose Higgins, a key seat in Victoria, after the plan reduced the number of Victorian seats in the House of Representatives from 39 to 38.
In the letter, Mr Albanese acknowledged that 34 of the state’s seats currently held by a Labor MP would be impacted by the new boundaries.
“These changes affect every single division that elected a labor MP in 2022, and nearly one in ten Victorian electors will be shifted into a different electorate,” the letter read.
“In these circumstances, it is appropriate for the ALP National Executive to assume responsibility for conducting federal preselections in Victoria.”
It’s understood the proposal has been put on the agenda for the upcoming meeting.
Labor sources told the Herald Sun the move would not be controversial given the impacts of the redistribution.
However, the move will no doubt see factions jostling to strike deals on preferred candidates.
Earlier this year, the Australian Electoral Commission suggested the elimination of the Higgins seat, which encompasses the Melbourne suburbs of Armadale, Malvern, and Prahran.
This district, once a stronghold for the Liberal Party, was secured by Labor’s Michelle Ananda-Rajah in the May 2022 election.
The upcoming federal election is scheduled for 2025.
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