Keneally’s ambitions hit a kerb with unions rushing to stop her accession to the Senate
Kristina Keneally’s political future seemed clear. AAP, December 17 last year:
Keneally would be treated with respect if she were to fill the Senate vacancy created by Sam Dastyari’s resignation, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says. There’s speculation the former NSW premier will take the seat after she lost the tough Bennelong by-election on Saturday, despite a two-party preferred swing of around 5 per cent to Labor.
But perhaps not. Andrew Clennell reports in The Australian, yesterday:
Yesterday, NSW Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes called on the party to preselect someone other than Ms Keneally and opt for fresh blood ... A stumbling block for Ms Keneally is opposition from some unions angered by her demand for the resignation of former union boss Bernie Riordan as Labor Party president during the 2011 state election campaign. The demand came after a union publication suggested voters could vote for parties other than Labor.
It’s also possible the NSW branch of the Labor Party has just come to its senses. The Australian’s NSW election blog, March 26, 2011:
Counting at 8.15pm had the ALP around 26 per cent of the primary vote, the Coalition about 51 ... Two-party preferred it seems about 64 to 36 in the Coalition’s favour.
The former NSW premier is a political loser, plain and simple. Nick Cater writing in The Australian, December 19 last year:
Keneally stuck mechanically to scripted sound bites in the Bennelong by-election, planting the unnerving thought that the replacement of politicians with robots might not be far away.
It appears there are some people on federal Labor’s frontbench who still think she’s a winner. Labor environment spokesman Mark Butler on the ABC’s RN Breakfast, yesterday:
Butler: I think Kristina Keneally has been a fantastic member of the Labor Party. She ran a great campaign in Bennelong ... I would like to see her in the federal parliament; I wish she was coming in as the member for Bennelong.
Maybe we should count Tanya Plibersek in the “sensible camp” for once. The Deputy Opposition Leader in Sydney, December 22 last year:
Reporter: (Electrical Services Union boss) Tony Sheldon’s name’s been thrown into the mix among Kristina Keneally’s to replace former senator Sam Dastyari. Will you back either of them?
Plibersek: I’m going to let the democratic processes of the great Australian Labor Party run their course.
Talking of Americans out of a job ... Cameron Stewart in The Australian online, yesterday:
The spectacular political fall of Steve Bannon is complete after his sacking from the conservative website Breitbart ... the final straw for (Donald) Trump was Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury, in which Bannon demeaned not only Trump but also Donald Jr and Ivanka.
It seems begging Trump for forgiveness didn’t help. Bannon’s statement to the media, last Sunday:
Donald Trump Jr is both a patriot and a good man. He has been relentless in his advocacy for his father and the agenda that has helped turn our country around. I regret that my delay in responding to the inaccurate reporting regarding Don Jr has diverted attention from the President’s historical accomplishments in the first year of his presidency.