Anthony Albanese fast tracks Keneally Fowler preselection
Anthony Albanese asks NSW Labor to call nominations, amid backlash over Kristina Keneally’s parachuting into the seat.
Anthony Albanese says he will back in Kristina Keneally as his preferred candidate for the seat of Fowler, despite ongoing criticism of the party for parachuting in the US-born senator who has no connection to the Western Sydney electorate.
The Opposition Leader also touted former Olympic shooter Daniel Repacholi, 39, as his recommendation for seat of Hunter, vacated at the next election by the retiring Joel Fitzgibbon.
With the ongoing distraction caused by the decision to dump local Vietnamese-Australian lawyer Tu Le for the opposition Home Affairs spokeswoman, Mr Albanese moved to draw a line in the drama by fast-tracking the preselection process.
The decision to back senator Keneally came just a day after Ms Le slammed the saga on national radio as a “sour debacle”, saying she was “disappointed” that her community wouldn’t get a say in who represented them.
Mr Albanese said he had written to the NSW Labor general secretary Bob Nanva, asking him to call preselection nominations for Fowler, in addition to Hunter, Liberal MP Fiona Martin’s seat of Reid and the seat of Banks.
“Today I’m writing to the New South Wales general secretary, and asking them to write then to the national secretary to put in place timetables for preselection,” Mr Albanese told a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Preselection nominations will also be opened up for the seats of Page and Robertson.
While other candidates are able to nominate for the seats, the National Executive Committee is expected to anoint Senator Keneally as the candidate for Fowler, which Labor holds by a 14 per cent margin.
“I’ll be asking for the held seats, Hunter and Fowler, to be determined, if necessary, by the national executive,” Mr Albanese told reporters on Wednesday.
“I think it is likely they will be unopposed, with Kristina Keneally continuing her contribution to our Caucus and to the national parliament.”
Mr Albanese also praised Mr Repacholi, a five-time Olympian, as an “outstanding candidate”. A former coalminer, Mr Repacholi is expected to overcome his lack of Labor faction to take over the dynastic seat, held by Mr Fitzgibbon and his father, Eric, for 38 years, after he was back in by the CFMEU as their preferred candidate.
On Tuesday, Mr Albanese moved to defend Labor’s record on diversity, spruiking his US-born senator as “another great Australian” migrant success story, as he touted his own Italian heritage.
“And by the way, our deputy leader in the Senate, Kristina Keneally, was born in the US, came to Australia, and is another great Australian success story of a migrant who’s come here and became the NSW premier,” he said.
The chosen candidate of retiring Labor stalwart Chris Hayes, Ms Le questioned the decision to “impose” Senator Keneally on her community, particularly as she had no connection to Fowler.
“I’m disappointed personally but I’m also disappointed for my communities … they feel like they don’t have a say in who gets to represent them and who is the person that speaks up for them in the struggles they face and we face every day,” Ms Le told ABC radio on Tuesday.
“But I think that the issue is beyond me, and I think it’s much more than just the sour debacle that we have now.”
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