Ex-minister Diane Beamer ready to replace Emma Husar

Former NSW Labor minister Diane Beamer has confirmed she is willing to replace Emma Husar in the Sydney seat of Lindsay.

Emma Husar looks like being deposed in her Sydney seat of Lindsay. Picture: Kym Smith

Former NSW Labor minister Diane Beamer has confirmed she is willing to run for the western Sydney federal seat of Lindsay, ­removing a political headache for the ALP as it searches for an alternative for disgraced sitting MP Emma Husar.

Ms Beamer, a minister in former NSW Labor governments led by premiers Bob Carr and Morris Iemma, told The Australian she was “looking forward to knocking on doors again” in a clear signal that she was prepared to take the seat vacated by Ms Husar.

The NSW ALP general secretary Kaila Murnain has been looking for a star candidate with local connections to replace Ms Husar, who said last August she would not run again after allegations of staff bullying — but is ­believed to have since changed her mind.

Ms Husar, first elected in 2016, was buoyed by the subsequent party-released summary of an ­internal report which said that her behaviour towards up to 20 staff did not warrant her removal from parliament.

The ALP’s NSW head office ­decided nonetheless to stick with accepting Ms Husar’s flagged resignation as the endorsed candidate for Lindsay at next year’s election. Its difficulty in recent weeks has been finding a replacement out of a field of 15, narrowed down to three male ALP members who are local but not well known.

Ms Husar was reported at the weekend to have “pleaded” with Ms Murnain to reclaim her seat and alleged to have set up a meeting with Bill Shorten this week to put forward her case for staying.

With Ms Murnain reluctant to back her, the only way for Ms Husar to survive would be an appeal to Mr Shorten to change Ms Murnain’s mind, or have the ALP’s national executive intervene and impose her as the candidate.

Running Ms Beamer in Lindsay would be similar to Labor turning to an old party stalwart as it did with Chris Hayes to run in Werriwa when Mark Latham abruptly quit politics.

Ms Beamer has an impeccable Labor pedigree as a former Labor minister and as the NSW member for Mulgoa in Sydney’s west, ­although her career as a NSW minister ultimately suffered over the so-called “Orange Grove ­affair” related to a Liverpool City Council application for a local shopping centre. Her former husband was the late Labor senator, NSW party president and Transport Workers Union leader Steve Hutchins.

Ms Beamer said last night that she wanted to ensure, after Ms Husar’s departure as local member, that the seat of Lindsay stayed in Labor hands.