Kristina Keneally says she’s not moving from Senate spot amid NSW Labor preselection fight

Kristina Keneally says she’s keeping top Senate spot despite tight preselection battle with colleague Deborah O’Neill.

Labor senator Kristina Keneally. Picture: Gary Ramage

Federal Labor frontbencher Kristina Keneally says she is “not moving” from her coveted spot in the Senate despite a tight pre­selection battle with upper house colleague Deborah O’Neill.

The NSW ALP Right is dealing with a preselection fight ­between the opposition’s deputy Senate leader and Senator O’Neill, who are competing for the top spot on the NSW Senate ticket at the next election.

Losing the No 1 spot would ­relegate either Senator Keneally or Senator O’Neill to the likely unwinnable third spot on the NSW ALP ticket, and there has been speculation the ex-NSW premier could run for the House of Representatives instead.

When asked by The Australian if she would consider a move to the lower house to stop a pre­selection fight, Senator Keneally said she was staying put.

“I’m not moving,” she said at the National Press Club in Canberra. “It would be an honour to represent Labor at the next election. I’ve known Deb for 20 years. She’s a fantastic representative for NSW. She always works hard to represent their interests.

“Nearly two million Australians are unemployed or underemployed, 1.6 million Australians still rely on JobKeeper. The only job I’m really interested in is a secure job for Australian workers.”

Key backers of Senator O’Neill, who is a Labor conservative, include the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, the nation’s biggest right-wing union which is keen to keep their endorsed candidate in the top Senate spot.

Senator Keneally is a key ally of Anthony Albanese, and Labor sources have said she will play a prominent role as the party’s “headkicker” in the lead-up to the next election, which could be as early as this year. She played a similar role for Bill Shorten in his unsuccessful 2019 campaign.

On Wednesday, she launched a pre-election attack at the National Press Club on the Morrison government’s use of taxpayer money, its industrial relations reforms, and its record on getting Australians stranded overseas during the pandemic home.

“There is a heightened risk of corruption in the (pandemic) environment, with the prevalence of government contracts being awarded without tender, and appointments to government bodies … being made without adequate transparency,” she said.

The Australian approached Senator O’Neill for comment.

Labor senator Deborah O'Neill. Picture: AAP