Labor warned on history repeating in NSW election

Tu Le has warned the party that parachuting a candidate into the electorate of Cabramatta runs the risk of history repeating itself.

‘It will be personally disappointing to be denied a fair process,’ says potential Labor candidate for Cabramatta Tu Le. Picture: John Feder

Tu Le, the local Vietnamese-­Australian lawyer overlooked by Labor in the multicultural, federal seat of Fowler during the federal election, has warned the party that parachuting a candidate into the electorate of Cabramatta runs the risk of history repeating itself.

The decision to install then Labor frontbencher Kristina Ken­eally into Fowler backfired spectacularly, with the electorate in Sydney’s southwest carving off almost 19 per cent of Labor’s primary vote, resulting in independent Dai Le’s victory – the first time the ALP had lost the seat.

Ms Le – who worked as a staffer for previous Labor MP Chris Hayes – has her eyes set on running for Labor in Cabramatta, encompassed within Fowler in Sydney’s southwest, on March 25, but with the state election just weeks away she fears local members are being denied their say once again.

“It is very clear across the board that the community doesn’t want to be taken for granted. We know diversity increases our electoral chances and have candidates … reflective of the communities that they are from,” Ms Le told The Australian.

“It will be personally dis­appointing to be denied a fair ­process.”

With NSW Labor charting a narrow path to majority, and even government, Ms Le said the party could not afford to lose seats like Cabramatta, which she said was at risk given longstanding MP Nick Lalich was retiring after 15 years.

“There’s always a risk in these types of decisions, particularly when they’re retiring members on tight margins. We want to make the decision that is the least risky,” she said.

Labor holds the seat on a near 13 per cent margin, with Mr Lalich beating Dai Le at the last state election despite a small swing against him.

NSW Labor MPs have lamented the delays to selecting candidates in Fairfield (vacated by retiring MP Guy Zangari) and Cabramatta, with one Labor MP describing the situation as a ­“clusterf..k”.

Former police officer David Saliba is widely expected to be selected by party officials to run in Fairfield.

Vietnamese Community in Australia NSW president Kate Hoang, local Canley Vale lawyer Tri Vo and Shawn Lu are the other likely candidates in Cabramatta.

Another Labor source said the situation would need to be resolved via the ALP’s national executive, the party’s chief administrative authority, before next Friday, almost certainly ruling out the prospect of a preselection.

Labor faced a fierce backlash after Ms Keneally, then the opposition home affairs spokeswoman, was parachuted into Cabramatta.

The former NSW premier actually lived 60km away on Scotland Island, an affluent northern beaches community.

Labor MPs have warned that Cabramatta and the neighbouring seat of Fairfield could face serious threats from local, multicultural independents who represent the community, with powerbrokers concerned about Fairfield Council mayor Frank Carbone, an ally of Ms Le, the federal MP.

After being overlooked for Ms Keneally, Ms Le received encouragement from Anthony Albanese, then the federal opposition leader, in September 2021, describing her as an “outstanding Australian” who had a “bright future ahead of her”.

Even if the seat goes to a pre­selection, Ms Le may face an uphill battle being selected. Emails seen by The Australian sent to Labor leader Chris Minns by Cabramatta branch members claim she moved to the area only in 2020.