Labor’s Frankston candidate Helen Constas forced out

VICTORIAN Labor’s candidate for the seat of Frankston was forced to quit yesterday.

VICTORIAN Labor’s attempts to win the contentious seat of Frankston at the November 29 election have taken a battering after its candidate was forced to quit yesterday.

Helen Constas was backed by Labor leader Daniel Andrews to win the seat but the plans were thrown into disarray when details of a bullying case against her were leaked.

The Australian understands the full details of the allegations by a former personal assistant to Ms Constas were not detailed to party headquarters when she ran for preselection last year.

Ms Constas’s personal assistant at a community legal aid service accused her of workplace bullying, with the Victorian WorkCover Authority taking the matter to court and it was ­settled confidentially last year.

Mr Andrews yesterday accepted Ms Constas’s resignation as a candidate and denied he had known the full details of the allegations before the crisis erupted.

He has ordered ALP headquarters to review the way they assess candidates, although it is understood Ms Constas failed to provide enough information about the allegations against her.

Frankston is the marginal Liberal seat held by independent Geoff Shaw, who has been suspended from parliament.

Ms Constas said yesterday she was constrained from commenting on the case but defended her actions, adding there were others at the legal centre who could not discuss the incident.

“This matter is very distressing for me and my family,” Ms Constas said.

“I have a proud record of community involvement over more than 30 years and I consider the Frankston area to be my home.”

Mr Andrews said a replacement candidate would not necessarily be from his Left ­faction.

He said that the loss of Ms Constas was a serious setback for Labor.

“I’m very disappointed by this, it is not a great day and I’m not going to sugar-coat this,” he said.

The Liberal Party yesterday exploited Labor’s problems in Frankston to release an online attack add, accusing Labor of being unready to govern.