Ousted MP Marlene Kariouz slams Labor preselections as a lobbyist ‘power grab’

Fallen Labor minister Marlene Kairouz has slammed the party’s preselections as a power grab by a “cabal of lobbyists” after she was dumped as a candidate.

One of the former Andrews government ministers dumped as a Labor candidate in western Melbourne says the party is now beholden to a “cabal of lobbyists”.

Marlene Kairouz, who stepped down as gaming minister under Premier Daniel Andrews during a probe into party memberships, said the ALP was standing by federally preselected candidate Anthony Byrne who had admitted to branch-stacking.

Mr Byrne remains the party’s candidate in the seat of Holt, while state MPs who have admitted to no wrongdoing or were not even factionally aligned were among seven MPs demoted or dumped on Monday.

In her blistering attack, Ms Kairouz made reference to Mr Byrne having cameras installed in his taxpayer-funded office that were used to ensnare her ally, Adem Somyurek, in branch-stacking allegations.

“Anthony Byrne planted illegal surveillance in his electorate office as he defected to the lobbyist faction,” she said.

“IBAC revealed that Byrne admitted to recruiting en masse (and) paid for those recruits and renewals through dodgy fundraisers and maintained a ‘kitty’ to pay for branch-stacking.

Marlene Kairouz has attacked the Labor Party preselections. Picture: Ellen Smith

Anthony Byrne has resigned as the deputy chair of the powerful parliamentary intelligence and security committee after follwing a branch-stacking scandal.

“Why is Byrne still a preselected candidate of the ALP? The answer is that preselections were about a power grab by the cabal of lobbyists who have taken over the party and who want compliant MPs.

“As for renewal, Byrne has been in parliament 23 years – there are people (in state parliament) who have been knocked off after one term.”

Among those to be ousted on Monday was Frank McGuire, despite the Broadmeadows MP having no link to Mr Somyurek or an ongoing anti-corruption investigation.

Acting Premier James Merlino, whose Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association group has gained control of multiple seats as part of the shake-up, said the replacement of current MPs was part of the electoral cycle.

“I look forward to Frank making a continued contribution over the over the next year,” he said.

“I acknowledge that this is hard, I acknowledge that it hurts, but this happens every four years.

“This is a difficult time for those individuals and I understand that.

“Major parties every parliamentary cycle go through a preselection process and, as I’ve said before, you leave this job in one of three ways

“Either it’s the verdict of the people in your local electorate, the verdict of your party in preselections, or some are lucky enough to make the call themselves. But a time comes for all of us in this business.”

Mr Merlino rejected that the clear-out of candidates had been on a larger scale than other elections and had focused on purging a particular faction.

”These things sort themselves out,” he said.

“I know it’s been a difficult period for a number of people but we’ll work through that, as the party always does.”

SEVEN ANDREWS FOES DUMPED

Three former ministers are seriously considering immediately walking away from politics after they were dumped as Labor candidates for the next election, with allies also signalling a potential police complaint.

The three MPs – Robin Scott, Marlene Kairouz and Luke Donnellan – were among a total of seven, all from right-wing factions of the party, sacked or demoted on Monday to positions considered unwinnable in a power play that has given more control to Daniel Andrews’ Socialist Left.

If the outraged trio does quit, it would trigger costly and potentially damaging by-elections for Labor.

Before each election, the party must preselect candidates to run in every seat, with the decision traditionally made through a vote of local members, rubber-stamped by a state committee.

Frank McGuire will not contest the next election for Labor. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Marlene Kairouz lost a challenge to her seat.

But after a national takeover of the Victorian branch, triggered by allegations of industrial-scale branch stacking and misuse of taxpayer resources by Adem Somyurek and aligned MPs, the decision has this year rested with a 21-person administrative body.

As a result, allies of Mr Somyurek and MPs aligned with the Australian Workers Union have been cut out of a factional power-sharing deal.

In the unprecedented cull, Frank McGuire was sacked from Labor’s safest seat, Broadmeadows, though he said he would not walk away before next November’s poll.

Three upper house MPs were moved down into less winnable positions on the Labor tickets for their regions – Cesar Melhem, Kaushilya Vaghela and Nazih Elasmar.

Sources close to the seven on Monday indicated a police complaint could be made amid allegations that some preselection forms were fraudulently filled out.

Luke Donnellan has been ousted. Picture: Sarah Matray

Robin Scott has lost his seat.

Some of those coming into seats considered winnable for Labor were believed to have only known they were the preferred candidate 12 hours before the deadline closed.

AWU state secretary Ben Davis on Monday said he had been contacted by concerned party members about the allegations, and raised them with senior figures, with no success.

“I don’t think ballots should go ahead before they are resolved,” he said. “However national executive and the party see differently.”

Evidence before the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission last month alleged forging signatures was routinely used by factional operatives to manipulate internal ALP electoral processes.

Mr Davis said he couldn’t provide advice to IBAC about investigating the preselection process further but said he would be “amazed” if they weren’t interested.

Australian Workers Union secretary Ben Davis has demanded copies of the preselection forms. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

It is believed Mr Davis and other complainants were asked for evidence of their allegations and the process proceeded when they could not do so. The party is not releasing the nomination forms to members who request them.

The unprecedented cull will elevate the influence of the left faction after they won at least three new safe seats, to the outrage of members of the right.

Most of the ejected MPS were aligned to Mr Somyurek, who was kicked out of the party following the leaking of recordings and videos that revealed his factional operation.

But Mr McGuire was also rolled despite having no factional alignment. The Broadmeadows MP became emotional when talking to the media, holding back tears.

Who  Labor has  dropped or demoted as  2022 state election candidates, and who’s in

FORCED OUT
Frank McGuire - Broadmeadows
Marlene Kairouz - Kororoit
Robin Scott - Preston
Luke Donnellan -  Narre Warren North 

SHUNTED INTO LESS WINNABLE POSITIONS
Cesar Melhem - Western Metro 
Kaushaliya Vaghela - Western Metro
Nazih Elasmar - Northern Metro

IN
Jana Stewart - Pascoe Vale
Belinda Wilson - Narre Warren North
Kathleen Matthews-Ward - Broadmeadows
Paul Mercurio - Hastings
Luba Grigorovitch - Kororoit
John Mullahy - Glen Waverley
Iwan Walters - Greenvale  (new seat)
Dylan Wight - Tarneit
Mat Hilakari - Point Cook  (new seat)
Emma Vulin - Pakenham  (new seat)
Martha Haylett - Ripon
Nathan Lambert - Preston
Lauren O’Dwyer - Richmond
Wesa Chau - Prahran
Lauren Kathage - Yan Yean
John Berger - Southern Metro 
Tom McIntosh - Eastern Victoria
James McWhinney - Northern Victoria

MOVING
Sarah Connolly - Laverton  (new seat)
Will Fowles - Ringwood
Matt Fregon - Ashwood
Enver Erdogan - Northern Metro
Lizzie Blandthorn - Western Metro

 

 

 

 

PAKULA SAYS POLITICS IS ‘MESSY’

Senior Andrews government minister Martin Pakula has declared that “untidy” internal party fighting is not confined to the Victorian Labor Party.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Mr Pakula acknowledged it would be a “very difficult day” for many of his colleagues staring down the prospect of losing a seat.

“Today is going to be a very difficult day for a number of my colleagues and I’m not going to add to their difficulty by publicly speculating about what may happen,” he said.

In total, 10 lower house seats and five positions in the upper house will be decided on during the meeting.

Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade Martin Pakula says Monday will be a ‘difficult day’ for many of his Labor colleagues. Picture: Paul Jeffers

Asked whether optics of internal fighting between party factions may have damaged how regular Victorians perceived politics, Mr Pakula said preselections could sometimes get “untidy”.

“I think regular Victorians, regular Australians and regular citizens of the world, sometimes perceive politics in a less than positive light. I don’t think there’s anything new or unusual about that,” he said.

“Party internal processes sometimes get pretty messy. It’s not confined to the Victorian ALP.

“You might have noticed on the weekend there was one sitting Liberal MP disendorsed and another fail in his bid for preselection. I’m not revelling in any of that but I’m just making the point that this is something that happens across both parties and it’s not just here in Victoria.

“It’s a very competitive environment and sometimes preselections can get untidy.”

Mr Pakula dismissed claims that Premier Daniel Andrews had abdicated his responsibilities by failing to intervene.

“No. I don’t,” he said.

Originally published as Ousted MP Marlene Kariouz slams Labor preselections as a lobbyist ‘power grab’