Albanese’s pick for Parramatta should contest a local democratic ballot

Walk around the Parramatta CBD and you’ll see a Lebanese builder hard at work on a construction site. Perhaps, too, a bloke in thongs and an Eels jersey, a mother wearing a hijab, and neat groups of people doing tai chi. Just last weekend during the Hindu festival of Holi, the community danced in the streets.

Our hometown of Parramatta is diverse. But we get on with it, unpretentiously, as we did here and in Cumberland during last year’s curfews and lockdowns. I’m the son of Goan-Indian migrants. My family came to Carlingford in 1987. Mum raised me and my sisters after Dad died early, sacrificing her career to support our education. Back then, few people looked like us. Yet fast-forward to today.

Captain’s pick? Andrew Charlton of Accenture.Credit:

Parramatta is a global, multicultural city. We’re a place of staunch pride, with our own distinct identity and suburbs that look to Parramatta more than faraway Sydney. So it’s apt that as long-serving MP Julie Owens retires, local Labor branch members insist on choosing our own candidate to represent Parramatta at the federal election and into the future.

It’s been reported that Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese wants to make a captain’s pick and parachute in Accenture executive Andrew Charlton as Labor’s automatic selection in Parramatta, despite him living in Bellevue Hill. This is not about the qualities of Andrew, who I’ve known 25 years. It’s about the Parramatta I know. We’re a city of builders and strivers, community activists and fighters. We venerate success. But as we know, nobody who ever achieved anything in Parramatta got it handed to them on a platter.

I am one of three Labor members from the local Indian community who have been working hard to secure the necessary support for preselection as the party’s federal candidate in Parramatta. The others are Durga Owen and Abha Devasia. In recent weeks, with the process stalemated, many branch and community members have viewed me as a potential “consensus candidate”.

Anyone wishing to represent Parramatta has the right to make their case. But the proper way is to submit to local scrutiny through a democratic preselection. If Durga or Abha were to beat me in such a contest, I would have no cause for complaint. Likewise, if Andrew Charlton were to throw his hat into that ring – and win the local ballot fair and square – he would be Labor’s rightful candidate.

But true representation begins with knowing your community, loving your community – and embodying it.

Let’s reject any tired notion that selecting a white face is the “safe way” for Labor to electorally nail down a complex multi-ethnic seat. Our party is fortunate to have many highly educated, accomplished and proven local campaigners who can connect with people of all backgrounds in Parramatta.

Given shining examples like Barack Obama and Labor’s Jason Yat Sen Li, progressive parties should know better than to place artificial limits on anybody.

Alan Mascarenhas, Labor’s Parramatta branch vice-president and a contender for preselection in the federal seat.Credit: Wolter Peeters

The right federal MP for Parramatta will diligently serve constituents – but also bring Parramatta’s authentic voice and leadership to the national stage. An energetic MP would push for greater federal funding of nation-shaping projects such as Metro West and Parramatta Light Rail stage two. Our MP should be a global ambassador for the Westmead medical precinct and local campaigns such as the Westmead Push for Palliative Care.

Earlier this month, I stood with socks and shoes off filming the Parramatta River as it burst its banks. We are one of Australia’s fastest-developing cities in a flood-prone region. So, we should galvanise national efforts to decarbonise, elevate planning resilience and address urban heat effects that leave too many locals sweltering in apartments.

Anthony Albanese has said he wants to be a consensus prime minister. I believe it’s in Labor’s interests to support a process that delivers a consensus candidate for Parramatta. He or she should truly understand Parramatta and represent it authentically, chosen by rank-and-file branch members.

Alan Mascarenhas is vice-president of the Parramatta ALP branch and was Labor’s 2019 state candidate for Epping.