The silly season has passed. So stop undermining the Party.
Those trying to change the outcome of the Macedon preselection are threatening Labor’s chances in November.
I have never met Mary-Anne Thomas or Christian Zhara.
I have no doubt that if I had, I would be impressed by both of them. They are clearly two talented people with much to offer the Labor Party in representative office.
If I had been a local preselector in Macedon and able to cast a vote between them in December’s preselection ballot it would have been a tough choice. I suspect I probably would have felt more inclined to vote for Christian due to his marginal seat experience having won and held the Gippsland federal seat of McMillan against the odds during some of the Howard years.
As has been the topic of ongoing conversation in the media and featuring again today, Mary-Anne Thomas was ultimately preselected despite Christian winning the local vote.
To some observers outside the Labor Party this may seem a strange and unfair outcome. But it isn’t. Christian dominated the local vote and Mary-Anne dominated the central vote. Both are equally weighted and equally valid components in determining Labor’s preselected candidates. In a close overall outcome, Mary-Anne just won it.
I had no issue with Christian and those supporting him trying everything they possibly could to get him elected during the preselection process. They were in with a shot right up to minutes before the central panel voted overwhelmingly to back Mary-Anne. I also had no real complaint when a number of them criticised the result following the completion of the process. In a democratic and fiercely contested process, that is fair enough.
However, the efforts now being actively pursued to publicly undermine Mary-Anne Thomas as the duly preselected Labor candidate for Macedon are several steps too far.
The regular backgrounding of journalists, the circulating petition amongst local members and the revolving door of former Labor luminaries being rolled out to urge an overthrow of the result is one of the most unfair things I have seen during the 16 years I have been a Labor member. These tactics should be stared down.
Those who are predicting that Labor will lose Macedon if Mary-Anne Thomas remains the candidate come the November State election are mistaken. If there is any ‘local factor’ impact on the Macedon election result the responsibility will lay squarely at the feet of those pursuing this guerrilla campaign to publicly undermine an endorsed Labor candidate. People who really should know better.
For the good of the party they should back off and instead join Mary-Anne one morning this week at a train station in Macedon to win some votes in a key battleground electorate.
do we all get to guess which faction your in the Members should preselect not two men who are your bosses,the sooner we dump factions the better
“Both (local vote and POSC) are equally valid…”
I stopped reading there. If the POSC was anything other than a group of factional loyalists chosen solely to keep the stability pact going, you’d have a good point. But it isn’t.
So you disagree with Simon Cean then on this matter Geof? Now that you don’t need his support
It is now clear that the factional warlords are going to blame those party members working for democracy within the Labor party when Macedon is lost at the coming state election. Here’s the faction position as given by Mr. Lake:
“If there is any ‘local factor’ impact on the Macedon election result the responsibility will lay squarely at the feet of those pursuing this guerrilla campaign to publicly undermine an endorsed Labor candidate.”
If Macedon is lost it is solely because the factional warlords, led by Sen, Carr and Sen. Conroy did a deal to ignore the party membership across the state, removing our right to have a say in the Upper House and putting in a pre-determined group in the lower house. Any fault is not with those of us who favour reform, but with those who supported the ‘stability pact’
Thanks for commenting Stephen. My view is not a factional position, it is simply my view. I think it is one thing to be in favour of party reform (as I am on many aspects of party affairs) and it is another to leak, undermine, discredit, ridicule and attack an endorsed Labor candidate. Whatever you and others think of the Macedon preselection outcome, I think ALP members should not be using the local and national media to question the legitimacy of a duly preselected candidate. By all means pursue democratising reform of the party at the coming May State Conference – where I hope to be a delegate to support some substantial changes to open up party membership far wider than currently is the case, however don’t undermine one of our candidates. Our opponents spend enough of their time trying to do that and we don’t need to give them a hand.