‘Election circus’: Keneally’s doomed Fowler run still looms large in southwest Sydney

The furore unleashed when Labor picked Kristina Keneally to run in Fowler is still palpable in Sydney’s southwest where voters will decide on their new state MPs next Saturday. 

In the overlapping state seat of Cabramatta, where Labor’s preselection dragged on until mid-February, one of the hopefuls was Kate Hoang, who sponsored Keneally’s bid to run for Labor in Fowler. Another was the ex-senator’s internal rival, Tu Le.

Keneally’s selection as the Fowler candidate over Le was roundly criticised because the former NSW premier lives far away from the electorate, on an island in Sydney’s northern beaches.

Keneally’s former supporter Hoang has now quit the Labor Party and will run as an independent. She has levelled accusations of bullying against supporters of Le, which she claims is related to her work in the Fowler campaign.

Neither Hoang nor Le had a chance against Labor’s eventual candidate, Tri Vo, a local lawyer who was endorsed by outgoing Cabramatta MP Nick Lalich, and who got 39 out of 61 votes in the preselection. 

Losing Fowler to an independent for the first time ever was described in Labor’s post-federal election analysis as a wake-up call and a reminder “no seat is safe”. 

The state seat of Cabramatta has a 19.3% Labor margin, while the party’s margin in Fairfield is a comfortable 16.8%. 

Tu Le told Crikey the Fowler outcome “absolutely” loomed large over the state election campaign. 

“This area has been a Labor stronghold for a very long time, and we never lost the seat before,” she said. 

“I think some in the community see that the level of investment here is not as much as in other communities, and question why that is the case. Labor may have taken this area for granted.” 

But Le also said she believed a Labor government would be better able to deliver for the community, which she said was “one of the most disadvantaged in the state”. 

In neighbouring Fairfield, Labor figures initially feared a run from local independent mayor Frank Carbone, a close ally of Dai Le, the independent federal Fowler MP who ultimately beat Keneally. 

In the end, Carbone decided against running, writing on Facebook this week: “I’m so glad I didn’t join the state government election circus”.

Labor’s Fairfield candidate, former Australian Federal Police officer David Saliba, was reportedly installed as a “captain’s pick” without a local vote.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen, whose electorate of McMahon overlaps with Fairfield, advocated for Saliba’s selection, according to The Daily Telegraph. 

Carbone has previously said it would be better for locals if the state seats were marginal. 

“If both the major parties don’t respect our people simply because they vote Labor, they’ll have another thing coming … We’ll make sure we make this area marginal, just like we did Fowler,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald prior to abandoning his run. 

Dai Le told Crikey she hadn’t decided whether she would endorse any of the candidates in Cabramatta. 

“I don’t have confidence in any of the candidates either of the major parties has selected for Cabramatta,” she said. 

“At the moment, I am looking at alternative candidates who are brave enough to speak out on the issues that matter to our multicultural community.” 

Asked if she thought Labor had learnt any lessons from her win, the federal MP said: “This time the Labor Party has chosen local candidates, but whether or not they understand the cultural diversity and issues of our community is still to be determined.” 

Hoang said her experience of allegedly being cyberbullied over her work for Keneally’s campaign, and Labor’s non-response to a complaint she made, had made her disillusioned with the party and helped inspire her independent run. 

“I want to send a message to both [major] parties that they have to treat Cabramatta with some serious consideration, it’s no longer a safe seat and they have to pay attention and give more funding to our area,” she said. 

NSW Labor did not respond to Crikey’s questions about the bullying complaint, but a party spokesman told the Liverpool Leader earlier in the week there would be no independent investigation of the allegation because Hoang was no longer a member. 

Hoang was also part of a symbolic rebuke of Tu Le last month, voting with other Cabramatta Labor Party branch members to expel her — even though the branch does not have any powers to kick out other party members.

“I’ve heard that anyone who doesn’t support [Hoang] is immediately branded as a supporter of me, but I have no control over what people do or say online,” Tu Le said. 

“There should be no bullying going on and no one should be subject to that.” 

Both Tu Le and Hoang received just six votes each at the party’s preselection on February 18.

Labor’s Fairfield and Cabramatta candidates did not respond to requests for comment.