Prime Minister Anthony Albanese admits the Labor Party has lessons to learn from its humiliating defeat at Fowler’s previously safe seat in south-west Sydney in the recent election.
Key points:
- Albanese says the ALP is closely examining what went wrong with Fowler
- He had supported the Kristina Keneally parachute movement in the multicultural seat
- Ms Keneally blames loss on impact of COVID pandemic
In the run-up to the federal poll, then-leader Kristina Keneally was parachuted into the multicultural seat of the Labor Party, which has occupied the Labor Party since 1984.
But independent local candidate Dai Le managed to nullify Labor’s 14 per cent margin for a shocking victory over the former NSW prime minister, saying the ALP had paid the price for an “arrogant” decision. move Mrs. Keneally from the beaches from north to southwest. Sydney.
Albanese told Sky News that the ALP is closely examining what went wrong.
“You have to learn lessons from an outcome like this; I think the lessons are very clear that the community sent a message,” he said.
“Kristina Keneally is a great loss to our team, she was a valued friend, she was the Vice President of the Senate, and she is a loss, but you have to accept the results in democratic processes.
“But you also have to learn from them and we will take note of the lessons that are there.”
At the time, Anthony Albanese had backed Kristina Keneally’s decision to sue Fowler over Vietnamese-Australian lawyer Tu Le.
The Labor Party was trying to solve two problems at once, filling a vacancy left by Fowler’s retiring member Chris Hayes and simultaneously retaining one of its star leaders, who would have fought to be re-elected to the Senate because of a bitter factional battle. NSW party ticket.
But the decision sparked weeks of internal anger within the ALP and raised questions about why Kristina Keneally was chosen by a local and diverse candidate.
Election news:
In an extensive interview with Nine Newspapers on Sunday, columnist Peter FitzSimmons asked Ms. Keneally if the loss was because she faced a local candidate while she was a “rich white woman from distant places parachuted.”
“I think the impact of the COVID blockades had a lot more to do with it and it was a lot more at stake that day,” Ms Keneally replied.
“Those harsh blockades generated an understandable sense of parochiality that the community had been left behind by the two main political parties.
“And I sincerely believe that if the Labor Party had addressed me or anyone else to Fowler, they would have faced the same set of challenges.”
Mrs Keneally said she did not regret running into Fowler and offered a personal perspective on her loss.
“In terms of general pain, that loss doesn’t come close to what I’ve experienced,” he said.
“The biggest loss of my life was when my daughter Caroline was born dead in 1999, the most definite moment of my life. That’s when I felt intense pain, not this one,” she said.
Electoral basics:
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