The Heartless Felon
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Kristina Keneally's swap into safe Western Sydney seat sparks anger among Labor locals
Kristina Keneally is likely to be moved into a safe lower house seat ahead of the next election.(AAP) Share There's substantial anger among members of the Labor Party in Western Sydney that former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally is being parachuted into a very safe seat, pushing aside a promising local candidate in the process.
Key points: Some Labor politicians and members have expressed anger at plans to parachute Senator Kristina Keneally into a safe western Sydney seat Critics say Senator Keneally has no connection to the community Supporters say only a handful of disgruntled members have an issue with the move Senator Keneally plans to move from the upper house into the Labor stronghold of Fowler at the next election, even though she lives a long way from the electorate.
The seat, which takes in Liverpool, Cabramatta and Fairfield, is one of the most diverse in the nation and the Opposition holds it by a 14 per cent margin.
The incumbent MP, Chris Hayes, is retiring at the next election. He had publicly pushed for Tu Le, a local lawyer with Vietnamese heritage, to replace him, so that federal Labor would better reflect the diversity of the areas it represented.
"It's pretty disappointing and disheartening not just for myself but for the local community to be taken for granted in this way," Ms Le said.
Outgoing Labor MP Chris Hayes had backed local lawyer Tu Le to replace him.(Supplied) "It's very unfortunate that the voices of the local members aren't heard."
Ms Le, who represents exploited migrant workers and is a youth leader at the Vietnamese Buddhist Youth Association, said she had dedicated her life to serving her community.
She added that while she had "great respect" for Senator Keneally, the move was a "missed opportunity" by Labor to broaden the cultural diversity within its ranks and "walk the talk".
"I don't think that not living in the electorate will preclude you from being a great representative for the area, I just think that we need more diverse voices in Parliament."
'Labor is telling them who they can vote for' Mr Hayes's brother, Gerard, the national president of the influential Health Services Union, was even more scathing.
"It's a bit like Hong Kong," he said.
"People can vote, but Labor is telling them who they can vote for — irrespective of the candidate."
"Why are we losing our base? Because we do stuff like this."
Some federal MPs agree with that sentiment, but would only comment anonymously due to the potential of internal ramifications.
"This is Labor at its worst," one said.
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