By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
TWO prospective ALP candidates battling for preselection in Hotham say their fate will be largely decided by 497 local branch members this weekend.
Rosemary Barker and Geoff Lake, both active, long-term party members living in Hotham and backed by different sets of party heavyweights, are both confident ahead of the local branches members’ vote this Sunday and Monday.
In the lead-up, Ms Barker espouses the need for more female candidates, the youthful Cr Lake talks about the need for party renewal. The pair come from rival factions but say branch members will make up their own minds.
The seat, which covers parts of Springvale, Clayton South, Oakleigh South, Moorabbin and Dingley, is the only one held by the National Union of Workers faction, which backs Cr Lake. Ms Barker says Hotham was allocated to her Labor Unity faction – a group that doesn’t include the NUW – as part of a deal with the party’s Socialist Left.
Cr Lake says the pact is not relevant because neither he nor Ms Barker are from the left. Instead the vote will be “factionally open”, with members not being beholden to their faction but instructed to vote for the best candidate, Cr Lake said.
Both camps say the local ballot, which has 50 per cent weighting toward the final result, will be crucial. The other 50 per cent comes from a vote by a public office selection committee comprising union delegates on the following Tuesday.
The voting has been brought forward by a week after speculation that the party’s federal executive would call in the decision. Both candidates agreed it was a good thing that branch members would still get a vote.
A party member since 1982, Ms Barker is supported by federal MPs Bill Shorten, Stephen Conroy and Anthony Byrne. She said she’d been involved in the “Hotham campaigns” since outgoing MP Simon Crean first ran for federal election in 1990.
If she wins candidacy, Ms Barker said it would help Victoria meet the party’s stated goal of fielding females in 40 per cent of the state’s “winnable seats”.
“You can’t represent the community adequately without having female leadership at the table.”
Ms Barker, who works for disability rights in the Office of the Public Advocate, said she had been active in the “landmark” national disability insurance scheme campaign. Her other key issues included employment, conservation, family migration and more money for schools.
Ms Barker, of Oakleigh South, said she was getting “strong support” from branch members. “I think it’s going to be a tough battle. [Cr Lake] and I will be fighting down to the wire. I’m reasonably confident down on the ground.”
Cr Lake, a Monash councillor, former mayor and a commercial lawyer, is backed by “giants in the Labor party” such as Mr Crean, former premier Steve Bracks and federal lower-house speaker Anna Burke. “People want to ensure the Labor party continues to renew itself. Everyone has wanted to ensure Kevin Rudd had the best team possible to compete.”
He nominated state school education and big infrastructure as his pet issues.
“I’ve always been a strong believer in investing more in education especially in government schools,” he said.
“I’ve always been interested in big infrastructure projects in partnerships with the states, to improve transport public and private and improbe the way freight is moved in and around the country.”
Mounting a “#makeitlake” twitter and blog campaign, Cr Lake had been pleased with the reception from locals he had phoned and visited at their homes.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity for locals to have their say. The most important part of the vote is on the ground which I’m likely to do well in.”
