By Cam Lucadou-Wells
In a just-released autobiography, former Cranbourne MP Jude Perera has revealed a falling out with Premier Daniel Andrews played a role in his retirement.
The four-term Labor MP’s life, political and health battles are detailed in his just-released autobiography Challenging Incomplete Democracy.
The 69-year-old, who was the first Sri Lankan-born and -educated MP elected to a lower house of parliament in Australia, retired in 2018 after a long battle with renal disease and two kidney transplants.
In his book, Mr Perera describes then Opposition Leader Mr Andrews dumping him as an opposition parliamentary secretary after missing a division during Parliament in 2014.
It resulted in the Opposition “losing a vote we should have won”.
He would not regain a Cabinet or parliamentary secretary role.
Mr Perera, one of Mr Andrews’s “very loyal supporters”, wrote that colleagues thought his demotion was “very unfair”.
“I was sick as a dog and was disappointed with how Daniel Andrews had treated me, a loyal supporter.
“This event coupled with my health issues led me to consider retirement.”
Mr Perera told Star News that Mr Andrews was a “tough cookie”.
“He knows what he has to do to maintain his support in the electorate.”
He was not surprised by Labor’s decisive state election win in November.
“There was a large silent vote that supported Labor because of its handling of the coronavirus issue.”
In his book, he writes that Mr Andrews “seems to put his personal survival first and foremost and is very good at it”.
He described previous Premier Steve Bracks as “appealing to the electorate” who “swept under the carpet” controversial issues like abortion law reform.
Caucus meetings were “stage-managed boring affairs” without “serious policy debate”.
Former Premier John Brumby was “forthright in dealing with tough topics” but not as electorally appealing as Mr Bracks, the book states.
Growing up in rural Sri Lanka, Mr Perera was steeped in left-wing politics in what was a turbulent environment.
His father Edmund, a coconut plantation manager, was a leader in the Marxist party Lanka Sama Samaja and hosted meetings with activists around his kitchen table.
After dabbling in politics and struggling to make ends meet, he left Sri Lanka with wife Iranganie and two small children for a “better life”.
In Australia, he joined the ALP in reaction to the Kennett Government.
In 1998, his political know-how helped him to build local support for ALP preselection in the seat of Cranbourne.
In his book, he says many Sri Lankans were intially surprised at his preselection in what was then a heavily Anglo Saxon electorate.
“Many asked questions such as, ‘Did they easily give it to you?’,” Mr Perera writes.
“What they really meant was, ‘How come a dark-skinned Asian migrant has been selected by the white skin majority to stand for parliament?’”
His memoir delves into great detail into his political philosphies.
“A lot of (candidates) don’t have a (political) belief,” Mr Perera told Star News.
“They think that because there aren’t enough people with ethnic backgrounds, they think they should be in Parliament.”
In his book, Mr Perera details recruiting Sri Lankans to join ALP branches as well as the battles for control of the South East between Left and Right factions.
“I came to know that if you have a permanent support base, you are a force to be reckoned with,” he wrote.
“If you want to be recognised in the Labor Party, you need to have a membership base under your control; your power base.”
He told Star News that the branch-stacking involving former Labor Minister Adem Somyurek, which was recently investigated by IBAC, went “too far”.
Mr Perera defined branch-stacking as recruiting members who weren’t involved with activities at the branch or in support of the local candidate.
“Adem Somyurek went too far. He thought he could be the king-maker around the ALP.“
Mr Perera appeared as a witness in the IBAC Operation Sandon inquiry into alleged corrupt dealings between property developers, MPs and Casey councillors.
Mr Perera told Star News that he agrees that Victoria should follow NSW’s lead and ban political donations from developers.
“The issue is that people should not give donations for personal favours.”
The Sandon report, which investigated possible law reforms, has yet to be publicly released.
Reflecting on his tenure as an MP, Mr Perera is most proud that he helped many with immmigration and visa issues.
He says he went beyond the call of duty. And in many cases his intervention helped people migrate to Australia.
However, Mr Perera says his health is “not the best”. After two failed kidney transplants, he is back on three dialysis treatments a week.
He says he’s listed for a third transplant, but unlikely to receive it due to his age and the extra antibodies he’s acquired from previous transplants.
The book Challenging Incomplete Democracy is available at judebiography.au
