Wednesday 23 January 2019

No, you don't have the right to preselection

simply because your father once held a seat in parliament and you have always voted for the same party.
Nobody has the right to a seat in the House of Representatives. If you "win" the seat in our very dubious electoral system you do not have the right to remain in it either. What is more you are there to serve the interests of your electorate - not the interests of yourself.
Head Office - wherever that happens to be and whomever it is run by shouldn't interfere either. They have to work with the person who is chosen - once he or she is chosen. The person who is chosen has to work with them too. That's there them rules. 
Almost anyone can run for parliament in Downunder. You do have to be a citizen of Downunder - as some parliamentarians discovered not so long ago. You can't be incarcerated or bankrupt either. Unlike the United States our Prime Minister does not need to have been born here - but he does need to have sought and gained citizenship. 
You can go it alone of course but most candidates will belong to a  political party and will be "preselected". They will mostly have been a member of the party for some years and active within it. They might have a background that is considered likely to be useful to the party as a whole. They will be seen as articulate and likely to appeal to the electorate.
There are some political "dynasties" in this country. There are seats which have gone from parent to child. I think it would however be fair to say that the child has not simply taken over the seat. It has been seen as possible - but not a right. They know other candidates will be considered.
Which is what makes the current fuss by someone whose father held a seat so unusual. He was, according to him, preselected. In fact it seems he was told, "Someone else is being considered. If he decides not to stand then yes, you will be selected. " There are claims of "interference" by Head Office but the reality is that the branch was asked to consider a candidate - and that candidate ticks a number of boxes.
All of this may not seem fair, especially if someone has worked hard within the party but this is politics and politics is about winning.
And now the other would-be candidate has resigned from the party in a huff and says he will run as an independent.
That tells me he was not fit to be considered as a candidate.

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