Does anyone know who won the preselection vote that took place today ??
[ED – Nothing on the ABC or ALP websites to date]
UPDATE The Canberra Times reports that Mrs Chris Uhlmann, Gai Brodtmann has the nod for Canberra and ANU’s Andrew Leigh has Fraser.
RiotACT’s Caf has added the following analysis:
Possum’s Pollytics reports tonight that Andrew Leigh has won the ALP pre-selection for the seat of Fraser (the northernmost of the ACT’s two House of Representatives divisions), replacing the retiring Bob McMullan (the Crimes also has the story). After the bit of argy-bargy reported earlier in the week, it seems like a quality candidate has won through, against the supposed factional machinations.
At any rate, I’ve been reading Andrew’s work on Core Economics for a while now (where he blogs on a variety of subjects alongside several other economic luminaries), and having someone with a strong belief in empirical evidence involved in the national debate has got to be a good thing. His pre-selection will certainly make me reconsider my voting intentions in the House.
For me, one of the most interesting things about Leigh’s preselection is that he’s someone that has published fairly widely, so we’re able to get much more of an insight into his opinions and ability than is often the case with candidates for Parliament. If you’re interested, you can access many of his academic papers, opinion pieces and recorded spots on the ABC’s Wryside Economics at his site, unfiltered by the ALP promotional machine. There’s also his personal blog.