22 February 2012

Inside the Fraser preselection 2010

| johnboy
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andrew leigh

A lot of people were surprised in 2010 when Andrew Leigh, an economics professor from ANU, won the right to run as Labor’s candidate for the very safe seat of Fraser.

Surprised because some sort of factional thug seemed a more likely winner of such a prize.

Australian Policy Online has published a lengthy piece on how this came to be by Labor member Terry Giesecke.

It’s essential reading for anyone wanting to understand politics in Canberra.

Elections for office bearers of clubs and companies occur every day in Australia. Political party preselections are different. The ALP is one of only two gateways in Australia to high political office; therefore, it has a great responsibility to ensure sound preselection processes. Undoubtedly the lure of political power and prestige will attract a certain number of careerists and con artists. Pre selectors need to exercise “due diligence”.

Were the factions damaged? A little, but Federal preselections are not the only game in town. ACT Legislative Assembly preselections come up every four years. There are sub branch, ACT branch and conference positions up for grabs each year. Conference decisions on rules and policy are on the menu too, enough to keep them busy. The Centre Coalition probably suffered more, their candidate in Canberra also missing out by a handful of votes. There was talk of a new right faction, but only time will tell if it eventuates.

The new Labor Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, called a Federal Election for August 21, 2010.
Andrew Leigh did not have long to wait, he was easily elected.

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rhino said :

Is it just me, or is that photo he keeps using of him smiling at a school boy a bit creepy looking?

I’m actually more concerned with the above photo .. those oldies look like they’re giving him a real chin-wag .. he’d be lucky to make it out of that conversation by dinner time.

EvanJames said :

Politicians get told by their spin doctors that being seen interacting happily with happy children (especially babies) is good for their image because many people like it. So that’s why he probably features that photo a lot (or his staff use it a lot, more like).

If you mean something else, well, actually, the vast majority of males are actually not pedophiles.

Lol I’m not saying he is, just that it’s a very bad photo that has a very creepy smile for the circumstance lol.

I never understood the idea of being seen with kids and babies. To me I instantly just think “that is a set up shot with a kid, just as you’d expect them to do”. It doesn’t tell me anything about them as a person at all. Anyone can be in a deliberate shot with a child. There is even a photo of hitler with a baby haha. It means absolutely nothing. Unless people believe that babies somehow have a supernatural insight into the character of a leader and their policies and will react in some way to let us know? I just don’t get why everyone does it consistently when it is such an obvious setup. I’d rather see them smiling happily with someone who has view on policies that I agree with. Even then, they may just get along without agreeing about anything.

EvanJames said :

If you mean something else, well, actually, the vast majority of males are actually not pedophiles.

+1

Unless they are homosexuals, according to his dropkick ALP colleague Peter Watson.

Politicians get told by their spin doctors that being seen interacting happily with happy children (especially babies) is good for their image because many people like it. So that’s why he probably features that photo a lot (or his staff use it a lot, more like).

If you mean something else, well, actually, the vast majority of males are actually not pedophiles.

Is it just me, or is that photo he keeps using of him smiling at a school boy a bit creepy looking? You should see the larger version where you can see his smile. I’d understand if someone else took the photo, but when he is the one using it to promote himself, it seems weird to do so with such a bad photo haha.

Economics professor at ANU, ye gods, he looks about 15 years old. He must have a brain the size of a planet.

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