18 October 2019

Labor announces candidates for 2020 ACT Election

| Lachlan Roberts
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Chief Minister Andrew Barr

ACT Labor has announced its candidates for the 2020 ACT Election. Photo: File.

ACT Labor has announced which candidates it will take to the 2020 ACT Election as the party seeks its sixth straight term.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith will lead the party’s campaign in Kurrajong, alongside one of the Chief Minister’s advisers, Jacob Ingrim.

Community and Public Services Union official Madeline Northam and Canberra en français magazine director and co-founder Nancy Waites, who also ran alongside Katy Gallagher as Labor senate candidate in the 2020 Federal Election, will also run for the seat.

Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry, Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay and backbencher Tara Cheyne will contest the Belconnen seat of Ginninderra, alongside public servants Sue Ducker and Greg Lloyd.

Fresh-faced Minister Suzanne Orr headlines the party’s candidates in the Gungahlin electorate of Yerrabi, alongside CFMEU’s legal officer Tom Fischer and public servant Georgia Phillips.

The backbencher responsible for the controversial cannabis bill, Michael Pettersson, and Deepak-Raj Gupta, who took his place on the backbench after Meegan Fitzharris’s shock resignation, will also contest Yerrabi.

Labor MLA for Yerrabi Deepak-Raj Gupta

Labor MLA for Yerrabi Deepak-Raj Gupta stepped into his new position in July this year. File: Photo.

Transport Minister Chris Steel and backbencher Bec Cody will run again in Murrumbidgee, alongside pre-service teacher Tim Dobson and ANU researcher and Centre for Gambling Research director Dr Marisa Paterson.

Charles Sturt University economist and former treasurer of the Canberra Labor Club group Brendan Long will also run for the seat of Murrumbidgee for a second time.

Mick Gentleman and Joy Burch will look to be reelected in Brindabella, alongside ANU researcher Dr Catherine Day and Australian Workers’ Union organiser Brendan Forde. Former Brindabella candidate and public servant Taimus Werner-Gibbings rounds out the ticket.

ACT Labor secretary Matt Byrne said he believes it is a strong, committed and diverse field of candidates that will win Labor the election next October.

“Our candidates bring with them a life-time’s worth of experiences and knowledge. They are the best team to deliver good government for the ACT,” Mr Byrne said. “Only Labor can deliver effective, progressive government that delivers quality health care and education for our community whilst being able to tackle the big challenges our city is facing such as climate change and global economic uncertainty.”

Labor candidates

The full list of Labors preselected candidates. Chart: Supplied.

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I don’t care who is voted in as long as it is not the Labor Green party. Any party in for this length of time loses touch with reality and the everyday needs of the people. They start focusing on ego monuments so they can satisfy their ever expanding ego. They think they are the only ones who know what is good for us so disregard any other options even if they have merit……………..sound familiar?
Time for a new government…………….any new government and probably good to vote them out in another 4 years as well. Lets get a bit of democracy back in this place.

petunia petal8:15 am 25 Oct 19

C’mon Canberra – please vote for anyone except Lab/Lib, but make sure you get to know the candidates. On that point – why do candidates have little to no information available about them. A Facebook page is free – you don’t even need a website. Last election I looked up each independent and was amused/appalled at what some people running for office consider an appropriate bio and policy platform. It would be good if this information was collated and you didn’t need to search for it.

HiddenDragon7:32 pm 20 Oct 19

About as much diversity as a three day old “Manager’s Markdown” supermarket sponge which has been decorated with vegan sprinkles.

Capital Retro6:08 pm 20 Oct 19

I am surprised Jon Stanhope’s name wasn’t there.

Then again, we can’t afford another bottomless money pit like the arboretum or Rhodium Asset Solutions https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-07-22/rhodium-assets-solution-to-wind-down-business/448468 can we?

At least the arboretum, if (And a big if) is managed well can provide a reasonable return to the Territory in terms of tourism and the like. Rhodium was a horrendous decision at the time, and definitely proved to be in time. TotalCare was just as bad….

Voters just vote the same way then try to reason why they did it.
Cognative dissodance,, typical labor voter cant see the forrest for the trees.

Capital Retro1:18 pm 19 Oct 19

Not one of them are self-employed or employed in the private sector.

Are any of them prepared to reveal if they have negatively geared investments or if they are receiving franked dividends?

There’s a real conflict here. In many ways the ACT is overdue for a change in government. At the same time the thought of this mob of ACT Liberals in government is dreadful.

It’s time for generational change in the ACT Labor leadership. Thanks Andrew. All the best. it’s beyond time mate. Fewer union hacks and stooges please. Promote more women and value community values over factional division.

Anthony Pesec11:00 am 19 Oct 19

25 candidates with the collective real life experience of perhaps three. This looks pretty uninspiring but I’m grimacing to see the Liberal line up. I’m not even sure if the Canberra Liberals have enough members to put forward 25 candidates given the policy of their incumbents to exclude anybody of any talent to ensure that their positions (and only jobs that they’ve ever known) aren’t challenged.

Barr vs Coe is the definition of being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

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