Labor has set up the electoral battle for Fowler that could have taken place in 2022, announcing Tu Le as its candidate to take on the popular independent Dai Le.
Tu Le was considered the shoo-in for preselection in the western Sydney seat, having won the backing of the former long-term Labor MP Chris Hayes before his retirement ahead of the last election.
But backroom Labor powerbrokers parachuted in the former Labor senator Kristina Keneally in a bid to avoid a Senate preselection stoush between Keneally and her former Labor right colleague Deborah O’Neill.
Keneally did not live in the electorate and the decision to pass over the Vietnamese Australian lawyer was seen as Labor ignoring the area’s diversity – at the time of the election, at least 16% of the electorate had Vietnamese ancestry, with another 11% with Chinese ancestry.
The backlash resulted in an 18.5% swing against Labor in the safe seat, and Dai Le became the first non-Labor representative in the electorate’s history.
With the next election looming, Anthony Albanese has jumped in early to establish Tu Le as Labor’s candidate.
No journalist at the Friday press conference announcing Tu Le’s Labor candidacy asked about the 2022 events, but Albanese was keen to push her ties to the area in his introduction.
“She lives here in Mount Pritchard,” he said.
“She is someone who is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees. I’ve met her parents and her family, and they have lived in this community for a long period of time. The daughter of Vietnamese refugees, a lawyer who currently works at a community legal centre. Tu also has extensive community experience, including advocating for exploited migrant workers, and as the co-founder of a local social enterprise.
“She lives locally with her husband, Kelvin, her son, Boston, and her dogs, Cleo and Kebab. We should have brought them along today.”
Tu Le said the people of Fowler “deserve a voice in the Labor government”.
“I think my personal lived experiences have led me to dedicate my life to advocating for the needs of the community, and I am very excited to be the Labor candidate for Fowler to continue fighting for my community and standing up for our rights and values,” she said.
The government has taken a constructive approach to dealing with members of the crossbench, which includes Dai Le, although she is not part of the teal independent group.
As an MP, Dai Le has focused her questions to the government on the differences in infrastructure spending in western Sydney and the cost-of-living pressures her community has felt.
While Dai Le holds Fowler with a 1.6% margin, Labor does not consider the seat to be an easy gain, with independent MPs often seen as better reflecting community needs and desires as they don’t carry the complications of party politics.
