Thread by @Jan__Fran

So - full disclosure - I don’t know the machinations of the Labor Party and I don’t know the seat of Fowler, which seem like two key reasons to limit my commentary on the Labor Party seat of Fowler … however I'd like a wee chat about the article (yez that one).

One of my key - how you say - issyews with the piece is the false equivalence it presents between Tu Le and Kristina Keneally. Elephant, lion same. (This is a Wog Boy reference and I make no apologies for using it and subsequently having to explain it)

Somehow Tu Le, daughter of Vietnamese immigrants who grew up in Western Sydney and works at Marrickville Legal Centre, is the same as former state premier and current Northern Beaches resident Kristina Keneally in that they’ve both been “parachuted” into the seat of Fowler.

I present you with the first three words of this headline followed by several anonymous sources and one Keneally supporter. I further present you with the revelation that Tu Le may have grown up in *checks notes* Bankstown. That’s *checks notes again* 10 kms away. Escandalo!!

This article leaves us pondering some, um, shall we say new and interesting questions! Such as …

If Bankstown is 10kms away from Canley Vale, Tu Le, having grown up in Bankstown (at some point?) means she is technically an outsider, therefore is it really that bad that KK (also an outsider) ends up the Labor rep in Fowler given they’re kinda both not from there?

Suddenly we are discussing meterage racked up on the Hume Hwy rather than asking the more pertinent question of - if the Labor Party is indeed as committed to “diversity” as it says it is …

…why did it seemingly sideline a young Vietnamese-Australian woman, supported by the outgoing candidate, for an established politician who is not from nor of the community?

Because, I gotta tell ya, the “diversity” thing everyone talks about - this is it, young non-white (forgive the rudimentary term) women running for preselection … is it. That’s what everyone always harps on about isn’t it?

Oooh we handwring on panels, why don’t more young diverse women run for politics? Oooh we tut-tut in keynotes, how can we get more young, diverse women into our parliament? It’s a great mystery. If only more would run.

I mean, maybe Ms Le is not ready - fair. Maybe the people of Fowler love KK - also fair. Maybe politics is a nasty game and I’m naive and don’t know shit - very, very fair. Maybe there’s a perfectly reasonable and just explanation for Labor’s decision.

If there is I’m not sure I’ve heard it. What I have heard is Anthony Albanese describe Keneally as “another great Australian success story of a migrant.” Elephant, lion same.

Further disclosure - and perhaps by virtue of growing up an immigrant kid in Sydney’s western suburbs - I like to see non-white women from Western Sydney succeed in public life. Because I know the barriers to getting there, of which there is a multitude.

What message does this decision send to them? Genuinely. Next time I get asked by a Leb girl from Blaxland if she should run for the seat, what should I tell her? Yeeees, but? You know politics har har har!

Truth is, I don’t know Tu Le and I don’t know Kristina Keneally, they may both be delightful individuals. Or not. Either way, they’re not the same. One - at least for now - seems a bit more Labor than the other.