Labor
LEFTIES AT WAR: Carlo’s departure sets the stage for an epic battle
The retirement of transport scholar Carlo Carli as member for Brunswick has opened up a potentially exciting fight to the death between prospective leftist members of parliament.
As ever, we like to get into the nitty gritty of the election process so we have launched a VEXNEWS investigation into the prospective candidates and the process.
Our understanding is that there will be an intriguing and fascinating local vote prior to any official deliberations within the Socialist Left decision-making structures, referred to by some as the Politburo.
The normal forces for division between the Griffin and Carr Left have been considerably lessened by having a common enemy in the form of the ceremonial union boss from the AMWU Steve Dargavel and the dodgy union boss from the CFMEU Bill Oliver.
THE BATTLE FOR BRUNSWICK
But Brunswick is most certainly an area of conflict between the Griffin/Jennings/Giles forces and the Carr Left. The former we would describe as mainly inner-city in its focus, latte sipping in its habits and bordering on Green in its politics. Their rivals in the Carr Left have some odd views too but they don’t like the Greens political party at all and many would prefer a good beer to one of Andrew Giles’s slightly chilled cleanskin chardonnays.
The GJG sub-faction will be running CPR lobbyist Erik Locke, whose clients have extensive property development interests in Brunswick. In the strange world of minstaff and the lobbyists who love them, this makes him uniquely qualified for public service. Others might see a potential conflict of interests.
We won’t rehash Locke’s curious past entanglements with our predecessor publication and the many amusing stories he’s unwittingly supplied us but even though he’d be a terrible candidate in many ways, he’d certainly be good copy for VEXNEWS. These are the dilemmas VEXNEWS frequently confronts. Insiders think Locke could claim about 30% of the vote on the ground.
Up against him will Lynne Kosky’s adviser, Danny Michel, who originally hails from Ballarat. A bit like Kosky perhaps, he doesn’t really clearly identify as a Carrite or a GJG sub-factionite. Because he’s an adviser to a Minister of the Crown, he is automatically convinced of his merits as a candidate, regardless of any support he might have in the party branches or in the faction of which is a member. Insiders say that unlike Locke, he won’t have a strong base of support to rely on.
Also in the mix is local councillor Alice Pryor. She is most definitely in the Giles camp and will be hoping that Locke chokes on a quail bone at one of his expense account lunches with property developers in order to stake her claim. Pryor’s Moreland council web page indicates that she admires “Joan Kirner, Julia Gillard and my mum” (hopefully not in that order). She takes a good campaign pic but local insiders say she is a political lightweight who alienates ethnic communities through her haughty style.
Her council colleague Enver Erdogan is twenty three years young, normally too junior an age to be seriously considered for office. Enver is a Carrite, who has worked for House Speaker Lord Harold Jenkins for a number of years. But a look at his council profile shows that his top priority as councillor is “securing the financial viability of the Council” and that he’s an economics graduate. An unusual leftist indeed. One to watch. If the Carr forces back him, he could emerge from a local plebiscite with 40% of the vote. Unlike Locke, he has no ties to local property developers and interests.
There are other SL candidates who might emerge, but it seems at this stage Locke and Erdogan are the main contenders.
PATRIOT LAMBROS WIELDS A BALANCE OF POWER
The wild card in the Battle for Brunswick, is Moreland’s popular Mayor Lambros Tapinos. A member of Labor’s Right who until he became mayor was on the staff of Senator David Feeney, Tapinos also enjoys strong support among local party members. And while he is expected to return to Feeney’s office, Tapinos is regarded highly by both sides of the recent fight within the Labor Right.
On a good day he could claim as much as 20-30% of the local vote, insiders say. The mayor, whose local popularity is underwritten by shrewd political moves like declining the mayoral car in favour of public transport, could be a significant balance of power in the battle for Brunswick. If Lambros encourages his supporters to vote for either significant Left candidate, he will do much to swing the result. Local sources aren’t sure whether he intends to do this as a candidate or not. Either way, Lambros will be at the centre of the action. “The king-maker who should be king,” one observer familiar with the local scene told VEXNEWS.
Discussion
24 comments for “LEFTIES AT WAR: Carlo’s departure sets the stage for an epic battle”
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I think the ideal Left candidate for the Soviet Republic of Brunswick is Paula Rizzuto. Paula has a record second to none as an upholder of the Stalinist tradition. For one thing she once said on her blog that she ate her husband, Stephen Ho.
Paula would make even better copy for Vexnews than the infamous Eric Locke.
Moreland Councillors running for council. They should do the jobs they were elected to first. If they can’t do local government properly god help us when they are in state parliament. How many phone calls does it take, when are you clowns going to organise someone to fix the foot path outside my house.
And on another note why the hell does Alice Pryor have portfolio responsibilities for East Timor! What the fuck does that have to do with local government, absolutely Fuck All!!!!!!
Moreland Councillors running for council. They should do the jobs they were elected to first. If they can’t do local government properly god help us when they are in state parliament. How many phone calls does it take, when are you clowns going to organise someone to fix the foot path outside my house.
And on another note why the hell does Alice Pryor have portfolio responsibilities for East Timor! What the fuck does that have to do with local government, absolutely Fuck All!!!!!!
Lambros has my endorsement.
the only person who can plausibly run and beat the greens is tapinos
Actually, Eric Dearricott has my endorsement.
Lambros Tapinos has all the intellect, charisma and talent of his mayoral counterpart at Darebin. His possible candidacy is laughable (what has he achieved other than sustaining life as a party hack -if one deems this an accomplishment?). Lambros MP would be an insult to the Labor heartland and then we wonder why seats fall to the Greens…
Agree. 14.06. That is why I will run for Brunswick. I have done my long apprenticeship playing solitaire in a state mp’s office, a federal mp’s office, and now a union. I am ready. I am pumped. I can do it.
Here’s a novel idea how about pre-selecting someone who is not a fucknuckle, does not suffer from chronic bovine lethargy or isn’t in the pockets of property developers who plan to destroy the landscape of the People’s Republic of Brunswick?
In response to Concerned Moreland Resident the haughty councillor has East Timor as one of her portfolio responsibilities as this is how the tosspot corridors of power in local government work.
Depending on the bent of the councillors they all have these little vanity projects. For example an interest in East Timor means she is a bleeding heart beret wearer. Those advocating sister city relations in Macedonia/Lebanon/Greece/Cambodia translates to ethnic branch stacker planning to visit the mother country on the ratepayer purse. You wouldn’t have really thought foreign affairs would come under the jurisdiction of local government, which should be dealing with meals on wheels and garbage collection, because let’s face it there are not a lot of Mandarin speaking diplomats in their ranks (no mandarins, lots of vegetables though).
Hilariously, the real reason Lambros gave up the mayoral car was actually due to a lack of a driver’s licence, as was revealed in the local rag the week following that particular stunt.
“Lambros MP would be an insult to the Labor heartland and then we wonder why seats fall to the Greens…” – 14:06
Learn your shit. Lambros rescued Moreland from a Left/Green dominance, pulling a stratospheric primary, decimating Alyce, and Carlo’s mate, in one swoop.
You can’t win Brunswick by veering left, complying with a Greens agenda, and alienating the conservative Catholic/Orthodox vote found within the area’s vibrant Italian and Greek communities.
I think you’ll find mayor tapinos opted not to renew his licence as he felt it was not something necessary given the proximity of his home to work, and the decent public transport infrastructure that exists across Brunswick.
hutch hussein to replace carlo
what about me I have done some great things in di era
with a hair cut nothing can stop tabo
hahah .. that is humorous anon 21.56, but holy shitter … doesn’t that sound more like Greg Barber than what a labour candidate (or mayor) should be? In any case … a supreme lack of political nouse in doing the stunt, without thinking through the lack of licence as a bit of an undoer .. oops.
eek .. ‘labor’.
not having a license is a plus in the people’s republic
I will so miss Carlo. He may have been a trotskyite fellow traveller on the high road to oblivion. But he was a very personable one. Quite conceivably he did genuinely mellow his views on some issues to quasi-patriotic and not quite as vitriolic. However, he was still a lefty and we ought never forget that.
branch members got a letter from judy letting them know she’s not renominating.
Mark Kennedy anyone?
I nominate Conrad to replace Maddigan, Victoria needs this hard working young man in parliament.
I wil loose weight and win
Just spreading the word that Milad El-Halabi is running a coburg branch stacking operation about the size of the hoover dam project.
someone shed some light in public on this guy please. The system is not supposed to be spat on by one little man with too much $.
Madagain’s letter to Essendon members was an absolute disgrace, all about her achievements as Speaker, like re-writing the standing orders for god’s sake!
Nothing about any achievements for her electorate of Essendon. Shows that even she can’t identify anything she has achieved for her electorate worth commenting on!
Essendon needs a LOCAL Labor candidate with the drive to deliver for the local community.
Madagain’s shadow of the past 12 months, Natalie Sykes-Hutchins doesn’t qualify on either count!