Labor
RATTY: Former Trades Hall boss Leigh Hubbard competing for Greens preselection in Wills
Former Socialist Left Labor party member and ex Victorian Trades Hall boss Leigh Hubbard is believed to have put up his hand for Greens political party preselection in the Melbourne inner-city seat of Wills.
A BATTLE OF WILLS
Wills is occupied by long-time popular local Labor moderate MP Kelvin Thomson, who has been a leading figure in the environmental debate by prompting a genuine discussion about Australia’s population size. Labor sources say he’ll be able to fend off the unemployed ex union hack because Thomson has far more credibility on environmental issues than the “Johhny come lately” opportunist.
That said, the seat’s demographics are trending towards the Greens party at an alarming rate, soaring property prices and gentrification pushing out workers and making the field far more fertile for the party that appeals to young, high-income and latte sipping individuals. It’s a long-term prospect for the Greens, just as the federal seat of Melbourne has become a short-term prospect for them despite the hard yards of Labor’s Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner who works the seat like it’s a marginal. Which is just as well because it now is.
Prospective Greens party candidate “Mother” Hubbard was punted from the Trades Hall after ten years on the job and has struggled to find gainful employment since. Naturally his mind turned to the House of Representatives.
Interestingly, Hubbard is the hubby of the well-paid Australian Nurses Federation boss Ged Kearney, a leading candidate for the Presidency of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
Labor moderates have been concerned at the Greens-creep that has been occurring in the ACTU’s office in recent years with Greens members, sympathisers and sycophants springing up in frequently high-salaried positions within the union peak body once run by titan moderates like Bob Hawke, Charvet tie wearing Simon Crean and Bill Kelty.
GREENS BEHIND ENEMY LINES
On Greg Combet’s and Sharan Burrow’s watch, Greens party hacks have sprung up like magic mushrooms throughout the ACTU. The Greens party chief preference negotiator former Goth Gemma Pinnell runs its Members Connect operation as its ‘General Manager’, on a six-figure package that leaves her plenty of green to give over to Labor’s enemies in the inner-city.
Hubbard has boasted to Greens party comrades that he will be able to deliver many hundreds of thousands of dollars from sources like ETU boss-cocky Dean Mighell and other “union contacts” presumably including wifey.
While not the only preselection candidate, Hubbard has told friends he is a “shoe-in” at this stage.
In the event of Kearney’s victory and Hubbard’s election, the Greens party will have done much to cement its control of the ACTU at the expense of the Labor. At some point, it might be reasonable to ask the Socialist Left when they’ll be putting up a fight against all this? When Stephen Luntz becomes ACTU Secretary?
Discussion
17 comments for “RATTY: Former Trades Hall boss Leigh Hubbard competing for Greens preselection in Wills”
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Why is it not surprising that the left feel comfortable suckling on the ever growing breast of the Greens. The ALP do not attack the Greens in fear that more of their members will defect. Look at what the tree huggers did to the ETS in Canberra. and the Labor party blames the Libs. go figure!
Leigh can watch my xxx shemale movies whilst we design his campaign.
The Greens have had a bad fortnight. In the Senate while debating climate change, they made no impression and in the 2 byelections on Saturday they failed miserably.
And Coburg is the area in Wills where the Greens struggle and lefty Hubbard will not gain extra votes here.
Leigh did a sterling job of running the National Branch of the United Firefighters Union between 2005-08. Hardly unemployed!
No doubt caught the anti-Labor virus from Peter Marshall who tried to dis-affiliate the UFU Vic Branch from the Labor Party but was caught blind-sided by the Membership who would prefer Labor given their experiences with Kennet’s regime. Is the left of the ALP so f#*ked in Victoria that the Greens are an alternative? Come on Leigh right of reply pleeeeease!
What a turd!!! Given that the Greens are anti development, therefore anti jobs and anti union, how the fuck did anyone let a Green any where near a union or trades halls. Sorry, I will correct that last statement, outside any credible union headquarters there should always be a Greens member hanging from a pole with a sign attached saying “that’s what happens to hippies around here.”
Good luck Leigh. You’re getting on board with a do-nothing, going-nowhere party.
So – is he pro immigration or against it on environmental grounds?
Get it right 90% of Green votes are a stolen Labor vote.
The Greens are an enemy
Coburg, Pascoe Vale & Fawkner voters will reject him as he is too leftish and stick with Kelvin.
“Hubbard has boasted to Greens party comrades that he will be able to deliver many hundreds of thousands of dollars from sources like ETU boss-cocky Dean Mighell” Big Deal. She-Mighell would be lucky to count his mates on one hand but he cant include his thumb in that now since Peter Marshall UFU has recently cut meghell adift after the She Mighell dogged on him.
Trust me any one that shows Mighell any love at all can get the ETU members money thrown at them
This mean he will not get elected if he stands for the Greens and when the Copenhagan fiasco is over, achieving nothing, so will the Greens be over like the Democrats
What about the labor rats at Moreland City Council? They have just given the Greens control.
Sounds like panic stations amongst the ALP Circus to me.
….gee, what a terrible loss to the ALP….another Leftie weirdo going….
Kelvin is a nice irrelevancy in canberra – rendered so by his appalling lack of judgement in the signing of a reference for Tony Mokbel. Wills deserves a prominent cabinet Minister as its representative.
Trades Hall is a joke not many respectable people go there these days
Isn’t Trades Hall a public lavatory? The type Alan Jones loiters around looking for fellow ‘Doggers’.