Liberal Party faces backlash as Theo Zographos replaced by Katie Allen in Chisholm
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
Members of the Liberal Party, and the local Greek community vent over the replacement Theo Zographos as the federal election candidate for the Chisholm was given over to Dr Katie Allen.
The decision to dump Theo Zographos, was seen as “risky” and sparked criticism that the party was not doing very well on diversity.
As Neos Kosmos reported following the AEC’s decision to redraw the seat of Higgins meant that Dr Allen – who lost in that seat in 2022 to Labor – was selected by a Liberal Party committee to replace Zographos, had won the pre-selection for the seat in December 2023.
A large “chunk” of Higgins, which Allen wanted to return to, is now in Chisholm, which gave Liberal officials the opportunity to choose a new candidate because the character of the seat had changed dramatically.
Zographos according to Sky News sent an email to party members on Sunday night, claiming that the “anger” of many Liberals has not subsided “since the unprecedented decision on September 8”.
“There is also an overwhelming sense of disbelief that if this could happen to me, someone with 20 years of distinguished service to the party, it could happen to anyone,” he said.
The 34-year-old Monash councillor pointed out that members of his party had told him there was widespread support for a vote in which they, rather than a small group of executives, would decide who would contest the seat.
“I was on track to win the seat,” he wrote, but in the end “many of you are so frustrated and angry that many fear we will not be able to present a united campaign to the people of Chisholm.”
Liberal polls have shown the party leading Labour in Chisholm with Zographos as the candidate. Labour’s Carina Garland holds the seat with a 6.5 per cent lead in the previous election, but changes to constituency boundaries have halved the gap.
The federal Opposition leaders Peter Dutton – through his proxy Dan Tehan – supported the change in favour of Katie Allen at a meeting of the party’s executive committee earlier this month. Executives presented research to the committee that indicated Allen, had a better chance of winning the seat, sources familiar with the confidential briefing said.
“We’re trying to reverse that division and get serious,” said a senior Liberal official. “We want to win this seat.”
“They say they are finding it difficult to be able to campaign in these circumstances,” Zographos told Sky News Australia.
“I think if the party members have a say … that would be a really good way forward.”
“I’m not going to get into the internal issues of the party.”
“But what is important is that I’ve had discussions with a lot of party members in Chisholm and I’ve listened to their concerns.”
Party members and locals who spoke to Neos Kosmos on condition of anonymity about the issue expressed disbelief.
A senior member of the Greek-Australian community said that “Theo has worked very hard and has raised money through the Greek community”.
Another said: “So we now have ‘Toorak Katie’ representing us. It is clear that the Liberals prefer an Englishman to a local Greek.”
Dr Zareh Ghazarian, a political scientist from Monash University, told The New Daily that issues such as the rejection of Theo Zographos and the John Pesutto-Moira Deeming court case could be damaging to the Liberals.
Neos Kosmos also understands from party insiders that Peta Credlin and former PM Tony Abbott are supporting Moira Deeming and providing her moral support.
“The right wing of the party is doing all it can to damage the moderates” said an unnamed party member to Neos Kosmos.
Pollster Kosmos Samaras, a former Labor strategic adviser, a director of RedBridge, told Neos Kosmos last week:
“It seems that both political parties [Labor and Liberal] are determined to make their federal presence look like Victoria in the 1800s, versus the highly diverse state we all live in today.”
Those who supported Zographos seem to have been ignored by the Liberal Party and many are upset that their resources and support were ignored.
Neos Kosmos understands that Zographos and his supporters will “push hard for a preselection.”
“There is a meeting tomorrow of the Chisholm Liberal Party branch to discuss the issue” the unnamed sources said.
The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .
