Zographos ousted as Liberal kingmakers select former MP
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
The Liberal Party’s decision to dump the popular local candidate in the knife-edge federal seat of Chisholm, in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, for a former MP who lost her seat at the 2022 election, has been labelled as ‘risky.’
After the Australian Electoral Commission’s decision to abolish the seat of Higgins, Dr Katie Allen – who lost Higgins to Labor at the 2022 election – was selected by a Liberal Party committee to replace Chisholm candidate Theo Zographos.
Zographos, a local councillor, won preselection for the seat as reported in Neos Kosmos in December 2023.
As late as last week when Neos Kosmos spoke to Zographos on the issues facing traders in Oakleigh, he was adamant that he would be running for the next federal elections as the Liberal candidate for the region.
Allen was originally supposed to run for Higgins again before it was abolished.
Zographos did not speak to Neos Kosmos and his most recent social media posts stated that he hopes to return to council soon, albeit in a different role.
“I’m about to go into my final Monash City council citizenship (ceremony) as a councillor,” he said in his last post two weeks ago. “It’s going to be sad for me tonight, but hopefully I can be back in a different capacity.”
Neos Kosmos sources say that Zographos was “shocked” over what many see as a “betrayal.”
Former-party insiders, who wished to remain anonymous, said that there has been widespread dissatisfaction with the decision.
Zographos was the most popular in the multicultural area of Chisholm, “where there are large communities of Chinese, Indians, and Greeks.”
In a post from August 25, Zographos is seen out in the hustings promoting himself as a multicultural candidate.
The fact that there was no consultation with local branch members was a major issue for those who looked to Zographos to represent them.
A former insider said Zographos was “ambushed on Thursday,” and that he was told he would only have to “deliver a speech, and, in the process, he was ousted.”
The decision, from what Neos Kosmos understands, was made by a committee composed of senior Liberals including federal leader Peter Dutton and Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto.
Another insider said that Allen was “highly skilled and worked very hard to gain that seat, and she is very popular, at least within the party.”
Greek Australians who spoke to Neos Kosmos under anonymity expressed disbelief.
A senior Greek Australian community leader said, “Theo has been working very hard and has been raising money from within the Greek community.”
Another said, “So we now have ‘Toorak Katie’ representing us. Clearly, the Libs prefer an Anglo to a local Greek.”
As reported in other media recently, the Liberal Party administration is wrestling with a highly publicised failure to register councillors for Saturday’s local elections in NSW.
John Pesutto, leader of the opposition in Victoria, is also preparing for a courtroom showdown with anti-trans Liberal, Moira Deeming.
Dr Zareh Ghazarian, a political scientist from Monash University, told The New Daily that issues like the dumping of Zographos and the upcoming court case could be damaging and distracting for the party.
“We’re not talking about the party’s policies. We’re not really talking about their plans. We are talking about the personnel,” he said.
“At a state level, the Liberal Party is facing all sorts of internal divisions, and I’m not sure that these sorts of actions help build or mend bridges within the party.”
Polster Kosmos Samaras, former Labor strategist, now a director in RedBridge Group told Neos Kosmos: “It appears that both political parties [Labor and Liberals] are determined to make their federal presence look like Victoria of the 1800s, versus the extremely diverse state we all live in today.”
In the end, those who supported Zographos appear to have been given no consideration by the Liberal Party and many are upset that their resources and support have been ignored.
The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .
