RSS Feed
July 13th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Updated
Two of the candidates running for ALP preselection in former prime minister Julia Gillard’s seat of Lalor have withdrawn from the contest.
Lisa Clutterham, a diplomat who has never lived in the area and has been a member of the ALP for less than a month, says she has withdrawn her candidacy in order to promote unity in the Labor party.
“I will be withdrawing my nomination for ALP preselection in the Federal seat of Lalor,” she said in a statement.
“I have decided to withdraw in view of the absolute need to have unity within the Labor Party so as to put the Rudd Government in the best possible position to win re-election later this year.”
Ms Clutterham says she will now support school principal Joanne Ryan, who is also Ms Gillard’s preferred choice for the safe Labor seat in Melbourne’s west.
“I wish Ms Joanne Ryan … every success,” she said.
Ms Clutterham’s decision comes after former Melbourne City councillor Kimberley Kitching announced last night that she had decided to withdraw.
After carefully considering my friend Kevin Rudd’s and the former PM’s wishes, I’ve decided to support educator Joanne Ryan in Lalor.
— Kimberley Kitching (@kimbakit) July 12, 2013
The withdrawals coincide with the Labor Party’s decision to leave the selection of candidates in five key seats including Lalor to local branches.
Three other candidates have confirmed they will contest the preselection battle:
- Oz Opera general manager Sandra Willis, the daughter of former federal treasurer Ralph Willis
- Werribee accountant Theresa Sgambaro
- Werribee man Brian Dunn
The ALP’s national executive committee has announced it will remove any obstacles to the eligibility of Ms Ryan and another candidate, Julie Ann Evans, for preselection.
Ms Ryan had applied for special dispensation to nominate as she has not held a continuous ALP financial membership for the past 12 months.
Topics:
government-and-politics,
federal-elections,
alp,
political-parties,
lalor-3075,
vic,
australia
First posted
Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-13/kimberly-kitching-withdraws-from-contest-for-lalor/4818330
Views: 0
Posted in 
