A sombre looking Kristina Keneally has been spotted collecting groceries from a boat and doing some weekend cleaning on the exclusive island she calls home after her failed bid to win a safe Labor seat in Sydney west.
Ms Keneally was alone as she picked up a cardboard box and two full plastic shopping bags – including one from Aldi – at a jetty on Scotland Island at Pittwater in Sydney’s north on Saturday.
Dressed in a dark jacket and trousers with an orange t-shirt, Ms Keneally carried her haul of groceries back to her house, a three-storey, absolute waterfront property surrounded by dense foliage.
A sombre looking Kristina Keneally has been spotted collecting groceries from a boat on the island she calls home after her failed bid to win a seat at the election last weekend
Dressed in a dark jacket and trousers with a red t-shirt, Ms Keneally carried her haul of groceries back to her house
Later Ms Keneally was seen chatting to an unidentified man and cleaning her front balcony in the orange shirt, having removed her jacket.
The former NSW premier, who was beaten by independent Vietnamese-Australian Dai Le in the western Sydney seat of Fowler last Saturday, was one of the most high-profile failures among those seeking a lower house seat at the election.
Her candidature in the seat taking in culturally diverse suburbs such as Fairfield and Cabramatta had been a controversial choice by the Labor party, after she had been preferred over Vietnamese-Australian lawyer Tu Le to run in the seat.
The safe Labor seat saw a 16 per cent swing against Ms Keneally on election day to instal former Liberal Party member Dai Le as the member for Fowler.
After collecting her groceries Ms Keneally was seen chatting to an unidentified man
She was also seen cleaning her front balcony in an orange t-shirt, having removed her jacket
Ms Keneally was parachuted in as the candidate for the seat of Fowler even though the electorate is a two-hour round trip from her home on the exclusive Scotland Island.
She had moved into a property in the electorate in December last year with husband Ben in her quest to win the seat.
The former ALP senator said during the campaign that she would remain living in the Fowler electorate even if she failed to win the seat but it’s not clear whether she will now honour that vow.
‘Let’s be clear about his, I’m going there to be part of the Fowler community,’ she told Joe Hildebrand on 2GB in September last year. ‘That’s the clear commitment I’m making.
‘[Husband] Ben and I talked about this well in advance of me making this decision that in seeking to represent a community it would mean living there, absolutely.’
Former Labor senator Graham Richardson said on election night that Ms Keneally was ‘like an alien walking around the Fairfield shops in a $2,000 dress’.
Even her own uncle-in-law, beloved Australian author Thomas Keneally, wrote on Tuesday that Labor ‘parachuted candidates into plum seats over the intentions of locals’.
‘They were heavily punished for it,’ said Mr Keneally, the author of Schindler’s Ark.
Ms Keneally was accused of ducking blame for losing what was previously one of the safest Labor seats in the country after she took to Twitter on Sunday to say Labor couldn’t claim the seat.
The groceries were brought to Scotland Island by boat and unloaded onto a jetty
The former NSW premier, who was beaten by independent Vietnamese-Australian Dai Le in the western Sydney seat of Fowler last Saturday, was one of the most high-profile failures among those seeking a lower house seat at the election
‘At the end of today, it seems that Labor will not claim victory in Fowler,’ the American-born politician wrote.
‘I congratulate Dai Le and wish her well. Thank you to the people who voted Labor & the volunteers on our campaign.’
Ms Keneally concluded her concession tweet by congratulating newly-appointed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Labor party and telling her followers a ‘better future for Australia lies ahead’.
Incoming independent Fowler MP Ms Le has hit back at suggestions she was ineligible to stand for parliament, accusing Labor of a smear campaign.
Ms Le faced questions after the victory about whether she was a citizen of another country.
The newly elected MP was born in Vietnam and came to Australia as a refugee when she was a child.
On her candidate eligibility form lodged with the Australian Electoral Commission, Ms Le said she had never been a subject or citizen of a country other than Australia.
In a statement on her Facebook page, Ms Le said the reported claims of her being a citizen of another country were false.
‘Over the last few days, the Labor Party has been trying to smear me and try to damage my reputation, dragging my family including my son into stories,’ she said.
‘The AEC accepted my application to stand for the federal election and that I’m not a subject or a citizen of another country.
‘The ALP need to accept the people’s democratic decision who have elected me to rep.’
How Kristina Keneally couldn’t even bring herself to admit SHE lost key marginal seat in concession tweet
Kristina Keneally has been accused of ducking blame for losing the safe Labor seat of Fowler to independent Dai Le, after she was controversially parachuted into the western Sydney electorate ahead of a local candidate.
The senior Labor politician was unceremoniously dropped into the south-west Sydney seat at the last minute, despite having no connection to the area and previously living 50km away on the Northern Beaches.
Outgoing Fowler MP Chris Hayes announced that he would not be contesting the seat for the federal election, which left a space open for a new Labor candidate.
Vietnamese-born Western Sydney lawyer Tu Le was originally set to win pre-selection for Fowler. Ms Le was a former staffer of Mr Hayes and received his backing as the Labor representative for Fowler.
However, she was eventually sidelined by senior Labor powerbrokers, who chose to parachute Kristina Keneally into the safe party seat instead.
But the move caused outrage amongst locals in the area, and led to Ms Keneally’s stunning defeat in an electorate that has been held by Labor since its creation in 1984. Her loss came despite an 18 per cent margin – one of the biggest in Australia.
The senior Labor figure lost by 3385 votes, with Ms Le gaining 52.3 per cent of ballots compared to Ms Keneally’s 47.68 per cent.
The senator was unable to admit her loss in a stinging tweet on Sunday, instead declaring it was Labor that couldn’t claim the seat, before she congratulated Independent Dai Le on her victory.
Kristina Keneally (pictured) lost the safe Labor seat of Fowler after she was controversially parachuted into the electorate
Vietnamese-born Western Sydney lawyer Tu Le (right) was originally set to win pre-selection for Fowler. Ms Le was a former staffer of Mr Hayes and received his backing as the Labor representative for Fowler. (Pictured with Anthony Albanese)
The senator conceded on Sunday before she congratulated Ms Le on her victory in a tweet. Several users on the platform noticed the carefully-worded tweet focused the loss of Fowler on the party rather than Ms Keneally herself
‘At the end of today, it seems that Labor will not claim victory in Fowler,’ the American-born politician wrote.
‘I congratulate Dai Le and wish her well. Thank you to the people who voted Labor & the volunteers on our campaign.’
Ms Keneally concluded her concession tweet by congratulating newly-appointed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Labor party and telling her followers a ‘better future for Australia lies ahead’.
Several users on the platform noticed the carefully-worded tweet focused on the loss of Fowler on the party, rather than Ms Keneally herself.
‘In the end, Kristina Keneally is to blame for losing the super safe heartland Labor seat of #Fowler,’ tweeted journalist Troy Bramston, who penned a piece in The Australian on the debacle.
‘But in true Keneally style, she is not to blame, only Labor is – ‘Labor will not claim victory’ …’
The political journalist later told Sky News Australia that it was ultimately a ‘terrible decision’ from Labor.
‘You can’t just parachute someone from the northern suburbs of Sydney to western Sydney,’ he said.
‘It’s a lesson for Labor too; don’t take constituencies for granted.’
The senior Labor politician was unceremoniously dropped into the south-west seat of Fowler at the last minute despite having no connection to the area
Columnist for The Australian, Troy Bramston, said Ms Keneally was to blame for losing the safe Labor seat
Mr Bramston’s sentiments on the decision were echoed by several other Twitter users.
‘Slow Clap for @KKeneally and #Labor’s desperate parachute ‘strategy’. Did they really think Australians can be fooled that easily,’ wrote one.
Another said: ‘Greet to see Kristina Keneally get destroyed in Fowler. Labor insulted the locals by parachuting her into the seat when she doesn’t live there! Time to get a real job now Kristina!’
‘Well done. Parachuting Keneally in was a complete disgrace and Labor should learn from this experience,’ commented a third.
Many Labor politicians conveyed sympathy for Ms Keneally on her loss, while others felt the decision to parachute her into Fowler was foolish.
Independent Dai Le (pictured), who won Fowler, relayed the frustration from faithful Labor voters of the party’s move to drop Ms Keneally into the electorate
Speaking to the ABC about securing Fowler on Monday, independent Dai Le relayed the frustration expressed by voters about the decision.
‘A lot of voters were so angry with the fact that the Labor Party was arrogant enough to think that they can parachute somebody from the Northern Beaches to come and represent the south-west, one of the most socially disadvantaged communities, to represent us,’ she said.
‘She has no roots here. She’s not connected to this area. So how can we trust that she can deliver for us? She’s never lived through the challenges that we have lived through.’
Ms Le spoke to many devoted Labor supporters on election day who felt the move by the party was an ‘insult’ and a ‘slap to the face’.
The move ultimately lead to many voters turning their back on the Labor party for the first time in their lives and instead supporting Ms Le.
Ms Le has distanced herself from the so-called ‘teal’ independents, claiming she is focused on her electorate which has ‘different needs’ to the seats snatched up by those independents.
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