PEARCE voters should have a better idea of who the Labor candidate for the next federal election will be by the end of this week.
Yanchep News Online understands City of Wanneroo Mayor Tracey Roberts is still to commit to running against incumbent MHR Christian Porter.
A Facebook page promoting a sundowner at The Melbourne Hotel on July 26 mentions raising money for the campaign in Pearce but there is no reference to who is going to be the candidate.
Billed as a Sundowner with Senator Penny Wong and a Special Guest the event was affected by interstate lockdowns meaning Senator Wong and other guests were unable to attend.
In June Labor WA said Mrs Roberts was a fantastic representative of people in the Wanneroo area and they would make an announcement as soon as the preselection process was completed.
A City of Wanneroo councillor since 2003 and the mayor since 2011 Mrs Roberts is also president of the WA Local Government Association, vice president of the Australian Local Government Association and deputy chair of the National Growth Areas Alliance.
A popularly elected mayor is not required to resign when preselected or nominated but only when declared elected, according to the Department of Local Government.
Once elected to a state or federal seat the mayor would be required to resign and an extraordinary election would be conducted to fill the vacant position.
In February Mrs Roberts told Yanchep News Online she was not a member of the Labor party despite appearing in an election campaign poster with Premier Mark McGowan and Butler MLA John Quigley.
In March ABC election analyst Antony Green predicted the redistribution changes in Pearce would benefit Labor and could result in Mr Porter’s margin being cut from 7.5 per cent to 5.2 per cent – Mr Porter has held Pearce since 2013.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison removed Mr Porter from the position of attorney general and gave him the Industry, Science and Technology portfolio due to concerns conflicts of interest could arise in relation to Mr Porter’s defamation action against the ABC after the national broadcaster published a story about a historical rape allegation, which did not name Mr Porter but was about him.
On July 30 the Federal Court ruled that previously suppressed parts of the ABC’s defence in the defamation case instigated by Mr Porter earlier this year will not be made public but has granted the South Australian coroner access to the material.
Yanchep News Online contacted Mrs Roberts for comment.
- On August 12 WA Labor confirmed Mrs Roberts’ preselection for the seat of Pearce.
