FREMANTLE deputy mayor Josh Wilson’s bid to get Labor preselection for the federal seat of Fremantle appears to have been cruelled by a new round of factional deals brought on by the resignation of all the party’s WA MPs.
in the last week, Alannah MacTiernan (Perth) and Gary Gray (Brand) have followed Fremantle’s Melissa Parke in announcing their retirement from federal politics at the next election.
Cr Wilson has Ms Parke’s support to replace her and is well known locally, but the wrangling over the other vacancies has given the Maritime Union of Australia additional clout to secure the preselection for its candidate Chris Brown.
MUA WA branch secretary Chris Cain confirmed to the Herald his union had held discussions with the powerful United Voice over the preselections recently.
• Josh Wilson has local support, but it might not be enough to see off the ALP’s union juggernaut.
He wouldn’t divulge any details, saying his deputy Adrian Evans had been doing the talking, but said the union remained solely focused on Fremantle and wanted it excluded from any attempts to meet the party’s affirmative action rules.
Currently men are the front runners in all three seats, which has led for calls for the national executive to either give an exemption to the rules, or for the balance to be made up in the senate.
Cr Wilson told the Herald that even without the latest deals, he was facing a tough challenge.
The local branch holds 25 per cent sway over the preselection, and he’d need virtually all of that plus United Voice’s support to have a chance.
But he believes he’s got the talent to contribute at a federal level, saying his lifelong interest in politics means he’d never be satisfied quietly living out a career as a backbencher.
Cr Wilson says he’s campaigning on a platform of infrastructure spending and housing affordability.
“South of the river, in metropolitan WA, has missed out on that,” he says.
While the federal government has committed funding towards Roe 8, he’s lock-step with Labor in saying that’s mis-spent and should go towards an outer harbour in Kwinana.
“Another example where WA has missed out would be the east-west rail connections. One of the most critical things is public transport south of Fremantle and that’s not being addressed at all,” Cr Wilson told the Herald.
He backs Labor’s campaign to take on negative gearing, saying his own family’s experience has shown him the inequity of the situation. His parents split when he was younger and had to sell the family home.
He reckons the enticement of negative gearing for investors simply pushed up prices, keeping his family as life-long renters.
Cr Wilson also wants to tackle superannuation laws, saying they’re too generous to the rich and discriminate against women before of the gender pay gap. He says despite being a lifelong workers, his mum has virtually no nest egg to get her through retirement. He says hundreds of thousands of other people are in the same situation, yet the rules keep getting tinkered with to favour people who don’t need extra money.
He’d also like to see the federal government take a greater role in urban planning, saying issues it can contribute to such as social justice and equity can help forge urban vitality, such as opening up home ownership in places like Fremantle to young creative people.
by STEVE GRANT
