It seems that Professor Andrew Leigh will be Andrew Leigh, MHR in the not too distant future, as he’s been preselected by the ALP for Fraser, a safe Labor seat in Canberra’s northern suburbs currently held by Bob McMullan.
I echo Possum’s congratulations. While LP bloggers have certainly disagreed strongly with Andrew at times, in my view his combination of talents and interests are potentially a big asset to the Labor Party and the country. I personally wish him all the best, even tinged with disappointment that his opportunities to speak his mind publicly will diminish.
That said, I do have to wonder how often evidence-based policy is going to crash into the the need for politically expedient policy-based evidence.
Overall this is good news. For a start its great to see anyone beat the machine on talent, and there’s no question Andrew is a cut above the average MP (although that was probably true of anyone seriously in the Fraser contest).
That said, I do worry a little about his capacity to believe manifestly wrong results on the basis of his mathematical work (for example his claim that female candidates get no Donkey vote benefit at all from being higher than their opponent on the ballot paper).
I’ve always said that the Greens offer nothing to conservatives. However, it looks like I’ll have to withdraw that assertion now.
Craig Mc said:
This just doesn’t smell right …
Super.
Craig: could you please take any further discussion of that topic to the Saturday Salon thread.
Feral Sparrowhawk: point taken. I’m not sure about the merits of his case on that specific issue, but I will concede that perhaps (and it’s a failing of mine sometimes too) there’s not quite enough awareness of the work of other disciplines and research methodologies (not all research can be done by randomized controlled trials; indeed, a lot can’t be done quantatively at all).
Good on ‘im. We’ve crossed swords before, sure we will again. But certainly a talented individual who has earnt this place on merit (a subject dear to his heart!).
So what’s his position on Rudd’s freeze on refugees? Bet he falls into line.
Trouble is it doesn’t matter how good a person someone is, once elected they become toe-the-line politicians especially in the ALP.
At least towing the line means you still have to think whereas in the coalition’s case leave your brain behind at home. Howard certainly new what a shambles he had under him which is why he would not step down.
We did give the ACT factional heavies something to think about, I am eagerly awaiting our next Annual conference in july.
And Ms Brodtmann got the nod for Canberra. The end of the factions? Not really. Chris Uhlmann now has a small problem.
RIP Andrew Leigh. The dark side has him now.
Congratulations Andrew Leigh. I’d like to see him make a contribution to this government rather than wait for him to emerge as a shadow.
Robert@5: if Craig was including the ALP among the ranks of “the conservatives”, it is perfectly germane.
wpd@11: no more than Paul Kelly had when his then wife Ros won the same office.
Andrew Leigh will fail. To succeed in politics you have to be what Gough Whitlam once called Paul Hasluck in Parliament. (Hansard recorded it as “a little runt”.)
Leigh is much too thoughtful and decent to succeed.
Sorry to rain on your all-politicians-are-in-the-same-establishment parade, but I think pseudoAbbottite, anti-warmenist Chris’ problem might actually be that his wife is now about to become a Labor MHR. In a safe seat. He can kiss goodbye to a Liberal Party career.
Though a quick Google tells me that Brodtmann is originally from Sydney.
Great. This means that if she has just one distant family member in the NSW Right then she will be fair game for the frickin’ usual suspects here who think they and their henchmen are the greatest threat to mankind today blah blah blah.
I personally have found his guide on writing newspaper opinion pieces to be very useful. An excellent choice, and congratulations.
Taking over from Bob McMullan is a fitting inheritance, don’tcha think?
Mercurius certainly got close to the mark. Leigh is the inheritor of the McMullenite machinery.
The 2010 preselection was essentially a re-run of the John Langmore-Marc Robinson preselection battle earlier.
Leigh and George Williams both played the same cards. Leigh – a social democratic Keynesian with legal skills had stronger credentials than Williams, a lawyer who loves symbolism, panders to rightwing NFF agendas and possess no economic credentials.
Thanks Robert. At least you know you have a LP fan as a candidate!
Will this be the first ever full Professor to become an Australian parliamentarian? There have been a handful of PhDs, including some who spent time in academia before hearing the higher calling of Parliament, but I can’t think of any full Profs.
In any event, congratulations to Andrew. Once elected, I cannot imagine it will be long before he is running one of the major economic portfolios.
One thing though Andrew … next time you use the word “strata” in public – ensure orthodox declension …
Paulus, not necessarily.
While the Labor cabinet could do with another policy wonk, being a politician is in large part about selling policy, not devising it. As such, he’ll have to spend some time on the backbench practising that, along with all the mundane sports pavilion openings, constituents with hassles with bureaucracy, and all the other minutiae of being a backbencher first.
The other thing I’d suggest that maybe an economic portfolio isn’t necessarily the best use of his talents, at least initially. I’d be interested to see some of his policy ideas tried in a service portfolio of some kind or other first.
Well done Andrew.
Yes congratulations Andrew, and on a related note, congratulations to everyone who participated in a rank and file preselection that produced an unexpected result. Would that there were more of them.
Congratulations Andrew!
HOORAY! I live in Fraser, and Bob is literally an invisible man. When an election rolls around we usually get a flyer but that is about it. Sure enough, come election night, we find out Bob has been holed up in some ALP bunker for three weeks planning the great election offensive.
Still, I guess it could be seen as a bonus that we don’t have pollies bothering us all the time. My in-laws live in Eden-Monaro. The contrast is .. stark.