When Kristina Keneally walks into Kim Duong’s flower shop, the Cabramatta florist’s face lights up with a smile.
“I always see your photos, but to see you in person: you look so healthy!” Duong says. After asking for a photo with the former premier, Duong presses an $85 bouquet of imported roses into Keneally’s hands and insists she take it with her.
“I hope you get in,” she whispers, referring to Keneally’s bid to win the seat of Fowler at the upcoming federal election.
Labor frontbencher Kirstina Keneally campaigning in Cabramatta ahead of a looming federal election. Credit:Steven Siewert
It’s a muggy Saturday morning in south-west Sydney and the skies are finally clearing after weeks of pounding rain. Viet Hoa Hot Bread is doing a roaring trade in banh mi sandwiches; down the block, a long queue is forming outside Thu Phung N, a cash-only sugar cane juice store.
Keneally is here to attend a ceremony organised by the recently formed Australian-South East Asian Network.
When she arrives at the event, a group of Lao-Australian women in brightly coloured dresses is performing the lam vong, a traditional folk dance. One of the dancers grabs her arm and urges her to join in.
Dancing in public is a risky move for politicians, but Keneally agrees to a spontaneous performance.
This is the multicultural slice of Sydney Keneally wants to represent in Parliament, but it’s not one she knows intimately. Labor’s national executive controversially parachuted the Las Vegas-born senator into the seat last September, bypassing a vote by local rank-and-file members.
At the time Keneally and husband Ben were living 55 kilometres away on the exclusive northern beaches enclave of Scotland Island.
The move solved a dilemma over who would fill Labor’s top spot on the party’s NSW Senate ticket but ignited a fiery internal debate about the party’s commitment to racial diversity and local representation.
Departing MP Chris Hayes wanted lawyer Tu Le – the daughter of Vietnamese refugees – to succeed him in the seat, where 16 per cent of residents report Vietnamese ancestry.
Kristina Keneally meets florist Kim Duong while campaigning in the Fowler electorate.Credit:Steven Siewert
Labor MP Anne Aly blasted the party for missing a golden opportunity to make its caucus more diverse, saying: “Diversity, equality and multiculturalism can’t just be a trope that Labor pulls out and parades while wearing a sari and eating some Kung Pao chicken to make ourselves look good.”
Since November, Keneally has been renting in Liverpool, within Fowler’s electoral boundaries, and is racing to establish her credibility in the area. She’s joined the Cabra-Vale Diggers Club and is searching for a local Catholic parish. Several Vietnamese restaurateurs in Cabramatta already know her favourite dish: bánh xèo, a crispy stuffed pancake.
In recent days Keneally has had to deny accusations that she and fellow Labor senators Penny Wong and Katy Gallagher bullied and ostracised their colleague Kimberley Kitching, who died of a suspected heart attack earlier this month.
Kitching had described the three senators as “mean girls” in conversations with colleagues and friends.
Cabramatta’s shopfronts are already plastered with Keneally’s campaign posters, even though she’s essentially running against herself right now. Her only known opponent is a United Australia Party candidate. That would suddenly change if, as has been speculated, Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone or prominent councillor Dai Le decide to challenge her.
“I’m thinking about it,” Carbone says of a potential run, adding: “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
Over a lunch of rice paper rolls, Keneally says: “The seat has a 14 per cent margin and is considered quite safe for the Labor Party but I’m not taking it for granted.
“Even though I’ve been the only candidate in the field since September it’s been continuous campaigning.”
During her Cabramatta charm offensive, it’s clear Keneally has a star power few cabinet ministers – let alone opposition frontbenchers – could match. Passers-by constantly approach her to pose for selfies, addressing her by her first name and asking for hugs.
“Most people have their clearest memories of me from my time as premier,” Keneally, 53, says. “The occasional person has thought I’m still premier.”
There’s a residue of resistance, however.
Passing through Freedom Plaza, Cabramatta’s main thoroughfare, 25-year old IT worker Ryan does a double take when he spots Keneally.
“She’s American, she’s not from here,” he says of Keneally’s candidacy. “Labor always wins here but it doesn’t make sense.”
Labor frontbencher Kirstina Keneally with Chau Dang at a Cabramatta medical centre.Credit:Steven Siewert
Dustin Dao, a 17-year-old Labor member from Fairfield, says he is a big fan of Keneally but adds: “I know some members of the community were a bit sceptical. They did want someone who is local.”
Former Fairfield mayor and Liberal candidate Maria Heggie says: “This is a sophisticated, cosmopolitan electorate – it’s not really necessary to transport someone in from a place like Scotland Island.”
Keneally, who was drafted into the Senate in 2018 after a donations scandal ended Sam Dastyari’s political career, describes herself as an “accidental senator”.
“I’ve missed being a part of and representing a local community,” she says. “I am a practising Catholic and if I’d had the opportunity I would have been a priest.”
Being a federal MP would be the next best thing to joining the priesthood given the pastoral nature of the job, she says. “People coming to you with their most significant problems seeking help.”
Her pitch to Fowler voters is that, if Labor wins the election, she can do more for them as a cabinet member than a backbencher who grew up in the area.
“People are looking for someone who can draw attention to the area and work the political system to get them results. This is a place where people know that where you come from isn’t as important as what you do.”
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