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Prominent Indigenous leader Warren Mundine is the new Liberal Party candidate for the southern New South Wales federal seat of Gilmore.
Key points:
- Warren Mundine is the new Liberal candidate for Gilmore
- Local branch members had chosen Grant Schultz but the NSW party executive overruled them
- Mr Mundine almost became a Labor senator in 2001
But the move has prompted a backlash in the party.
Who is Warren Mundine?
Warren Mundine describes himself as a businessman, political strategist and indigenous advocate who was “once an outsider” but is “now an insider”.
He hails from the New South Wales north coast and identifies as being of Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr, Yuin and Irish descent.
Mr Mundine comes from a well-known Australian family — his cousin Tony Mundine is a former boxer and father of boxer and former rugby league player Anthony Mundine.
He is married to lawyer Elizabeth Henderson, the daughter of Sydney Institute directors Gerard and Anne Henderson.
How did he come to prominence?
Warren Mundine first became involved in politics in the 1990s as Dubbo’s first Aboriginal councillor.
He joined the Labor Party in 1995 before making an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the NSW Parliament in 1999.
After another failed political bid, this time for the federal Senate in 2001, he served as ALP National president in 2006-07.
He was again considered for a Senate spot in 2012 but was overlooked in favour of former NSW premier Bob Carr and quit the party later that year.
Mr Mundine was appointed chairman of the Indigenous Advisory Council by former prime minister Tony Abbott but his role was later dissolved by Malcolm Turnbull.
Why is him being a candidate so controversial?
Mr Mundine was almost a Labor senator.
In 2001 — then standing for Labor — he was only eliminated in the final rounds of counting in the New South Wales Senate race.
Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm said Mr Mundine was in serious discussions last year to replace him in the Senate when Senator Leyonhjelm announced a run for the NSW Parliament.
But he claimed those discussions ended abruptly around the same time reports emerged of Mr Mundine’s name being floated as a Liberal candidate for Gilmore.
The decision to make him the candidate in Gilmore overruled Liberal Party processes and the wishes of local members.
And Mr Mundine wasn’t even a member of the Liberal Party when Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the announcement on Tuesday.
Does he have any connection to the area at all?
Mr Mundine grew up on the northern NSW coast before moving to Sydney.
In his biography he noted his great-grandmother was a Yuin woman of the South Coast.
He told NITV last year that he had strong ties to the area.
Mr Morrison did not elaborate on Mr Mundine’s ties in comments made on Wednesday morning, instead saying that Mr Mundine “will” connect with the Gilmore community.
“I know Warren will connect strongly with the Gilmore community and will be a highly effective champion for them, their families, and particularly the many Indigenous people that live through the South Coast of NSW,” he said.
Almost 12 per cent of Gilmore’s main town of Nowra are Indigenous according to the 2016 Census, four times higher than the rate for Australia.
Has winning Gilmore just got harder for the Liberals?
Gilmore is one of the most marginal seats in the country, with a margin of around one per cent.
After former MP Ann Sudmalis stepped down, citing “branch-stacking, undermining and leaks”, the new Liberal candidate was set to run without the benefit of incumbency.
Now Mr Mundine will also face opposition from within the ranks of the Liberals.
The candidate abandoned by the party, Grant Schultz, plans to run as an independent and — as the son of Alby Schultz, the long-time Liberal MP in the neighbouring seat of Hume — is likely to redirect some votes away from the Liberals.
Labor has already released an attack ad focused on Mr Mundine’s support for nuclear power.
ABC election analyst Antony Green said the move had not improved the party’s chances in the seat.
Why could this be a problem for the Liberal Party?
Mr Morrison is responsible for the move to parachute Mr Mundine into Gilmore.
The circumstances are extraordinary. The decision required an exception to party rules given Mr Mundine was not even a member of the Liberal Party.
And it has ignored a decision made under ordinary party processes, enraging local members.
Not even six months from a leadership spill, the move risks further destabilising an already fragile party — and injects the Prime Minister into the latest fissure.
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