Union official wins seat fight

Hamish Heard
The fight for the federal seat of Corangamite will be on for young and old after Labor preselected a 30-year-old to tackle Liberal party stalwart Stewart McArthur at this year’s federal election.
Former Geelong mayor Peter McMullin’s political aspirations were in tatters yesterday after Labor announced Darren Cheeseman, a young trade unionist from Ballarat, had won a preselection battle.
Cr McMullin, angling for his second Corangamite preselection, had been touted as a strong favourite until the Independent revealed Labor sources claims two weeks ago that Mr Cheeseman was a “shoe-in” for the candidacy.
Mr Cheeseman, a socialist left candidate, will try to reverse a five-point margin to Mr McArthur, 69, who has held the seat for 23 years.
Labor’s candidate won a Corangamite ALP branch vote with a 58 per cent majority after preferences but his bid for preselection stumbled when party squabbling delayed the counting of an ALP central committee vote.
“Obviously, it’s a relief to finally be endorsed as the Labor candidate for Corangamite,” Mr Cheeseman said.
“I now look forward to taking up the fight as a part of the Rudd/Gillard team to secure a Labor government at the federal level and to secure Corangamite as a Labor-held seat.”
Mr Cheeseman said he planned to move to a house on the Bellarine Peninsula “in the near future”.
Mr Cheeseman refused to comment on whether his victory over Cr McMullin, a member of Labor’s right-wing Unity faction, signalled a shift away from the right’s dominance of local ALP branches.
“I’m not into making commentaries about the faction machinations of the party,” he said.
Cr McMullin blamed his failure to win preselection on “forces” within the Corangamite ALP branch and at state party room level that were “working against” him.
“I have no feelings of bitterness toward factional operatives or members who have chosen Mr Cheeseman,” Mr McMullin said.
“But I would be very disappointed if the basis for the decision not to vote for me was my association with the Labor Unity group in the ALP.”