The replacement for former Health Minister, Jenny Mikakos in Northern Metropolitan Region will be appointed by faceless men and women, overwhelmingly from interstate.
The undemocratic decision making will cut Victorians out – including members of the local Labor Party branches – from a role in the decision.
Jenny Mikakos resigned via text to Daniel Andrews last Saturday. In a statement she said that “…in light of the Premier’s statement to the board of inquiry and the fact that there are elements in it that I strongly disagree with, I believe that I cannot continue to serve in this Cabinet.”
Labor’s distant National Executive is made up of 26 members comprising only 6 Victorians.
Of the voting members of the National Executive, only 4 of the 21 are Victorians, meaning only 19 per cent of those voters could be on the Victorian electoral roll. The rest of the Executive are outsiders who should have no legitimate say in the appointment of a replacement for a Victorian Upper House MP.
The Victorian Constitution calls for the replacement by a new member advised by the political party from which the retiring member represented.
Victorians would expect that only Victorians are involved in selecting a Victorian MP.
How can distant faceless men and women possibly understand or represent the people of the Northern Metropolitan Region?
Victorians have lost faith in the Andrews Labor Government who are now outsourcing the selection of a new Victorian MP to faceless Labor figures from outside Victoria.
Comments attributable to Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, David Davis:
“Labor’s faceless men and women are pulling the strings again.
“There something badly wrong when mysterious, unidentified out-of-town characters have the whip hand in the appointment of our MPs. How is this democracy?”