Updated
Labor will endorse high-profile barrister Fiona McLeod as its candidate for the federal seat of Higgins, in a bid to improve its chances of snatching the blue-ribbon seat for the first time at the upcoming election.
Key points:
- Ms McLeod is a former president of the Law Council of Australia
- The Greens attracted 25 per cent of the primary vote at the last election
- Higgins has been held by the Liberal Party since its creation in 1949
Higgins will be vacated by incumbent Liberal MP and Minister Kelly O'Dwyer at the next election due to family reasons, and last month the Liberal Party preselected paediatrician Katie Allen as its candidate.
The seat, which spans Melbourne's affluent inner south-east, has been held by the Liberal Party since its creation in 1949.
Former prime ministers Harold Holt and John Gorton, along with former treasurer Peter Costello, are among its past local members.
However, the Greens have held a growing presence in the seat and attracted 25 per cent of the primary vote at the last election and around 40 per cent after preferences.
Labor had preselected Josh Spiegel as its candidate before Ms O'Dwyer announced her retirement from politics, but the ABC has confirmed he will step aside for Ms McLeod.
The party's executive is expected to formally endorse Ms McLeod as the new Higgins candidate on Friday morning.
A silk with high-profile cases
Ms McLeod is a senior counsel barrister and former president of the Law Council of Australia who led the Commonwealth's legal team in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
She also led a bushfire class action into the 2009 Murrindindi fires and led the legal team in the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.
In November, as chair of Transparency International Australia, Ms McLeod argued in favour of the establishment of a powerful integrity commission.
She has also acted as an advocate for victims of human trafficking and called for a national compensation scheme to be created for victims of human trafficking.
The Greens have retained their 2016 candidate Jason Ball, who rose to prominence as a campaigner against homophobia in football and sport.
He garnered a 1.9 per cent swing towards him at the last election.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-election, event, federal-parliament, parliament, melbourne-3000, australia
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