THE POLL BLUDGER
Victorian Legislative Assembly Election 2006

KEILOR
Labor 18.0%

Bordered to the east by the Maribyrnong River, the electorate of Keilor includes suburbs 20 kilometres north-west of the city including Taylors Lakes and Sydenham along with Keilor itself, and extends into semi-rural territory to the west. The seat has been safely held by Labor at all times since its creation in 1976. Croatian-born George Seitz (right) became member at a June 1982 by-election held after the seat's previous member, John Ginifer, resigned due to terminal ill health one month after being appointed Consumer Affairs Minister in the newly elected John Cain government. Renowned as a warlord for various factions across his career, Seitz was originally associated with the Socialist Left but became detached from it as part of the split that led Theo Theophanous to establish his own faction. At this time he secured support from the alliance of the hard left Pledge and the right Labor Unity factions, at first being associated with the former but ultimately emerging a stalwart member of the latter. Now over 65, Seitz needed the permission of the administrative committee to stand, and allegedly received it because his numbers were required to deliver the federal Maribyrnong preselection to Bill Shorten. He subsequently won preselection despite a challenge from Doug McLeod, variously described as "an independent" and "little known".

Seitz's reputation as a rough and ready political operator, which extends back two decades, has reached new heights following a series of claims and revelations during the current term. Last year, a party member provided The Age with a stat dec alleging irregularities in party records designed to exaggerate the level of activity in Seitz-controlled branches; and his electorate officer, Kirsten Psaila, was charged with breach of party rules following an investigation into branch stacking in the federal seat of Gorton. In June, a former electorate officer told The Age of activities including the establishment of bogus community organisations to divert $290,000 from bingo games to fund party memberships and buy a beach house near Geelong, which in turn generated rent to fund more memberships. Steve Bracks's call for an internal party investigation into the allegations was rebuffed by the party's 40-member administrative committee, which is dominated by the Right and includes Seitz himself and the aforementioned Psaila. Ellen Whinnett of the Herald-Sun subsequently reported that many in his faction were keen to let go of Seitz, but were unable to do so due to his "control" of up to 800 northern suburbs branch members. Whinnett further said that "senior party officials" were hoping to broker a deal allowing both the Left and the Right to dispose of troublesome candidates: Seitz in the Right's case, Khalid Eideh (Western Metropolitan upper house candidate) in the Left's. Five weeks out from polling day, the police launched an investigation into the bingo game allegations.

Among those eyeing Seitz's seat have been Right faction colleague Elaine Carbines, a Geelong province MLC who could only manage the dubious third place on the Western Victoria ticket under Labor's arrangements for the new upper house. Another aspirant named by Michael Bachelard of The Age was Chris Couzens, electorate officer to Geelong MP Ian Tresize, who last year split from the Left faction after it overlooked her for an upper house seat. Liberal candidate John Clifford (left) is a "claims and liability consultant for a large electricity organisation".

ASSESSMENT: Labor retain