The party powerbrokers have installed their own candidate in Barton.

PRESS STATEMENT from the Hon Shaoquett Moselmane

As a young man in the ALP, I had a dream, a dream of becoming a member of the National Parliament. Sadly, it is not to be. In 1982 I joined the ALP because I believed in Labor and Labor values.

I loved our Labor leaders, Gough, Hawke, Keating and others. I believed in them and believed in our democracy. I believed Labor was the Party of the working class.

The party that serves the people of Australia and provides them with access to education, to decent health care and dignity at work and respect as Australians.

To that end, I can only express my gratitude to those who served with sincerity. I have served along many kind and decent Labor members and colleagues to achieve what is possible at local and state levels.

Doing what ever I could to help our people, all people particularly the multicultural communities, all Chinese and Asian Australians, all Australians of Arab heritage, all people of the subcontinent, all people in the Asia Pacific, all people of faith, all migrants and refugees seeking a better life in Australia.

I loved their friendships and I hope to maintain their friendship into the future.

Yes I am disappointed, in fact saddened that Barton’s rank and file were denied the right to preselect their own to represent them in parliament.

I am certainly disappointed that I was not given the opportunity to run for Barton. It’s the price of standing up for what I believed in, the principles and matters of justice. The reality is, the party is no longer the party of its members. It’s the party for the overlords.

I remain grateful to the many decent people in Labor and the many friends I made over the four decades. I will now sign off and resign as President of the Federal Electorate Council of Barton, effective from today.

It’s time to look for work to pay the mortgage and look after my family.