Tu Le

Tu Le is an Australian lawyer and political candidate for the Australian Labor Party. Her candidacy became notable in 2021 when a local preselection process in Fowler, an electorate in Sydney, was halted in favour of choosing Senator Kristina Keneally.[1] Le appeared in the media along with criticism of her party for promoting a political insider and failing to reflect a multicultural community, contributing to the otherwise safe seat being lost to independent Dai Le at the 2022 federal election.[2][3] In 2024, Le was selected as the Labor challenger for the same seat in the 2025 federal election.[4]

Le was born in south-west Sydney, her parents being Vietnamese refugees.[5] She graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws. She was admitted as a lawyer in 2016.[6]

In 2019, she managed a migrant employment legal service and co-founded a youth group. She went on to co-create the Vietnamese Australian Forum. She later joined the board of a human rights charity and was elected deputy chair of Asian Women at Work. She became an executive member of the Vietnamese Australian Lawyers Association. In 2021, she began working as a community education lawyer for a legal centre in Marrickville.[5]

Le was recognised for her community work as the 2022 winner of the Asian Australian Leadership Awards. The organisers argued that her advocacy put the lack of Asian Australian political representation on the national agenda.[7]

Political candidacies

2022 federal candidacy

In 2021, Le was endorsed by retiring MP for Fowler Chris Hayes as his preferred successor. Hayes worked with Le and felt she had strong links to the community and would reflect the cultural diversity of the area which included over 50,000 Asian-Australians as of the 2016 census.[8][9] The preselection process was halted in favour of Kristina Keneally, a former premier of New South Wales and experienced senator who due to union influence, required repositioning from the upper house into a safe Labor seat in the lower house.[10] Though Keneally nominally moved to the seat, she had no roots within the working-class electorate and was a resident of the Northern Beaches area of Sydney.[11] The decision was picked up by international news media as demonstrative of Australian political class prejudices.[2] To diffuse the controversy, Labor appeared to be promising Le a seat in the New South Wales parliament at a later election.[12] The sidelining of Le for an American-born woman in a seat primarily made up of people of Asian background and many refugees was criticised by Labor MPs such as Anne Aly and Peter Khalil.[13][14]

Independent Dai Le, herself a Vietnamese refugee, was able to capitalise on the controversy and defeated Keneally in one of only two Labor losses at the 2022 federal election.[3] After the defeat, the Cabramatta branch of the Labor party, called for the expulsion of Tu Le for her public criticism of the party and undermining their election campaign.[15][16][17]

2023 state candidacy

Le ran for preselection to be the Labor candidate in the 2023 New South Wales state election to replace Nick Lalich, the retiring member for Cabramatta with a promise by the party to not interfere with the local preselection vote. The local branch endorsed Tri Vo, ahead of Le and Kate Hoang, with 39 of 61 votes.[18] Vo went on to win the Cabramatta seat.[19]

2025 federal candidacy

In October 2024, Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Cabramatta to announce Le as the Labor candidate for Fowler in the 2025 election. To distinguish herself from the incumbent independent Dai Le, Tu Le said the people of Fowler "deserve a voice in the Labor government", however no reference was made to past political events.[4] Le started campaigning while pregnant and gave birth to her second child in March 2025, just prior to the election.[20]

Given the possibility of a hung parliament, Le has argued her independent opponent may back a Liberal government that has little direct support in the local community. Dai Le argues her opponent lacks experience and the electorate's main concern is the cost of living.[21]

References

  1. ^ Haydar, Nour (10 September 2021). "Kristina Keneally to nominate for safe Labor western Sydney seat of Fowler". ABC News. Archived from the original on 4 February 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b Zhuang, Yan (6 October 2021). "A Sea of White Faces in Australia's 'Party of Multiculturalism'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  3. ^ a b Malone, Ursula (22 May 2022) [21 May 2022]. "Voters reject Labor's Kristina Keneally, Dai Le to take seat of Fowler at 2022 federal election". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b Remeikis, Amy (4 October 2024). "PM introduces Tu Le as Labor challenger for western Sydney seat of Fowler". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 February 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  5. ^ a b Boscaini, Joshua (5 October 2022). "How Tu Le turned being dumped by Labor to run for the seat of Fowler into an opportunity". ABC News. Archived from the original on 22 June 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  6. ^ "Our Team". Addison Road, Marrickville NSW: Addison Road Community Organisation. Archived from the original on 26 January 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  7. ^ Topsfield, Jewel (4 October 2022). "Candidate 'elbowed out' by Labor named most influential Asian Australian". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 21 July 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  8. ^ Haydar, Nour (24 March 2021). "Veteran Labor MP Chris Hayes to leave safe seat, backs local lawyer to take his place". ABC News. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  9. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Fowler". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  10. ^ "Right-wing unions fight over Kristina Keneally's future". The Australian. 17 September 2020. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  11. ^ Glenday, James and Haydar, Nour (9 September 2021). "Kristina Keneally's swap into safe Western Sydney seat sparks anger among Labor locals". ABC News. Archived from the original on 7 February 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  12. ^ Harris, Rob (10 September 2021). "Keneally vows to 'step up and fight' as Labor brawls over lower house move". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 25 December 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  13. ^ Martin, Sarah (13 September 2021). "Labor MP says party must 'improve ethnic diversity' after Kristina Keneally parachuted into Fowler". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  14. ^ Australian Associated Press (11 September 2021). "Anne Aly says Labor's move to parachute Kristina Keneally into Fowler is a 'huge failure' on diversity". Archived from the original on 27 January 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2025 – via The Guardian.
  15. ^ Knott, Matthew (6 July 2022). "Local anger lingers after Kristina Keneally defeat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 1 December 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  16. ^ Green, Antony. "Cabramatta - NSW Election 2023". ABC News. Archived from the original on 19 September 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  17. ^ Taouk, Maryanne (25 March 2023). "How NSW election wins in Western Sydney helped turn state red again". ABC News. Archived from the original on 3 February 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  18. ^ Nilsson, Anton (17 March 2023). "'Election circus': Keneally's doomed Fowler run still looms large in southwest Sydney". Crikey. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  19. ^ "Mr Tri Vo, MP". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  20. ^ Pike, Elizabeth (21 March 2025). "Fowler Labor challenger Tu Le gives birth ahead of federal election". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 March 2025. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  21. ^ Knott, Matthew (25 March 2025). "The feud fuelling one of the tightest battles of the next election". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 25 February 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.