At least three people are expected to seek the Labour Party nomination for the Dunedin South electorate to be vacated by sitting member of Parliament Clare Curran at this year’s September general election.
The Star understands that Rachel Brooking, a lawyer specialising in local government and environmental law; Ingrid Leary, broadcaster, lawyer and cultural relations specialist; and Simon McCallum, a senior lecturer in software engineering, are all seeking nomination. It is not known if there are likely to be other nominees.
Nominations closed Friday at 5pm.
The date for the selection meeting is yet to be set.
Party general secretary Andre Anderson, outlining the party’s selection process, said he expected the selection to be complete in late February or early March.
The party wanted to have all candidates across the country selected by April.
The close of nominations is the first step in the process. Where there is more than one candidate, the Labour Electorate Committee (LEC) must set up a question and answer meeting and invite the local membership and nominees.
This Q and A meeting is separate from the eventual selection meeting, which involves a combination of a formal speech from candidates and a question and answer session. The meeting is open to local members and affiliates and they get to vote by secret ballot on their preferred candidate.
However, that does not decide the outcome, but is considered as one of seven votes in the selection process. The other six come from the members of the selection committee, which comprises three members chosen by the local LEC and three from the party’s New Zealand council.
No dates for the meetings could be given yet as they would have to fit in with other meetings council representatives had to attend around the country as well as being at times which suited the local members, Mr Anderson said.
When Ms Curran won the nomination in 2008 she faced three other nominees, including then-incumbent David Benson-Pope.
