Female executive a favourite for Victorian Senate
Primrose Riordan
14 January 2016
The Australian Financial Review
Victoria’s all-male Liberal Senate team could be facing a shake up: AustralianSuper adviser Jane Hume has emerged as a favourite to replace outgoing Senator Michael Ronaldson.
Freedom and Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson’s decision to bow out of the race on Tuesday is “building momentum” for an all-female ticket at the 2016 election, say Liberal MPs, and could help Ms Hume take the top slot.
Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer’s chief of staff Julian Sheezel, who was thought to be in with a chance, also pulled out of the race last week.
“Before Tim quit [Ms Hume] had a good chance, now she has an even better chance,” a Liberal source said. “Jane’s got friends across the party”.
To have the best chance of winning and becoming a senator, candidates must be in the top two spots. National Senator Bridget McKenzie will retain the number two position. Senior party sources said Ms Hume is supported by Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg, Wannon MP Dan Tehan, and Deakin MP Michael Sukkar.
One Liberal MP said: “Jane Hume is strongly favoured to win the first spot. Jane has cross-party support”.
“I think it’s time we walk the talk and had more women,” said another MP supporting Ms Hume.
Institute of Public Affairs deputy director James Paterson, 28, is also running for the number one spot, and his supporters say he has the backing of at least two Liberal ministers.
Mr Paterson has told party selectors his media and fundraising experience would allow him to start campaigning as soon as possible in a busy election year.
Ms Hume’s supporters hoped for an all-female Senate ticket, and to slot Glen Eira City Council Deputy Mayor Karina Okotel into the third spot, which some in the party view as winnable.
That spot is also likely to be contested by a former Liberal candidate for Frankston, Sean Armistead.
Nominations close on January 25 and Liberal members will vote on March 6.
Glen Eira Debates 
January 15, 2016 at 9:26 AM
OMG, Okotel’s career as a GE Councillor has been a failure, her skills are low, her delivery very poor. If her run as a councillor was supposed to be a prelude to greater things, she has bombed out completely. She has not demonstrated anything that would make you think she has the personally to fore fill any greater role in politics or public service. Karina appears to be just another person trying to get on to the taxpayer payroll, Joe Hockey said the age of entitlement is over, obviously K. Okotel doesn’t think this applied to her.
January 15, 2016 at 9:40 AM
Okotel is no different to many other councillors with political ambitions. Glen Eira council has been full of these inflated egos over the years. To name just a few – Lipshutz, Staikos, Pilling, Delahunty. Then there are the dyed in the wool political party supporters who generally vote along party political lines rather than what is good for local residents. Party political hacks have no place in local government. Councillors should be “independent” and first and foremost should be councillors because their primary interest is representing their community and not being on council because it is the first stepping stone to a political career.
January 15, 2016 at 10:12 AM
Okotel has been an abyssmal failure as a Councillor but clearly she has managed to satisfy Liberal Party expectations.
The fact that the Liberal party thinks her pre-selection presents a :”winnable” opportunity says much about the lack of quality of potential election candidates. It also indicates that the upper echelons of the Liberal Party are once again about to embark on a election campaign based on a miss reading of the electorate.
January 15, 2016 at 10:42 AM
Anon 1.You have just given a great reason for any Senate Candidate to run. You have to be hopeless to run.
January 16, 2016 at 2:32 PM
To qualify as a politician all one needs is a pulse. i.e. Staikos.
January 15, 2016 at 1:49 PM
I’ve dug out all the old election flyers. The Okotel one said –
Karina Okotel stands for – opposing inappropriate development. Maintaining neighbourhood character and improving strip shopping centres. Offering increased community consultation and involvement in local issues.
Further on there was this bit – Developing a stronger sense of community through increased opportunities for community participation.
January 15, 2016 at 5:16 PM
Almost 4 years later, the scorecard is not looking good.
January 15, 2016 at 5:35 PM
That is so funny, thank you for that piece of history, see may make a good pollie after all, after all she knows how to BS and keep a straight face. It almost as funny as Hyams saying he represents the whole community.
January 16, 2016 at 2:35 PM
Having known Oktotell for sometime, she is fine by herself. The gang has been misguiding her from day one. She is no fool. The gang are using her because she is a member of liberal party. Not sure if Okotell is aware of the games played.Oh yes, Hyams surely represents the whole community so much so that he cared a bloody damn with the disasterious Residential zones.
January 16, 2016 at 4:28 PM
Either way! if Kirina is or if she isn’t aware of the games being played by her Lib cohorts, it makes no difference, the outcome is the same, she either just plain weak or could careless about much other than her own progress up the ladder toward a lifestyle funded from the public purse.
January 16, 2016 at 5:45 PM
Okotell knows she has less chances to be re-elected as a Councillor. Just heard Esakoff has shifted to Elsternwick as she knows she will not get the number of votes from Carnegie where she supported destruction of Carnegie. Peeling without feeling voted with the gang to demolish Frogmore house which was a heritage buildng to give way to the Jewish aged care and sold the residents by voting as 5th vote to demolish the Frogmore heritage building. Pulling without feeling will suffer curses from residents. He came third for last election after Okotell. If he decides to stand he will see how disappointed the residents of his ward have been. BTW Esakoff’s plan is to knock off Delahunty and she will run with Lipshutz’s friend Kuran. These are predictions. Soundness will struggle. Tucker ward will be a mystery with the developments without proper transport and buses. No bus to GESAC as yet!!! so we can expect bottlenecks in streets. Good luck in October 2016.
January 19, 2016 at 5:00 PM
Frogmore building was falling down. Pilling was looking at advancing our society and not just propping up an old building that no one really wanted.
There are plenty of historical building in the district that are well kept.
January 19, 2016 at 9:26 PM
Cut the crap.
Frogmore was not falling down – it operated as an aged care facility until October, 2014 when it was shut down (due to new govt regulations) and it was demolished by July 2015.
When the shit hit the fan (ie resident opposition), Council commissioned an independent heritage consultant to assess it’s heritage merits. The report, dated January, 2015 designated the building as worthy of protection due to its uniqueness, architecture and condition, both with the local area and within the City of Glen Eira.
Pilling voted to remove it (he got two votes due to being the immediate past Mayor) because he decided to ignore the 2015 report in favour of 2003 report (like nothing changes over 12 years).
Pilling’s comments were
. before the shit hit the fan and which he should have been winkie popped on “I’ve lived in Murrumbeena for 20 years and never heard of it so how important can it be”, A view which he never waivered on and which says much about his quality of representation and awareness of the electorate (over 2,000 signature on the petition, objections to Jewish care’s plans and an appeal to the Minister) which he represents, and
. as an explanation of the his decision to be the deciding vote, “it was a victim of its own rarity”. Now, doesn’t that say a lot how he views globally accepted heritage values.
Oh and by the way would you care to
. list those well preserved historical buildings in the Carnegie/Murrumbeena are that date back to the 1880s
. or even consider why the National Trust was prepared to go to bat for it’s Frogmore’s retention.
All well documented, freely available and not disputed.