Premier Chris Minns has provoked a backlash from senior Labor branch members in western Sydney after personally announcing candidates in several winnable or Labor-held seats without a rank-and-file vote or sign-off from the party's national executive, with anger particularly acute in Winston Hills over the decision to bypass a South Asian candidate.
In the past week, Minns and Deputy Premier Prue Car have announced Labor candidates for the target seats of Holsworthy and Winston Hills, and the must-hold electorates of Prospect, Wallsend and Wyong. The selections have angered some local branch members because they were announced without a rank-and-file vote and, in at least one case, before nominations had opened.
The announcements bypassed local preselection. When upper house MP Emily Suvaal was announced on Tuesday, a government statement said Minns was “proud to announce that he has asked” her to nominate. The same wording was used to announce that Liverpool councillor Zeli Munjiza in Holsworthy, school principal Tracey Ellen in Wyong, and former police union official Pat Gooley in Winston Hills had been asked to nominate.
In Winston Hills, the notice for nominations appeared in members' inboxes only after Gooley had been announced. Multiple senior branch members, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said the decision to install a candidate over the local rank-and-file was particularly galling because of the high proportion of South Asian members in the branches. Six of the seven largest Labor branches in the electorate are led by a South Asian secretary, and in the past two elections the party ran South Asian candidates, Durga Owen in the then-seat of Seven Hills in 2019, and Sameer Pandey in 2023, who won swings against the Liberal incumbent.
Hills Shire councillor Immanuel Selvaraj, secretary of the Hills branch, said in a social media post he was “surprised to see a candidate for Winston Hills confirmed online on 5 November, a day before the call for nominations reached members on 6 November”. “So I ask, respectfully: is this preselection genuinely open? And will members with real credentials, who have contested elections for our party, get a fair go to become the candidate?”
Pandey, a Parramatta councillor who made the seat by a marginal 1.8 per cent in 2023, said in a statement: “I understand the announcement preceded the opening of the formal nomination process. I believe preselection processes are strongest when they are open, transparent and allow eligible candidates to be fairly considered before an announcement is made.”
One senior branch member, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect their position, said: “To put it bluntly, the ALP is criticising One Nation for talking about a monoculture, but it’s just for outside presentation because internally, they’re doing the same thing.”
Senior government and Sussex Street sources speaking on condition of anonymity defended the decisions, pointing to Gooley's credentials as a senior police officer and secretary of the NSW Police Association. In Winston Hills, where the right, soft and hard-left factions would all have contested a rank-and-file ballot, the party wanted to avoid a messy preselection. The sources also defended the government's record on candidate diversity, pointing to Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, newly elected upper house MP Bernard Govind and Liverpool MP Charishma Kaliyanda as MPs with South Asian heritage.
The cross-factional deal to install Suvaal, a Cessnock-based upper house MP, into the ultra-safe Hunter seat of Wallsend also risks internal disquiet. Suvaal is well liked but, as a member of Labor's right faction, would have struggled to win a rank-and-file vote in left-dominated Wallsend. If she holds the seat, it would likely pave the way for NSW Labor assistant general secretary George Simon to fill her upper house spot, potentially causing disquiet because outgoing MP Sonia Hornery is aligned to the soft left, which has been marginalised during the Minns government.
At the press conference announcing her candidacy, Suvaal said she had spoken to Hornery “a number of times over the last week, and I feel very fortunate to have her endorsement as a Labor candidate”. Asked again whether she was endorsing Suvaal, Hornery said: “I will be supporting and helping Emily to make sure she and Labor is elected.”
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The bypassing of rank-and-file selection risks alienating grassroots members in diverse, multicultural branches, particularly in western Sydney where Labor needs strong local support to hold marginal seats.
- The controversy could affect Labor's chances in the March 2026 state election, with some MPs warning the party could lose a dozen seats, and the rise of One Nation adding pressure in seats like Wallsend.
- The internal tensions highlight ongoing factional battles within NSW Labor, with the soft left losing influence under the Minns government.
Background
NSW Labor is preparing for the March 2026 state election, facing a tight contest. The party has been accused of bypassing its own preselection processes in several seats, a practice sometimes called "captain's calls" when the leader intervenes. The Minns government has used careful wording when announcing candidates, saying he has "asked" them to nominate, rather than endorsed them officially. The seats involved include Winston Hills, a marginal Liberal-held seat where Labor has run South Asian candidates in recent elections and gained swings, and Wallsend, an ultra-safe Labor seat where One Nation has been gaining traction.
Key Perspectives
Senior branch members (anonymous): Say the bypass of South Asian candidates in Winston Hills is galling, with one saying the party criticises One Nation for talking about a monoculture "but it's just for outside presentation because internally, they're doing the same thing."
Government and Sussex Street sources (anonymous): Defend the decisions, citing Gooley's credentials and the desire to avoid a messy preselection in Winston Hills, and point to other MPs with South Asian heritage in the government.
Hills Shire councillor Immanuel Selvaraj: Questions whether the preselection is genuinely open, asking if members with credentials "get a fair go to become the candidate."
Parramatta councillor Sameer Pandey: Says preselection processes are strongest when they are "open, transparent and allow eligible candidates to be fairly considered before an announcement is made."
One Labor MP (anonymous): Says the government is getting "these captain's calls for no reason other than just the brute force of the premier."
What to Watch
- Whether South Asian branch members in Winston Hills and other seats mobilise against the party or withhold support during the campaign.
- The outcome of any rank-and-file nomination challenges, particularly from Immanuel Selvaraj in Winston Hills.
- The reception of Emily Suvaal by Wallsend voters and whether Sonia Hornery's support is enough to secure Labor's hold on the seat.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedThe headline says Minns faces backlash over “captain’s calls” on NSW Labor candidates.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Minns earns ire from Labor branches over candidate ‘captain’s calls’.”
- SupportedSenior branch members in western Sydney are angry about candidates being announced without preselection, including in Winston Hills.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “The Minns government is facing an angry backlash from senior branch members in western Sydney after the premier personally announced a string of candidates in winnable or Labor-held seats without preselection”
- SupportedMinns personally announced candidates in several winnable or Labor-held seats without a rank-and-file vote or national executive sign-off.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “The selections have angered some local branch members, after Minns announced the candidates without a rank-and-file vote and, in at least one case, before nominations had opened.”
- SupportedIn the past week, Minns and Car announced candidates for Holsworthy, Winston Hills, Prospect, Wallsend and Wyong.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “In the past week, Premier Chris Minns and Deputy Premier Prue Car have announced Labor candidates for the target seats of Holsworthy and Winston Hills, and the must-hold electorates of Prospect, Wallsend and Wyong.”
- SupportedSome local branch members were angered because there was no rank-and-file vote and, in at least one case, nominations had not opened.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “The selections have angered some local branch members, after Minns announced the candidates without a rank-and-file vote and, in at least one case, before nominations had opened.”
- SupportedThe government said Minns was “proud to announce that he has asked” Emily Suvaal to nominate, and used the same wording for Munjiza, Ellen and Gooley.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “a statement from the government said Minns was “proud to announce that he has asked” her to nominate. The government used the same wording to announce Liverpool councillor Zeli Munjiza for the marginal Liberal-held seat of Holsworthy, local school principal Tracey Ellen in Wyong and Gooley in Winston Hills.”
- SupportedIn Winston Hills, members received the nominations notice after Gooley had been announced.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “In Winston Hills, the notice for nominations only appeared in members’ inboxes after Gooley had been announced by Minns.”
- SupportedSix of the seven largest Labor branches in the electorate are led by a South Asian secretary.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Six of the seven largest Labor branches in the electorate are led by a South Asian secretary”
- SupportedSelvaraj said he was “surprised to see a candidate for Winston Hills confirmed online on 5 November, a day before the call for nominations reached members on 6 November” and asked whether the process was genuinely open.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “he said he was “surprised to see a candidate for Winston Hills confirmed online on 5 November, a day before the call for nominations reached members on 6 November”. “So I ask, respectfully: is this preselection genuinely open? And will members with real credentials, who have contested elections for our party, get a fair go to become the candidate?””
- SupportedPandey said he understood the announcement preceded the formal nomination process and that preselection should be open and transparent.Brisbane Times - Latest News: ““I understand the announcement preceded the opening of the formal nomination process,” he said in a statement. “I believe preselection processes are strongest when they are open, transparent and allow eligible candidates to be fairly considered before an announcement is made.””
- SupportedAn anonymous senior branch member said Labor criticised One Nation over “monoculture” while doing the same internally.Brisbane Times - Latest News: ““To put it bluntly, the ALP is criticising One Nation for talking about a monoculture, but it’s just for outside presentation because internally, they’re doing the same thing,” said one senior branch member, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect their position.”
- SupportedSuvaal said she had spoken to Hornery “a number of times over the last week” and felt fortunate to have her endorsement; Hornery said she would support and help Suvaal and Labor get elected.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Suvaal said she had spoken to Hornery “a number of times over the last week, and I feel very fortunate to have her endorsement as a Labor candidate”. Asked again whether she was endorsing Suvaal, Hornery said: “I will be supporting and helping Emily to make sure she and Labor is elected.””