Labor senator Kristina Keneally has declared she wants to live in multicultural south-west Sydney rather than her exclusive island home 44km away.
The former NSW premier and federal Labor frontbencher is being parachuted into the ultra-safe seat of Fowler after failing to win the top spot on the Opposition's Senate ticket.
This has seen Labor stop lawyer Tu Le, the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, from being its candidate despite the party promising to get more migrants into Parliament.
Instead of running in the third Senate spot, which Labor last won in 2007, Senator Keneally is instead being parachuted in as an ALP candidate in a multicultural electorate that has been subjected to harsher lockdown restrictions than most of Sydney.
The area is also 44km from her northern beaches home on Scotland Island, which can only be accessed by ferry, and contains Covid hotspots of Fairfield and Liverpool council areas.
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Labor senator Kristina Keneally has declared she wants to live in multicultural south-west Sydney rather than her exclusive island home 44km away\
Senator Keneally confirmed she and her husband Ben were house hunting in the area, four years after they bought their island home for $1.8million.
'We're looking at different types of properties at the moment, but I don't think we've made a final decision on those questions,' she told Sydney radio 2GB.
But the mother of two sons stopped short of saying whether she would buy or rent, arguing a possible early election complicated things.
'I don't think we've made a final decision on those questions,' she said.
Senator Keneally's preselection, imposed by Labor's New South Wales general secretary Bob Nanva, also means she will be the candidate at the expense of Ms Le, 30.
Senator Keneally, Labor's American-born immigration spokeswoman, agreed with a suggestion from 2GB broadcaster Joe Hildebrand that Labor needed to better represent people from non-English speaking backgrounds.
'It's fair enough we have a discussion about the representation of people from diverse backgrounds,' Senator Keneally said.
'Is there more we can do? Yes.'
She also acknowledged Ms Le, who had the support of Fowler's outgoing Labor MP Chris Hayes, was talented.
'Right across the Labor Party, there are a number of talented up-and-coming young people including Tu Le,' Senator Keneally said.
The former NSW premier and federal Labor frontbencher is being parachuted into the ultra-safe seat of Fowler
