Wentworth challenger named
WHEN nominations closed for ALP preselection in the Sydney seat of Wentworth last Friday, lawyer Steven Lewis discovered he was the only contender with his hat in the ring.
WHEN nominations closed for ALP preselection in the Sydney seat of Wentworth last Friday, lawyer Steven Lewis discovered he was the only contender with his hat in the ring.
The business executive turned lawyer will be formally declared as Labor’s candidate next month, pitching him against Liberal incumbent Malcolm Turnbull, as Australians switch into election mode.
Lewis remained the sole candidate for preselection, after NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) colleague Robin Margo withdrew from the race.
“I’m excited and honoured … We’ve always said it’s going to be a very tough campaign. While you’ve got to be realistic about it, the nature of the electorate is changing.
“There are a number of factors that voters will take into account. Are they looking to the future to have a local member represent their local interests, or to the past?”
Lewis said at this year’s election he would offer voters a grassroots alternative.
“Malcolm Turnbull has been preoccupied for a number of years now with much wider issues, [including] the leadership of his party. My goal is to be a good local member.”
Asked if, given Turnbull’s record with the Jewish community, this challenge will become a battle for the hearts and minds of eastern Sydney’s Jews, Lewis emphasised that the community “is one of a number of groups that make up the electorate”.
“I’m not a Jewish candidate. I just happen to be a candidate who is Jewish. That’s a very important distinction,” the longtime JBD member said. “I’ve had a long association with the [Jewish] community and I hope that association continues ‚Ķ It would be very nice if the [Wentworth Jewish] community have a representative in Federal Parliament, but that is not the only reason people vote. But I certainly would be a vocal and supportive representative of the Jewish community’s needs and concerns.”
The Slater & Gordon lawyer said he also wanted to fight for improved mental health care, noting that his electorate includes The Gap, “which is unfortunately a place where a lot of people go to take their lives”. He is also keenly interested in improving the conditions for homeless people and helping with measures on the environment.
Lewis, 53, cut his political teeth protesting against the visiting Springbok rugby team from apartheid-era South Africa in 1971.
He joined the ALP in 1979 and is currently the Premier’s appointee on the NSW Election Funding Authority.
Lewis was involved in the campaign to free Soviet Jews and visited the Soviet Union in 1988 as the personal assistant to communal icon Isi Leibler in negotiating the release of refuseniks. He was also involved in the contempt-of-court case against Fredrick Toben that saw alleged Holocaust denier jailed for three months last year.
PETER KOHN
PHOTO: Steven Lewis. Photo: AJN file
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