For months,the premier’s office and colleagues have tried to stop Kairouz from quitting before 11.59pm on Wednesday. If she leaves politics before then,a standalone byelection is automatically triggered. After this date,the speaker of parliament’s lower house can allow the seat to be decided at the state election.
A Labor source who requested anonymity said Kairouz was preparing to send her resignation letter late on Wednesday. But the situation was fluid and her mind was not made up,they said.
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A separate Labor source said Kairouz felt scorned by the party’s processes and did not feel obliged to spare Premier Daniel Andrews a byelection. Her resignation would create a new irritation for Labor a week after itlost four of its most experienced ministers.
A byelection in Kororoit would be a test of the government’s popularity after years of pandemic-induced stress spawning economic insecurity,health system strain and polarised views about Andrews’ forceful leadership style.
Federal Laborsuffered 15 per cent swings in some booths in the federal seat overlapping Kororoit (Gorton) and the major parties’ internal research shows a lower level of support for the government in some outer-suburban areas. State Labor retains an election-winning lead,according to themost recent Resolve Political Monitor poll. Labor holds Kororoit by a 25 per cent margin.
Kairouz’s decision comes amid negotiations between her lawyers and Labor’s legal team over hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. Kairouz unsuccessfully tried to prove the Labor Party acted outside its rules when it charged her.