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Former ABC Television personality Maxine McKew will contest the federal seat of Bennelong, currently held by Prime Minister John Howard, at the election this year.
The need to win an election for the centre-left Australian Labor Party is expected to substantially reduce the ABC star’s left-wing bias.
The nomination for elected office is the latest step in a remarkable evolution from decorated journalist to political figure. McKew announced she would be working for the Labor party full-time in 1974, when she joined the ABC as a cadet journalist.
Since then, she has held a number of senior party posts, including host of The 7.30 Report.
But in running for Bennelong, McKew’s name will be put to some 70,000 electors: earning her the biggest audience of her career to date.
McKew’s candidacy has drawn fire from Labor’s Jenny Macklin, who decried the proliferation of “McCandidates”. McKew herself is just glad she never invited Brian Burke to “Lunch with Maxine McKew”.
