Canteen Worker
First Grader
Footballer may tackle Latham's seat for Liberal team
By Aban Contractor and Elizabeth Bowron
January 29, 2005
Paul Langmack ... "I think John Howard is doing a great job."
Photo: Nick Laham
The former rugby league player Paul Langmack is being considered by the Liberal Party to stand for the seat of Werriwa, vacated by Mark Latham.
Mr Langmack, who played for Canterbury-Bankstown, Western Suburbs, NSW and Australia, and last year coached South Sydney, has been away and said he had not yet been approached Liberal officials.
"I'd always think about it," he told the Herald yesterday. "I'm a Liberal Party supporter. I think John Howard is doing a great job."
A Liberal spokesman said the decision on whether or not the party would stand a candidate in the seat, between Campbelltown and Liverpool, would not be made for seven to 10 days.
He would not be drawn on whether Mr Langmack was on a list of contenders. "It's way too premature to talk about anyone. We don't have a strong expectation of winning the seat."
The Herald understands that senior Liberals believe that, although Labor holds the seat by a 9.3 per cent margin, they could poll well with the right high-profile candidate.
They say the Liberals have done well in Sydney's west over the past 10 years and won much of Labor's heartland.
On one side of Werriwa is Macarthur, held by the Liberals' Pat Farmer, another celebrity sportsman, by a 9.5 per cent margin. On the other is Fowler, held by Labor's Julia Irwin by a 21.36 per cent margin.
The new Labor leader, Kim Beazley, will visit Werriwa today.
The Labor frontrunner is Campbelltown's Mayor, Brenton Banfield. He is expected to be opposed by at least two other preselection candidates when the party meets next Friday.
By Aban Contractor and Elizabeth Bowron
January 29, 2005
Paul Langmack ... "I think John Howard is doing a great job."
Photo: Nick Laham
The former rugby league player Paul Langmack is being considered by the Liberal Party to stand for the seat of Werriwa, vacated by Mark Latham.
Mr Langmack, who played for Canterbury-Bankstown, Western Suburbs, NSW and Australia, and last year coached South Sydney, has been away and said he had not yet been approached Liberal officials.
"I'd always think about it," he told the Herald yesterday. "I'm a Liberal Party supporter. I think John Howard is doing a great job."
A Liberal spokesman said the decision on whether or not the party would stand a candidate in the seat, between Campbelltown and Liverpool, would not be made for seven to 10 days.
He would not be drawn on whether Mr Langmack was on a list of contenders. "It's way too premature to talk about anyone. We don't have a strong expectation of winning the seat."
The Herald understands that senior Liberals believe that, although Labor holds the seat by a 9.3 per cent margin, they could poll well with the right high-profile candidate.
They say the Liberals have done well in Sydney's west over the past 10 years and won much of Labor's heartland.
On one side of Werriwa is Macarthur, held by the Liberals' Pat Farmer, another celebrity sportsman, by a 9.5 per cent margin. On the other is Fowler, held by Labor's Julia Irwin by a 21.36 per cent margin.
The new Labor leader, Kim Beazley, will visit Werriwa today.
The Labor frontrunner is Campbelltown's Mayor, Brenton Banfield. He is expected to be opposed by at least two other preselection candidates when the party meets next Friday.
