Kristina Keneally defeat a wake-up call on parachuting in candidates, Labor diversity group says

Labor will face more losses like the defeat of former senator Kristina Keneally in the safe seat of Fowler if non-local candidates are parachuted in against the wishes of the community, a key New South Wales Labor group on cultural diversity has warned.

The NSW ALP Cultural Diversity Group is made up of about 40 Labor members including candidates, staffers and councillors from a range of cultural backgrounds.

Of 14 Labor seats in metropolitan Sydney, only two were represented by people with overseas non-European ancestry, the submission said. In metropolitan Melbourne, it was three out of 18 Labor seats.

It also said Labor should more strongly embrace Chinese and Indian communities, including encouraging state branches to preselect council candidates from those communities.