George Seitz (born 29 September 1941 in
Novi Slankamen,
Vojvodina,
Yugoslavia) is a
Labor Member of the
Legislative Assembly in
Victoria,
Australia.
Seitz migrated to Australia with his family in 1956, and became a member of the
Australian Labor Party (ALP) in 1971. In 1982, he was elected to represent the
Keilor district. He served as Labor's
whip while the party was in
Opposition during the 1990s.
On 13 May 2006,
The Age newspaper in
Melbourne published two articles alleging Seitz had been involved in
branch stacking within his electorate, using the proceeds of community bingo games and a rental apartment to pay for memberships to the Labor Party. It was alleged that Seitz used his influence within the ALP to secure
2007 pre-selection for prominent
Labor Right faction leader
Bill Shorten to run for
Federal Parliament (Seitz is a member of the Labor Unity faction, within Labor Right), and in return a Shorten-led party administrative committee allowed Seitz to continue serving in
Victorian Parliament past the usual retirement age of 65. Former
Victorian Premier John Cain said of Seitz, "His parliamentary career is eminently forgettable. I think the most I can say is that he was a backbench warrior who was out there in the local electorate doing a lot of branch-stacking and enjoying it." Seitz has denied
The Age<nowiki>'s</nowiki> allegations.
References
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