Former NSW Premier Morris Iemma is plotting a return to the political stage, with plans to contest the marginal federal seat of Barton.
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Fairfax Media has learnt Mr Iemma, who dramatically quit as premier in 2008, has told Labor Party players in south-west Sydney that he will contest preselection for Barton.
His name is also in the mix for the neighbouring seat of Banks.
Mr Iemma declined to comment when contacted, but an ALP source said: "He is hot to trot. He is dead-set interested this time."
A separate source said: "With his profile he would be very hard to beat, but there would be some heat about what he said during the state election campaign."
Mr Iemma joined his former treasurer Michael Costa and other ALP luminaries in criticising the Luke Foley-led state party in opposing the electricity sell-off.
He would become the 31st state premier or chief minister to enter federal parliament, including his direct predecessor in NSW, Bob Carr, if he is preselected and wins back Barton from the Liberal Party.
The electorate, which includes the suburbs of Kogarah, Rockdale and Brighton-le-Sands, is a knife-edge marginal, with fewer than 500 votes separating the Liberals and Labor in 2013. It is held by former Kogarah mayor Nickolas Varvaris.
Barton was held by former Labor attorney-general Robert McClelland between 1996 and 2013 and is expected to return to the Labor Party as it was one of the "high tide" seats washed away at the last election in a backlash against the Gillard government.
Mr Iemma is unlikely to declare his candidacy until changes to electoral boundaries that could affect the northern and western edges of Barton are announced and the new margin becomes clear.
Preselection for Barton and the neighbouring seat of Banks have been delayed until the Australian Electoral Commission reveals draft new boundaries later in the year.
Labor head office offered to smooth the way for Mr Iemma to contest Barton in 2013 but he pulled out eight months before the election.
Since exiting state politics at the height of the Labor war over electricity privatisation and the period of influence of Eddie Obeid and Joe Tripodi, Mr Iemma has been involved in junior cricket in the southern Sydney area and remains active in the ALP branch network around Beverly Hills and Kinsgrove, suburbs located within Barton.
According to ALP sources, Mr Iemma will have to defeat a field of contenders that will include Rockdale mayor Shane O'Brien who contested preselection for the seat in 2013 but was beaten by the eventual candidate, Steve McMahon.
Electrical Trades Union organiser Mark Buttigieg will be another contender, along with Hurstville councillor Brent Thomas.
If he switched to Banks, Mr Iemma would probably have to beat out Cr Thomas and former Bennelong candidate Jason Yat-Sen Li.
Former premiers who have gone to Canberra include Carmen Lawrence, John Fahey, Vince Gair and Jack Lang. Two Australian prime ministers also served as premiers: George Reid and Joseph Lyons.
