‘Enraged’ union boss defends naming and shaming Victorian Labor MPs who had ‘zero conversations’ with voters

Candidates must ‘work their ass off’ to stop One Nation or expect withdrawal of union support, Trades Hall Council secretary says Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The head of Victoria’s powerful Trades Hall Council has defended naming and shaming 23 state Labor MPs and candidates for having “zero conversations” with their constituents in the past two weeks, saying they all need to “work their ass off” to stop One Nation’s rise. Luke Hilakari wrote to MPs and candidates on Tuesday morning warning if they “don’t give a shit about winning”, they shouldn’t expect support from the union movement during the November election campaign. As One Nation’s popularity grows, Hilakari said the union movement was planning its “biggest election campaign ever” and wanted to identify which MPs and candidates were actively campaigning in order to decide where to focus its efforts. “I was frankly enraged to learn that 23 MPs or candidates have had ZERO conversations with voters in the last fortnight,” Hilakari wrote in the email, which had the subject line, “Complacent MPs should not e