Shane Easson

Career

Easson is a former Chief of Staff to former NSW Premier Barrie Unsworth. Easson currently advises firms on transport, and since 1984 has written and presented on behalf of the Labor Party its submissions for NSW state and federal redistributions. Easson has an MBA which he studied for at UNSW Sydney.

He was formerly Education and Research Office for the NSW Branch of the Labor Party (1984–86). Easson's younger twin brother is Michael Easson, formerly Secretary of the Labor Council of NSW (1989–94). In 2006 he completed the ALP's case for the NSW federal redistribution and also Queensland's federal redistribution - where many analysts correctly predicted the 2007 election would be won.

Bennelong

Easson put forward the Labor Party's proposals for the redistribution changes in John Howard's seat of Bennelong, with the belief in two key factors weakening the once-safe seat for the Liberal Party including electoral boundary changes and migrants entering the area. Due to the rapid influx of mostly Asian migrants he suggests that the growing ethnic population in Bennelong is "more susceptible to voting Labor than those they have replaced". He said that this factor would help Maxine McKew in her bid to win the Prime Minister's seat.

In an interview on the ABC TV's 7.30 Report, McKew stated that her reasons for running for the seat of Benelong were due to a report on compiled by Easson.

"There was an interesting analysis which had been done by a Shane Easson, NSW Labor Party figure, and that was doing the rounds within Labor Party circles. And Bob had a good look at that and it was very, very interesting, it showed that Bennelong was winnable."

Wentworth

Easson released his own analysis of the 2006 redistribution, titled "Wentworth: Turnball's Darkness At Noon". In this he concluded that "if Turnbull saw the prize of Wentworth as a vehicle to become prime minister he is likely to be sadly mistaken." This is due to the movement of Wentworth into areas such as Darlinghurst; broadening the area's scope to a large gay and typically Green community. The report appeared to be a boost for the 2007 Labor nominee George Newhouse in usurping the Liberal stronghold on the seat. According to Easson, the statistics show that Wentworth is now "a true marginal", with the area slowly shifting toward Labor.

Malcolm Turnbull replied to the report in the Australian Jewish News saying that "there are no new insights in it. It isn't a piece of research it's an essay, a bit of speculation." He did not dismiss Easson's argument that the Labor Party was making inroads in Wentworth, however he did say that Easson and the Party's assumption that homosexuals would automatically vote for Labor was "arrogance" on their behalf.

In late August 2007, Easson was reported in The Australian as disappointed with the Wentworth Jewish Community who were, according to Easson, interfering with the redistribution changes made in Wentworth by favouring the Liberal candidate, Malcolm Turnbull, opposed to George Newhouse, the Labor candidate. In The Australian Easson commented that he was "both impressed by Turnbull's ability to solicit support within the Jewish community but also disappointed that the various representatives chose to buy into an argument affecting the second-most marginal Coalition-held seat in NSW".