Shorten tries to dodge Wills fray

Federal Labor leader Bill Shorten insists locals will have their say on some very strong candidates as a bitter preselection process erupts in the Victorian seat of Wills.

Peter Khalil, one of the frontrunners to replace retiring MP Kelvin Thomson, has been the target of a dirt-sheet attacking his work in Iraq.

Mr Shorten, when quizzed by reporters in Sydney on Friday, declined to say whether he would intervene in the factional dispute.