Kevin Rudd. Annastacia Palaszczuk. Two of the biggest names in the Queensland Labor Party — but like Tanya Plibersek, they appear sidelined from Anthony Albanese’s election campaign. Why?
The reason Rudd is not standing on street corners, waving signs, is clear. He’s not oozing with popularity in the state where Scott Morrison’s Coalition has a mighty hold on seats. But the lack of a spotlight on Palaszczuk, whose party won victory last time round on the back of her personal popularity, is more intriguing.
She’s simply in love, some supporters say, citing her relationship with Dr Reza Adib, a medical surgeon specialising in obesity treatment.
They are not being sexist or patronising. They are simply making the point that she’s given all of herself to the job for years, and deserves time out like anyone else. She’s recently taken holidays, and no one should begrudge her spending time with good friends, enjoying long, sunny days on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
But others — and many of these are in her own party — point to trouble in paradise, where a string of integrity issues continues to plague her government and dominate the news agenda.
The focus has not been on the government being corrupt, but how it deals with integrity issues and two top-level inquiries — one by Tony Fitzgerald QC into the state’s corruption watchdog, the Crime and Corruption Commission; the other by Peter Coaldrake into accountability and culture in the state’s public service.
Already that latter inquiry is giving the government indigestion, with an initial report last week unearthing the powerful and sometimes murky role played by lobbyists and ministerial staff. Coaldrake, the former Queensland University of Technology (QUT) vice-chancellor, also found that information was sanitised by senior public servants before being forwarded to ministers.
While his inquiry is ongoing, accusations of how the Palaszczuk government handles accountability accusations continues to hurt its standing. And that — not an annual holiday — is behind her campaign no-show, according to others.
What all that misses is the fact that voters aren’t stupid. They know Palaszczuk bats for the same side as Albanese and Rudd, just as they know former attorney-general Christian Porter and MP Peter Dutton belong on Morrison’s side. And to hide away some MPs, and not others, is treating the nation’s voters as fools.
It’s also not working.
Plibersek is an asset for Labor inside and outside Parliament, and while she’s been visiting Queensland during the campaign, those forays have been largely invisible.
Palaszczuk, back from holidays, is out and about — but the focus is on the Olympics to be held in a decade’s time, not a poll on May 21. And of course she’ll be out and about singing her federal colleagues’ praises on Labour Day Monday, but to be absent from that would draw more commentary than her presence.
Perhaps it’s time Labor revisited its strategy, given its early predictions. By any arbitrary measure, Labor should be a shoo-in. Even the most ardent Coalition supporters couldn’t argue that the past three years have been a stellar innings. So why isn’t it a foregone conclusion that Labor will take victory in three weeks’ time?
Its campaign strategy is following the same small-target game plan it’s had since the last election. It hopes to win a seat in one state and another in another state and a couple in another state. Win by degrees. And that tally should get them over the line.
In Queensland, for example, where the Coalition holds 23 of the 30 seats, it is strongly hoping to pick up the inner-city seat of Brisbane. And others — like Longman or Leichhardt or even Flynn — would be icing on the cake.
It’s the same elsewhere. But in an election where coal and climate change, teal independents and local personalities, are playing such a big role at the local level, it remains anyone’s guess how the votes will fall.
“Too early,” says Labor. “Too early,” say the Liberals. And at least on that issue, they agree.
A big swing in the final week, either way, will re-write this election campaign, as it has done in history.
But so far, it’s nil all — with the voter not gaining anything substantial either.
