Qld election 2020: Labor MP Curtis Pitt has last laugh as former deputy premier Jackie Trad unseated
Curtis Pitt would never admit it but a slightly chuffed wave of emotion must have tickled him when Labor’s horrid results for South Brisbane flashed on the screen on Saturday night.
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CURTIS Pitt would never admit it but a slightly chuffed wave of emotion must have tickled him when Labor’s horrid results for South Brisbane flashed on the screen on Saturday night.
For all her previous clout as a left faction puppetmaster, Jackie Trad was sent packing.
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What had been a Labor seat since 1977 was now clinched between the thumbs of the Greens’ Amy McMahon – an inner-city leftie pushed over the line by the LNP’s decision to put Labor last.
Nobody in his (or her) right mind would ever wish a loss on a party mate – for shame! – but there are parties within parties, and Pitt and Trad are by no means best buddies.
Back in 2017, Annastacia Palaszczuk came out with an unambiguous statement amid speculation Trad was vying to pinch Pitt’s role as treasurer: “Yes I do guarantee his job.”
It only took a matter of days for that promise to be broken after Trad flexed her factional muscles and left the Premier with no choice. Pitt was out, Trad was in.
It all worked out and Mr Pitt landed a spot as Speaker of the House. But enmities die hard in politics, and the boy from the north won in the end.
Originally published as Qld election 2020: Labor MP Curtis Pitt has last laugh as former deputy premier Jackie Trad unseated