Editorial: After Brisbane council election 2016 result, Labor Party has to reform or fail again

THE kind of election defeat Labor suffered in Brisbane on Saturday will only become entrenched – at council, state and federal level – if the party doesn’t reconnect with voters.

OPINION polls are always interesting and inevitably provoke debate about their worth and accuracy. After an election there is a reckoning – and there will be one this week as people hold up the results of the weekend local government and referendum votes and how some of those polls predicted an outcome over recent weeks.

Our own pollster Galaxy ended up being slightly off the mark with its polling undertaken mid-campaign, but this well credentialed organisation – with one of the best records around – was not alone. In defence of the polls, they are always predictive and are snapshots in time. There have been late swings and events that shift voters in the final stages. On the referendum, which was unexpectedly passed, people might have wanted to send politicians a message that they shouldn’t start angling for an early election.

Polls to one side, the local government results give us an actual measure of public sentiment in the biggest municipal district in the nation and in other authorities from the Gold Coast to Cape York.

It appears incumbency and competence was a winning combination for many local politicians, not least the LNP’s Graham Quirk in Brisbane. Cr Quirk, who took over from Campbell Newman when he stepped into the state arena, should be congratulated after not just renewing his mandate to run the city but also leading his team to another term running the city council chamber, increasing its majority at the same time.

We trust Cr Quirk and his team will focus on their plans for maintaining and renewing infrastructure for the city’s growing population and its consequential needs.

The loudest message in the Saturday elections was aimed at the Labor Party, which had one of its worst municipal results in history in the capital.

The ALP – already a small opposition in the Brisbane City Council chamber – not only lost a further seat to the LNP but could see a foundation heartland district, the Gabba Ward, go to its opponent on the progressive side of politics, the Greens.

That Labor had a young, energetic and attractive candidate for lord mayor in Rod Harding but couldn’t even manage a third of the first preference votes – just managing to stay above 30 per cent – is cause for urgent study and attention.

HARDING’S VERDICT: ‘The mountain was just too high’

As former Labor city council leader David Hinchliffe says in an exclusive opinion piece in today’s The Courier-Mail, “Labor failed to inspire”. Mr Hinchliffe said “brand Labor” was looking sick and tired and it was time to face reality – identifying two points that had to be addressed. “As the Greens become more mainstream, Labor will find itself being out-polled by them – as it did in at least three seats on Saturday,” writes Hinchliffe. “It’s time for Labor to join the 21st century. Reassessing the party’s union connection and encouraging our politicians to put their voters first should be part of that review.” These observations have implications not just for the ALP’s municipal team but also for its state and federal representatives and its organisation generally.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will surely face a sobering reckoning if she and her Government do not stop playing numbers games in George St and start delivering services people need and plans for the future that will shape our society in the years ahead.

Meanwhile, federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten might have some clever messages attacking Malcolm Turnbull but if he doesn’t reform the Labor Party – and bring it into the 21st century – the public will not embrace him and most probably not elect him.

Labor has been told by many of its party elders - from former union leader and successful prime minister Bob Hawke to, today, Mr Hinchliffe - that its union links and the stronghold organised labour holds on the party are no longer helpful and in many instances very damaging. The ALP should start the process of disentangling itself from the grip of the unions.

The kind of defeat Labor suffered in Brisbane on Saturday will only become entrenched if the party doesn’t reconnect with voters.

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YES VOTE ENDS GUESSING GAME

PERHAPS the best thing to come out of the weekend’s voting was for Queensland to join all other state and territory jurisdictions and shift to four-year terms for our Parliament.

SURPRISE RESULT: Four-year parliamentary terms

This was a constitutional change which appeared in trouble as politicians and others who had called for change were minimally motivated to sell
the proposition.

The public – proving again they are smarter and more attuned than our elected representatives often give them credit for – decided they would back a sensible idea anyway and gave the “yes” case a resounding victory, reversing the defeat of 25 years ago.

Following the next state election – due to be held at the beginning of 2018 – our politicians will have four years to implement their programs and not be forced to look towards the next electoral date in the calendar.

Also, because the length of the term is accompanied by fixed date polls, we will no longer have to suffer the guessing game our leaders play, usually for political and tactical advantage.

This is truly a reform that’s long overdue.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Lachlan Heywood, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details are available at www.couriermail.com.au/help/contact-us