Editorial: The harsh new reality no Labor minister has ever known

It is a world completely new to every Labor MP, but one every LNP minister has been living in for the past decade, writes the editor.

Then premier Steven Miles’s (front left) cabinet after being sworn in by Governor Jeannette Young (front centre) late last year

The years in the political wilderness that new Premier David Crisafulli’s team of ministers have endured will make them a far better unit than the Labor outfit they are replacing.

That is because, regardless of their individual personal strengths and weaknesses, their years in opposition will ensure a sense of wonder and genuine respect for the job that no Miles government minister ever had in them.

That is due to a little-known fact about every single one of the Miles ministers who now find themselves with suddenly empty diaries, almost no staff, shared office space, and no taxpayer-funded drivers; not one of them has ever spent a day as an opposition MP. Not a single one.

That means that not one member of the outgoing Miles government has ever had to do the hard work of opposition – where there is no platoon of staffers who are backed by an army of public servants that deliver to you ready-made briefs about your portfolio, or fetch the confidential information that helps you explain government decisions – and look after your diary.

Consequently, more than a few Miles ministers will no doubt today be feeling very much adrift.

Some are likely to have made futile inquiries about where their new personal office is located, or how many staff they will now be allocated. The answers will have surprised; there are none, other than at your electorate office.

This is the beauty of how our system works. In government, you get the resources required to do your job. In opposition, you get the absolute bare minimum.

It is a reality that teaches those stuck on the opposition benches the value of hard work and keeps their egos in check. The requirement to do their own research on portfolio matters – rather than just reading what is handed to them – makes for far better, and more appreciative, ministers when their time on the government benches comes.

This will be a real shock to many. There will be more than a few now-opposition MPs who had no idea that this was their future reality.

Now, being an MP is far from a tough gig salary-wise, at least when compared to other workers. The lowest of the low among the MPs – those on the back bench – still get paid $184,000 a year. They get about an extra $50,000 to be an opposition frontbencher.

That is far below the $380,000 or so they were getting as ministers, but it is still a very liveable salary.

They also all still get a generous car allowance, and can spend at least up to $20,000 a year on work-related travel, and when travelling they receive a $300-$400 travel allowance daily to cover the costs of their accommodation and meals.

But it is the lack of staff that will hurt most. Each minister has about seven personal staff attached to their office, about 130 across the ministry. The opposition shares about 23.

That means each MP will have only three electorate staff to rely on to organise their schedules, and do most of their own research.

This is a world that is completely new to every Labor MP. But it is the world that every LNP minister has been living in for the past decade – and that means they will come to office not taking the comfort of ministerial leather for granted.

Instead, they will be amazed at the resources suddenly at their disposal. Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie gave a hint of this on Sunday, when he expressed his gratitude to the public service for the work they had already done in preparing for an incoming LNP administration – and his astonishment came despite him having been one of those few who have already had a taste of being in the ministry, serving as attorney-general in the Newman government a decade ago.

It is no doubt seriously tough to go from a government rooster to an opposition feather duster.

But it is there that you learn the skills and humility that keep your feet on the ground when your time does come – and so makes you a far better minister of the Crown.

PREMIER MAKES RIGHT MOVE

David Crisafulli did the right thing yesterday in making one of his first acts as Premier an email to all of the state’s 250,000 public servants to assure them their jobs were safe.

It was more than just a symbolic move, considering the fears that many public servants have held about an LNP administration since the cuts program that has become the infamous legacy of the Newman era from 2012-15.

But it was consequently also very symbolic, and a nice bookend to the narrative Mr Crisafulli began almost a year ago, when he made his first big pre-election speech about his commitment to rebuilding the state’s public service – a seven-point plan he said would improve its culture and performance.

Premier Crisafulli used his first email in that job to write: “There will be no employment cuts to the public service workforce. Any views you may have heard otherwise, are completely untrue.”

He promised that he would order his ministers to spend less time in the 1 William St executive building and more time with their departmental staff, and pledged to respect the public service’s role to provide frank and fearless advice and security of tenure.

It was a seriously smart move.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here