Qld election 2020: Who’d be a politician? Not me, and not now
At this week’s People’s Forum the Premier appeared angry, bitter and close to tears as the Opposition Leader enthusiastically tried to sell her “big, bold” vision for Queensland. Truth be told, I felt for them both, writes Kylie Lang.
Kylie Lang
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I once entertained becoming a politician – for about a nanosecond – after a sitting minister suggested I “come on board”.
On a train hurtling towards hell? Thanks, but no thanks.
It is hard to imagine a more harrowing job.
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The constant public scrutiny. The unfettered intrusion into your personal life. The proverbial crap – or actual manure, if feral protesters are involved and you’re Jackie Trad – dumped on you at every opportunity.
I believe most people enter politics for the right reasons – to make a positive difference and improve lives and outcomes – but at what cost?
Certainly, politicians must be held to highest standards of accountability, however we are often quick to forget they are human beings too. Yes, really.
Wednesday’s Courier-Mail/Sky News People’s Forum, in which Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and LNP leader Deb Frecklington tried to swing undecided voters their way, was difficult to watch at times.
Palaszczuk behaved like a bully, interrupting and badgering Frecklington, who did her best to smile and press on. The Premier appeared angry, bitter and close to tears as the Opposition Leader enthusiastically tried to sell her “big, bold” vision for Queensland amid the taunts.
Truth be told, I felt for them both.
It takes a particular breed of person to go into politics, and while the perks of office include a decent salary and enviable superannuation entitlements, there are plenty of negatives.
Poor job security, long hours, myriad boring meetings, unrelenting pressure to publicly perform, and the scrutiny doesn’t stop there.
It extends to family and friends, taking no prisoners along the way.
If you become a politician, you bring your loved ones with you.
Lauren Day, the LNP candidate for the Brisbane seat of Maiwar, is a first-time campaigner.
Her husband and their young son helped put up her election signs earlier this month, only for the signs to be trashed and vandalised with lewd graffiti, including Mrs Day being called Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s “whore” and racist.
Perhaps this is small fry in the scheme of the ugliness that typifies politics these days, but it shows how unsavoury things can be when you are simply trying to do your job.
And the higher up you go, the higher price you pay.
Kate Jones was regarded as one of Labor’s best and brightest, a trailblazer, a future premier.
First elected in 2006, the mother of two lost to former premier Campbell Newman in 2012 and returned in 2015 to beat the LNP leader in the then seat of Ashgrove.
When she shocked parliamentary colleagues by resigning in September this year, she said the decision to quit was difficult.
I wondered what took her so long.
This election has been described as being like no other.
COVID-19 has regrettably overshadowed the incompetence of a Labor government beholden to the unions.
For the greater part of this year, the Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young has been running Queensland, and providing, through no fault of her own, a happy distraction from other issues the government wants voters to forget.
These include appalling levels of unemployment, debt and bankruptcy, unacceptable hospital wait lists, a chaotic education system, and a truly shameful record on child protection and on crime.
Queensland was already tanking in key economic and social measures prior to COVID-19, and belligerence over borders has not helped.
It is often said that voters have short memories.
Today is not the time for memory lapses.
Labor doesn’t deserve another four years to try to fix the mess it has created over six wearying years.
Moreover, it wouldn’t know where to start. Fresh vision and new energy is needed.
One thing is certain: whoever wins today faces a harrowing road to right past wrongs and get Queensland moving again.
I, for one, don’t envy them.
LOVE
■ A good backflip. The national anthem should never have been scrapped from the State of Origin in the first place.
■ Kevin Rudd’s optimism in wanting us to believe he didn’t know about $US650,000 in donations from sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to his New York think tank. Yeah, right.
■ More natural beauty in this state, with the discovery of a huge coral reef off Cape York.
LOATHE
■ Border stupidity, that Queenslanders can duck down to Byron Bay, rub shoulders (sorry, elbows) with Sydney visitors then cross back home.
■ Deputy premier Steven Miles’s out-of-touch and insulting comment that Queensland tourism is getting back to normal and doing better. Lunacy!
■ Methylamphetamine use soaring, particularly in regional Queensland, during lockdown.
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