Opinion: Jackie Trad was never going to be rolled by Caucus

The Labor Caucus was a fizzer, but there was good reason tensions over Jackie Trad were never going to come to a head, writes Steven Wardill. VOTE IN OUR POLL

WHAT a fizzer.

But did anyone really expect the Labor caucus would roll Treasurer Jackie Trad at the beginning of a Parliament sitting week, and just 10 weeks before she brings down the State Budget?

Jackie Trad survives again as Labor Caucus focuses on unity

Jo-Ann Miller has spoken out about ‘overt bullying’ calling Jackie Trad a 'four-letter word’

Opinion: Labor Left faction protects Trad at expense of party

It was never going to happen.

And if you’re a punter, the best bet right now would be to bank on it not happening at all before the October 31 state election.

However while Trad’s Left faction has been running around trying to hose down talk of divisions and dismiss it all as gossip, nothing could be further from the truth.

There remains concerns among Government backbenchers, particularly those that represent regional electorates, that the Deputy Premier is an electoral liability.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed as much on Friday when she acknowledged Trad had damaged the Government and her own popularity, while urging backbenchers to air their concerns in caucus.

But the ginger group that is agitating for a new face in the Government’s penultimate position has been afforded more standing than they deserve.

They don’t have the numbers, nor do they have an agreed model around who would take what position.

Perhaps more importantly, they don’t yet have the chutzpah or wherewithal to pull off such an extraordinary plot.

Rather than a Canberra-style caucus showdown, the more likely scenario was always going to be hard discussions and backroom deals.

That’s how Queensland Labor has always worked, and likely always will.

Regardless, this has been another damaging episode that the Labor Government can ill afford.

It’s treated Queenslanders to the spectacle of Tiger in the Long Grass, Member for Bundamba Jo-Ann Miller, calling Trad a “four-letter word” in a radio interview and then turning up to Palaszczuk’s public event uninvited.

“If you can’t govern yourselves, you can’t govern Queensland,” former premier Peter Beattie used to tell his opponents.

It’s a lesson Labor forgot long ago.