Opinion: Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls is on a charm offensive

BETWEEN rotten watermelons and rollercoaster rides, you’d forgive Tim Nicholls if the Opposition Leader’s gig has got him feeling kind of queasy.

Queensland Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls riding the Motocoaster at Dreamworld. Picture: Annette Dew

BETWEEN rotten watermelons and rollercoaster rides, you’d forgive Tim Nicholls if the Opposition Leader’s gig has got him feeling kind of queasy.

Nicholls has been on a charm offensive of late, provoked by private party polling showing voters either don’t know or don’t like the LNP leader.

Along with competing in Chinchilla’s watermelon-eating contest and riding roller-coasters, he pulled pints at a pub, played wheelchair basketball and has done numerous other fluffy photo opportunities while still bedecked in a business shirt.

Will it work? That’s debatable.

A key ingredient in every successful political leader’s repertoire is authenticity.

Melding voter notions of Nicholls – the MP from the well-heeled electorate of Clayfield and the treasurer who took the tough decisions in the Newman government – with a softer, more suburban image is a tough ask.

Trying to “out-nice” and “out-normal” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will be even tougher.

It’s like trying to barbecue Bambi while convincing voters of the virtues of venison.

What’s really goaded Nicholls, who actually is a bit of a barbecue aficionado, is a political climate that’s making the Opposition Leader’s job more difficult than ever.

It’s a scenario that is politics-rich but issues-poor.

There’s the rise of One Nation and the implications of preference deals with Pauline Hanson.

There’s the vagaries of Labor’s administration of minority government.

Thrown in among that now is a notional redistribution of electoral boundaries that’s radically reshaped the electoral map.

All these issues are just feeding speculation about the political implications and timing for the next election, snuffing out debate about the kind of things that matter to voters.

The travails of Queensland Rail are issues that the Opposition has been keen to pursue.

But it’s a southeast Queensland-centric problem that regional voters would be just rolling their eyes at.

There’s the tragic saga of child safety and keeping vulnerable kids safe.

However, it’s an issue that doesn’t turn elections given voters blame parents not politicians.

The economy, jobs and the cash-strapped State Budget are a melting pot of problems.

What the Opposition hasn’t done, however, is complete the circle and put out policies where they would do better.

What Nicholls really needs is a frontbench that fires to create a dragnet of issues across different departments, such as health, education, law and order, and infrastructure.

Instead what he’s got is a partyroom filled with factions, some watching on with morbid fascination at his charm offensive while others quietly hope he will fail.

Nicholls is trying desperately to stoke the flames for change.

He may, however, be left burnt by his own barbecue.