‘We need to do better’: What Fadden result means for Labor in QLD

The Fadden by-election showed Labor has a lot of work to do in Queensland and the need to differentiate the national messaging in the sunshine state, party insiders say.

The Fadden by-election showed Labor has a lot of work to do in Queensland and the need to differentiate the national messaging in the sunshine state, party insiders say.

It follows the LNP’s expected win in the Gold Coast seat on Saturday, which saw a 2.5 per cent two-party preferred swing against the government.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton used the win to reassure weary party supporters across the country that the “work we’ve done together in the past 12 months” has made a difference.

While Labor is polling well nationally and secured a historic 6.4 per cent swing in its favour in the Aston by-election in April, this momentum was not seen in the LNP stronghold of the Gold Coast.

Labor candidate for Fadden Letitia Del Fabbro and Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA Newswire

It follows Labor not only failing to pick up seats in the 2022 federal election, but losing one to the Greens.

Labor’s most senior Queensland federal figure, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, said it was obvious the party need to do much better in Queensland.

“There are opportunities for Labor in Queensland. We need to perform much better here at a federal level,” the Queensland-based federal Treasurer said.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the party did not have a Queensland problem, but that it remained “very focused” on the state.

“We obviously see that Queensland going into the next election is a place of significant opportunity for the Government,” Mr Marles said.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton with newly-elected Fadden MP Cameron Caldwell. Picture: Facebook

Queensland Senator Murray Watt said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who made his only appearance of the campaign at Labor’s candidate Letitia Del Fabbro’s campaign launch, was a frequent visitor to the state.

“There’s been an increase in visits from Ministers as well. That’s something that we need to continue,” he said.

Party insiders indicated the result on Saturday was in line with what was expected given the party’s difficulty getting its message across in the state, as well as Fadden being a very safe LNP seat.

There was no swing against Labor on its primary vote.

While Labor has five sitting federal MPs to get its message out to the state, the LNP has 21 including the Liberal and National leaders, they said.

Meanwhile, the Greens were outpolled by the Legal Cannabis Australia Party and saw its primary vote fall from more than 10 per cent to six per cent.

While the Greens ran a very low-key campaign, it has also been running a high-profile national push on housing and rents which did not appear to cut through in the seat which has a higher proportion of renters and people in rental stress than the state and country.