Labor set to ‘do a Sallyanne’ on LNP lord mayor
The party hasn’t held the Brisbane lord mayoralty since 2004, but Labor is about to unleash a tactic against Adrian Schrinner that proved devastating against the “unbeatable” Sallyanne Atkinson nearly 30 years ago.
QLD Politics
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LABOR has launched an attack campaign targeting the Lord Mayor and LNP councillors’ perceived perks, as it ramps up its bid to take back Brisbane City Hall.
Just weeks after Labor dumped its former mayoral candidate Rod Harding for ex-TV journalist Patrick Condren, the party has launched an “End the rorts” campaign against the LNP council.
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The election is only five months away.
The ads, to be distributed via mailouts, on social media and billboards, all include photos of Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner with messages about alleged rorts.
The campaign’s website lands on a petition calling on residents to “Tell the out-of-touch LNP council: End the rorts.”
It is reminiscent of the infamous “Salaryanne” strategy that helped Labor’s then unknown Jim Soorley trounce lord mayor Sallyanne Atkinson, who was considered unbeatable, in 1991.
Labor state secretary Julie-Ann Campbell, who authorised the blitz, said: “Brisbane residents deserve to know that their rate increases are paying for Adrian Schrinner’s rorts.”
Labor councillors have been pushing the line of ratepayer money being spent on rorts and perks for the LNP for months.
Cr Schrinner has fought back by calling the opposition mudslingers.
On Tuesday, opposition leader Jared Cassidy asked Cr Schrinner “do you have no shame” over the Lord Mayor’s picture appearing on four million ratepayer-funded publications.
Cr Schrinner replied that he did not know why Labor was so obsessed with his face.
“They just have personal attacks and mud to throw,” he said.
The LNP has held the mayoralty since Campbell Newman was elected in 2004, and control of the chamber since 2008 — with 19 councillors compared with Labor’s five.
The remaining two wards are held by the Greens’ Jonathan Sri and Independent Nicole Johnston.
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