Labor’s Brisbane Lord Mayor candidate shafted for TV journalist

A TV journalist has been drafted as Labor’s new Brisbane lord mayoral candidate after the party mercilessly axed Rod Harding for failing to cut through with voters.

PATRICK Condren will lead Labor’s charge for Brisbane City Hall after Rod Harding was unceremoniously dumped as the party’s lord mayoral candidate.

The Sunday Mail can reveal Labor will today announce a refresh of its Council team, with Mr Condren to take on LNP Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner in the looming March 2020 election.

LORD MAYOR: CONDREN’S ‘A PROFESSIONAL COMPLAINER’

After weeks of speculation about Mr Harding’s political future, Labor yesterday finalised moves to axe him – opting instead for a candidate that they believe will have better cut through with voters.

Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Mail, Mr Condren said the opportunity to run for the city’s top job was too good to pass up. The veteran journalist and long-term Brisbane local said he wanted to the offer the city the “leadership it’s been missing”.

New Labor lord mayoral candidate Patrick Condren. Picture: Peter Wallis

“I spent 17 years as a political editor at Seven News critiquing politicians, and the opportunity has come along for me to actually get into the trenches and make a difference,” he said.

“From the outside looking in, I’ve been disappointed by how badly Australia’s largest local government has been run by Adrian Schrinner and the LNP.”

He acknowledges his media background will give him some name recognition, but insists that he is entering the mayoral contest as a “political cleanskin”.

“At first blush, I’m the anti-political politician, if you like,” Mr Condren said. “I’m not a career politician. I am not someone who has drunk the political Kool-Aid. I’m just an ordinary bloke … who’s been given an opportunity to make a difference and I’m going to give it an absolute red-hot go.”

Party insiders have suggested the decision to dump Mr Harding was a sign of how seriously they took the election, adding that Mr Condren was an outside-the-box candidate and not an ordinary politician.

Mr Harding yesterday said he accepted the party’s decision and that he wanted Labor to have the best chance to beat the LNP administration.

Labor's former candidate Rod Harding. Picture: Tara Croser.

“It has been an incredible honour to be Labor’s candidate for Lord Mayor,” he said.

“I am proud of the work we have done to hold this arrogant and out-of-touch LNP Council accountable.”

The Courier-Mail first revealed in August that there were moves behind the scenes of the ALP to have Mr Harding dumped amid concerns that he had a lack of visibility on the hustings.

Patrick Condren with his wife Margaret. Picture: Peter Wallis

Mr Condren will today hit the ground running, announcing that if he wins in March, he will freeze the lord mayoral salary and direct any recommended pay increases from the independent tribunal to improving Brisbane’s “neglected” footpaths. He has also taken a swipe at Cr Schrinner for being an unelected Lord Mayor and accused the LNP of handing the city’s top job around as a plaything.

“The LNP have had their day at City Hall and they have run out of puff,” he said. “The Lord Mayor inherited his position but he’s no Graham Quirk. He’s out of his depth and has demonstrated he just can’t deliver for the people of Brisbane.”

Mr Condren took aim at the LNP administration’s cost blowouts on the Kingsford Smith Drive project, its costly IT bungle, and the ratepayer money it spent on advertising.

“Rates are going up by too much because of LNP waste, but people aren’t seeing a return for the money,” he said.

As part of the pre-election shake-up, Council Opposition Leader Peter Cumming will stand aside for Deagon Ward councillor Jared Cassidy, while Morningside Ward councillor Kara Cook will be appointed deputy leader. “We face a huge task fighting an LNP administration that spends millions of ratepayers’ dollars promoting themselves but I sense a strong mood for change,” Cr Cassidy said.