What not to do: Lessons for our politicians as 2020 Queensland State Election approaches

It is only January but we have already seen two prominent politicians take a stumbling start to 2020. So, let us take a stroll back through the political missteps of the recent past in a lesson in what not to do.

IT IS only January but we have already seen two prominent politicians take a stumbling start to 2020.

While the Prime Minister’s office has shown a stunning lack of nous this bushfire crisis, Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington misfired with her petty “Princess Palaszczuk” attack, in which she zeroed in on the Premier’s clothes and makeup, rather than policies.

Opinion: Frecklington’s attack hits the wrong Target

Deb Frecklington’s attack on Annastacia Palaszczuk rebuked

It left voters no better informed about what she stood for and many perplexed at the strategy behind it.

So as we get into 2020 – an election year that will determine who will take the state forward in the coming four years – let us take a stroll back through the political missteps of the recent past in a lesson in what not to do.

SUBSTANCE OVER STYLE

MPs shouldn’t get about work in board shorts and thongs, but otherwise, this is Straya and no one cares what you are wearing. Shop at Target, shop at Cue, wear a Scanlan and Theodore dress. Spend your own money wherever you like.

Have we learned nothing from the dumbfounding attention former prime minister Julia Gillard’s jackets got?

After all, no one begrudges a politician who wants to scrub up a little – just look at former Liberal deputy Julie Bishop.

Voters are far more interested in how the decisions of government will affect their lives.

So let us talk about drought, cost of living, job security, health, education and training and leave the guff in the gutter.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad’s failure to update her pecuniary interests register with her Woolloongabba home will haunt her. Picture: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt

PUT IT AWAY

Voters do not love a sex scandal. Just ask former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce whose exploits with a former staffer resulted in the bonk ban and a serious demotion. This Queensland parliament, we have already seen MP Jason Costigan thrown out of the LNP after claims of sexual harassment surfaced, along with pics proving his penchant for a bikini-girl selfie.

Before that, voters remember former LNP MP Peter Dowling’s plonking performance in the Newman Government and former Labor MP Billy Gordon’s selfie shenanigans in Palaszczuk’s first term.

MPs wanting to keep their jobs should definitely put their, ahem, phones away now.

THINK TWICE

No doubt the most damaging missteps of 2019 were when voters decided politicians hadn’t been completely honest with them.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad’s failure to update her pecuniary interests register with her Woolloongabba home will haunt her, especially as law changes aimed at preventing future probity issues are debated early this year.

But they are easy to avoid if politicians spend more time considering how average people might view their actions, err on the side of caution and declare all potential red flags.

Or better yet, consider that even if something is within the rules – like 10 LNP MPs blowing $23,000 on a taxpayer-funded trip to Sydney to hang out with their National party colleagues – it may not pass the pub test.

BE ACCOUNTABLE

Politicians should remember, people elect representatives, not partisan warriors.

No one is your cheer squad – not the public, not the media, and sometimes not even your party.

So when things go wrong – and they do for everyone – own up and take responsibility.

When a mining company needs certainty about a project, no matter how contentious, make a decision.

If child detention facilities are overflowing into adult police cells, fix it.

If the state’s hospital purchasing system is not working properly, admit it.

If some idiot kids in your party say awful, racist things, admonish them.

There will be stressful and difficult times.

But often those times will not even be about you, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison should have known before he barrelled into a fire field fraught with people who had lost everything and needed some kindness.

Leaders exist to listen, to figure out how they can help, not to save face, or capitalise whenever they can.

So if you need to apologise, do so.

That’s something former premier Peter Beattie learned early on – and he did not became one of Australia’s longest serving premiers by mistake.