Campaign Confidential: Knives still out for LNP leader

Relations between LNP HQ and leader Deb Frecklington remain fraught after those ill-fated efforts to oust her a few months back, with a powerful committee voting to cut the party’s campaign contribution, writes Steven Wardill.

The Liberal Nationals’ powerful president’s committee apparently voted to cut the party’s contribution to Deb Frecklington’s campaign before celebrating with a night out at famed French eatery Montrachet.

Seriously, you couldn’t make this stuff up.

According to Campaign Confidential’s well-placed sources, relations between LNP HQ and Frecklington remain fraught after those ill-fated efforts to oust her a few months back.

But the leaking of polling backfired, sparking Frecklington’s best ever leadership moment when she passionately declared she wouldn’t wilt to the backroom bully boy tactics.

Still, fences have not been mended and last Friday night the president’s committee voted to keep a watchful eye on the campaign spend.

Not so, insist those aligned with Frecklington, who reckon the president’s committee was just doing a bit of regular book- keeping and the LNP would still spend the maximum allowed under Labor’s electoral rules.

Regardless, the Bordeaux was flowing freely at Montrachet afterwards. Read into that what you will.

But things are going to get a bit awkward after October 31 if Frecklington’s election prospects keep rising like chef Shannon Kellam’s delectable double-baked crab souffle.

And the revolution will be televised.

TROLLING FOR TRAD

Some epic trolling by the Electrical Trades Union of the Greens this week to help out Jackie Trad.

ETU boss Peter Ong got stuck into the Greens’ South Brisbane candidate Amy MacMahon for wanting to turn the Parmalat and OlGlass factories into parkland.

“This ill-conceived proposal will be a job wrecker. When we need job creation the Greens have put ideology over reasonableness,” Ong thundered.

Strangely, we can’t recall a similar storm reverberating out of the ETU’s bunker back when former Labor premier Anna Bligh proposed much the same thing in 2012 when she unveiled grand plans for “South Bank Two”.

CURRUMBIN CONFUSION

And we can’t work who is trolling who in the battleground of Currumbin.

Flummoxed former MP Jann “Not Happy” Stuckey posted this picture of her successor Laura Gerber erecting a blue LNP gazebo still branded with her name.

“Well doesn’t this take the cake?” our Jann shot out on Instagram, clearly unimpressed her name was being associated with the LNP campaign given her husband Richard is running as an independent. It was either very clever of Gerber or she’s very keen on sun safety.

Currumbin MP Laura Gerber seen putting up a marquee with former MP Jann Stuckey's name on it. Picture: Facebook

BOOTS AND ALL

And who says old-style campaigning is dead? LNP Redlands hopeful Henry Pike sent us a picture of himself and the boots he’s worn out personally doorknocking 10,000 homes in the marginal Labor electorate over recent months.

“I’m a lot thinner than when I started,” Pike confessed.

Henry Pike has been pounding the pavements in the lead up to the state election.

SWANNY’S RAFFLE

Meanwhile former treasurer Wayne Swan is trying to raise a few dollars for Annastacia Palaszczuk’s re-election campaign by flogging $10 raffle tickets.

The prizes are signed copies of Julia Gillard’s book “My Story” which Swanny describes as a “unique perspective on Australian politics from Australia’s first female Prime Minister”.

We can’t wait for the next instalment when Swan tries to raise a few shingles flogging Kevin Rudd’s books about himself, particularly “The PM Years” about “the coup that killed Australian politics”.

AMAZING CLAIM

Speaking of flogging books, former One Nation Senate candidate Steve Dickson’s tome “Breaking the Silence” has hit the shelves.

Dicko humbly describes it as an “amazing story” about “millions of dollars paid to bring me undone”.

Can’t wait to read it given we thought a camera phone, a Washington strip club and Dicko’s seedy comments were the issue.

SORRY, YOUR EXCELLENCY

Finally, we owe a wee apology to His Excellency, Paul de Jersey.

While his term was extended by two years in November 2018, it doesn’t expire until July 2021 so he won’t be riding off into the sunset for a while.

That should afford him plenty of time to sort out the next government if Queenslanders deliver a hung parliament.