Out of the past nine federal election campaigns, Labor has only once held launch outside Brisbane

OPINION: Does the location of a federal campaign launch really matter? The Labor Party obviously thinks so, given a significant change in direction this time around.

OUT of the last nine federal election campaigns, Labor has only ever had its launch somewhere other than Brisbane once — and it won.

In 1993 Paul Keating held his launch in his home turf of western Sydney, in Bankstown, and returned to the RSL weeks later to declare “the sweetest victory of all”.

Out of the other eight campaigns launched in Brisbane, Labor won one and dead-heated in another.

So Brisbane scores a 25 per cent winning record for Brisbane (listing that dead-heat hung parliament as a win) while western Sydney has a 100 per cent winning record.

This math might explain why Bill Shorten and Labor are heading back to those mythical western Sydney electorates for their launch, to be held on Sunday, June 19 at Penrith.

It’s unlikely this will matter much as the national nature of these launches means they could be held anywhere.

Keating clearly wanted the symbolism of the hometown boy in the west as did Kevin Rudd when he launched at Brisbane’s QPAC in 2007 (an event memorable because Rudd was rewriting the speech up to the last minute, delaying proceedings by about half an hour).

The big launches over the years have been those with particular theatre or attached to a significant victory.

Gough Whitlam’s 1972 launch as in Blacktown, western Sydney because it “represented, symbolised even, the new outer suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane where we were building a new constituency”.

In the 1980s, Bob Hawke loved using the Opera House, trumping himself in 1987 when he arrived by water taxi from his Kirribilli residence across the harbour.

Keating’s Bankstown Sports Club launch was choreographed by Baz Luhrmann but dripped traditional Labor.

John Howard in 2001 wowed the crowd in the Sydney Recital Hall in the CBD with his declaration that “we decide who comes to this country and the manner in which they come” — a line that didn’t really come to life until 24 hours later.

The Coalition hasn’t announced where and when its launch will be held but given Malcolm Turnbull is such a Sydney guy, you’d think he will pick his home town — maybe following Shorten out west (travelling by train, of course).

Don’t miss Dennis Atkins and Malcolm Farr’s election podcast, Two

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Originally published as Out of the past nine federal election campaigns, Labor has only once held launch outside Brisbane