Editor’s view: Labor’s pitch for re-election a desperate real-life version of a Jedi mind-trick
Jedi mind tricks work if you’re Obi-Wan Kenobi, but when you’re a politician willing to do and say anything to hold on to power, they start to resemble bare-faced lies, writes The Editor.
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And so now we know the truth. The heart of state Labor’s pitch for re-election will be a desperate real-life version of a Jedi mind-trick.
They plan to try and convince voters to blame the mistakes of the Newman Government a full decade ago on David Crisafulli because he was a junior minister at the time, while simultaneously telling Queenslanders that Steven Miles had absolutely nothing to do with the failures of the Palaszczuk Government just one year ago – despite the fact he was deputy premier. In short, Labor’s plan is to treat the voters as fools.
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It is as if Treasurer Cameron Dick and senior ministers Grace Grace and Shannon Fentiman stood in front of the voters yesterday and watched on in hope as Premier Miles looked down the barrel of the television cameras, waved his hand in the air, and said: “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for”.
Well, a note to Mr Miles: not only was Star Wars a work of fiction, but even then that trick only comes off if you are Obi-Wan Kenobi.
But, get used to it. This Labor campaign will not be one where the party focuses on its vision for the future of Queensland. It will instead be a gloves-off scare campaign built on bare-faced lies.
We had a taste of this on the day before the campaign, when the state’s largest union – the Nurses and Midwives Union – fessed up to having launched a Mediscare-style social media advertising blitz falsely claiming the LNP had plans to “privatise health services”.
The Labor Party’s response? Far from condemning the union for spreading falsehoods on social media, the Premier’s office said it was “little wonder” nurses did not trust the LNP considering many were sacked in the Newman era.
This cynical approach to political campaigning – preying on old fears – is no better than Donald Trump’s false claims that immigrants are eating family pets, in that it is a screeching extrapolation of the barest of facts designed to resurrect an old trope in the mind of voters.
This is a shame. Because Premier Miles has a lot to be proud of during his 11 months in the job.
His flat 50c fares rate for public transport is a seriously significant piece of public policy that will deliver benefits for years to come.
And while shameless, there is no denying the impact his $1000 power bill rebate has had on households struggling to make ends meet.
He has also laid the foundations for his greatest passion project – a range of massively expensive but potentially transformative new renewable energy schemes across the state. The long lead times for these projects, however, means not much work has yet been done.
Behind the scenes, Mr Miles has just as importantly reset State Cabinet processes after years of neglect – while his director-general Mike Kaiser has channelled his unique energy towards rekindling the fire in the state’s public service.
Against this backdrop, Mr Miles has a lot to build his campaign on. Sadly, it is an indictment on him that he chose yesterday to include in his first pitch to voters a series of unfounded accusations against his political opponent’s past.
Mr Crisafulli was the minister for local government, community recovery and resilience in the Newman Government between 2012 and 2015. And yet according to Mr Miles today, it was Mr Crisafulli who somehow personally: “... cut those health workers. It was him who closed those schools. It was he who cancelled those projects. Their plan has not changed.”
With a straight face, Mr Miles then went on to claim that: “David Crisafulli just wants to look to the past ... (and) talk our state down.”
A key feature of the Miles brand that those around him have been trying to establish since he took the job in the bloodless coup that saw Annastacia Palaszczuk resign last December is that he is a relatable – and proudly daggy – suburban dad.
Today he exposed himself as just another politician who is willing to do and say anything to hold on to power. It was not a great start.
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Originally published as Editor’s view: Labor’s pitch for re-election a desperate real-life version of a Jedi mind-trick
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