ScoMo and Albo turn to party ‘elders’ for campaign advice
Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese are seeking advice from seasoned party elders as the election campaign heats up. See the full list of their inner circles.
Federal Election
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Exclusive: Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese are taking advice from party elders who are acting as unofficial advisers to the leaders during the election campaign.
As well as the support of campaigns teams of more than 100 people each, the pair are both taking soundings from party “greybeards’’ who have years of campaign experience.
Mr Morrison is speaking on the phone to John Howard, the Liberal Party’s most successful prime minister in recent times, and a revered party statesman at the age of 82. He won elections in 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2004.
Mr Albanese has been joined on the campaign trail by Stephen Smith, the Perth-based former Labor defence, foreign affairs and trade minister, who retired in 2013. Mr Smith, now a professor at the University of Western Australia, is a former state secretary and s well as a 20-year veteran of politics, and is considered a wise head who gives steady, sensible advice.
While Mr Albanese is from the Left and Mr Smith from the Right, they spent 17 years in parliament together and bonded in the early 2000s though their shared concerns about then-Labor leader Mark Latham.
Mr Morrison is speaking to Mr Howard about once a week. He is also speaking regularly to David Gazard, a former Liberal staffer turned lobbyist and Adviser, who is one of Mr Morrison’s closest friends. He is also listening to feedback from another friend and local Liberal associate Scott Briggs, who works with Mr Gazard and is close to Mr Morrison through his federal electorate of Cook.
Mr Smith was travelling with Mr Albanese on his plane as they cross-crossed Australia, and was working particularly closely with him in the lead-up to the first debate of the campaign, the Sky News-Courier Mail People’s Forum in Brisbane on Wednesday.
He will re-join the travelling party after Mr Albanese completes his seven-day isolation, having tested positive to Covid-19 on Thursday night.
Mr Albanese is also speaking on the phone to former Labor prime ministers Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, and is in regular contact with Greg Combet, the former ACTU chief, ex-MP, and now chair of Industry Super Australia.
With the campaign now entering its third week, the election teams have established routines, starting with a phone hook-up at 6am with their respective leaders (the Coalition have a staff-only call at 5.30am).
The Coalition campaign headquarters is in Milton, a riverside suburb in Brisbane close to the XXXX brewery, where Liberal and Nationals advisers are working side-by-side.
The Liberals’ federal director Andrew Hirst, the architect of the 2019 “miracle’’ election victory, is back running the show, with his deputy, Simon Berger, and Isaac Levido, a former colleague lured home from London as a senior consultant. Levido, a 30-something wunderkind with a hipster beard, was hailed for his pivotal role in Boris Johnson’s win in the UK in 2019.
Other senior advisers working out of headquarters for the Coalition are Mr Morrison’s chief of staff John Kunkel and the Nationals’ federal director Jonathan Hawkes.
The Coalition’s usual pollsters, CT Group (formerly Crosby Textor) are back on the job with Mike Turner providing the nightly numbers, while KWP! Agency from South Australia is once again handling the Coalition’s advertising.
Guy Creighton, usually Michaelia Cash’s Adviser, is running communications in CHQ.
The official campaign spokespeople are two South Australian Senators – Finance Minister Simon Birmingham and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston.
Accompanying Mr Morrison on the road are some of his most important advisers – MP and assistant minister Ben Morton, his principal private secretary Yaron Finkelstein, and media adviser Andrew Carswell, while Sonia Gentile, who was some years ago Mr Morrison’s media adviser, is now head of his travelling program.
Labor’s campaign headquarters is in Sydney, at the less salubrious end of Oxford Street, where Paul Erickson, 38 years old, is in charge.
Appointed as national secretary after the ALP’s loss in 2019, Mr Erickson is being backed up by assistant national secretary Jen Light, who is handling target seats, and campaign chief of staff Lidija Ivanovski, a veteran of several campaigns.
John Olenich is media director.
Mr Albanese is being accompanied on the road by his chief of staff, Tim Gartrell. Mr Gartrell was national secretary in 2007 and played an important role in the campaign when Kevin Rudd came to power, but stepped back from politics in 2008 to pursue other roles. He returned as Mr Albanese’s chief in 2019 and is his most important adviser on the road, along with media adviser Liz Fitch.
Labor’s campaign spokespeople are Senator Katy Gallagher from the ACT and NSW MP Jason Clare. With Mr Albanese in isolation, three of his most senior people – deputy leader Richard Marles, Senate leader Penny Wong and shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers – have stepped up for more media and campaign appearances.
Long-time Labor advertising guru Dee Madigan’s Campaign edge is working on the campaign, as is Darren Moss’s MOSS group, while Labor is using YouGov as its pollsters.
THE 2022 ELECTION INNER CIRCLES
COALITION
Campaign Headquarters (CHQ): Brisbane
SPOKESPEOPLE:
PM Scott Morrison
Senator Simon Birmingham
Senator Anne Ruston
SENIOR ADVISERS AT CHQ:
Andrew Hirst (federal director)
Simon Berger (deputy federal director)
Isaac Levido (senior consultant)
John Kunkel (Scott Morrison’s chief of staff)
Jonathan Hawkes (Nationals federal director)
ADVERTISING FIRM:
KWP! Agency
POLLSTERS:
Mike Turner, CT Group (formerly Crosby Textor)
MEDIA ADVISERS AT CHQ:
Guy Creighton (Michaelia Cash’s office), Sheradyn Holderhead (Anne Ruston’s office), Benn Ayre (Simon Birmingham’s office), Dean Shachar (Prime Minister’s office)
ADVISERS ON THE ROAD:
Nico Louw, PM’s executive officer, Paula Svarcas, deputy head of policy, Sonia Gentile, head of the PM’s program, Yaron Finkelstein, principal private secretary, Ben Morton, WA MP and assistant minister to the PM, Andrew Carswell, media director. Other media advisers on the road are Danielle McKay, Ben Wicks, and Nick Creevey.
UNOFFICIAL ADVISERS:
David Gazard, one of Morrison’s closest friends, ex-Liberal staffer and now lobbyist/adviser
Scott Briggs, long-time friend, Liberal Party official from NSW, now lobbyist and adviser.
John Howard, former Liberal prime minister and party elder.
LABOR:
Headquarters Sydney
SPOKESPEOPLE:
Anthony Albanese
Senator Katy Gallagher
MP Jason Clare
SENIOR ADVISERS:
Paul Erickson (national secretary)
Jen Light (assistant national secretary)
Tim Gartrell (Anthony Albanese chief of staff)
John Olenich, (media director) chief of staff to Penny Wong.
Lidija Ivanovski (campaign chief of staff) chief of staff to deputy leader Richard Marles
Joanna Heath, Josh Lloyd, Pat Cronan (media advisers), from the offices of Tony Burke, Anthony Albanese and Katy Gallagher)
ADVERTISING FIRMS:
Dee Madigan’s Campaign edge
Daren Moss’ MOSS Group
Pollsters: YouGov
ADVISERS ON THE ROAD:
Tim Gartrell (Anthony Albanese chief of staff)
Media advisers Liz Fitch, Alex Cramb and Alex Beech, all from Mr Albanese’s office.
UNOFFICIAL ADVISERS:
Stephen Smith, former Labor defence foreign affairs and trade minister, now Professor of Public International Law at the University of Western Australia.
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