Backroom Baz: State election polls creating a buzz

State election polling results have set off excitement in both political camps but one critical measure is refusing to budge.

The state election campaign has kicked up a gear and polling for both sides is setting off panicked excitement in strange places.

Liberal polling in the dead red seats is showing huge anti-Dan sentiment, while Labor polling in blue rinsed seats is also showing surprising results.

The trouble is the polling in the more “must-win” seats is proving very stubborn for both sides.

Baz reckons there will be some odd results in both the May federal election and November state election.

The Libs state election is seeing a whole heap of old blood coming back to lend a hand.

Among them, Baz is told, Stuart Eaton who worked closely with former PM John Howard and Premier Denis Napthine and Michael Barrett, an ex Napthine and Howard government advisor.

The grey heads, and some with no hair, are giving the party faithful confidence that wisdom is being tapped into.

SLURRED SPEECHES

Lots of talk about drunk MPs over the past week, which got Baz thinking back almost 20 years to the Heineken Classic golf tournament at the exclusive Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

Then Premier Steve Bracks was forced to defend his sober reputation after slurring his presentation speech, referring to winner Ernie Els as “Ernie Eels”.

To the amusement of many, Bracks denied he was drunk and instead blamed a faulty microphone for giving him audio feedback.

He also dismissed as “silly” any suggestion he was the victim of drink spiking by former premier Jeff Kennett.

Now that’s a yarn!

Still, getting sloshed on the job is no laughing matter. And the Libs are starting to look like they’ve got a cultural problem.

Baz was hardly surprised then that the “exclusive wine-tasting event” to raise funds for David Davis and Georgie Crozier set for last Sunday had been cancelled.

Alas, it seems the event was cancelled some weeks ago, well ahead of the attention on Davis. A Facebook post advertising the event made sure to promote the “tram stop at the door”. Advice Baz can only presume Tim Smith wishes he took note of ahead of his attempt to drunkenly navigate the streets of the inner-east.

A fundraising wine-tasting event with David Davis and Georgie Crozier didn’t go ahead.

The Facebook post spruiking the easy access to public transport.

PIE NIGHT IN PARLI

Labor MP Will Fowles was tackling all the big issues last week.

In a bizarre speech to parliament on the importance of the psychology of fining people, Fowles gave an insight into his culinary preference. Pies!

“It is a bit pie and sauce for me. You know when you go into a milk bar and the pie is 4 bucks 20 and then they slug you 20 cents for the sauce sachet?,” he mused.

“It is always a bit like, ‘Oh, it’s a bit rough. Just paid $4.20 for the pie.

“Now I am paying 20 cents for the sauce sachet’.

“It does not cost them 20 cents, and you would much rather have a squeeze of sauce, and that would be cheaper to deliver, but you feel a bit jibbed by the additional 20 cents.

“If they offered the pie and sauce as a job lot for $4.40 instead of $4.20, no resentment. There would be none.”

OK, then.

Will Fowles was fighting the good fight in parliament on tomato sauce rorts. Picture: Mark Stewart

UNION SWAPPING

The world of factional politics moves so quickly sometimes it takes a while for a politician’s register of interests to catch up.

So Baz was only semi-surprised to read that ministers Martin Pakula and Jaala Pulford have hung up their National Union of Workers badges to join the Australian Workers Union.

The reason? Well the NUW doesn’t exist anymore (it has become the UWU) and has moved to the Left.

This means the Labor MPs were in need of a union that was right-aligned and matched their interests.

It may all sound a bit like Monty Python’s Judaean People’s Front but Baz was assured it was still an emotional farewell for the NUW stalwarts.

In another titbit, rogue MP Adem Somyurek has also updated his interests to say he is an AWU member, despite no longer being in the Labor Party.

MORE SPACE JAM THAN JORDAN

It was hardly “The Last Dance” and may have more closely resembled Space Jam, but the charity basketball match pitting Labor MPs against the Koorie Academy All Stars was still a resounding success.

Baz prematurely predicted the match was a blowout but is happy to eat his words and report the underdogs, made up of majority of government MPs, only narrowly lost in overtime.

The charity basketball match pitting Labor MPs against the Koorie Academy All Stars.

PREMIER READING

Shout-out to Daniel Andrews this week after he let slip that while he might pretend not to be a fan, he really loves Baz.

That much was evident when he referenced this very column to sledge Liberal MP Louise Staley, who Baz pointed out last week blundered by running an ad on her Facebook page promising mental health support for “LOCATION”.

The Premier couldn’t help himself responding to comments by Staley: “I will not be lectured by the member for Ripon/location — whatever it is — about these matters.”

Very good, Premier.

GUY ATTACKED BY WALL

A nasty cut to his head had people questioning what happened to Matthew Guy this week. Baz is assured nothing serious, and no conspiracies. Rather, he was hobbling around his home in the dark, when he walked into a wall. No steps involved.

GUESS WHO

Which media hotshot snubbed colleagues at an industry event last week by pretending to be on their phone?