George Street Beat: LNP candidate’s shocking racial clanger exposed

An LNP candidate has made a eyebrow-raising clanger while the Premier’s questionable social media conduct comes under the microscope. This is George Street Beat.

Opposition leader David Crisafulli (centre) with LNP candidate Bree James (Barron River). Picture: Facebook

Political drama is inevitable as elections draw nearer, and the LNP’s Barron River candidate has delivered a clanger.

GSB has stumbled upon an online video of candidate Bree James – who spruiks herself as a publisher, presenter, podcaster, travel writer and YouTuber – branded “Why Mums Need to Laugh More”.

In the video Ms James – who is up against former Minister Craig Crawford in the hotly-contested seat – regales the audience with hilarious and embarrassing things kids say.

“The inappropriate things they (children) say innocently is probably the absolutely worst though,” she tells the audience.

“I wanted to curl up and die when one of my boys, who was probably nearly 2, pointed out an African man at Bunnings and said ‘hey monkey’. Thankfully the man laughed, and said it happens all the time.”

Asked why she felt the need to share the story and whether it was appropriate given the obvious racial slur, an LNP spokesman went on the defence.

“The podcast in question is Bree sharing stories with other mums. In this particular story, Bree details a lived experience where her two-year-old made a wildly inappropriate statement (as they do), how she was mortified by that statement and the gentle kindness and forgiveness displayed by the man in question,” they said.

“Many mothers would know this is not always the reaction of people toward them when their child is misbehaving in public.

For what it’s worth, we’d suggest it’s probably best to steer clear from such “funny” anecdotes when planning to run for public office.

Opposition leader David Crisafulli with LNP Barron River candidate Bree James visiting parliament. Picture: Facebook

MASTER-IN-CHIEF TURNS MASTERCHEF

Forget MAFS, what on earth the Premier is going to put on his kids sandwiches next has become our can't miss Sunday night viewing.

For the past few weeks Steven Miles/suburban Dad has created social media videos of himself making lunches while talking about everything from housing to cost of living.

While not to be missed viewing, we fear the Premier is skating ever closer to having his own ‘Tony Abbot eats an onion’ moment with his choices.

Want to try one at home? Here’s a delicious recipe for you, courtesy of us (and the state’s leader).

“The Murrumba Madness”

*White bread, butter, chopped ham, sliced cheese, pickles, spinach, and as much mayo as possible.

*TIP! Make Sunday afternoon to ensure mayo and pickle juice soaks into that fresh bread as much as possible by Monday lunchtime. Delish!

Premier Steven Miles making lunch boxes for his kids. Picture Supplied

FOLLOW THE LEADER

Perhaps taking a leaf out of his predecessor Annastacia “social media is media” Palaszczuk’s playbook, the lunch-making videos are just one of the Premier’s multitude of daily posts and updates.

But he still has some ground to make up if he wants to emerge as the key influencer (online, anyway), in the parliament, with David Crisafulli boasting more Instagram followers than Mr Miles (about 14,500 vs. 13,700, for those wondering).

Of course this still pales in comparison to the former Premier’s, whose abandoned Instagram platform still attracts almost 90,000 followers.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Plenty of state MPs have been taking time out of their taxpayer-funded day jobs to hit the streets pushing for their respective party’s candidates ahead of Saturday’s Ipswich West and Inala by-elections.

But also spotted was the state’s Youth Justice and Education Minister Di Farmer, who was spotted handing out how-to-vote cards for Labor Morningside Councillor Lucy Collier leading up to Saturday’s council election.

Of course Ms Collier – a former media adviser to Yvette D’Ath – is also Ms Farmer’s stepdaughter.

Queensland Labor Minister Di Farmer with Councillor Lucy Collier – the Minister’s stepdaughter. Picture: Facebook.

RUNNING OUT OF PUFF?

Political insiders are questioning whether the Premier has the stamina to keep up a seven-month fight and convince voters Labor deserves to win in October.

MPs on both government and opposition benches say the Premier looked flat and lacklustre during The Courier-Mail’s cost of living debate.

He was even caught resting his head in his hands at one point.

People close to Mr Miles say he was buoyed by polling in February which showed him closing the gap to the LNP, but claim recently he’s become more aware about the huge challenge.

The Premier on day one told this newspaper he needed to conquer a challenge “taller than Everest” – and there seems to be increasing concern he won’t be able to make it to base camp.

Inala LNP candidate Trang Yen was involved in the controversial Wellcamp project

INALA CANDIDATE’S ELEPHANT

Remember when the government spent $233m of your money building a quarantine centre at Wellcamp that housed just 730 people before it was handed back to private owners?

That actually happened, and the LNP is working to ensure voters don’t forget the Wellcamp “white elephant” – built at the height of pandemic politics to stick it up Scott Morrison’s government.

What they’re not keen to remind voters of is their Inala candidate, Trang Yen’s involvement in said project.

While Ms Yen’s career as a top state government bureaucrat and community service to the Vietnamese community has been widely spruiked, there’s no mention from the LNP about her involvement in that Wellcamp debacle.

Before joining Trade and Investment Queensland Ms Yen was the corporate services and project management officer “for the Quarantine Management Taskforce at Wellcamp facility” – which involved overseeing it and the wider quarantine system.

Ms Yen is unlikely to win on Saturday night – which might be a good thing for the LNP.

THE NUMBERS

Speaking of by-elections, both parties are spinning harder than a washing machine to prepare themselves for what could be a brutal result in Ipswich West.

Mr Miles has left plenty of headroom by flagging a “double-digit swing” while David Crisafulli has said a 3.5 per cent swing would be a “strong result” for the Opposition.

But LNP insiders say the party is poised to strike a much larger dent into the Labor heartland, targeting a 6 per cent swing with one MP declaring “anything north of that is very serious” ahead of the October state election.

Another party figure shared a far more optimistic view, revealing they’d be disappointed if the swing falls below 10 per cent.

They said the current 14.3 per cent two-party margin was largely achieved by a 5 per cent Covid-bump for the government in 2020 and another 5 per cent to previous MP Jim Madden’s personal brand.

Member for Lytton Joan Pease has launched a podcast. Picture Lachie Millard

PEASE IN A POD

Avid readers would remember the sad reminder in February that the impending end of Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath’s political career would also mean the end of the gripping Yvette D’Ath podcast.

But fret not audiophiles, because it turns out another state MP is on the podcast wagon.

Lytton MP Joan Pease has a monthly show titled the Pease Podcast.

It bills itself as a show celebrating “the rich tapestry of our Bayside by highlighting the extraordinary stories, individuals and businesses who make Lytton a truly special place to call home”.

Quick sleuthing revealed the podcast was being produced by a part-time and highly enterprising young staffer out of Pease’s office who bills himself as her “head of media relations” on his LinkedIn.

While the production qualities can’t be faulted, we’re marking her down for not calling it “Pease in a Pod”.

Originally published as George Street Beat: LNP candidate’s shocking racial clanger exposed