Anthony Albanese left in lurch as Annastacia Palaszczuk flies the coop

Anthony Albanese and Annastacia Palaszczuk. The Queensland Premier won’t be joining the federal Labor leader on the hustings early in the campaign. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Here’s hoping Anthony Albanese made the most of his catch-up with Annastacia Palaszczuk in Brisbane’s southwest on Monday – because it is going to be their last for a while.

With Scott Morrison poised to name the day of the federal election, the one certainty is that Queensland’s Premier won’t be hitting the hustings with Albo.

Albanese may have been looking for a bit of reflected glory from Palaszczuk in the Sunshine State but it’s unlikely to happen for the start of the campaign at least.

The premier – who has been a little down in the polls of late – has taken the imminent federal election as an opportunity to go on holidays from April 5 to April 25, taking in a nifty chunk of the campaign period.

Still, it is not exactly doing Albo any favours in his quest to lift Labor‘s very meagre representation of six out of Queensland’s 30 federal seats on election day.

It also will fuel the whispers that Palaszczuk and Albo haven’t always been the best of friends.

This was kicked along on Monday when Palaszczuk kept the alternative prime minister cooling his heels for an excruciatingly long 27 minutes as she ran late for their joint appearance at the Woolworths distribution centre on Monday.

One Labor source suggested the Palaszczuk government was trying to put a bit of air between itself and Albanese after it bore the brunt of the blame for Bill Shorten’s drubbing in Queensland in 2019 over the Adani coal mine.

“Integrity and health issues, with ambulance ramping, haven’t exactly put the premier in a good light lately,” the Labor insider said.

“Ramping was a killer for (ousted Liberal premier Steven) Marshall in South Australia.”

ACTING UP AND ACTING OUT

Annastacia Palaszczuk had barely pressed the enter key to publish her social media posts informing Queenslanders she’d be on holidays when her fill-in was spruiking the new title.

First thing Wednesday morning the top of a media release from Treasurer Cameron Dick was headed “Acting Premier and Minister for the Olympics”.

Opposition deputy Jarrod Bleijie was quick to poke fun at his rival.

“Didn’t take long for (Cameron Dick) aka CRD to change the letterhead … issuing a media release this morning to play to his big ego that he is the Acting Premier from this morning,” Bleijie pointed out on Twitter alongside a photo of the top of the media release.

Apparently CRD – Cameron Robert Dick – is a reference to a moody black and white photo Dick published on Budget Day in 2020 that was reminiscent of an Oval Office portrait of John F Kennedy (JFK).

Cameron Dick’s 2020 budget day picture.

Dick hit back, challenging Bleijie to “show people the full media release” which discussed “Scott Morrison’s election eve insult to Queensland flood victims”.

Bleijie did not oblige but was eager to get in the last word.

“I’m surprised you know what’s in the press release,” he wrote back.

“After all, you would have only been interested in making sure the title was right.”

CLIVE AND VLAD TALK TACTICS

Sky News watchers were this week left wondering if Vladimir Putin has been running his military strategies past Clive Palmer.

The Queensland billionaire, who is running for the federal senate, told Sky’s Peter Gleeson that the Russian President invaded Ukraine to prove he was “still in charge”.

Palmer said “from discussions I’d had with him”, Putin believed nuclear weapons were getting closer to Russia.

“And he thought that it was better to invade now and stop that from happening because he thought that might happen,” Palmer said.

“I don’t know whether these (were) real threats, but of course, Putin saw that I also guess that he wanted to demonstrate that he was still in charge, both domestically and externally.”

Chooks checked in with Palmer’s team, who say his analysis of Putin’s motives was based on chats they had at a Sydney seafood restaurant years ago and the pair were not recently in contact.

Morrison’s assistant women’s minister to speak at pro-life rally

Assistant Women’s Minister Amanda Stoker is headlining a pro-life rally in Brisbane later this month.

With her political future in jeopardy after being relegated to No 3 on the Liberal National Party’s senate ticket in Queensland, the conservative Senator is in the fight of her political career to secure a quota at the upcoming election.

Senator Amanda Stoker addresses an anti-abortion rally in 2021. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Asked by Chooks if her pro-life views were at odds with her role as assistant women’s minister, Stoker’s office replied: “It must be a slow news day if you’re writing about an event that’s still almost a month away”.

Her office did not respond to questions about what the senator planned to say at the rally, also being attended by former LNP MP George Christensen and One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts.

LAPTOP REPORT DUE ANY DAY

Queensland’s political class are waiting with bated breath for the impending release of a Crime and Corruption Commission report into the alleged seizure of a laptop from the Integrity Commissioner’s office last year.

The CCC report into the laptop saga – which triggered the integrity crisis plaguing Annastacia Palaszczuk’s government – is due to be handed to the LNP-chaired parliamentary oversight committee this month.

Integrity boss Nikola Stepanov has complained to the CCC that a laptop and phone were seized from her office and wiped by the Public Service Commission last year.

The relationship between Stepanov and PSC boss Rob Setter soured further last month when the Integrity Commissioner used parliamentary privilege to accuse Setter of calling her a “bitch on a witch hunt”.

Public Service Commissioner Robert Setter. Picture: Liam Kidston

A 2021 email exchange between the pair went public this week in which

Stepanov voiced concerns to Setter that staff cuts in her office put her in an “untenable position” and asked for mediation.

In response to her request, Setter suggested “we focus on getting your office functional again in the first instance”. “Then let’s meet and discuss your concerns below – which I must say come as a surprise to me.”

The big question most hope will be answered in the CCC report is: “what was on the laptop?”

FORMER LNP MINISTER TO RUN AS INDEPENDENT

He’s had success in state and local politics, now Jack Dempsey is going to have a crack at the big leagues.

Former Newman government ­minister turned Bundaberg mayor Dempsey has announced he will contest the federal election as an independent in the Coalition stronghold of Hinkler.

Dempsey, who has previously denied rumours he would run, served as Campbell Newman’s police minister and a state MP from 2006 to 2015. He has been Bundaberg’s mayor since 2016.

Describing himself as a “true independent”, Dempsey will take on resources minister Keith Pitt who holds the seat on a 14.6 per cent margin.

“For way too long we’ve been one of the most disadvantaged areas in Australia,” he said.

“There needs to be a stronger focus on creating jobs, looking after the elderly and providing homes for everybody.”

COLOUR SCHEME CONFUSION

Voters in the south Brisbane electorate of Moreton could be forgiven for the mistaken belief that their regular Brisbane City Council newsletter had become a plug for Liberal National Party councillor Steven Huang’s federal politics tilt.

A flyer sent out to constituents bears a striking resemblance to official Brisbane council newsletters, right down to the blue and yellow checked border and photos of Huang with Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and his predecessor Graham Quirk.

It was actually an LNP endorsed brochure telling voters in English and Mandarin, why they should vote for Huang.

The council’s Labor opposition leader, Jared Cassidy, accused the LNP of wilfully trying to trick voters.

“The LNP’s use of official Brisbane City Council patterns and designs on political flyers is deliberately deceitful and shameless,” Cassidy said.

Cassidy also pointed out the conspicuous absence of Scott Morrison from the flyer.

The issue popped up during last year’s Stretton by-election.

At that time a Liberal National Party spokesman said it was simply a coincidence influenced by shared blue and yellow colour schemes.

“We have used the LNP’s branding on our material,” the spokesman said.

A flyer sent by LNP candidate Steven Huang bore a striking resemblance to a Brisbane Council newsletter.

A regular Brisbane Council newsletter.

Huang faces a tough task in Moreton against Labor MP Graham Perrett who holds the seat with a 1.9 per cent margin after defeating former councillor Angela Owen in 2019.