Queensland Labor is about to break its own gender quota rules (again)
Queensland Labor moves to create a new party deputy role in face of gender quota fight as the LNP VP tips a bucket on Peter Dutton and the party’s federal election campaign.
G’day readers and welcome to this week’s edition of Feeding the Chooks, The Australian’s must-read, award-winning Queensland politics column.
The more the merrier
Labor’s affirmative action rules can be a little bendy at times.
Last year, Anthony Albanese personally intervened to protect veteran federal MP Shayne Neumann from a declared challenge under the quotas, requiring women to be preselected in at least half of the party’s held seats (at the time, there were just two women out of their five Queensland MPs).
And now, it seems, the party is going to change the rules requiring an even split between the genders for the two top jobs at ALP headquarters.
After the huge increase in Labor MPs at this year’s federal election, ALP state secretary Kate Flanders took off for other pastures, making way for her Left faction comrade Ben Driscoll to replace her.
Driscoll’s deputy of sorts is assistant state secretary Zac Beers, from the Right faction, who has served in the job since 2019 and was elected for a four-year term at the state conference in 2022, meaning his term is not up until late 2026.
At the upcoming ALP state conference, to be held on the last weekend of November, Driscoll’s position will be enshrined in a vote with the support of the dominant Left faction.
That should mean Beers would have to take the jump and step aside for a woman from the Right to fill his shoes.
But Chooks hears he isn’t going anywhere, and has the support of the faction.
What to do?
Well, this week, the Left faction drafted a proposed amendment to go before the conference to create a second assistant state secretary position for their own female nominee. Longtime political staffer Alana Tibbits is tipped to take the job.
And the suggestion is that the New Left position will be deemed the “senior” assistant state secretary.
It will be put before the rules committee, and is expected to be passed.
The move has Right faction insiders shaking their heads.
“The Right has just given the Left another reason to flex their muscle by not moving Zac on,’’ the source said.
“Just shows the Left have so much power, they can do anything.’’
‘Lethargic and complacent’
Who needs enemies when you’ve got friends like Trent Belling?
The newly elected Liberal National Party Queensland vice-president delivered a withering assessment of the Coalition’s federal election campaign to his local Rotary branch on the Gold Coast on June 18, and his blockbuster slide show presentation has helpfully found its way to Chooks.
Belling – then the LNP’s Gold Coast chair and campaign manager for candidate Leon Rebello’s successful tilt for McPherson – was critical of Labor and especially the Teals, but didn’t miss his own side, telling his fellow Rotarians that “Peter Dutton and the LNP were big target with no detail”.
“It appeared that the LNP were not ready to form Govt again (and to be honest, that is probably a fair assessment),” Belling’s slides read.
“Peter Dutton and the LNP had no coherent policy platform regarding the issues agenda. Policy backflips and culture wars hurt them.”
“The Liberal National Coalition was lethargic and complacent. In QLD in particular they didn’t think they could go backwards so they didn’t work for the vote.”
Ouch. Tell us what you really think, Trent. As Belling notes, Labor increased its seat-share in Queensland from 5 to 12 at the May election, winning Forde, Bonner, Petrie, Dickson and Leichhardt from the LNP and Griffith and Brisbane from the Greens.
“Labor have performed terribly on the economy but the Coalition did not put forward a credible economic alternative,” Belling’s slides say. “Dutton fell into the trap of being big spending and Labor Lite on economic issues.”
“Labor got on the front foot casting doubt over nuclear and the cost. The Coalition never regained ground on the Labor lies about nuclear. “Appeared unready to govern … the Coalition kicked own goals regarding: work from home, Welcome to Country, immigration and social cohesion.”
Chooks wonders what his fellow LNP executive members, many of whom were intimately involved in running the election campaign from the party’s Albion HQ, make of Belling’s frank assessment.
Will Belling be disciplined for speaking out of school to his Rotary club about party business? Other LNP members have received hefty punishments for complaining about the way the campaign was run – particularly on a financial level – to party meetings, instead of taking their concerns directly to the party president.
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All smiles at the Port of Hinchinbrook
Political watchers were scratching their heads on Monday when Katter’s Australian Party state MP turned Townsville mayoral candidate Nick Dametto stood alongside Premier David Crisafulli at the Port of Hinchinbrook.
Dametto, who is running as an independent for the garrison council’s top job, was all smiles as Crisafulli announced a plan to revitalise the dowdy port alongside the LNP’s candidate to replace him in Hinchinbrook, Wayde Chiesa.
The state government said Dametto’s invitation was due to his longtime advocacy for the project, with the former state parliamentarian telling Chooks his appearance was in no way an endorsement of Chiesa.
But not all are sold. KAP state leader Robbie Katter told Chooks it was “very interesting” to see his former deputy “celebrating with the party that sat on the project and rode it dead for so many years”.
Just fine
Premier David Crisafulli has always espoused the virtue of taking personal responsibility.
And it seems like that's the approach he is also taking to his Transport Minister, Brent “Leadfoot” Mickelberg, who received an embarrassing speeding fine last month on the job (and then posted it on his official government social media pages).
When asked by Chooks whether the minister would face any repercussions for his slip in judgment, Crisafulli dodged and wove any potential criticism.
“He accepted responsibility for that, and I genuinely think he’s doing a good job,” the premier said.
“I need someone who is competent and capable, and he’s doing it, and his ability to understand logistics and rolling out a plan, in my mind, is without peer.”
Mickelberg paid the $322 fine and wore the one demerit point on the chin.
We do wonder what Police Minister Dan Purdie has to think of Crisafulli’s failure to call out the road safety risk of speeding, which is one of the fatal five that the former frontline officer has repeatedly said should never be tolerated.
Whose question is it, anyway?
Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber was on a roll this week, answering a string of questions on notice from Labor requesting data on court matters relating to juveniles.
Her response to a question about the number of court matters finalised under the Youth Justice Act was a curt but polite reminder to Labor backbencher Bisma Asif that the Department of Justice and Attorney-General Deb Frecklington was best placed to provide an answer.
But Chooks can remember a few very similar questions being put to Frecklington during estimates. Her response at the time: Administration of the Youth Justice Act was the responsibility of Ms Gerber.
Interesting.
Feed the Chooks
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