Top Queensland Labor bureaucrat Mike Kaiser prepares for LNP government
G’day readers and welcome to the final Feeding the Chooks column ahead of the Queensland election.
Labor’s Kaiser orders bureaucracy to plan for LNP government
Queensland public service boss Mike Kaiser was warned earlier this year by David Crisafulli to iron just one work shirt if the Liberal National Party wins Saturday’s election.
While Steven Miles’ director general is seen as political, given his pedigree as a former ALP state secretary and Labor MP, it seems Kaiser has pulled out all the stops to ensure a smooth and well-advised transition for the LNP if they take power.
Chooks was leaked (and it didn’t come from an ALP friendly) a missive from Kaiser to public servants in the Department of Premier and Cabinet reminding them of their obligations in preparing “incoming government briefs” to help implement either side’s campaign policies.
The briefs – colloquially known in Australian government circles as “red and blue books” – give a run down on the portfolio’s true state of play and how to implement policies on campaign promises for the victor.
In the message, Kaiser stressed that while it was natural to have personal political views, especially as they prepare to vote, public servants had to be impartial in preparing an “incoming government of either persuasion”.
“We’re here to do a job and that job includes helping the government of the day deliver its program (provided it’s legal, etc. Ref: Robodebt),’’ he wrote.
“So that means preparing as best we can, with the information we have, transparent advice on how to achieve the objectives that will become a mandate from the people of Queensland for whoever wins.
“Remember, public service is a verb.”
We hear that work has already begun on draft legislation for the LNP’s “Adult Crime, Adult Time” policy and how to rollout Labor’s free lunches for primary school kids.
If it is an LNP government, you’d think Premier-elect Crisafulli, might want Kaiser to iron a few more shirts so there won’t be any unexpected creases in the rollout of his policy plans.
Labor goes Green in Greenslopes
Could Labor MP for Greenslopes Joe Kelly be just the teensiest worried about the Greens in his suburban Brisbane seat?
If this Facebook ad is anything to go by – Chooks suggests the former nurse is panicking about his prospects at Saturday’s poll.
The Greens have been heavily targeting four Brisbane electorates – Kelly’s Greenslopes, Grace Grace’s McConnel, Jonty Bush’s Cooper, and Mark Bailey’s Miller – and have been making much of Kelly’s backing of a 2018 LNP amendment to restrict access to abortion.
It should be noted that Kelly voted for Labor’s decriminalisation of termination of pregnancy at the same time, but disagreed with forcing health practitioners to “do something that is fundamentally against their conscience”.
Analytics show Kelly’s ad – in the very specific shade of green used by the eponymous political party – has been seen more than 8000 times, mostly by women aged between 25 and 34, a key demographic of people worried about the issue of abortion laws.
Whether the perennially optimistic Greens will actually pick up any seats – to add to their two existing state electorates – is yet to be seen, and Labor insiders are more confident about holding onto the four now, than before the campaign started.
Some Greens hardheads believe the party’s best chance is in Cooper, held by Labor backbencher Bush.
DG clear out
As Chooks reports above, furious planning is going on behind the scenes this week to prepare David Crisafulli to govern should his Liberal National Party win Saturday’s election.
After 10 years in the political wilderness, and a thirst to run things differently to the last time the conservatives ruled George Street, there is a lot do to.
Transition arrangements have been kept firmly underwraps with Crisafulli desperate to avoid a perception of hubris before polling day.
But Chooks hears there are plans afoot to follow in Annastacia Palaszczuk’s footsteps and spill all of the top public service roles.
After sweeping to power in an unexpected victory in 2015, Palaszczuk told department heads they would need to reapply for their jobs.
Chooks hears bigwigs in the LNP are keen to do the same.
The small problem for Crisafulli is that he pledged himself to a landmine provision in Peter Coaldrake’s public service review, vowing to employ state public service chiefs for fixed five-year terms.
It means he could be bound to director-generals appointed under the Palaszczuk-Miles administration.
In April, Crisafulli said the “majority” of current directors-general would be safe under an LNP government, but – as we’ve noted – not Mike Kaiser.
Speculation is rife that justice department chief Jasmina Joldic would be one of the first to be moved on.
Joldic, who ran government oversight of Labor’s white elephant quarantine camp Wellcamp, has been DG of Justice and Attorney-General since last year.
A senior LNP source says Bob Gee, who runs the youth justice department is also “dead in the water,” given Crisafulli had staked his leadership on reforming juvenile justice and would likely want fresh eyes.
Chooks expects there are a few more top bureaucrats on the chopping block.
Labor leaderboard: the final countdown
If there was any doubt Steven Miles and his Labor team have given up on the regions, just have a look at the results from Labor’s internal leaderboard this week.
Union resources have been deployed into vulnerable southeast Queensland seats in the final week on the hustings, with Labor’s campaign to retain the Bribie Island-based seat of Pumicestone racking up the most number of door knocks and phone calls to voters.
The nine other seats on this week’s leaderboard are all in southeast Queensland. Labor’s Aspley campaign came in second place this week for the most voter interactions followed by Gaven, Springwood, Mansfield, Redcliffe, Sandgate, Greenslopes, Nicklin then Cooper.
Pumicestone (which has changed hands at the past four elections) is considered by operatives on both sides to be one of the nastiest campaigns this election.
The union backing Labor’s Ali King sent out flyers criticising the life experience of the LNP’s 22-year-old candidate Ariana Doolan.
When the media bus following David Crisafulli around the state stopped by a pre-poll booth in Pumicestone on Friday afternoon, Labor staffers were quick to hit the phones to call in more manpower.
Things started off civil, with King and her team handing out their how-to-vote cards alongside Crisafulli and Doolan.
But it quickly turned chaotic when a Labor volunteer posed up as a voter and started to grill Crisafulli on abortion in front of the television cameras.
The LNP staffers were suspicious, given the woman was wearing a jumper on a sunny 27-degree day.
Her ruse was up quickly with Crisafulli’s team challenging the woman to “take off your jumper and show us your shirt” (believing she had covered up a Labor-branded shirt).
She then took off in her car, emblazoned with an Ali King bumper sticker.
That bloke from TikTok
Steven Miles told a punter on the hustings this week: “I try to let people know now that I’m a politician, they need to vote for me. Because they all think I’m just the bloke from TikTok”.
The grab (coincidently published on the social media platform) highlights the premier’s prolific digital presence, which has ramped up during the campaign with an enormous 98 posts in 25 days.
While his predecessor, Annastacia Palaszczuk, embraced the platform to reach young people with polished videos that took advantage of trends to get higher engagement, Miles has attempted a more authentic approach.
What started with him making sandwiches with his daughter on Sunday afternoons when he first took over the top job, has evolved into a mixture of direct-to-camera videos about policy and trendy content.
The (allegedly) long-requested video of Miles doing a 100kg chest press alongside two micro-influencers achieved 240.8 thousand views and reached nearly a million people.
Meanwhile, a snippet from the second leaders’ debate at the Queensland Media Club showing the premier quizzing Crisafulli on abortion racked up 721.3 thousand views.
In contrast, David Crisafulli has posted 68 videos to TikTok through the campaign, including several clips of a Sky News interview, and with his candidate for Capalaba, Russell Field, whose son and pregnant daughter-in-law were killed in a car accident by a teen criminal.
His top video for October – which garnered 48.9 thousand views – told TikTokkers that pineapple and pizza don’t go together, and neither does stamp duty and a first homebuyer’s purchase (referencing the LNP’s policy to scrap the tax for rookie homeowners).
The problem with TikTok — and social media in general — is that the numbers are impressive but fail to tell the full story. It is impossible to know how many actually live in the state or are old enough to cast a vote.
Heading north?
Chooks notes with interest the timing of the resignation of Tasmanian Liberal Party state director Pete Coulson on Friday.
Coulson was director of strategy and research for David Crisafulli for the first eight months of his reign as Opposition leader, after serving as Crisafulli’s predecessor Deb Frecklington’s principal adviser for her term in the job.
Tassie Premier Jeremy Rockcliff thanked Coulson for playing an “important role” in securing the Libs a fourth term at this year’s election, and Chooks can’t help but presume Coulson – who didn’t get back to us – might be one of a flood of former staffers rushing back into the fold if an LNP victory is secured on Saturday.
Mayhem in Mundingburra
David Crisafulli’s old Townsville seat of Mundingburra (Labor, 3.93 per cent) is one to watch as the votes are counted on Saturday night.
LNP internal track polling reveals the Katter’s Australian Party is in with a serious chance of capturing the seat, where crime has dominated the debate.
While LNP sources say the party remains well ahead on the primary vote, Labor’s popularity has tanked and giving the KAP a good shot of placing second.
This means the KAP’s Michael Pugh could pull ahead of the LNP’s Janelle Poole after Labor’s preferences are distributed.
“It’s line ball,” one LNP insider said.
It became clear the LNP was starting to get more worried last week when deputy leader Jarrod Bleijie launched fresh attacks on Pugh over his criminal history during a press conference in Mundingburra last week.
Labor has written off all three Townsville seats, and Thuringowa (currently held by Labor’s Aaron Harper, 3.25 per cent) is also at risk of falling to the KAP.
Poole is rumoured to be the “pick of the bunch” from the LNP’s North Queensland candidates for a post-election ministerial promotion should she, and the party, prevail.
The LNP’s internal polling reflects union-funded research by DemosAU, which suggested the ALP is on 25 per cent, the KAP is on 27 per cent and the LNP’s primary vote is 34.5 per cent.
Spotted
Parliamentary clerk Neil Laurie has been very clear during the campaign that MPs should not use their official gazebos – emblazoned with the parliamentary logo – on the campaign trail.
As Chooks reported last week, Laurie – who we imagine was hoping for a calmer caretaker period, rather than a storm of electoral resource misuse – told MPs in a letter:
“I would ask all members to ensure that the use of the logo in anyway associated with campaigning or electioneering cease asap”.
But Caloundra Labor MP Jason Hunt found a foolproof way to circumnavigate the directive: stick a few how-to-vote cards over the parliamentary logo.
Well, nearly foolproof. When Chooks arrived at the pre-poll booth at the Caloundra Cricket Club with Premier Steven Miles, the emblem was clearly visible under a fallen flyer.
There’s no harm in trying, we guess.
Spotted
Is former federal Senator Amanda Stoker supremely confident of victory in the safe LNP seat of Oodgeroo?
Chooks’ spies eyed a pile of printing ready for a post-election roadside, declaring: “Thank you for your support! Amanda”.
Stoker is replacing retiring MP Mark Robinson as the LNP’s candidate in the bayside electorate.
Capturing the campaign
As the sun sets on the 2024 Queensland election campaign, join the Chooks as we remember some of the best photographs from the hustings, taken by our talented photographers Liam Kidston, Adam Head, and Lyndon Mechielsen.
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