Anthony Albanese given ‘inner-city cafe policy’ warning

Anthony Albanese must stop formulating policies in ‘inner-city cafes’ or risk losing key Hunter Valley seats, warns a union boss.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese at Bertoni cafe in the inner city suburb of Balmain. Picture: John Appleyard

Anthony Albanese has been warned by the head of the NSW CFMEU mining and energy division to stop developing Labor policies in “inner-city coffee shops” or risk losing three federal seats in the Hunter Valley at the next election — an outcome almost certain to relegate it to three more years of opposition.

Former Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon also threatened to quit parliament if Mr Albanese’s agenda did not go further in backing blue-collar workers, opening up a split within opposition ranks following Labor’s defeat at the weekend by-election in the state seat of Upper Hunter.

“Our brand is in trouble. If we don’t heed the warning, we’ll go the way of the Kodak brand,” Mr Fitzgibbon said. “We are facing something that looks a little bit like an existential threat here.”

Shortland MP Pat Conroy, a close Left faction ally of the Opposition Leader, called Mr Fitzgibbon — who holds the federal seat for Hunter by just under 3 per cent — “disgraceful” and declared there were no federal implications from the result, which saw the ALP suffer a primary vote swing against it of 7 per cent.

Illustration: John Spooner

But Paterson MP Meryl Swanson, from the NSW Right, said she was “absolutely” concerned her seat would be at risk at the next election as Scott Morrison targets the Hunter Valley region. Ms Swanson said she would be a “fool” to not take lessons from the disastrous by-election loss.

“Of course I am concerned. And that is why I am working my guts out to represent my community as well as I can,” Ms Swanson said. “Every election is a time stamp on how people are feeling and faring, their opportunity to send a message. So you ignore them at your own peril.”

CFMEU NSW northern mining and energy president Peter Jordan, who represents workers in the Hunter Valley, said he believed the electorates of Shortland, Paterson and Hunter, held by Mr Conroy, Ms Swanson and Mr Fitzgibbon, were under threat.

Mr Jordan said it was “absolutely disgraceful” Labor opposed a $600m government-funded gas plant in the region, declaring it needed to “stop developing their policy in inner-city coffee shops”.

 

“Albo is falling further behind in coal country and I think that was a reflection here in coal country in the Upper Hunter on Saturday,” Mr Jordan said.

“If he thinks he is rebuilding it with blue-collar workers then I don’t know where they are.

“It is a terrible result but it, I think, stares the federal Labor Party right in the face that they have got a huge job ahead of them.

“We had a good candidate, who stood and developed some great policy and plans for blue-collar workers in particular coalminers here in the Upper Hunter.

Anthony Albaneseat Kelby's Cafe in Sydney’s Marrickville. Picture: Toby Zerna

“But the problem was blue-collar miners still didn’t listen to it. They went and still voted for One Nation. And One Nation are going to deliver them what? Bloody nothing. But they still went there.”

Mr Albanese played down the impact of coal in the by-election result, declaring the biggest campaign spend from the state Coalition was “$200 million to not build a coalmine in the electorate of Upper Hunter; the Shenhua coalmine”.

 

The site of the proposed Shenhua coalmine was actually in the electorate of Tamworth and the government bought out the licence for $100 million.

“Labor represents the interests of blue-collar workers. It is only Labor that’s been standing up for jobs,” Mr Albanese said.

Analysis of voting data from booths within the part of Upper Hunter that overlaps with Mr Fitzgibbon’s federal seat shows a consistent fall in Labor’s vote.

In all nine booths, its vote was lower on Saturday than at the May 2019 federal election, while it was below the level the ALP recorded at the March 2019 state election in seven of them.

 

In the large town of Singleton, Labor’s three booths recorded primary vote swings against it of between 11.3 and 17 per cent since the 2019 state election. While the Nationals vote was down in eight of the nine booths from the last state election, the swing was generally smaller than what Labor suffered.

Minor parties have benefited from the changing vote patterns, collectively topping 40 per cent in all nine booths and rising above 50 per cent in four of them.