Anthony Albanese urged to copy populist Queensland Labor policies
Anthony Albanese is facing internal pressure to unveil populist cost-of-living measures that federal MPs and union leaders say prevented Queensland Labor from suffering a near wipe-out on Saturday’s election.
Anthony Albanese is facing internal pressure to unveil populist cost-of-living measures that federal MPs and union leaders say rescued Queensland Labor from a near wipe-out, amid growing concerns over the party’s appeal in the regions after voters north of Brisbane swung hard behind the Liberal National Party.
Despite outgoing Queensland premier Steven Miles being turfed out of power after copping a more than 7 per cent swing, federal Labor MPs said the result would have been worse if not for “bold” cost-of-living policies such as 50c fees for public transport, free school lunches and car registration discounts.
Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt on Sunday signalled the Albanese government was willing to replicate Mr Miles’ scare campaign on abortion, accusing Coalition MPs Jacinta Price, Barnaby Joyce and Matt Canavan of “reopening this debate on the national stage”.
After the Greens’ horror result on the weekend, Labor MPs are confident they can win the Brisbane seats of Griffith and Brisbane at the federal election, while some party figures say Labor’s retention of the state seat of Cairns bodes well in the quest to win the seat of Leichhardt.
However, with Labor losing three out of four seats in the Cairns region, other federal Labor MPs said the dire results in regional Queensland showed the party was increasingly vulnerable to Peter Dutton’s strategy of targeting rural and outer-suburban seats.
The Prime Minister hailed Mr Miles’ “effective and vigilant and courageous campaign”, despite Queensland Labor on Sunday night being on track to lose between 15 and 19 seats and retaining only three electorates north of Brisbane. “He was always against the odds, but the outcome was much better for Queensland Labor than what was anticipated just weeks ago, let alone months ago,” Mr Albanese said.
The Opposition Leader welcomed the election of incoming LNP premier David Crisafulli, declaring Queenslanders voted for action on “crime, cost of living, health and housing”.
Mr Albanese, Health Minister Mark Butler and senior ministers will launch a national blitz this week selling Labor’s economic and health policies, ahead of new inflation data being released on Wednesday. The Australian understands Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Labor’s most senior-ranking Queensland MP, is devising a new round of cost-of-living measures ahead of the December mid-year budget update.
While economists are warning higher government spending will further delay an interest-rate cut, a Labor MP said Mr Albanese should secure national cabinet agreement for Queensland’s heavily subsidised public transport policy to be rolled out across Australia. Another government MP said voters wanted to hear about “free lunches, free transport and free Medicare”, while a third said Mr Miles’ cost-of-living policies were easily digestible and identifiable.
A senior Queensland union leader said the Labor campaign could prove, in part, to be a trial run for Mr Albanese’s tactics ahead of next year’s federal election. Queensland’s unions played a major role in the state campaign, spending more than $2.5m in advertising, social media and leaflet drops that focused on Labor’s cost-of-living measures, the abortion scare campaign and accusations that Mr Crisafulli and the LNP had “secret plans” to cut public service numbers if elected.
The union leader said Mr Miles’ cost-of-living relief measures helped mitigate the “it’s time” factor among voters who had turned off Labor after three terms in power. “Cost of living is a major issue in Queensland and across Australia, people are doing it tough, especially in the regions and outer suburbs where federal Labor has to hold and win seats next year,’’ the union leader said.
“Australia’s labour movement are already talking about this for next year’s campaign. And there are things that the Albanese government can address, especially when you look at core areas for Labor like health. Health is the ‘sleeper issue,’ people can’t afford to go to the doctors.
“Federal Labor should be looking at a package to reform Medicare and make GPs affordable.”
Mr Albanese – who labelled crime as the key issue in the LNP victory – spoke with Mr Crisafulli on Saturday about the importance of delivering the 2032 Olympics.
Mr Albanese declared the Greens should learn lessons from the result, with the left-wing party on track to go backwards and win just one seat. “People who elected Greens party representatives to state and federal parliament expected them to play a progressive role, not to play a blocking role,” he said. “To seek to bring people together, not to divide people. And I think there’s a big message in this result for Adam Bandt.”
Mr Bandt said the LNP won the election because Queensland Labor was too focused on “fighting the Greens”, while also accusing Mr Miles of “copying” Greens cost-of-living policies.
“When Labor realises the Greens can work with them, we can make these positive changes a reality,” he said.
Pollster Kos Samaras, who previously worked on ALP campaigns, warned that the loss of traditionally safe Labor state seats including Rockhampton and Mackay was a major concern for the party. “The problem for Labor is you can’t win elections by relying on inner to middle-urban electorates. Is Labor awake to this problem? Based on Steven Miles’ speech … it’s more akin to being asleep at the wheel,” he said.
The Australian can reveal the mining industry is preparing to replicate a Queensland Resources Council campaign at the federal election. The QRC campaign was credited with helping the LNP dominate in Townsville and Cairns, and claim historic wins in Rockhampton and Mackay.
All state and federal mining industry groups will run separate campaigns at next year’s federal election, which are expected to warn voters about risks posed by the Albanese government’s union-backed industrial relations laws, amplify the importance of LNG, coal and iron ore to regional economies and jobs, and promote consideration of nuclear energy.
The pushback from miners against federal Labor, along with campaigns being planned by building, business and other industry groups, would have significant impacts on Mr Albanese’s hopes of winning seats in Queensland and retaining seats in Western Australia to offset expected losses in NSW and Victoria.
In a pitch to workers in regional communities, Mr Albanese will deliver a speech at the Mining and Energy Union convention in Brisbane on Monday accusing Mr Dutton of wanting to cut wages and conditions of miners.
“He wants to rip up every new right workers have negotiated,” Mr Albanese will say. “He wants to wreck every bit of progress we have made. And wants to cut every pay rise your members have earned. The Liberals will always be the party of low wages. For them, it’s deeper than a ‘deliberate design feature of their economic architecture’; it’s in their DNA.”
After Chris Minns’ election victory in NSW last year, Labor locked in power federally and across every mainland state and territory. The tide has started to turn this year, with Jeremy Rockliff clinging on at the Tasmanian election, Country Liberal Party leader Lia Finocchiaro winning a landslide victory in the Northern Territory and Mr Crisafulli clinching majority government in Queensland.
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