‘Let ALP candidates speak their mind on mining’, says Jenny Hill

Townsville’s Labor mayor has urged the federal ALP to select regional Queensland candidates who are allowed to publicly express support of new mining projects.

Townsville mayor Jenny Hill. Picture: Cameron Laird

The Labor mayor of Townsville, Jenny Hill, has urged the federal ALP to select regional Queensland candidates who are “truly representative of the community” and give them freedom to publicly express support of new mining projects.

Ms Hill has warned Anthony Albanese against replicating Bill Shorten’s strategy of shielding pro-mining Queensland can­didates from the media to avoid them alienating inner-­Melbourne voters.

With Labor just scraping home at the by-election in the regional NSW seat of Eden Monaro, Ms Hill said the Opposition Leader’s message had not yet gained ­traction in central and north Queensland electorates important to the ALP’s chances of taking government.

In the lead-up to the Eden poll, Mr Albanese adopted Mr Shorten’s communications strategy, forcing MPs to seek permission before speaking to the media.

“We need to look very closely at the candidates we pick into the future and give them the freedom to really speak their mind about developing the north, particularly north Queensland,” Ms Hill told The Australian.

“The issue around mining got the candidates into trouble (at the last election), so no one was elected north of Lilley (in Brisbane). You want candidates that are seen to be centrists. They need to be able to relate to people.

“While people in Melbourne don’t believe in (coal)mining, it is the heart and soul of the regions, particularly around Mackay, Rockhampton and parts of Townsville.”

Ms Hill was re-elected mayor for a third consecutive term this year on a primary vote of more than 50 per cent. This is despite the region being a graveyard for Labor at the last federal election, with massive two-party-preferred swings to the Coalition in Herbert, Dawson, Capricornia and Flynn.

Labor’s primary vote in Queensland at the 2019 poll was 26.68 per cent and the party holds just six of 30 seats in the state.

Ms Hill spoke to The Australian after she released an essay at the weekend calling on federal Labor to use the COVID-19 pandemic to “re-engage with the ­regions” and stop chasing Greens’ preferences in inner-city seats.

She wrote that federal Labor was continuing to struggle to relate to the broader community in Queensland, including with First Nations people. “Federal Labor needs to refocus its attention from the inner suburbs of major cities,” she said.

“Policy settings for Northern Australia and regions need to be developed from outside the traditional party mechanism as our blue-collar base internally declines,” Ms Hill wrote in the Tocsin magazine, released by the John Curtin Research Centre.

“As that base declines internally, so does our voter base. It needs to stop chasing Greens’ preferences, feeding the parasite living on the body of the host.

“Rather (than) sacrificing the mining and agricultural sector and the people who work in them … they should be working hand-in-glove with them. After all, these are Labor people.”

Mr Albanese on Monday declared he would be ready to fight an election if it was called next year.

“The bookies pay out whether you win by a nose or the length of the straight,” he said.