Razzle dazzle a distant memory three years on

THE shine has worn off Labor's once-happy hunting ground of Queensland -- and didn't it show at the campaign launch.

THE shine has worn off Labor's once-happy hunting ground of Queensland -- and didn't it show at the campaign launch.

Anna Bligh is much diminished from the figure who bounced on stage in her home town in November 2007 to introduce newly elected prime minister Kevin Rudd, then went on to become the first woman to win her own race as Premier. But given the campaign launch was in Ms Bligh's electorate of South Brisbane, there was no air-brushing her out of the frame.

Nor that other prominent son of Queensland, Mr Rudd, who made his way into the industrially lit pavilion escorted by Labor enforcer John Faulkner, the outgoing defence minister.

But it was a far cry from the jubilant scenes that accompanied some of Ms Bligh's previous appearances with Mr Rudd. It had been a beaming Ms Bligh who called Mr Rudd on stage on election night 07 to savour his win. He brought down the house at a packed function room at Suncorp stadium by declaring he would govern for all Australians.

Queensland, with its 15 marginal seats up for grabs and Labor insiders talking about losing up to eight of them at this point of the campaign, holds the key to The Lodge.

This time, however, the atmospherics could not have been more different for a Labor Party fighting for its life north of the Tweed.