Editorial: Easter no time for Steven Miles’ cheap attacks

Steven Miles has made an unusual attack on David Crisafulli, given he once had to defend the same behaviour, writes the editor.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles and shadow attorney-general Meaghan Scanlon on Sunday

The one thing that unites Australians over the Easter long weekend is the time we spend with our loved ones.

So it is indeed strange timing for Opposition Leader Steven Miles to use an Easter Sunday media conference to launch an attack on David Crisafulli, whom he called the laziest premier ever.

Apparently Mr Miles thinks Mr Crisafulli does not give enough media conferences – particularly on the weekends.

“I don’t remember a premier ever appearing so rarely, and so rarely on weekdays too,” Mr Miles said.

It is a strange line of attack on a new premier who worked non-stop through his election campaign and has rarely paused to take a breath since.

And it’s also unusual that it came from Mr Miles, who, as deputy premier, defended a family holiday to NSW by saying, “I took a few days off to spend with my kids and I’m not going to apologise for that.”

Attacking a politician for being absent during a time of crisis is entirely fair. Attacking him for taking some family time on a special (and very quiet) weekend is not.

Mr Crisafulli refused to rise to the bait and didn’t respond to Mr Miles’s taunt.

But earlier in the day he released a social media message saying Easter Sunday was a day of “food and faith and family and chocolates”.

We agree. And it is not a day for petty politics.

DUTTON NEEDS MOMENTUM SHIFT

Easter is indeed a special time for Australians of all faiths.

Many practising Christians attend mass on the Friday and Sunday, while many others observe the tradition of forgoing meat on Friday and feasting on the Sunday.

But even for lapsed and non-practising Christians, atheists and agnostics, and those of non-Christian faiths, Easter is a time to get together with the family and enjoy a few well-earned days off.

And while mother nature has certainly thrown everything at Queensland so far this year, it is also true that we have been blessed with glorious autumn weather for the long weekend.

For our federal politicians exhausted from three weeks of campaigning, Easter brought a truce of sorts, with the personal attacks and gotcha moments held in reserve while most of them returned home to family.

For Opposition Leader Peter Dutton it would have been a welcome break from a campaign that has never really gained any momentum.

While he has made some obvious missteps – the own goal over public servants’ work from home entitlements the most damaging – it is mainly events outside of his control that has taken the wind from his sails.

The election of Donald Trump in the US was initially seen as a positive for Mr Dutton – indeed a poll in The Courier-Mail showed a majority of voters thought Mr Dutton was better equipped to handle the US President – but it has not turned out that way.

The President’s increasingly erratic actions – making territorial claims over Canada, Denmark and Panama, allowing Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to gut the federal public service, and in particular his nonsensical tariffs have taken bark off Mr Dutton for no other reason that they are both right-wing politicians (although you couldn’t really call Mr Trump a conservative).

So Mr Dutton now has 12 days to change the momentum and the narrative. As we report in The Courier-Mail today he will announce a $375m pledge to take on organised crime, illegal drugs and child sex offenders.

It should be familiar and comfortable ground for the former cop as he promised to “crack down on crime from the border to the backyard”.

While polls have consistently shown that cost-of-living is the main area for concern for voters in this election, crime shouldn’t be too far behind, and is particularly important for those in outer-suburban and regional areas.

The Coalition’s crime plan would include placing dedicated Australian Federal Police teams in each state and territory led by a national leadership group and supported by specialist financial investigative and legal teams focused on issues like illegal drugs, tobacco and the vape trade.

Meanwhile the child sex offender scheme would be modelled on existing programs operating in Western Australia and the UK, which the Coalition said had unmasked thousands of pedophiles to worried parents and guardians.

While the Coalition was criticised for not doing its homework on the abortive work-from-home policy, you would be hard-pressed to find undecided voters who wouldn’t support such measures.

This might just be the circuit-breaker Mr Dutton needs.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here

Originally published as Editorial: Easter no time for Steven Miles’ cheap attacks