ANALYSIS: Labor’s campaign launch proves old hits are still crowd pleasers amongst party faithful

Treasurer Cameron Dick’s unedifying take down of the Opposition Leader at Labor’s campaign launch in Portsmith on Saturday left some guests turning in their seats.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles launches the Labor Party's state election campaign with a function and speeches at the Austal shipyard in the Port of Cairns in Far North Queensland. Picture: Brendan Radke

Treasurer Cameron Dick’s unedifying take down of the Opposition Leader at Labor’s campaign launch in Portsmith on Saturday left some guests turning in their seats.

But a tried-and-true Labor chestnut from the Premier’s greatest hits collection found some cut through late in the event.

Just like Katy Perry at the AFL grand final this weekend, the ALP was keen to play the hits.

Pop superstar Katy Perry’s pre-match performance at the AFL Grand Final left fans awestruck. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/Getty Images)

Unfortunately, no-one told Mr Dick, who despite presiding over a $9bn budget blowout – a term he wholly rejects, instead preferring it be labelled as “unforeseen expenses” – was keen to work on some new material.

The state’s bookkeeper has served as the ALP’s chief attacker in the campaign lead up and carried on warming up the partisan crowd with pointed personal criticisms of David Crisafulli in a ten-minute set that was off-key and out of rhythm.

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick addresses the crowd at the Labor Party's state election campaign launch at the Austal shipyard in the Port of Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

Following Mr Dick’s diatribe, Steven Miles strutted to the stage and, for his closer, trotted out a near decade old classic, the kind of dance-floor filler that Labor pumps the volume on any time the crowd seems to be losing interest.

Mr Miles started with what happened the last time an LNP government came to power in 2012.

“Now is not the time under the LNP’s agenda to cut, sack and sell,” he said.

“We can’t afford to go back to the unemployment rate near eight percent that it was here in Cairns under the LNP.”

Labor candidate for Mulgrave Richie Bates, Member for Cook Cynthia Lui, Minister for Health Shannon Fentiman, Queensland Premier Steven Miles, Treasurer Cameron Dick, Member for Cairns Michael Healy and Member for Barron River Craig Crawford stand between the giant gantries of a shiplift in the Austal shipyard, Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

Under Campbell Newman, 14,000 public servants lost their jobs and the LNP later pledged to privatise $34bn worth of assets.

It was enough to prompt a 14-point swing in Labor’s favour, delivering the party an unlikely minority government in 2015.

“We can’t afford to go back to the economic devastation that we saw in the Newman-Crisafulli years when Cairns had the highest youth unemployment rate in the nation at over 21 percent,” Mr Miles said to rapturous applause.

“We can’t afford to walk away from our emissions reduction and renewable energy targets that are the only viable way of saving the Great Barrier Reef and our tourism industry from climate change.”

When it comes to leading frontmen, Mr Miles doesn’t possess moves like Jagger.

But at this stage, sticking to the songs he knows seems like his best chance of securing an encore performance.

Originally published as ANALYSIS: Labor’s campaign launch proves old hits are still crowd pleasers amongst party faithful