Within minutes of the revelation that former Queensland premier Peter Beattie would be standing for Labor in the seat of Forde at the federal election, some of his many quotes on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd were circulating on social media. Not long after, the Coalition was packaging them up and distributing them. As a prominent relevance-deprivation syndrome sufferer, Beattie has been a regular source of commentary on politics since returning from the United States (where he was Queensland’s Los Angeles-based trade and investment commissioner).
That won’t fuss Labor much. What better way to illustrate Rudd’s confected “new politics” than an erstwhile critic like Beattie agreeing to be part of his team? Nor will the Coalition line that Beattie is a potential challenger to Rudd, given the new Labor leadership rules. And, in any event, if Rudd manages to pull off what still remains an improbable win, the issue of replacing him is unlikely to trouble MPs who until June were staring political oblivion in the face.
Beattie is likely to win Forde, despite it being historically more a conservative than a Labor seat. Bert Van Manen, a Family First-turned-Liberal National Party candidate, who took the seat off Labor in 2010, has failed to trouble the scorers since then. And plainly Beattie is not returning to politics to spend years in opposition; his entry is a statement of intent by both himself and by Labor that they can win the election, even if they have to turf out candidates like Des Hardman, who beat out the former MP who lost to Van Manen, Brett Raguse, for preselection.
Beattie offers more to Labor than adding Forde to the Labor column. If re-elected, Labor will have a serious shortage of ministerial experience with the post-Gillard exodus. This is a party, after all, that now has Jacinta Collins in cabinet. Beattie will bring political smarts, cynical opportunism and leadership experience to the frontbench, as well as boosting the quality of Queensland’s representation — there are currently no other Queenslanders in Rudd’s cabinet than himself. It also means it’s less likely Rudd will dominate cabinet like he did during his first prime ministership, when he didn’t have two long-serving Labor premiers at the table.
And in the likely event that Labor loses, it will have two men who’ve won from opposition in its ranks even if Rudd departs. Both Bob Carr and Beattie built premierships on crushing their conservative opponents, the sort of ruthless mentality that has been sorely lacking from federal Labor since 2009.
All that’s still far off, and a Labor victory remains unlikely. But Queensland is Labor’s launching pad for a surprise win, and Beattie improves its chances, however many old quotes circulate.
Local Brisbane radio, ABC 612, lit up at 8.30 with the announcement.
Credit where it is due: the calls were clearly orchestrated by the LNP. “Angry local” after “angry local” sang the praises of the apparently-omnipresent local one-term LNP member, good old what’s-his-name; decrying the ALP for being, well, the ALP, and trashing Peter Beattie for being, well, Peter Beattie.
Every caller was singing from the song sheet. One hapless Labor supporter got through, presumably by terrible accident, wondering where these “angry” people had met said MP. One assumes the correct answer is “at branch meetings”.
Well done to the LNP trolls for such a speedy and well organised response.
Alas, Steve Austin seemed oblivious to obvious.
Tony Abbott checked he was wearing his brown pants upon hearing this news.
Thanx thelorikeet
(I feed lorikeets from our back balcony in Melbourne every morning.)
I hadn’t heard that Beattie was standing until I read Crikey. Beattie was very popular when I was in Brissie and I got the impression he resigned at a good time. Presumably Beattie will be able to maximise reaction to the mayor of Queensland.
Come on, Bernard, you can hardly toss in a line like that about Jacinta Collins, without any justification offered, and expect not be challenged on the basis that it sounds sexist. If you’ve got valid reasons, give them, and let us assess how she stacks up against the alternatives…and your judgment.
All very interesting, and a good choice-I would have thought.