Queensland January to June 2000

Political Chronicles 575

TRACEY ARKLAY Australian Public Sector Management, Griffith University

New Millennium — Old Politics In his first interview for the New Year, Premier Peter Beattie stated he would like the coming year to be "dominated by major events" (Courier-Mail, 3 January 2000). Announcing that there would be no major social reforms in 2000, Beattie set the scene for a year in which the government would consolidate its achievements, hone its policies and lay the groundwork for an election scheduled midway through 2001. Before any consolidation could begin however, the government had to face two by-elections — one in Bob Gibbs' seat of Bundamba, left vacant since his retirement last year and the other following the retirement, announced in January, of Labor's longest serving parliamentarian and member for Woodridge, Bill D'Arcy, because of ill-health. The Premier set 5 February as the date for the two by-elections which would mark the mid-point of Beattie's first term and would also be the first double by-election conducted by the Queensland Electoral Commission, since its formation in 1992 (Courier-Mail, 11 January 2000).

Labor's Renewal — Hopes turn to Coalminer's Daughter and Boiler-Maker's Son Peter Beattie's public support for a balanced ticket saw the endorsement of Jo-Ann Miller in Bundamba and Mike Kaiser in Woodridge. Both Miller and Kaiser had long affiliations with their respective electorates — Miller had worked as Bob Gibbs' electoral secretary and was a well known local while Mike Kaiser, the former high-profile ALP state secretary, had grown up in the Woodridge electorate and still lived nearby. In an electoral environment where general opinion was of the view that good representation in these two seats had been compromised for factional sensibilities (Courier-Mail, 8 January 2000), it is not surprising Beattie insisted Labor put "its best foot forward" and nominate the best possible candidates regardless of factional ties. While this was a politically astute move in terms of garnishing voter support, as a member of the Labor Unity faction, (to which D'Arcy also belonged), Peter Beattie put his money where his mouth was in supporting the nomination of the AWU-aligned Mike Kaiser in Woodridge (Franklin in Courier-Mail, 10 January 2000). Under normal circumstances, the election outcome in these two Labor strongholds would have been a lay-down misere. Yet two weeks into the campaign when the news broke that Bill D'Arcy was to stand trial on child sex charges dating back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, the outcome suddenly seemed much less predictable. The media, partly constrained for legal reasons, were now free to report on the rumours that had been circulating in Queensland for over twelve months. Suddenly the timing of the by-elections seemed a brave gamble as the media published story after story of D'Arcy's less than illustrious parliamentary career. It was D'Arcy, the papers screamed, who had earned the sobriquet of the "phantom" after missing several crucial votes in the 1980s and had more recently been one of the key players in the "Net-Bet" debacle (see previous chronicle). These factors, when viewed alongside D'Arcy's invisibility in the electorate, were a clear indication, suggested the media, opposition and other candidates, that Labor had lost touch with its roots (Age, 5 February 2000). Not unaware of this perception, Mike Kaiser drew on his working-class background and dedicated his campaign to the memory of his father — a local boilermaker. Likewise, Jo-Ann Miller reminisced about growing up in Ipswich as the daughter of a local coalminer (Courier-Mail, 29 January 2000). Instead of capitalising on the glitch in Labor's campaign, the Liberal Party appeared unprepared, not announcing its candidates until 16 January. Later it would be argued, even among some in the Liberal Party, that it nominated poor quality candidates. As the 1998 state election had so dramatically highlighted, no longer could challenges by independents and minority parties be ignored by the major parties. The announcement, therefore, by Heather Hill, the former One Nation secretary and failed Senator-elect, that she intended to contest Bundamba for the One Nation offshoot, City-Country Alliance (CCA), caused some consternation within government ranks. This anxiety was lessened, however, when the Liberal Party's president made the tactical blunder of refusing to deny the Liberal Party was considering an exchange of preferences with the CCA (Courier-Mail, 8 January 2000). Liberal leader David Watson's quick assertion that no deal would be done with any affiliate of One Nation could not undo the perception that the Liberal Party had not learned its lesson from 1998. By the time it was announced that all the six other candidates in Bundamba would also preference Hill last, the CCA was removed as a serious contender (Courier-Mail, 19 January 2000). In Woodridge, events did not unfold quite so smoothly for the ALP. A tough challenger emerged from the pack of seven candidates, in the form of Logan City Councillor, Russell Lutton, running as an "independent". When it emerged during the campaign that Lutton had been disendorsed by Labor in the early 1990s because he criticised D'Arcy's performance,

© Departments of History & Government, The University of Queensland and Blackwell Publishers 2000. Political Chronicles 577 his star shone more brightly. Considering this trump card, it was of little surprise when Kaiser refused to publicly debate Lutton, but instead modelled his campaign on a by-gone era when exhaustively door-knocking the electorate, pressing the flesh and listening to voter grievances were the norm. The news that the Democrats had decided to preference Lutton ahead of Labor, further added to the general air of uncertainty that pervaded much of the Woodridge campaign (Courier-Mail, 9 February 2000). Under mounting speculation that the heartland seat would be difficult to retain (Labor needing to win on the primary vote alone), Kaiser, a seasoned campaigner, made the worst blooper of the election when he said in a radio interview that electing an independent would be a wasted vote, as only he would be able to get a Minister on the phone (Courier-Mail, 25 January 2000). Considering the fact that this government had come precariously close to needing the support of an independent in 1998, Kaiser was quickly repudiated by the Premier, who attributed the statement to the stress of an arduous campaign. Rob Borbidge meanwhile reminded the government that it was effectively in "care-taker" mode and as such no "significant policy decisions or new appointments" should be made until after the by-elections. Up, Up and Away with Virgin Blue Providing a much needed fillip for the government was the announcement, two days before the by-election, that English entrepreneur, Richard Branson's Virgin Airlines would set up its Australian Headquarters in Brisbane (Courier-Mail, 2 April 2000). Winning Branson over with a rumoured $10 million worth of incentives (Courier-Mail, 29 February 2000), the estimated 750 new jobs and the 60 million dollars in investment to Brisbane that would flow on from this decision, represented a major public relations coup for a government taking a battering in the pre-election opinion polls (Courier-Mail, 9 February 2000). On polling day however, voters in Labor's heartland seats stayed loyal and Kaiser won 50.79 per cent of the primary vote, with Jo-Ann Miller faring even better, receiving 57.25 per cent of first preferences (Courier-Mail, 7 February 2000). In the electoral wash-up it became apparent that the real loser in the by-elections was the Liberal Party who recorded a five per cent swing against it in Woodridge while achieving only a two per cent gain in Bundamba (Courier-Mail, 17 February 2000). Queensland's Conservative Parties: Shouting Down the Enemies Within Leadership Tussles Following the Liberal Party's poor showing in the by-elections, underlying tensions within the ranks of party members soon erupted into a fully fledged brawl with an announcement by Noosa MP, Bruce Davidson that he intended to raise the issue of Watson's leadership at the next party room meeting. In one of his more decisive moves since becoming leader, Watson removed Davidson from the front bench on the grounds of disloyalty, replacing him with former Liberal leader, Joan Sheldon, who took over the role of Opposition Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs spokesperson (Courier-Mail, 17 February 2000). But Davidson was not alone in his disappointment over Watson's performance While there was no secret about Santo Santoro's (the member for Merythr) leadership ambitions, the barely disclosed hostility between Watson and Santoro came to a head in June when Santoro stood down from the Opposition front bench, following the Liberal leader's thinly veiled criticism of "certain colleagues ... [who] lacked political credibility and acumen" (Courier-Mail, 8 June 2000). The woes of the state Liberal Party were reflected by their dismal results at the local government elections held in March. Citing party disunity and financial difficulties, Liberal state president Con Galtos pledged to find the "five or six people" who leaked

© Departments of History & Government, The University of Queensland and Blackwell Publishers 2000. 578 Political Chronicles stories to the media throughout the campaign and effectively undermined the election (Courier-Mail, 27 March 2000).

One Nation Implodes Meanwhile, financial troubles also continued to plague former One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson. Beginning with the announcement in January that David Ettridge, the Party's finance director, was resigning, One Nation's headquarters in Ipswich and Manly were raided by detectives following allegations by Heather Hill that over $5 million in electoral funding was not accounted for (Weekend Australian, 12-13 February 2000). The bad news for Hanson culminated in March when the Queensland Court of Appeal upheld an earlier Supreme Court finding that One Nation had fraudulently registered as a political party for the purpose of contesting the 1998 Queensland state election. Embattled, Hanson made a public plea for supporters to help repay the $500,000 owed to the Electoral Commission. But these calls for help seem destined to fail as former One Nation branches continue to dissolve or alternatively to swap allegiance to the recently formed City Country Alliance (Courier-Mail, 22 January and 1 April 2000).

Three-Cornered Contests Any political advantage that may have been gained from the One Nation implosion was undermined when the debate resumed between the Coalition parties over the issue of three- cornered contests. The most recent discussions on three-cornered contests were first raised by the National Party, following the Liberals' disappointing performance in the March local government elections and the two by-elections. National Party state director, Ken Crooke and parliamentary leader Rob Borbidge entered into the fray suggesting National Party- endorsed candidates might have to consider contesting metropolitan seats in the future, if the Liberal Party's performance did not improve (Courier-Mail, 1 April 2000). While this grandstanding on the part of the Nationals could be interpreted as a warning to maverick Liberals intent on pushing for more three-cornered contests, history has repeatedly shown that such threats are about as safe as a game of Russian roulette. And if that was the intention, such warnings fell on deaf ears when in June, the Liberals' organisational wing, despite protestations from the Party President, the State Parliamentary Leader and the Prime Minister, announced they intended to contest the seat of Cunningham on the Darling Downs at the next election. Rob Borbidge's response was equally puzzling when it was announced he was considering quitting state politics to contest the federal Gold Coast seat of Moncrieff (Courier-Mail, 16 June 2000). While the Liberal Party's decision to contest Cunningham did not break the coalition agreement — the seat will be vacant following the impending retirement of National MP Tony Elliott — it could be argued that it did go against the spirit of the agreement. While it remains to be seen whether the Nationals will retaliate and stand candidates in some metropolitan seats (Mount Ommaney and Springwood rumoured to be the most likely), what is known is that this issue has the potential to divert the Opposition's attention away from other issues. One example of this occurred when David Watson chose to attack his rivals within the Liberal Party over the Cunningham decision, instead of taking Beattie to task over his admission that the five per cent job target was unattainable (Courier-Mail, 12 July 2000). Beattie, blaming the Federal government's Goods and Services Tax and the Asian economic crisis forewarned Queenslanders that the current unemployment rate of 8.1 per cent would not improve over the coming year (Courier-Mail, 5 June 2000).

Departments of History & Government, The University of Queensland and Blackwell Publishers 2000. Political Chronicles 579

Spilt Milk Following a protest march on Parliament by dairy farmers, angry over the effects of dairy deregulation, former One Nation MPs Dorothy Pratt and Shaun Nelson were censured by the Speaker after spilling a can of milk on the steps of Parliament. In a stunt labelled "abhorrent" by the Ethics Committee and "the equivalent of painting graffiti on the House" by the Premier, the two MPs were barred from the Parliament for twenty-eight days in what was thought to be one of the harshest punishments in the history of the Queensland Parliament (Courier-Mail, 1 June 2000).

Party Animals ... Unions versus Labor While the government's job was made a little easier by the palpable disunity within the Coalition, it was not all smooth sailing for the ALP. While things were relatively quiet on the legislative front, the government came under sustained attack from several key public sector unions unhappy about the latest enterprise agreements. It began in February when the transport workers called a snap strike. Commuters across Brisbane were stranded by the sudden forty-eight hour strike — the first major rail stoppage since 1994. Then in April, another wildcat transport strike occurred, over safety concerns. Controversially, while the Industrial Relations Commission found that the strike was illegal, no penalties were levied against the unions in return for an immediate return to work. While the government heralded the outcome as sensible industrial relations in practice, many employer groups were less certain of the precedent created (Courier-Mail, 4 April 2000). Industrial action was not isolated to transport workers, however, as in June the States' school teachers held a twenty-four hour strike in protest against the latest enterprise agreement after a series of work bans failed. The Queensland Teachers' Union finally recommended acceptance of the offer of 800 additional teachers to be phased in over three years, along with a pay rise (Courier-Mail, 24 June 2000). Perhaps the most damaging strike in terms of public perception occurred when over 800 hospital workers around Queensland walked off the job. The strikers, all members of the Australian Workers Union, were protesting about insufficient staff and lack of job security as well as a dissatisfaction over the 3 per cent pay rise offer.

When in Doubt, Lay into Them There was action of a different kind when, for the second time in recent years, Housing Minister Robert Schwarten came to blows, this time with federal Labor MP Kirsten Livermore's husband, Craig Brown, after Labour Day celebrations in Rockhampton. While Schwarten pleaded self-defence and Brown dropped all complaints following a mediation session attended by Terry Mackenroth, Sports Minister and head of the Labor Unity faction, the affair dominated question-time in Parliament and momentarily put the government on the back foot until the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) finally declared the matter closed (Courier-Mail, 18 and 27 May 2000). One week later, Mines Minister Tony McGrady was censured by the Premier when it was revealed he had written to a Federal Court judge about a court case involving Aboriginal activist, Murrandoo Yanner, who was applying for re-instatement to the ATSIC board. The action breached the doctrine of the separation of powers, which had held particular significance for many Queenslanders since the Fitzgerald Inquiry's questioning of Joh Bjelke-Petersen on the doctrine a decade before. Finally, in May, the Premier suspended the Public Service Commissioner, Brian Head, following allegations that he had failed to act quickly on a complaint of sexual harassment against his deputy Ian McGraw following a conference in Yeppoon, last September.

Opposition Leader, Rob Borbidge upped the ante by comparing this case with other previous cases of misconduct, implying Head was being given favourable treatment by the government. A "Media Tart" Exposed Beattie's personable style and wide smile strikes a chord with the public. It is all the more surprising therefore, when this usually media-savvy politician loses his cool, as occurred in March when it was alleged that the government was favouring consultants who had links to the Labor Party. Hitting out at journalists for bias, observers could have been forgiven for momentarily thinking they were listening to one of his predecessors from the distant past. It has been suggested that Beattie's premiership style lies somewhere between Bjelke- Petersen's populist style and the "no holds barred, can-do approach" of Victoria's former premier Jeff Kennett. There is no disputing the fact that Beattie enjoys his share of the limelight, but his often well meant, extemporaneous comments frequently get him into trouble. In May, following a premature media release, the Liberal leader David Watson stated that Beattie's mantra of "jobs, jobs, jobs" should more accurately read "media, media, media". Agreeing that he was a "media tart", Queensland's Premier could only add that "what you see with me is what you get" (Courier-Mail, 13 May 2000). Two Steps Forward, One Step Back Indigenous Issues In May the government unveiled a detailed set of proposals which Beattie called "the most significant document my government has produced". The Cape York Partnership Agreement aims to reform and improve indigenous community living standards and funding arrangements (Courier-Mail, 19 May 2000). Inspired by the controversial plan of Aboriginal activist, Noel Pearson, an earlier draft document had been the source of some aggravation when its contents were leaked to the media (Courier-Mail, 8 March 2000). While problems of "bureaucratic inflexibility" could be overcome, Beattie stated he was more anxious to achieve some level of cooperation between indigenous leaders, concluding that he was interested in "helping future generations of indigenous people ... not in indigenous community politics" (Courier-Mail, 28 May 2000).

Licensing the Brothels Also in May, the Premier announced the appointment of former Supreme Court Judge Bill Carter as the first head of the newly formed Prostitution Licensing Authority. Other board members will include Assistant Police Commissioner, John McDonnell, Queensland Crime Commissioner Tim Carmody, a community health expert, a solicitor and a policy adviser. Considering the anticipated number of applications for licenses to run Queensland's first legalised brothels, it was considered doubtful if any would be up and running in time for Christmas (Courier-Mail, 3 May 2000).

Intractable Controversies If two policy issues stood out as the most problematic for the government during the first six months of 2000 they would be the controversies surrounding tree clearing and fuel rebates. In both instances federal-state relations played a significant role. While the government introduced its Vegetation Management Act late in 1999, restricting for the first time in Queensland history the ability of farmers to clear their land, the law has yet to be enacted. In the hiatus, farmers are estimated to be panic-clearing 230,000 trees daily, a huge

© Departments of History & Government, The University of Queensland and Blackwell Publishers 2000. Political Chronicles 581 increase on previous years. The difficulty lies with the compensation package. While the legislation provided $111 million in compensation from state government coffers, Beattie was relying on an additional $103 million from the Federal government, which was not forthcoming (Age, 15 July 2000). Meanwhile, the issue also provided conservative politicians with a convenient forum, as indicated by the Roma community cabinet meeting at which local residents were joined by Pauline Hanson, City-Country Alliance MP Bill Feldman, Independent Dorothy Pratt as well as the Opposition leader Rob Borbidge and three shadow ministers. Jim Elder could only remark that community cabinets were becoming more like political rallies. Stepping into the proverbial fire, the government announced in June a decision, originating in Treasury, to stop the alleged cross-subsidy of fuel to NSW. Accusing fuel companies of having pocketed some of the $500 million fuel subsidy, levied by the Commonwealth to fund Queensland's tax-free fuel, it was suggested that as an alternative the State's drivers would receive a reduced fee for vehicle registration (Courier-Mail, 17 June 2000). This policy proposal proved to be bad politics, however, when the suggested reduction of registration fees by $150-180 was met with palpable hostility from an estimated 59 per cent of the State's road users. In what was perhaps Beattie's biggest back- flip to date, the government finally announced the decision to hold off in order to "listen to the community". The Queensland government adopted a new State corporate logo in April. While the logo aims to represent "the identity of a progressive State with its eye on the future" (http://premiers.q1d.gov.au/about/identity/index.html), the reaction from many Queenslanders to recent policy proposals indicates they are still firmly attached to older notions of Queensland as the State with lots of sunshine and the cheapest petrol.