The aftermath of the LNP Campbell Newman landslide victory in Queensland which decimated the ALP could influence-even decide - the Territory election. Already the ALP ( Henderson Team ) here has repeatedly highlighted the announced intention to slash more than 20,000 public service jobs in Queensland and stop funding in other areas as a warning to Territory voters. . In a full page advertisement in the NT News , ACTU president Ged Kearney , in an open letter to NT public sector workers, has drawn attention to the slashing of jobs by Coalition governments in Queensland , Victoria and NSW. She asks if the CLP can be trusted to protect public services and those who run them. Public servants have also been brought to the Territory from Queensland and NSW to publicly voice their concerns and warnings.
During a recent trip to Queensland this writer twisted radio dials, channel jumped and studied newspapers reports and letters to the editor to get a grip on the political pulse. Front page stories throughout the state saying thousands of jobs to go , regional papers headlining the local numbers to be axed , generated a palpable feeling of unease, a sense of betrayal , exactly like that noticed following the election when the Bligh Government , without any prior warning, announced it was going to sell state assets .
The Newman Government cuts are to be made in many departments – agriculture, fisheries, works , roads, nowhere seemed immune . There was even a newspaper report that the use of photocopiers would be severely curtailed in government departments-indicating incredible penny pinching or a desire to keep secret government information. Another report claimed a number of courts were to be closed. What next ? Funding for established literary and musical events got the axe. There have been large union protest rallies in Brisbane against the Newman Government .
The suggestion that the Queensland breast cancer screening organisation would be scrapped resulted in a massive anti –government response which clearly rattled some pollies . Newspaper letters to the editor and the airwaves were filled with angry comments from women and many men . The government hastily claimed there would be no change , it would just be handed over to local hospitals to do the work . Loading already overworked Queensland hospitals with more responsibilities did not wash with many members of the public. What probably did not get a mention in the Darwin media is that a poll carried out in " Can Do" Premier Campbell Newman’s electorate of Ashgrove showed that his support had slumped nine percentage points since his election in March , indicating he would not win the seat if an election were held right now.
People in the electorate reportedly expressed anger and frustration with his new government . A commentator said people were shocked by the ham- fisted way an apparent arrogant government was going about cuts, seemingly “ settling scores”, operating in a “ clubby way.” A political observer contact in Brisbane said Premier Newman , with his jutting jaw, reminded him increasingly of the strutting Italian wartime leader Mussolini, il Duce ( the Chief ), who came to a sticky end–hung upside down from a tree with his mistress by angry countrymen at the end of his reign . While he says Premier Newman may get the Sunlander train to run on time to Cairns , he may derail the voters' support in the process. This analysis of El Supremo Newman seems to accord with the Green Left magazine cover at the top of the post , a great collector's item. While it might be thought unthinkable that the ALP could win the next shoot out in Queensland , the way the Newman regime is rattling the community there could be a massive swing against it. A recent gaffe of his was to equate the Queensland financial position to that of Spain, which upset the business community .
In the NT , the CLP has made confusing statements about public service employees and its election campaign is being run along similar lines as that in Queensland by the same person who ran the LNP campaign in the Sunshine State. There is to be a combined rally in Raintree Park at midday on Tuesday. An email from Thomas Mayor of the NT Maritime Union of Australia urges members to attend , his message: The Liberals have sacked thousands (QLD more than 20,000) of public servants effecting not only the families of those workers, but also reducing the services provided to everybody. The CLP are anti worker, opposing improvements to Workers Compensation and Definition of a Worker laws passed by the Labor government recently. Come to the rally to tell Tollner and Mills that we don’t want them in government and if they do win, they better not attack workers and their families.
It will be interesting to see how big an influence " southerners", especially those in Queensland, will have on the Territory election outcome .
