The sight of a Labor leader near northern Australian cattle would trigger many in the industry,who are still fighting against the Gillard government’s dramatic shutdown of the live cattle trade a decade ago.
But Albanese,who opted for the Beef Week cap rather than a 10-gallon hat,was here to convince Queenslanders things are different now. Labor,he says,is on their side.
Capricornia,which centres around the town known to locals as “Rocky” and takes in the town of Yeppoon and Ooralea,Marian and Sarina,in the southern suburbs of Mackay,is the seat Labor holds when it’s in government. Under Whitlam,under Hawke and under Rudd.
But after a 14 per cent swing on its primary vote at the last election it starts from further back than it would like.
The ALP holds just six of the 30 seats in the state. When Rudd swept to power in 2007 Labor won nine seats off the Coalition in Queensland alone.
Labor is hopeful of winning two or three seats in Queensland at the next poll,likely in May. Party insiders say that’s most likely in the marginal seat of Longman,just north of Brisbane,as well as Flynn,just south of Rockhampton,with the retirement of LNP member Ken O’Dowd,and potentially Leichardt in the far north of the state,held by Warren Entsch.
But after the smoking ruins of 2019,Albanese is pitching to all regional Queensland. Backing blue-collar industry,tourism,and even beef producers.