HOWARD,S COALITION BARELY HANGING ON IN CENTRAL

CONFIDENTIAL SYDNEY 000465 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2017 TAGS: PGOV PINR AS SUBJECT: HOWARD,S COALITION BARELY HANGING ON IN CENTRAL QUEENSLAND REF: A. SYDNEY 461 ¶B. SYDNEY 306 ¶C. SYDNEY 371 Classified By: Poloff Casey Mace for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C/NF) The National Party and Labor Party are engaged in a knife's-edge contest in the central Queensland seat of Flynn, where a heavily-funded campaign by the unions and repeat visits by opposition leader Kevin Rudd have chipped away at the National Party's lead. A newly created parliamentary seat, Flynn has been regarded by the Labor party as a target of opportunity because it does not need to unseat an incumbent. For the Coalition, Flynn is a must win in Queensland to stem a tide of losses it will likely endure around the state capital of Brisbane. At this point, independent observers from the area believe the National Party candidate continues to maintain the edge. The Coalition looks to be in a stronger position to defend the seat of Hinkler, just south of Flynn, where the National Party incumbent enjoys an eight-point margin and is facing a weak opponent disliked by local media. Labor's only incumbent in central Queensland, Kirsten Livermore, should hold her seat of Capricornia despite her relatively small margin of four points and a spirited challenge by her National Party opponent. End Summary -------------- The Battle for Flynn -------------- ¶2. (C/NF) The seat of Flynn stretches from the Labor-leaning coastal city of Gladstone through a massive expanse of Nationals-leaning rural towns in the center of the state. It is located in National Party heartland, where a hearty mix of ranchers and farmers slightly outnumbers workers employed by local coal mines, aluminum smelters, and port facilities. Small business operators and service providers in Flynn's major city and rural towns control the balance. Based on vote tallies from the last election, the National Party has a 7.7 percent margin over the Labor party. The National Party candidate, Glenn Churchill, is a local mayor for the rural center of Banana Shire. The independent mayor of Gladstone, Peter Corones, told poloff October 24 that Churchill has slightly better name recognition than his opponent throughout the seat of Flynn. Churchill's campaign manager, Kim Black, is optimistic her candidate will win the contest, but she admitted it is a very close race. Black said that the Labor party is outspending the Churchill campaign by three to one, including a big TV ad blitz in July and August. Churchill has a stronger grassroots network on the ground, however, and has staffed three campaign offices in the seat, which is one more office than the Labor opponent. Moreover, Black said that, while Labor opponent Chris Trevor is well-known in the Gladstone area, Trevor has not worked hard enough in the rural parts of the seat to gain traction. ¶3. (C/NF) The Labor Party has aggressively campaigned in the seat of Flynn, and campaign staffers are optimistic that their local candidate is strong enough to capitalize on Rudd's national appeal. Labor candidate Trevor runs a Gladstone law firm and has served on the city council. He raised his profile in the Gladstone area when he ran against the independent state MP in the 2006 Queensland state election. Although Trevor lost the contest, he achieved a swing of votes in Labor's favor. Since he unofficially began campaigning in January, Trevor has been joined on the campaign trail by Kevin Rudd on four or five different occasions and by 14 different shadow ministers. Campaign manager Jonathan Persley confirmed to poloff October 24 that the Labor party has spent a huge amount of money of billboards, television ads, and direct mail brochures. In addition, the Australia Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) deployed a campaign advisor to Flynn in February and has spent additional money on a campaign criticizing Howard's industrial relations reforms. ¶4. (C/NF) The Liberal Party is running local businessman Jason Rose. Although Rose has come relatively late to the contest -- he started his campaign in August -- he is spending party and personal resources on a string of billboards and television advertisements. Nonetheless, National candidate Churchill and Labor candidate Trevor are the main contenders according to Mayor Corones and Mathew Ovenden, the editor of Flynn's largest newspaper, the Gladstone Observer. Mayor Corones believes Churchill maintains the edge and will likely win the election in Flynn. Enough voters will be afraid to elect the union-dominated Rudd leadership team on top of a Labor state government, according to Corones. Ovenden also believes Churchill is still out in front at the moment, due largely to his higher profile outside of Gladstone. Ovenden pointed out that the bookies still favor Churchill to win, according to research his paper had done on the candidates' standings among betting agencies. -------------- The National Party Defense of Hinkler -------------- ¶5. (C/NF) National Party incumbent Paul Neville enters the battle for Hinkler with the relatively large margin of 8.3 percent, but the Labor Party is making a hard run at it. Kevin Rudd has visited the seat twice in the last several months to campaign for local Labor candidate Garry Parr. The National Party has long relied on its traditional support from the sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables farmers who dominate Hinkler's economy. The Labor Party, however, is hoping it can make inroads into the growing retirement communities around Hervey Bay and along the coast towards Bundaberg, Hinkler's largest city. Neville's campaign manager, Rod Wilson, acknowledges that the pensioners and retirees comprise a battleground constituency for the upcoming election. Wilson said that Neville has focused much of his campaigning in the Hervey Bay area. Parr's campaign manager, Aaron Broughton, said that he is hoping the same key issues for Labor nationally - health, education, and a more balanced industrial relations system - will resonate with the retirees, many of whom have moved up from large cities where Labor is a better brand. (Note: The day after poloff visited Hinkler, Prime Minister Howard announced an AUD 4 billion package of rebates and subsidies for senior citizens, which should help the Coalition with Hinkler's retirees.) ¶6. (C/NF) In contrast to Neville's 14-year experience as Hinkler's MP, this election is Parr's first foray into politics. A local real estate agent and former civil servant, Parr has drawn criticism from local media for brushing off requests for comment. Neville's press officer Kate Barwick told poloff Parr has been in some cases abusive towards local reporters in his efforts to brush them off. Lucy Ardern, the editor for Hinkler's largest newspaper the Bundaberg News Mail, confirmed that Parr has not been deft in his dealings with the media. Ardern told poloff October 23 that some of Parr's "behaviors that could be unattractive to voters" could come to the fore. She admitted that the Labor party's success nationally was improving the party's standing in Hinkler, but Ardern asserted that Parr is a weak local candidate. As a matter of policy, Ardern said her paper does not endorse candidates in an election. On the other hand, Ardern is prepared to have her newspaper come out against a candidate it determines unfit for office -- a course of action Ardern said was "very possible." In addition to his media woes, Parr also suffered a setback October 23 when the last labor MP for the seat of Hinkler, Brian Courtice, told reporters he would not vote Labor in the coming election. Stirring national controversy, Courtice said, "the electorate needs a safe pair of hands and I believe those hands are John Howard's." -------------- Capricornia to Remain in Labor Hands -------------- ¶7. (C/NF) The seat of Capricornia, which is dominated by the regional hub of Rockhampton, has been the lone Labor outpost in central and northern Queensland. Labor MP Kirsten Livermore has held the seat since 1998 and currently holds a four-point margin. A former railway hub for upstate Queensland, Rockhampton developed into a regional commercial center where a large state hospital and numerous boarding schools provide health and education services to the surrounding farms and ranches. As a result, labor-leaning health workers and teachers have swayed the seat for much of its history. Livermore's campaign manager Barry Large is confident Livermore will win reelection, especially with the country favoring Rudd in the polls. Nonetheless, Capricornia is Labor's second most marginal seat in Queensland, and National party candidate Robert Mills is determined to fight for it. A local businessman and former candidate for the state seat of Rockhampton, Mills is hoping that anger over the state government's move to consolidate local councils (ref. C) will work in his favor. The issue, however, is more controversial in rural parts of the electorate where the Nationals already enjoy support. The National Party campaign manager in the neighboring electorate of Flynn, Kim Black (protect),confided that Kirsten Livermore is a popular member and should win reelection. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C/NF) Flynn would be a crucial win for Labor and a devastating loss to the Coalition. The National Party candidate seems to be anecdotally more popular than his local opponent, but the question on election day will be if he is more appealing than a nationally popular Kevin Rudd. The Labor party is certainly hoping that the small businesses and service providers that control the balance in the seat of Flynn will vote for change. The Coalition cannot afford to lose a heartland seat like Flynn. The National Party looks stronger, and the Labor Party weaker, in the neighboring electorate of Hinkler. But Rudd, and Labor Party resources, are unrelenting. The National Party is barely holding on to key seats in central Queensland, but it alone cannot save the Coalition from defeat. The Liberal Party in Queensland will need to defend its northern seats of Leichardt and Herbert, and a raft of seats under threat around Brisbane. End Comment. FERGIN