IS THE TIDE SHIFTING AGAINST STATE LABOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CANBERRA 000896 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV AS SUBJECT: IS THE TIDE SHIFTING AGAINST STATE LABOR GOVERNMENTS? REF: CANBERRA 864 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Recent swings against the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the Western Australian (WA) and Northern Territory (NT) state elections may indicate that voters are tiring of long-serving Labor governments around Australia. On August 9, in NT, there was a nine percent swing against the ALP, shocking many observers who had expected the Labor government to lose only a few seats. While Labor was able to remain in power in NT, it suffered a seven percent swing against it in the September 6 WA state elections. Although there are six seats still undecided, Labor lost its majority in parliament and may now face a Liberal-National Party coalition government (see Perth septel). Despite the fact that the Rudd Government remains very popular in national opinion polls, these results, particularly in WA, have given the federal Liberal-National Party Coalition a big psychological boost. In two federal parliamentary by-elections on September 6, as expected, the Liberal Party held Alexander Downer's seat of Mayo in South Australia and an independent won a New South Wales seat formerly held by the National Party (reftel). ¶2. (SBU) If the Liberal and National parties form a government in WA (the two parties are in coalition federally but not necessarily in all states),it will end the dominance of the Labor Party in state and federal government. Some observers maintain that these state election results are a warning to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that voters will punish governments that do not deliver, and who call early elections (as WA Labor Premier Alan Carpenter and NT Chief Minister Paul Henderson both did). Others have suggested the votes reflect uneasiness about wall-to-wall ALP governments. Whatever the meaning of these results, it is clear Labor premiers will now be focusing on their political survival, which will affect how they view Kevin Rudd's attempts at "cooperative federalism" with the states. END SUMMARY NORTHERN TERRITORY AND WESTERN AUSTRALIAN SHOCKS FOR ALP ¶3. (U) In the August 9 NT state elections, the nine percent swing against the ALP cost it six seats, leaving it with a one-seat majority in the 25-seat parliament. Most political observers had expected the ALP to lose 3-5 seats. Instead, the ALP received only 43 percent of the primary vote while the Country Liberal Party won 45.6 percent. ¶4. (U) In WA, ALP Premier Alan Carpenter called an early election after the opposition Liberal Party changed leaders. The move backfired as the voters blamed Carpenter for having to vote early, and the new Liberal leader was much more credible than his predecessor. The swing against the ALP was seven percent, much greater than expected, and the ALP may not be able to form a government once the counting is finished (septel). At this point, the conservative National Party holds the balance of power in the new parliament and the betting is that it is more likely to form a coalition with its traditional conservative ally the Liberal Party. FEDERAL BY-ELECTIONS RESULTS AS PREDICTED ¶5. (U) In the federal by-elections in the seats of Mayo in South Australia and Lyne in NSW there were no surprises. Liberal Party candidate and former Howard staffer Jamie Briggs beat Green Party and Family First candidates to win the seat, although the Green candidate ran a strong second with over 46 percent of the final vote. Extremely popular Qwith over 46 percent of the final vote. Extremely popular former state politician Rob Oakeshott, running as an independent, won the seat of Lyne in coastal NSW. While a demographic shift meant that Lyne was no longer a safe seat for the National Party, Oakeshott won going away (see reftel). PSYCHOLOGICAL BOOST FOR COALITION ¶6. (SBU) Last week, high-profile Liberal MP Tony Abbott told us a Liberal victory in the Western Australian election would be a "big psychological boost" for the Federal Coalition. He also said that conventional wisdom was that most governments get two terms, but that winning a third is a big challenge. As was the case federally in 2007, voters in the Northern Territory and Western Australia turned on long-serving governments. Following the Western Australian election, some Coalition MPs portrayed the result as a backlash against Rudd. Editor-at-Large of "The Australian" newspaper Paul Kelly contended that the "vote in Western Australia highlights not just state ALP failure but a visceral national CANBERRA 00000896 002 OF 002 dislike of the coast-to-coast dominance of the Labor Party." LONG-SERVING GOVERNMENTS ¶7. (SBU) The ALP has been in power in WA and NT since 2001, in NSW since 1995, and in Tasmania since 1998. The Queensland ALP has run the state since 1998, and Labor has ruled Victoria since 1999, the ACT since 2001 and South Australia since 2002. Popular premiers Steve Bracks in Victoria and Peter Beattie in Queensland both resigned last year, replaced by competent administrators who are not as popular with the voters. WARNINGS FOR RUDD ¶8. (SBU) Melbourne's tabloid the Herald Sun claimed the Western Australian election reflected on the Rudd government: "It is clear that the Rudd Government's honeymoon with voters is over ... As Labor battles a hostile Senate, an emerging criticism of Mr Rudd is that he is more of a talker than a doer." The Sydney Morning Herald's political editor, Peter Hartcher, wrote: "for the Rudd government, which holds power with a margin of two per cent, the implication is clear. The state Labor model of the status-quo plus spin - is a bankrupt one. Solve problems, or we'll be cranky." It is likely there will be five more long-serving ALP state and territory governments facing the voters before the next federal poll. There will almost certainly be swings against the ALP in each one. COMMENT: NO NEED FOR RUDD TO PANIC ¶9. (SBU) The Australian's Paul Kelly likely exaggerates the impact of "wall-to-wall" ALP governments on voting intention. The Western Australian ALP government has long been plagued with incompetence and scandal. The result would have been similar even if the Coalition were still in power in Canberra. In state elections, state issues dominate. A big factor in WA seems to have been the installation of a credible alternative premier in the Liberal Party's Colin Barnett. The incompetent, long-serving ALP government in NSW only survived the 2007 election because of Workchoices, and the fact that Opposition Leader Peter Debnam was not seen as a credible alternative by the voters. Rudd continues to dominate the opinion polls and enjoys strong support for the big item of his first term - an emissions trading scheme. The WA result is a reminder to Rudd that voters severely punish poor performance and scandal, and a reminder to the Liberal Party that voters are more likely to make a change if they feel the opposition has a credible leader. ¶10. (SBU) Ironically, it might even be in Rudd's interest to play hardball with unpopular state governments, which he is doing on schools standards and hospitals, for example. While the state ALP governments may believe they need to demonstrate their independence from Rudd, they may also feel they need some of his popularity in order to survive another election. For the Liberal Party, out of office everywhere in Australia, a return to government in Western Australia would be a huge boost, particularly for the Party's ability to fundraise. MCCALLUM