STEVE AUSTIN [HOST]: Well, as you've gathered, it's not just a win, it's a drubbing. Labor's near destruction of their Liberal opponents and a strategic neutering of the Greens. Anthony Albanese and the Labor team can dictate their own terms on the future direction of Australia. Almost. So, how did a party that had no seats north of Brisbane come to own Brisbane and much of the south east electorally? Well, one of those strategists is Queensland Labor Senator, Anthony Chisholm. Anthony, good morning to you.
ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Good morning, Steve. Good to be with you.
AUSTIN: It's good to have you on the programme. Anthony Albanese has won an astonishing victory. A greater two party preferred vote than Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke or Kevin Rudd at their initial victories. How did you do it, Anthony Chisholm?
CHISHOLM: Well, the Prime Minister certainly deserves a lot of credit, Steve, and we were obviously disappointed after the last election, well we were excited to be in government, but we were disappointed we didn't do a little bit better in Brisbane. But we've made up for that at this election and I think the Prime Minister deserves that credit, he governed for all of Australia. So, even though we didn't do very well in Brisbane at the last election, he still spent a lot of time here. He's still invested in the electorates here.
AUSTIN: You had no seats north of Brisbane, didn't you Anthony? Now you own Brisbane.
CHISHOLM: Well, we certainly did a lot better. But I think Kate Flanders and Zac Beers at the ALP Queensland office deserve a lot of credit. We had good candidates, but I think even though we had a small team here in Brisbane, we were quite active and vocal. So, people understood that there was good Labor representation with Jim Chalmers obviously being the Treasurer. We had Murray Watt and Anika Wells in the Federal Cabinet and I think that we were able to show what a Labor Government could do and the difference we could make. And we got the endorsement of vast waves of Brisbane at last weekend’s election which is really pleasing.
AUSTIN: You're an experienced campaigner, Anthony, you've helped at a state level and a federal level. When did you start planning the strategy with the rest of the team?
CHISHOLM: Well, it's something that the ALP Queensland office really put their focus on post the state election last year. So, that was obviously a disappointing result at the state level but they dusted themselves off pretty quickly and were really active in getting behind the federal candidates, and I think Kate and Zac did a fantastic job of that because I saw them out and about a lot during the campaign providing really practical support for our candidates. I thought we had fantastic candidates at this election. I was at the press conference on Sunday where we had the new MPs there and they all spoke so eloquently and passionately. So, I think our candidates did make a difference in these non held seats and I'm confident that all of them will go on to make a good contribution as part of the Albanese Government. So, I think that, as that developed over the last couple of months we were able to see the strength of the Prime Minister delivering on his promises. But then that was paired with Labor’s vision for the future and that was a real contrast between an Albanese vision versus Peter Dutton's vision, who was often negative and often talking the country down. I don't think that's what Queensland…
AUSTIN: Anthony, on that point, did you win on policy or did you win because voters had a greater negative view of Peter Dutton, as opposed to Anthony Albanese? The polling continually looked, as you know, at the negative ratings or the positive ratings of the various party leaders. And while Anthony Albanese had a negative rating, the negative rating of Peter Dutton was much more significant. So, how much was that a factor in this win?
CHISHOLM: Look, I don't think we should undersell the achievements and the standing of the Prime Minister. He travelled here relentlessly not only to Brisbane but to all of Queensland. Think about the first announcement that he made at the start of the year around the over $7 billion investment in the Bruce Highway. That's something that resonates with people in regional Queensland, but it also resonates with people in Brisbane who are often travelling that highway for holiday or for work.
AUSTIN: And he had the support of the LNP Premier, David Crisafulli.
CHISHOLM: He did. And the Prime Minister's got a good relationship with the Premier, as you'd expect of those two leaders. But that just further, I suppose, amplifies the point I was making, is that the Prime Minister wants to see Queensland do well. He wants to work constructively with the State Government and he did that over the last three years, even though he didn't have a lot of seats here. He wanted to ensure that he was a Prime Minister for the whole country. I think that resonated with Queenslanders on the weekend.
AUSTIN: My guest is Labor Senator from Queensland, Senator Anthony Chisholm. This is 612 ABC Brisbane. Anthony, can you reveal which seats you were expecting to have a strong chance of taking? Neither side predicted the result and I assume you thought there were some seats you couldn't take. I assume you didn't think you could win Petrie, for instance, or Forde. You now have. But were there electorates you were confident of taking prior to the decision?
CHISHOLM: Oh of course, if you'd got me on Friday, I would have told you we were going to win all of those seats.
AUSTIN: Yes, you would have. But now that we can be honest and upfront.
CHISHOLM: So, my office is out on the boundary of Longman, Dickson and Petrie, so I spent a lot of time in those electorates over the last month and I just kept saying to people, it's just like a reaction that I hadn't had in those seats since I've been in the Senate. I felt that in Dickson, I felt that in Longman, I felt that in Petrie. So, I wasn't surprised. We had good results in those seats, but obviously getting the swing we did to unseat the Opposition Leader in a seat that we've been trying to win for a long period of time. And then in Petrie with Emma as well, who did a fantastic job in her campaign. And Rhiannon is just falling short in Longman, so they're the ones that I'm more familiar with. So, certainly the reaction was better, but I think in Queensland for Labor federally, we just are so used to being disappointed that we just can't set our expectations high. So, we were quite modest in what we were hoping to achieve. We've obviously exceeded that which is fantastic. But the pleasing thing, knowing all these candidates that have been successful is I'm confident they're actually going to be really, really good first term MPs that make a good contribution to their community, but also as part of the government. So even though we maybe won a couple that we weren't expecting, I'm very confident that we've elected effective members of Parliament who will make a good contribution.
AUSTIN: How did Labor tie specific policies to specific constituencies?
CHISHOLM: Well, I think it's something that the Prime Minister was really clear on. His vision was the type of policies we took to the election. The Prime Minister has said that the first bit of legislation that he wants to see passed is the 20 per cent cut to HECS. And that's significant for younger people or those people who've got a degree and are now looking at the challenging cost of living circumstances.
AUSTIN: Did that undermine the support for The Greens right there, that that one move, you know, the move I assume favours sort of younger people?
CHISHOLM: Well, I think it does have an impact on younger people, but I think it just goes to show the effectiveness of the Prime Minister's messaging and his determination to deliver policy that resonated with people. And I think that's the advantage that we had this time of having won a record in government. We've delivered on that, so people could trust what we're taking to the election. I think that's what has resonated with Queenslanders in having that track record of a first term government, and I would argue also being a competent government that delivered on its promises.
AUSTIN: What was another a specific policy tied specifically to a voting constituency?
CHISHOLM: Well, I think the Medicare and cost of living are the ones that I think resonated really strongly across Queensland. The Urgent Care Clinics we've established in many parts of the state have been something that have been effective. I know out where I am in North Lakes it is something that’s making a difference, there obviously more to come in that space and then the investment in Medicare and the risk of what a Dutton Government would do if they were to be successful given his record last time.
AUSTIN: So, Labor wasn't entirely honest on the Medicare stuff, was it? The ABC's election fact checker showed in 2014, 2016 and 2022 that the Medi-scare line was not factual.
CHISHOLM: Well, I disagree with that, Steve, because that was the record of Mr. Dutton when he was in government and indeed when he was Health Minister. So, it is very real for those people who've been impacted. You can scoff, but it's the reality of what they did when they were in government. We simply reminded Queenslanders and the Australian public of that.
AUSTIN: My guest is Senator for Queensland, Anthony Chisholm. Why then is the primary vote for the major parties so low? So, the Labor primary vote will probably be around 34 or 35 per cent and the Liberals are down to 32. That's incredibly low. Why so low then, Anthony, given all that you've told me?
CHISHOLM: Look, we certainly would love our primary vote to be higher and it is higher than it's been for a long time, Steve. We actually got our second Senator elected, which we didn't six years ago. So, that just shows you how far we've come over the last six years, which is really pleasing. But we certainly aren’t going around gloating, I think it’s been clear from the reaction of the Prime Minister. We understand that we've got a job to do now in government and that the Australian people have entrusted us to do that. Over the next three years, we'll be working really hard to show Queenslanders, no matter who they voted for, that we will continue to be a government for all of Australia and deliver on our promises. We'd love to do better in regional Queensland and we'll be working hard on that as well. I expect the Prime Minister, who's been a regular visitor to regional Queensland, to continue being out and about and visiting those towns like he did over the first term, because we want to be that government that represents everyone in Queensland.
AUSTIN: Anthony, how will the party deal with probably one Green Senator who will probably hold the balance of power? You'll be in the chamber with this person. How does the party intend on dealing with this?
CHISHOLM: Well, we're obviously respectful of everyone who's been elected to the Senate. We'll talk to them. They'll be able to get briefings on legislation as they see fit. But the Prime Minister showed last time that when we put forward policy, we don't negotiate. We obviously believe that the policy is one that should be delivered on and that's how we'll continue to operate in government. It's important the agenda we took to the election is implemented. We think it's an important one for building the future of Australia and that's what we'll be doing through the House of Reps and in the Senate.
AUSTIN: You've been very generous with your time this morning. Anthony Chisholm, thanks very much.
CHISHOLM: Thanks Steve. Good to be with you and the listeners.
