ANALYSIS: 'When are you going to take over as leader?': What an awkward question to Jim Chalmers says about Labor's Queensland campaign
Jim Chalmers is attending a Mother's Day morning tea in his electorate of Rankin south of Brisbane.
It's a friendly crowd for Labor's shadow treasurer, who moves among his constituents with ease, smiling and handing out flowers.Politically, it's an awkwardly timed question for the Queensland-based MP — less than two weeks out from the election in a campaign where media coverage of his leader, Anthony Albanese, has largely been focused on"I think in local communities people who are supportive of their local members probably say that," he says.
"It's difficult as an Opposition Leader to punch through, particularly I think when there's a pandemic," Mr Chalmers says. "But certainly my experience around Queensland is he [Albanese] has an affinity, he genuinely listens to people."The Sunshine State has delivered great rewards for the Coalition, which has enjoyed overwhelming support in just about every election since John Howard's sweeping victory in 1996.The exception was the win by Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd — a Queenslander — in 2007.
In 2019, the Liberal Nationals captured a whopping 23 of Queensland's 30 federal seats, helped by preference flows from One Nation and Clive Palmer's United Australia Party.These are significant buffers for Labor to overcome and Mr Chalmers knows it."We know that we have to work twice as hard for every vote here, but we're up for that challenge."I intend to be a voice for Queensland but also a voice for the economy outside of the Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra triangle.
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