Anthony Albanese to travel to Queensland on first day as Labor leader

Extract from The Guardian

Anthony Albanese

Opposition leader pledges to reconnect with voters after Labor’s catastrophic election showing in seats across the state

Sarah Martin Chief political correspondent

Tue 28 May 2019 04.00 AEST

Anthony Albanese will visit the Queensland seat of Longman in an attempt to reconnect with voters in the state. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Anthony Albanese will use his first day as opposition leader to travel to Queensland, pledging to reconnect with voters who turned away from the party and position Labor for victory in three years’ time.
The first-order visit to Queensland comes as the party’s likely new deputy, Richard Marles, admitted he was “tone deaf” to the concerns of coal workers in the state after he suggested the demise of the industry was positive for the country.
Albanese, who was confirmed as leader uncontested on Monday, will visit the seat of Longman, north of Brisbane, where Labor suffered a 4.1% swing against incumbent Susan Lamb.

It was one of a swathe of seats in the state that saw huge swings against Labor, leaving the party holding just six of Queensland’s 30 electorates.
Albanese, who was coy when asked about his position on the divisive Adani coalmine, said that he would travel to the state to hear directly from voters about their concerns.
“One of the things I will be doing … is visiting Queensland, to talk to people about some of the issues that might arise there,” he said. “I intend also to listen, not just talk.
“The old saying, and I quoted it the other day – ‘I think that we have two ears and one mouth for a reason’ – is a philosophy that I intend to put in place. We should listen more than we talk and it’s up to a leader to listen to all those people around them.”
But when asked if he supported the Adani coalmine – a key economic priority for people in central and northern Queensland that was seen as a crucial election issue – Albanese equivocated.
“We will go through, in terms of our processes, all of those issues,” he said. “But the truth is that the Adani coalmine has been approved at the federal level by the EPBC Act. It’s been approved not just once, it’s been approved twice. It is going through Queensland government approvals and then there is the other issue with regard to Adani, and indeed to the whole issue of the Galilee coal basin, the issue of the economics of it, the basic cost-benefit ratios.”
Marles, who in February welcomed the transition away from coal, said on Monday that he regretted the remarks.
“The comments I made earlier this year were tone deaf and I regret them and I was apologising for them within a couple of days of making them, and partly why they were tone deaf is because it failed to acknowledge the significance of every person’s job,” Marles said.

“Coal clearly is going to play a significant part of the future energy mix in Australia, and it’s clearly going to be a significant part of our economy and it’s really important that we acknowledge that people who work in the coal industry need to be valued by us and that we thank and celebrate their work.”
In February, when asked about the coal industry, Marles told Sky: “The global market for thermal coal has collapsed, and at one level that’s a good thing because what that implies is the world is acting in relation to climate change.”
Marles came under fire for the remarks, with state Labor MPs Julieanne Gilbert and Barry O’Rourke saying his views were “radically out-of-touch” with workers in the state.
Albanese’s decision to prioritise a visit to the state was welcomed by Queensland frontbencher Shayne Neumann who said the party could not form government if it ignored the concerns of regional areas.

“Labor cannot think you can give away 20 seats to the LNP every election and think we are going to win government,” Neumann said.