Anthony Albanese seeks to reopen wounds of Turnbull coup in fresh pitch to Queensland

Extract from The Guardian

Anthony Albanese

Labor leader will borrow and adapt a famous Rudd line to seek the state’s help in winning next federal election

Katharine Murphy Political editor

@murpharoo

Sat 24 Aug 2019 08.00 AEST Last modified on Sat 24 Aug 2019 08.59 AEST

Anthony Albanese says Queensland voters need to be reminded of Scott Morrison’s ‘I’m on his side’ media conference with Malcolm Turnbull. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Anthony Albanese will use the first anniversary since Malcolm Turnbull was rolled as prime minister to rally the Labor base in Queensland, declaring the Coalition’s electoral popularity there is only temporary.
Addressing the Queensland Labor conference on Saturday, Albanese will borrow and adapt Kevin Rudd’s famous opening line to his first national conference as opposition leader in 2007: “My name is Kevin, I’m from Queensland and I’m here to help” to: “My name’s Albo, I’m in Queensland, and I’m here to ask for your help.”

“I want your help to form a federal Labor government.”
According to a copy of his speech circulated in advance of Saturday’s event, Albanese will attempt to boost internal morale following Labor’s terrible performance in Queensland on 18 May – the ALP now holds six lower house seats to the government’s 23.
The Labor leader will declare that post-election, the Morrison government now claims Queensland as its turf, and “in May it was”.
“But we know that is temporary. Queensland was where the trade union movement formed the Australian Labor party. Queensland elected the world’s first Labor government in 1899.
“Queensland has had a state Labor government for nearly 25 of the past 30 years. Queensland is one of Labor’s most successful states.
“Queensland is where we need to win – and where we will win.”
Albanese will use the milestone of Turnbull’s rolling to urge the Labor faithful to remind voters of Scott Morrison’s role in toppling the former prime minister – referencing blow-by-blow book length accounts of last year’s events from journalists Niki Savva and David Crowe.
The Labor leader said voters in Queensland needed to be reminded of Morrison’s infamous “I’m on his side” joint media conference with Turnbull – “all the while knowing his supporters were busy assembling the numbers to roll him”.

With the parliament in a winter recess, Morrison will spend his first anniversary in the prime ministership in Vietnam. Against the backdrop of rising regional tensions, and a fractious diplomatic relationship between Canberra and Beijing, the prime minister has emphasised the importance of an “open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific neighbourhood”.
The current talks in Vietnam are focused on trade and investment, and Australia is keen to talk up the strong strategic partnership in the face of rising Chinese aggression in the region.
Reminded of his anniversary on Friday by a travelling reporter, Morrison declined to reflect on the tumultuous events of the past 12 months. “Oh look, frankly anniversaries I find quite narcissistic, so I tend to not to engage in that sort of self-assessment,” the prime minister said. “I’m sure there’ll be plenty of others who do.
“I have a simple task and that is to continue to make Australia stronger, for Australians to be in charge of their own future, for Australians to have their aspiration rewarded, and for them to be able to make the choices they want to make for their lives and their futures,” he said.
“The stability that our government has brought to those aspirations I think is very positive and I appreciate the strong support we’ve had for pursuing those policies as we did in the last election.”
Albanese’s Queensland visit is his seventh as Labor leader. He will make a commitment at the conference to visit Queensland more than once a month.
The state conference is expected to endorse a change to its official platform to become more coal friendly, asserting the party’s support for the mining industry as it seeks to reconnect with regional and blue-collar voters.

Albanese will tell the gathering Labor “is on the side of acting on the science when it comes to addressing climate change”.