Queensland election: Labor candidates omit union links from profiles Date : January 25, 2015 Journalist : Kim Stephens Labor candidates in four marginal southeast Queensland seats appear to be airbrushing their union links from their candidate profiles but the party has denied it is a deliberate directive to enhance chances of electoral victory. The party was also accused of similar tactics to distance itself from its powerful union faction in the 2012 election campaign, allegations that were refuted at the time. Stretton Labor candidate Duncan Pegg. Stretton Labor candidate Duncan Pegg. Photo: Supplied Labor lost its traditional stronghold seats of Nudgee, Mount Coot-tha and Stretton in Brisbane and Waterford in the Logan area to the LNP in the 2012 election whitewash. It is tipped to reclaim all four on January 31. On Saturday, Premier Campbell Newman upped the ante in his long-standing attack on Labors union movement affiliation, making extraordinary claims that bikies were financially supporting the party by funnelling MONEY through one of Labors most powerful union backers, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. Ad by deals | Close Labor candidate for Mount Coot-tha Steven Miles. Labor candidate for Mount Coot-tha Steven Miles. Photo: Supplied A Labor spokesman said the party was not attempting to distance itself from the union movement but did not comment on whether the party had directed candidates to omit their union histories from their candidate profiles. He dismissed it as a ridiculous distraction. Unlike Campbell Newman and the LNP, Labor proudly stands up for working people, he said. Labor candidate for Nudgee Leanne Linard. Labor candidate for Nudgee Leanne Linard. Photo: Supplied Labor candidates have a wide range of backgrounds across a number of sectors of the Queensland economy. In their short profiles candidates try to include a snapshot of information about themselves. Labor candidates with backgrounds in fighting for the rights of working people have done so proudly. Steven Miles, the partys candidate for Mount Coot-tha, held by the LNPs Saxon Rice by a margin of 5.4 per cent, has listed his economic advisory role to the previous Labor Government in his profile but omitted his role as an organiser with the Queensland Public Sector Union. In Stretton, lawyer Duncan Pegg has a bigger task ahead to wrest the seat from the LNPs Freya Ostapovitch, who has a 9.6 per cent margin. He failed to mention his time as president of the National Union of Students Queensland in his profile. The LNPs Mike Latter holds Waterford by the slimmest of margins at 1 per cent. The Labor candidate, lawyer Shannon Fentiman, omitted her history as an industrial advocate for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union from her profile. And in Nudgee Labor candidate Leanne Linard, a law student, needs to claw back a 3.1 per cent margin from the LNPs Jason Woodforth. She left her membership of The Services Union out of her candidate profile. Griffith University communications professor Stephen Stockwell said that, despite Mr Newmans aggressive anti-union attacks, it was unlikely the move was deliberate. I dont think people are surprised to find Labor candidates have union connections, there is a very strong relationship between unions and the Labor Party, he said. People know the Labor Party and the unions work together, so omitting your involvement in a union is really neither here nor there. He said voters could expect such diversionary tactics to continue as the campaign entered its final week. The last two days have been dominated by non-policy related news after it emerged Mr Newman and deputy premier Jeff Seeney were suing broadcaster Alan Jones for defamation and then Mr Newman launched his extraordinary bikie MONEY laundering claims on opposition leader Annastacia Palaszczuk. It strikes me as people looking for scandals that are based on very little, Professor Stockwell said. Campbell Newman has clearly flagged thats what he is interested in with the clash about the bikies funnelling MONEY to the Labor Party. Waterford Labor candidate Shannon Fentiman. Photo: Supplied Queensland Election: Full coverage Labor candidates in four marginal southeast Queensland seats appear to be airbrushing their union links from their candidate profiles but the party has denied it is a deliberate directive to enhance chances of electoral victory. The party was also accused of similar tactics to distance itself from its powerful union faction in the 2012 election campaign, allegations that were refuted at the time. Labor lost its traditional stronghold seats of Nudgee, Mount Coot-tha and Stretton in Brisbane and Waterford in the Logan area to the LNP in the 2012 election whitewash. It is tipped to reclaim all four on January 31. On Saturday, Premier Campbell Newman upped the ante in his long-standing attack on Labors union movement affiliation, making extraordinary claims that bikies were financially supporting the party by funnelling MONEY through one of Labors most powerful union backers, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. Ad by deals | Close Labor candidate for Mount Coot-tha Steven Miles. Photo: Supplied A Labor spokesman said the party was not attempting to distance itself from the union movement but did not comment on whether the party had directed candidates to omit their union histories from their candidate profiles. He dismissed it as a ridiculous distraction. Unlike Campbell Newman and the LNP, Labor proudly stands up for working people, he said. Labor candidates have a wide range of backgrounds across a number of sectors of the Queensland economy. In their short profiles candidates try to include a snapshot of information about themselves. Labor candidates with backgrounds in fighting for the rights of working people have done so proudly. Steven Miles, the partys candidate for Mount Coot-tha, held by the LNPs Saxon Rice by a margin of 5.4 per cent, has listed his economic advisory role to the previous Labor Government in his profile but omitted his role as an organiser with the Queensland Public Sector Union. In Stretton, lawyer Duncan Pegg has a bigger task ahead to wrest the seat from the LNPs Freya Ostapovitch, who has a 9.6 per cent margin. He failed to mention his time as president of the National Union of Students Queensland in his profile. The LNPs Mike Latter holds Waterford by the slimmest of margins at 1 per cent. The Labor candidate, lawyer Shannon Fentiman, omitted her history as an industrial advocate for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union from her profile. And in Nudgee Labor candidate Leanne Linard, a law student, needs to claw back a 3.1 per cent margin from the LNPs Jason Woodforth. She left her membership of The Services Union out of her candidate profile. Griffith University communications professor Stephen Stockwell said that, despite Mr Newmans aggressive anti-union attacks, it was unlikely the move was deliberate. I dont think people are surprised to find Labor candidates have union connections, there is a very strong relationship between unions and the Labor Party, he said. People know the Labor Party and the unions work together, so omitting your involvement in a union is really neither here nor there. He said voters could expect such diversionary tactics to continue as the campaign entered its final week. The last two days have been dominated by non-policy related news after it emerged Mr Newman and deputy premier Jeff Seeney were suing broadcaster Alan Jones for defamation and then Mr Newman launched his extraordinary bikie money laundering claims on opposition leader Annastacia Palaszczuk. It strikes me as people looking for scandals that are based on very little, Professor Stockwell said. Campbell Newman has clearly flagged thats what he is interested in with the clash about the bikies funnelling money to the Labor Party.Kim Stephens Journalist Labor candidates in four marginal southeast Queensland seats appear to be airbrushing their union links from their candidate profiles but the party has denied it is a deliberate directive to enhance chances of electoral victory. The party was also accused of similar tactics to distance itself from its powerful union faction in the 2012 election campaign, allegations that were refuted at the time. Labor lost its traditional stronghold seats of Nudgee, Mount Coot-tha and Stretton in Brisbane and Waterford in the Logan area to the LNP in the 2012 election whitewash. It is tipped to reclaim all four on January 31. On Saturday, Premier Campbell Newman upped the ante in his long-standing attack on Labors union movement affiliation, making extraordinary claims that bikies were financially supporting the party by funnelling money through one of Labors most powerful union backers, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy. A Labor spokesman said the party was not attempting to distance itself from the union movement but did not comment on whether the party had directed candidates to omit their union histories from their candidate profiles. He dismissed it as a ridiculous distraction. Unlike Campbell Newman and the LNP, Labor proudly stands up for working people, he said. Labor candidates have a wide range of backgrounds across a number of sectors of the Queensland economy. In their short profiles candidates try to include a snapshot of information about themselves. Labor candidates with backgrounds in fighting for the rights of working people have done so proudly. Steven Miles, the partys candidate for Mount Coot-tha, held by the LNPs Saxon Rice by a margin of 5.4 per cent, has listed his economic advisory role to the previous Labor Government in his profile but omitted his role as an organiser with the Queensland Public Sector Union. In Stretton, lawyer Duncan Pegg has a bigger task ahead to wrest the seat from the LNPs Freya Ostapovitch, who has a 9.6 per cent margin. He failed to mention his time as president of the National Union of Students Queensland in his profile. The LNPs Mike Latter holds Waterford by the slimmest of margins at 1 per cent. The Labor candidate, lawyer Shannon Fentiman, omitted her history as an industrial advocate for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union from her profile. And in Nudgee Labor candidate Leanne Linard, a law student, needs to claw back a 3.1 per cent margin from the LNPs Jason Woodforth. She left her membership of The Services Union out of her candidate profile. Griffith University communications professor Stephen Stockwell said that, despite Mr Newmans aggressive anti-union attacks, it was unlikely the move was deliberate. I dont think people are surprised to find Labor candidates have union connections, there is a very strong relationship between unions and the Labor Party, he said. People know the Labor Party and the unions work together, so omitting your involvement in a union is really neither here nor there. He said voters could expect such diversionary tactics to continue as the campaign entered its final week. The last two days have been dominated by non-policy related news after it emerged Mr Newman and deputy premier Jeff Seeney were suing broadcaster Alan Jones for defamation and then Mr Newman launched his extraordinary bikie money laundering claims on opposition leader Annastacia Palaszczuk. It strikes me as people looking for scandals that are based on very little, Professor Stockwell said. Campbell Newman has clearly flagged thats what he is interested in with the clash about the bikies funnelling money to the Labor Party. Waterford Labor candidate Shannon Fentiman. Labor candidate for Nudgee Leanne Linard. Stretton Labor candidate Duncan Pegg. Labor candidate for Mount Coot-tha Steven Miles.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 14:22:57 +0000
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