Labor’s long campaign begins
Jay Weatherill has effectively launched Labor’s re-election campaign some six months out from the March 2014 poll.
He’s rolled out fresh graphic design , a new slogan (somewhat dodgily incorporating the state logo), and a shift in rhetoric – it seems the Government isn’t announcing ‘decisions’ any more; instead, we’re having ‘policies’.
This is no longer a Government in standard governing mode.
The messages and the presentation appear to be part of a strategy developed by state Labor and its new campaign team, guided by Kevin 07 marketing man Neil Lawrence.
The first of the policies was announced yesterday – a Future Fund, which must have seemed like a logical first step under the slogan, “Building a Stronger South Australia”. Weatherill is promising a series of similar announcements in the coming weeks and months.
The campaign has a special website, and the “stronger” theme has been rolled out across government, even extending to Weatherill’s personal blog.
The strategy shows some of the lessons of the federal election, where Labor couldn’t deal with its past, and therefore couldn’t find the clear air to articulate a vision for the future.
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Weatherill and the campaign team know that they can’t credibly pitch their new ideas without linking them logically to a positive narrative about the past 10 years of Labor.
So, yesterday, the Premier offered this take on the decade of Labor rule:
“Over the last decade or so we have created for ourselves in this state – together – one of the most beautiful places anywhere to live, anywhere in the world – one of the most liveable places; it’s one of the most affordable places; it’s safe. And that strength, that resilience that we’ve created in this community has been because we have worked together. What we want to do is grow on the strength we have created.”
In a new entry on his personal blog yesterday, Weatherill pushed a similar theme, talking about the community service of his parents.
“Through their eyes I saw the difference it made when people came together to build something – a thing they could share in but a thing that was motivated by more than just self-interest,” he wrote.
“Mum was helping to build a church community that could offer spiritual comfort to families. Dad was helping families by building minimum standards of living that could provide for the material comforts of life.
“They were building something that would benefit their friends, neighbours and other people in the community.
“That’s why I believe governments must be builders.”
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On the official “Building a Stonger South Australia” website – which appeared after yesterday’s announcement – the theme continued, with this quote from Weatherill prominently displayed: “Our way of life in South Australia is something we cherish and must protect.”
So here’s the pitch: Labor has created something “strong” and worthwhile in its years in office, and they have a plan to work cooperatively with the community build on that.
Inherent in this apparently positive pitch, though, is the scare campaign: Labor will be presenting Steven Marshall’s Liberals as a threat to this glorious, cooperative future.
It all makes logical political sense, but the execution already shows Labor’s weak spots.
The Future Fund idea – which will take years, if not decades, to bear fruit – simply reminds everyone of the debt-laden state of the budget, a fact that an incredulous Steven Marshall pointed out immediately.
The announcement also shows how the Weatherill team lacks the ruthless approach to campaigning that marked the Mike Rann years.
The timing and style of yesterday’s press conference meant Marshall had plenty of time to digest the detail and appear before the cameras to knock it down. His air-time on some TV news bulletins was almost as lengthy as that of Weatherill. (Another problem for Weatherill is his increasingly fraught relationship with some sections of the media, sparked by their coverage of the Debelle inquiry. His interview with ABC radio’s Matt Abraham and David Bevan this morning sounded like an exercise in controlled fury.)
In campaign mode, Rann would have made the Future Fund pitch at a mine, or at some other controlled place, providing engaging pictures for the TV news and robbing the Opposition of the time and space to respond.
On the flip side, Weatherill’s central strategy is to engage Marshall, to try and flush him out on policy debate so Labor can gain some substance for a scare campaign.
Despite the frustration of Labor and some in the media, I can’t see Marshall falling for this.
He will produce his detailed policies when it suits him, which could be very late in the day.
The danger for Weatherill is that people are so fatigued by politics after the gruelling federal campaign that they won’t engage with state initiatives – particularly as dry and remote as a Future Fund – until much closer to the election date.
And that’s when Marshall is likely to strike.
David Washington is the editor of InDaily.
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