THEY HAVE GONE SOFT

Premier’s former chief of staff unleashes

WILL Hodgman’s former right-hand man has taken aim at the Liberal Govern- ment as lacking a clear sense of direction — and breaking election promises.

Brad Stansfield also questions the drive of an “impotent” Labor Opposition in a column published exclusively today.

Mr Stansfield, who was chief of staff to Will Hodg- man for eight years, also criticised the Government for having dropped its promise to “take Tasmania to the next level”.

And he said a recent poll that showed a sharp drop in support should worry the Government.

Mr Stansfield has also questioned the drive of an “impotent” Labor Opposition in his column published exclusively in the Mercury today.

Mr Stansfield said a September EMRS poll that showed a severe drop in support for the Liberals could be attributed to the Government’s lack of purpose and backing away from election commitments.

He questioned why the Liberal Government dropped its policies on TasWater and gun law changes after the March election, noting its win meant it had a clear mandate for reform.

“In its first term — and this was strongly driven by the Premier himself — the Government religiously sought to deliver all its promises,” Mr Stansfield said.

“By walking away from its commitments on TasWater and gun laws the Government has eroded its credibility and emboldened its opponents.”

On the Opposition, Mr Stansfield has warned Franklin Labor MHA David O’Byrne “will strike” if leader Rebecca White fails to step up to the plate, adding: “He didn’t come back into Parliament just to keep his sister company.

“Most days reveal an obvious and easy attack to be made on the Government, yet rarely does Labor seize it,” Mr Stansfield said.

“Compare Ms White’s approach to that of Bill Shorten. He’s hungry, wants to make every post a winner and has already laid out clear policy markers well ahead of the election.

“There’s still a long way to go, but I’m just not convinced that Labor under Ms White has got what it takes to win at the moment.”

Mr Stansfield’s opinion piece acknowledged there were “signs [ Mr Hodgman] is heeding the warning signs”.

Mr Stansfield was recently announced partner at Font PR, working alongside former Liberal government adviser Brad Nowland, who most recently worked for Treasurer Peter Gutwein.

Mr Stansfield worked for Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann from April 30 for several months after leaving Mr Hodgman’s office.

BRITISH Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was once asked the most difficult thing about his job. Reportedly, his answer was “events, dear boy, events.”

Premier Hodgman must be thinking the same thing following last week’s shock revelations about the relationship between his Primary Industries Minister and her Departmental Secretary.

Coming on top of weeks of sustained pressure on his Health Minister, and now a teacher’s strike, the developments have added to an already large pile of problems in his in tray, and a growing sense that the Government is merely responding to events rather than controlling them.

One of the rules of politics is that “the polls are never wrong”.

So, when local pollster EMRS released its latest poll last month, showing a sharp fall in support for the Government, there would have been a collective sharp intake of breath in the Premier’s Office.

While there is no doubt that health is a serious concern for the Government, looking deeper there are a couple of underlying reasons for the decline in this poll.

First, the Government is currently lacking a clear sense of direction and purpose.

Despite being elected with an overwhelming mandate to “take Tasmania to the next level”, the Government now has a new slogan: They are now going to “make your life even better”.

Apparently, this new message was developed by the State Liberal MPs at a meeting in Smithton in early August. Just why they were busy rewriting an election-winning message just months after polling day, rather than delivering the one that they won an election with is anyone’s guess.

Second, the Government is breaking too many election promises.

Governments are never stronger than when they’ve just been elected. Yet one of the first actions of the re-elected majority government was to walk away from a long-standing promise to take control of TasWater.

Just a week later, Liberal Jane Howlett won Prosser on a campaign platform of “stopping the Labor-Green block”, strengthening the government’s TasWater election mandate.

The Government should have used this double-election mandate to negotiate with local government from a position of strength in the Upper House.

Another notable broken promise was dropping the proposed changes to gun laws.

Given the sensitivity of the issue, it was sensible to support an Upper House inquiry.

It would have taken the heat out of the issue and, in all probability, the vast bulk of the suggested changes from a Legislative Council inquiry would have been supported and ultimately become law.

Politically, it would have been better for any changes to the election policy to have the support of both Labor and a number of Upper House independents.

To suddenly drop the entire suite of changes without explanation made zero sense. In its first term — and this was strongly driven by the Premier himself — the Government re- ligiously sought to deliver all its promises. With more than 95 per cent of its promises delivered, Labor and the Greens found it hard to accuse the Government of breaking its word.

Strictly adhering to election commitments importantly also kept ministers and the bureaucracy focused.

By walking away from its commitments on TasWater and gun laws the Government has eroded its credibility and emboldened its opponents.

This is not to say that it is all doom and gloom for the Government. While the polls are never wrong, they can be turned around. The economy remains strong, unemployment is under control and the Labor Opposition remains impotent.

To Premier Will Hodgman’s

credit, there are signs he is heeding the warning signs. Immediately after the poll, rather than blithely blaming Canberra, he said he was listening and that, if there were things the government could do better, they would. And in more recent weeks we’ve seen a renewed emphasis on delivering election promises, particularly in the law and order space.

But, as events like those of the past few weeks demonstrate, it is going to take a concerted effort and strong discipline to get the Government firmly heading in the right direction again.

Brad Stansfield was Will Hodgman’s chief of staff from 2010 to 2018. He is now a partner at the Hobart-based Font PR.