Councillors keeping up with the Joneses
KATE Jones is the face of Labor on the Gold Coast. At the Commonwealth Games you will see her wonderful smile. But is she partying too much with political enemies?
Watching Ms Jones at official functions, guests are all asking the same question. How “cosy” is the Games Minister to our city councillors, many of them paid-up LNP members?
At a recent gala at The Star, Ms Jones and Deputy Mayor Donna Gates were dancing “the robot” in a gold-mirrored elevator. She and Mayor Tom Tate traded smiles, not insults.
A Minister needs to maintain a solid working relationship with the civic leaders. Her response to the Crime and Corruption Commission investigation was sensible.
The State’s corruption watchdog is investigating multiple serious allegations surrounding council decisions, all yet to be proven. Asked if she supported the Mayor when the CCC story broke, Ms Jones replied “yes”.
At Parliament House yesterday, a public hearing was staged for submissions about new local government laws after Operation Belcarra.
The Bulletin’s Trojan Council series, which led to that CCC investigation, revealed an LNP bloc before the 2016 independent council elections in which two candidates received $30,000 from a Liberal Party slush fund.
Let’s park Labor’s reform agenda, and also put aside the fresh CCC investigations that focus on public assets such as Black Swan Lake and Bruce Bishop car park.
Kate Jones is a personable politician — she will give you a welcome hug and, unlike her Games predecessor Jann Stuckey, there are benefits from less tension between the Government and council around the Games preparations.
She has been a wonderful PR asset for the Government here before Meaghan Scanlon became the ALP’s only MP. Some predict Ms Jones will one day be Premier.
But let’s also acknowledge where the credibility of the Minister is on the line. The LNP blue wave on the Coast enjoys dumping on Labor.
Ask the Mayor’s office about Operation Belcarra, and it is not too difficult to secure a quote about mayoral rival Penny Toland, a Coast Labor identity, being charged with perjury. A council transport summit is planned and Ms Scanlon will be interrogated by LNP councillors about the Government’s lack of action on the M1.
Meanwhile, the council is among the last to negotiate an enterprise bargaining agreement, and experienced union organisers at a recent rally described it as the worst at the negotiating table.
They point to the Mayor and councillors enjoying a 6.3 per cent increase in the past three years, which compares to 1.5 per cent for workers.
The dispute is more about council wanting to cut penalty rates, increase working hours and have flexibility to introduce “family unfriendly rostering practices”.
What do some Labor members here think of Ms Jones? “It absolutely sickens me the way she carries on with them (the councillors),” a Labor member said.
“She is constantly photographed arm in arm with Donna Gates. During the election she came down here to the turf club for the Melbourne Cup.
“The first thing after being sworn in at Parliament, she drives down to the Gold Coast for Meaghan Scanlon to be photographed with the Mayor.
“What sort of message does that send? It’s a spit in the eye for Labor workers who busted their guts during the campaign.”
Senator Murray Watt addressed the union rally. It was steamy at the Broadwater Parklands, a long way from the glitter of a first night, but to workers he was the only political shining light.