After nearly 20 years as a federal Labor MP, Graham Perrett has determined to retire, organising a battle in his marginal Queensland seat.
The longtime Labor left warrior and writer identified for his morning stroll playlists, committee work, “white line fever” in MP sporting matches and jovial nature advised Guardian Australia it was “just time”.
“I ran in 2004, unsuccessfully, so it has been 20 years of this stuff and it is just time to move on to another challenge,” the 58-year-old stated.
“I’m just young enough to get another career doing something else. So it’s time to give someone younger, give someone else a go.”
Reflecting on his profession, Perrett stated folks shouldn’t underestimate the affect of backbenchers or these on committees whose work is usually unheralded however can result in actual change.
“I think marginal seat members who speak to their leaders make for better governments because you say this is what people care about in the marginal seats and they’re the people whose minds can be changed by circumstances, rather than rusted on to either party,” he stated.
“So I think that is crucial and I think I’ve spoken up judiciously. I’ve certainly felt that I’ve been listened to.”
Perrett made the choice to stroll away in latest weeks, forward of the Greens’ announcement it had recruited the 35-year-old social employee and organiser of the Justice for Palestine group, Remah Naji, as their candidate.
Perrett is aware of Naji, a Palestinian-Australian. Like Queensland Greens firebrand Max Chandler-Mather, Naji was once a Labor member.
“She used to work on my campaigns. I’ve door-knocked with her,” he stated.
Requested about Labor members turning to the Greens, Perrett stated folks had their very own motivations. He stated he’d seen “how perfect can be the enemy of the good” and that “good government is about progressive, gradual, real change”.
“And if you look back for the last 130 years, all of that in Australia has been delivered by the Labor party.”
“I mean there’s a time when [the Greens] need to accept that the good things that come from institutional government of locking in [change], rather than having policies unpicked by the Tony Abbotts of this world.”
Perrett stated “the Greens come in and think that this is some low-hanging fruit that is their right, because they think we’ve done all the hard work for them. But there’s a little bit of fighting to be done in the trenches”.
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Moreton, Queensland’s most culturally numerous voters, has lengthy been on the Greens’ hitlist however Perrett stated he and Labor had fought off many challenges since he took the seat from the previous Liberal MP Gary Hardgrave in 2007.
Perrett stunned most political watchers by holding on within the 2013 swing in opposition to Labor, regardless of his slim margin.
“I’ve seen more safer seats than Moreton fall by the wayside – in 2013 about 13 or 14 seats with bigger margins than mine fell away, whereas Moreton had a swing to it.”
He stated there “is a bit more work to do” however “I’ll be doing my darndest to make sure that Moreton stays in the hands of the Labor party”.
So long as Moreton stays a marginal seat, Perrett stated he believes Labor values will imply the social gathering continues to carry it.
“It’s the most multicultural electorate in Queensland, which is a significant thing in terms of the diaspora you have to be able to speak to,” he stated.
“There are significant Chinese community, Taiwanese, Korean, Muslim communities from around Africa, north-east and south and the Vietnamese community. So lots of different communities to speak to. Then you’ve got some of the wealthier parts of Brisbane and some battle areas of Brisbane industry belts.
“You’ve got to be nimble, prepared to get out and talk to people about what’s important to them. Cost of living and education and health were the things I was retailing 20 years ago and they’re still pretty important things in my electorates.”
The previous Queensland Labor state secretary Julie-Ann Campbell is anticipated to win preselection to exchange Perrett, however the resolution is but to be finalised.
