Duplicity, p.5
Duplicity, page 5
‘What’s the problem?
‘She isn’t preselected yet, which is scheduled for Saturday.’
‘Is she suitable?’
‘She has a PhD in politics, she’s an immigrant, a child bride from an arranged marriage, a single mother, although I think her adult son lived with his father when he was younger, not sure about that. She’s a long-term Australian citizen and she is the perfect candidate.’
‘What’s the problem?’
‘She is Siddi.’
‘Where is that, I’ve never heard of it.’
‘It’s the cultural group in India that originated from Africa.’
‘So?’
‘They’re very dark skinned.’
‘Oh.’
‘That’s what I thought.’ Messenger raised his eyebrows and shook his head slightly. ‘It seems that even thinking that thought means I might be racist. I’m also worried the party might not accept her, and if that happens, perhaps we are indeed sending xenophobic messages out into the community.’
‘Leave it to me. If you think she’ll be a good candidate, and if we put her up against Gerrard, and she’s doing it as a university case study, it’s a win-win for everyone.’
‘That’s a bit cynical, isn’t it?’ Messenger gnawed his bottom lip.
‘To use your oft clichéd phrase – it’s the optics. We’ll be seen as inclusive and close Gerrard down from hitting us with immigration as an election issue. Pretty hard to argue politically that we have a discriminatory policy when we are inclusive with our candidates, wouldn’t you think?’
‘So we use her for publicity as much as she uses us?’
‘Yes, of course. It’s politics, Bart. You know that,’ said Nelson as she finished her coffee. ‘I’ll pull in a few favours and get the media ready, just make sure she gets her application in.’
‘You travel light.’ Wolff dropped his leather backpack on a chair and sunk into a soft leather couch at Jameson’s swanky Melbourne office high above the casino.
‘When I’m working, I like to move fast, so if it doesn’t fit in the bag it doesn’t come,’ Wolff smiled. ‘Did you pick a winner today?’
‘I never bet, I just collect.’
‘Nice philosophy.’
‘It pays the bills.’ Jameson presented Wolff with soda water and took his whiskey to collapse in the lounge chair. ‘Thanks for coming down, we are keen to make this change of government happen and you’re just the guy to do it for us.’
‘Always willing to support you, Mr Jameson.’
‘And you did a great job for us in Queensland.’
‘Beautiful one day, perfect the next.’
‘Especially with a change of government,’ Jameson smiled broadly. ‘What do you know about Stanley and his mob?’
‘Not much. I would have thought James Harper had the best chance of winning an election, but this Stanley bloke and his new leadership cronies are hard to get an angle on at the moment. I suspect there isn’t much government experience in their team?’
‘You’re right about that. They have a major headline speech on domestic violence tomorrow at a sporting club out at Mulgrave, here in Melbourne, so let’s hope they get traction. Hancock is already primed to promote them,’ Jameson said softly. Coughing a little, he took a swig of his whiskey.
‘I’ll observe their strategy over the next few days and give you a report on what we’ll need. I’ve already spoken to a number of community contacts to begin to get feet on the street. So, we’ll be ready to go probably Monday if you give us the green light.’
‘How will that look?’
‘We’ll begin with community rallies – town hall–type meetings, in the most winnable electorates. Each with the same message, saying the same things every day in every electorate.’
‘Every day, that’ll be tough.’
‘This election against a headline act like Gerrard can only be won at the grassroots. Using Twitter and other social channels will help generate momentum, but it’s talking to the masses in the suburbs that will change votes. Our people will be in the audience at meetings, providing vocal support and encouragement to give the perception of a growing community movement. Social media coverage of the rallies will rapidly create a political movement, potentially influencing voting patterns across Australia. But it needs community organisers, and we will need at least one hundred and fifty-five, one for every seat.’
‘Do you have those sorts of resources?’
‘I can recruit both agitators and organisers, who are easy to mobilise, especially if there’s money involved. It’ll be up to them to get their own volunteers. By election day we should have a reasonable movement at the voting booths, which will influence voters as they arrive.’
‘How much will this cost us?’
‘Plenty, but it’s not the money, it’s the positive outcome we want. We all want good government, don’t we?’ Wolff smiled.
Jameson took another swig of whiskey, declining an immediate response.
‘Do we need any muscle?’
‘I wouldn’t have thought so, but it’s a little too early to say. Let me assess the campaign before I give you an answer. Just make sure Stanley’s mob keep any stuff-ups out of the media. I can only do so much – if they’re useless campaigners, I can’t do anything to help them.’
‘We want Gerrard gone – do what you have to do.’
‘I haven’t let you down yet – or for that matter your international colleagues – have I?’
Jameson smiled and slightly shook his head.
‘Trust me, Mr Jameson,’ Wolff leaned forward and engaged Jameson deeply in the eyes. ‘I’ll ensure Gerrard won’t be prime minister of this country after the election,’ said Wolff menacingly.
CHAPTER FIVE
DAY EIGHT – THURSDAY
So Wolff wouldn’t be exposed by a curious media tracking him to other campaigns he had managed, he always introduced himself to the strategy team by a pseudonym. This time he decided to add a touch of conservative sophistication and used the nom-de-plume Jack Sinclair-Browne. A hyphenated name would suit the class warriors of the party leadership group, no doubt.
He sat at the end of the table and poured himself a glass of water from the nearby pitcher, opened his well-worn leather folder, preparing a wad of papers. Stanley had been counselled by the party president that a campaign strategy expert would be assigned to the team, and nodded his acknowledgement to Wolff when he entered the room. The expert position was donated by an obscure printing company in Sydney’s west and no-one asked any difficult questions. Something for nothing was always welcome in politics, no questions asked.
Stanley started the meeting. ‘Right, welcome everyone, especially our new colleague, Jack,’ Stanley nodded and smiled toward the end of the table, but Wolff didn’t bother looking up. ‘We are keen to receive good campaign advice from someone with your excellent campaigning skills and experience.’
When he didn’t get a response, Stanley moved on. ‘Christopher is an apology. He has urgent business in his electorate, apparently.’ Stanley looked to his list, suggesting he was disappointed with Hughes. ‘Sussan, can you give a media briefing, please.’
‘The Hancock media are doing a great job for us with their lead political journalist, Anita Devlin, so far publishing two profile pieces, yesterday and today, highlighting the policy experience within the ministerial team. I want her to do a piece on Barton, but there has been some resistance.’
‘Why?’ Wolff asked quietly.
‘Perceived conflict of interest with the journalist, but they will get another writer to do it.’
Messenger smiled, slightly embarrassed by the revelation as Neilson continued.
‘The domestic violence policy launch yesterday went well and we made evening news broadcasts. Well done, everybody.’
Andres Jorges cleared his throat and said, ‘Approval ratings for the party went up overnight based on our announcement of increased funding for agencies directly supporting victims and their families. It was a good strategy to get it into the electorate early. We achieved a significant rise in positive female response, and in eighteen to twenty-fives, we also recorded a strong positive response.’
Wolff jotted a note.
‘That’s a terrific outcome. It was a great event,’ Stanley beamed.
‘Leader,’ Neilson hesitated. ‘I’m taking calls about a remark you may have made last night.’
‘Oh yes? What am I supposed to have said?’
‘Did you have a few drinks after a business dinner last night?’
‘Yes, I had a brandy with two donors at the Athenaeum Club. I’m staying there.’
‘Did you say the domestic violence package was labelled in certain circles as home maintenance?’
‘Say what?’ gasped Messenger, turning and staring at Stanley.
‘Well you have to take these things in context,’ protested Stanley, embarrassed by the disclosure. ‘We were having a laugh about what to call various policies and I volunteered the joke,’ Stanley laughed nervously. ‘Hilarious.’
Tightening his jaw, Wolff shook his head slightly then gazed at Stanley who responded by shifting uncomfortably.
‘Okay, it may have been an unfortunate comment by me, but it was said within a private group of three, so I’m not sure why the media would be contacting you.’
‘It hasn’t hit the media yet. These were not media calls,’ Neilson offered.
‘Loose lips sink ships,’ Messenger remarked.
‘Stop with your fucking clichés will you,’ Stanley brusquely snapped. ‘Suzie, what do we have to do to stop it getting a head of steam?’
Messenger smiled smugly at the leader’s response.
The irony of his own clichéd comment was not lost on Wolff and he sneered. ‘I would suggest you say nothing. If approached for comment, you deny it. Who were the two business people you spoke to? Let me have their details and I shall speak to them personally about maintaining confidentiality and establish if a recording exists. If there is, I shall get it.’
Wolff confidently pushed his way further into the discussion and stared directly at Stanley. ‘No matter the circumstance, no matter the location, always consider you are being watched and recorded. This was a dumb thing for you to say no matter the so-called context, as you call it. Don’t do it again.’ The words were delivered with such confidence and intimidating force that others said nothing.
Stanley dropped his head for a few moments, collecting himself before finally responding, ‘I apologise for my mistake, it won’t happen again.’
‘It better not, or I shall withdraw from the campaign.’ Wolff stared at Stanley, who again shifted nervously. ‘Can I ask a few questions?’
Messenger responded, ‘Sure, why not?’
‘Do each of your local campaigns have a thirty-day plan that can be implemented from tomorrow?’
‘Not sure. Is it important?’ Stanley replied, looking to Messenger who shrugged his shoulders in response.
Wolff jotted a note. ‘Do you have a policy and media plan?’
‘I have key dates for media releases and press conferences,’ Neilson offered.
‘Are you planning a systematic policy launch over the campaign?’
Jorges sat forward to the table. ‘We will link policies to the polling, and if we drop our numbers, our plan is to release a popular policy announcement to get the figures back in our favour.’
Stanley nodded, knowing the campaign plan was in keeping with what they had done in the past.
‘Who is running your community support programs?’
‘We don’t have one. We leave that to individual members seeking re-election using their own networks. The new candidates in the other seats have to develop their own,’ Messenger said.
‘Do you have a centralised information distribution and volunteer recruitment program?’
‘We haven’t done any of that sort of thing in the past,’ Harry Lester offered. ‘We leave that for the candidates to organise.’
Wolff dropped his pen on his pad and rocked back in the chair. ‘So, what you are telling me about your campaign plan is that you are planning to lose.’ Wolff was blunt. The tension increased around the table. ‘You will not get elected if you don’t address these issues very quickly, and I mean today.’
No-one spoke.
Lester eventually began justifying their strategy. ‘We don’t have the resources to do those things, so our strategy is to concentrate on broadcasting messages and maintaining attack pieces against the government.’
‘And you have a moron as your leader who stuffs the first policy announcement by cracking a joke about it. Some strategy.’
‘Hey, ease up, Jack,’ Stanley defended himself.
‘This is a clusterfuck.’ Wolff was not finished. ‘You are a national brand hoping to be handed the keys to the government bank accounts and you think a negative broadcast campaign will get you elected. You have got to be kidding me.’
Lester turned to speak but was cut off by Wolff with the flick of a raised finger. ‘Look, think of yourself as a franchise with one hundred and fifty-five site locations. Would you let your franchisees do whatever they wanted in the market?’
No-one responded.
Wolff continued his lecture. ‘This election campaign is the same operational model as a franchise. It’s not overly hard to implement, and if you do it correctly, you’ll be elected. Run a coordinated local campaign in every seat where everyone in Australia has the same message delivered to them every day in their community. No matter where voters go, they see your message. Go to Richmond, see a message, which is the same in Manly, or Cairns, or Perth – the same message no matter where you are, just like a franchised brand.’
‘How do we do that?’ Stanley asked.
‘By ensuring every candidate, and that means no exceptions, uses your campaign operations manual, daily speaking notes, press releases, suggested diary activities and a community meeting program.’
‘Why do safe seat members have to do this?’ Lester innocently queried. ‘We already have the vote in these electorates.’
‘As I said, clusterfuck thinking.’ Wolff slapped the table, startling the others. ‘Do you seriously think these voters who already vote for you in safe seats are not your advocates and have an important role to play in the campaign? Don’t they have friends they talk to who live in other seats? Do they not have children and grandchildren who live in marginal seats? You folks are fifty years behind in campaign strategy and the use of community organisers. No wonder this country is struggling to become competitive internationally.’
‘We are?’ Messenger said.
‘Don’t kid yourself, economic indicators and trends don’t support your view. If we don’t get a change of government right now and step away from the oligarchy we have in this country, which your poor election campaigns have created over the years, we will struggle as a nation for another fifty years.’
‘What’s that got to do with us?’ Stanley asked as he jotted a few notes.
Wolff scornfully dropped his head, shook it slightly and gently rubbed his fingers into the scar on his scalp, relieving its tension. He looked up at Stanley with a slight wry smile. ‘It is your failed election campaigns over the years that has allowed Gerrard to be in office for so long,’ he softly said. ‘It is your failed campaigns over the last twenty years, not your policies, that have allowed Gerrard to change the parliament, ignore the constitution, and do whatever he damn well pleases.’ Wolff tightened his jaw again and stared darkly at Stanley. ‘It has everything to do with you.’
There was no response as they avoided each other’s gazes. Jorges bowed his head, scribbling notes.
‘Look …’ Wolff tried another tact. ‘McDonald’s has over thirty-five thousand stores in their global network. No matter the country, they provide customers with the same food standard, the same cleanliness and the same message. You know what you are going to get every time you take the kids for a burger and fries.’
Wolff waited for a moment. ‘Their burgers taste the same no matter where you are. But what would happen to their brand if their franchisees didn’t all share the same standards?’ Wolff looked about the table not expecting an answer.
‘They would go bust. It’s the same with you folks. You have to insist every candidate uses the same message and they do everything in their local campaign in exactly the same way. If we are to create a national community movement for a change of government then we must do the same activities every day in every local campaign.’
‘What do you suggest we do?’ Lester asked.
Wolff pulled a single typed sheet from his folder and slid it across to Lester. ‘This is a schedule of activities I would like to happen over the next five days.’ He then pulled out a thicker wad of papers from his folder and slid them across. ‘This is a standard thirty-day action plan for each of your candidates with daily activities and campaign standards for them to follow. Send each of the candidates a copy. I have it on a USB for you, although I would strongly recommend you don’t send a soft copy. Instead, send it in a campaign folder so they can read it without having to use a computer.
‘You will note on the first page that every candidate has to agree to do what the campaign manual advises them to do. If they don’t endorse the program, then you’ll need to change the candidate before nominations close on the twentieth. No exceptions, whether they are sitting members or not.’
‘We can’t ask sitting members to sign something they don’t agree with,’ said Lester, snatching up the papers and flicking through them.
‘Yes, you can,’ said Wolff, announcing each word slowly and deliberately. ‘And you will. If you don’t, I can promise you, you will not win government.’
‘I can immediately think of five current members of parliament who won’t sign. What then?’ Messenger asked.
‘Disendorse them.’ Wolff stared straight at the leader. Stanley almost choked, wildly looking for support from the others as Lester guffawed. ‘Gentlemen, if you want to win government then take control of your party.’
