First Labor leadership meeting in Brisbane

Labor's shadow ministry will go to Brisbane for its first meeting, to make up lost ground in the state which was ground zero for opposition's election loss.

Australian Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese will hold his first shadow ministry meeting as leader in Queensland next week. (AAP)

Labor's new shadow ministry will hold its first meeting in Queensland, the state which was pivotal to the party's federal election loss.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese says his team will meet in Brisbane next Tuesday before visiting other parts of the country.

"One of the issues that we have to deal with is we received the support of just one-in-three Australians on May 18, but one-in-four Australians in Queensland," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

"So we need to do much better."

Labor is expected to win just six seats out of Queensland's 30, after losing Herbert and Longman to the coalition at the election.

Despite the political gravity of the result for Labor, Mr Albanese couldn't help but to squeeze in a State of Origin joke.

"I love Queensland, except for three nights a year. One of those is next Wednesday," the rugby league diehard said.

"We'll suspend the relationship for that 80 minutes of play. Apart from that, I'm with Queenslanders."

On Wednesday former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd said it was "baloney" that Queensland was solely responsible for the party's federal election loss, pointing out that the sunshine state had had a Labor state government for 25 of the past 30 years.

"So the idea that this place is unwelcoming of centre-left progressive governments is a nonsense," Mr Rudd said.


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Published 30 May 2019 3:10pm
Source: AAP


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