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By Jan Bowman<\/a>\u00a0 @GriffithElects<\/a><\/p>\n 27 November 2013<\/p>\n When he announced his retirement at the end of the first sitting week of Parliament, Kevin Rudd surprised not only his own colleagues, he also shocked his old foe Dr Bill Glasson.<\/p>\n Glasson had only recently returned to work, and after some hesitation (he admits to exhaustion following the September election), he\u2019s decided to step forward again for the LNP.<\/p>\n Dr Glasson is well known and well liked in the electorate and a speedily organised by-election would have suited him. However, by waiting until November 23 to formally submit his resignation, Mr Rudd bought some time for the Labor party and avoided a pre-Christmas poll.<\/p>\n The focus now is on who will replace Rudd as the Labor Party\u2019s candidate for Griffith.<\/p>\n Two candidates, Terri Butler, an industrial lawyer on the Labor Left, and Jeremy de Lore, purportedly new to the Labor Party and supported by the right faction, will fight it out for that opportunity at a plebiscite (70 percent branch members; 30 percent party executive \u2018Electoral College\u2019), to be held on December 14.<\/p>\n For now, Jeremy de Lore is keeping a low profile. He has been reported as saying he won\u2019t be spruiking his polices until after December 14.<\/p>\n Not so Terri Butler. She is active on Twitter, has her own \u2018Terri Butler for Griffith\u2019 blog, and has recently been interviewed on radio and in local media. She spoke with No Fibs this week.<\/p>\n Ms Butler said she sees the by-election as an opportunity for Labor to make a fresh start in Queensland whoever is preselected, and, if it is her, she looks forward to taking on Dr Glasson. \u201cI do not underestimate the task,\u201d she was quick to add.<\/p>\n She said she is talking to media now because she does not want Dr Glasson to get all the running on the issues.<\/p>\n Griffith, she said, is a diverse electorate and the issues vary across the suburbs, but key concerns include airport noise, childcare, and workforce participation, and not just for the young. \u201cI am passionate about addressing age discrimination \u2026 it takes away people\u2019s power,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Newman Government\u2019s block on Commonwealth funding for the cross river rail has angered parts of the electorate, Ms Butler said, which may be a factor in this by-election, particularly given what she terms the \u201cdisrespect\u201d and \u201carrogance\u201d Newman has shown voters by sacking the Crime and Misconduct Committee. This she said, \u201chas given rise to great community outrage\u201d.<\/p>\n Some have touted this by-election as an early litmus test for the Abbott Government and its \u2018axe the carbon tax\u2019 policies, so I asked Ms Butler what she made of Dr Glasson\u2019s recent comment, reported in the Fairfax media, that: “If we try to sell it (the election) on a political basis, or a leadership basis, we won’t get up\u201d.<\/p>\n Ms Butler responded that Dr Glasson \u201cprobably has some sense that Mr Abbott\u2019s government is not travelling well. Voters must be horrified that the Government has so soon got into such a sensitive position with Indonesia\u201d.<\/p>\n She added that the recent issues of the separation of an asylum seeker from her new baby has not played out well for the Government.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the results in this week\u2019s Nielsen poll I can understand why Dr Glasson would want to distance himself from Mr Abbott,\u201d she said, \u201cthe problem for him is that he is Mr Abbott\u2019s candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n It is still not known whether the Palmer United Party will run a candidate in the election. PUP was not a factor in Griffith in September and Ms Butler said that people are now waiting to see what that party will do, and commented: \u201cWe know about the public persona, but we don\u2019t know enough about what they stand for\u201d.<\/p>\n She acknowledged that Bill Glasson is a nice bloke, and is generally liked in the electorate, but said: \u201cBeing in parliament is not about being nice, it is not about who Tony Abbott would have a glass of wine with to sort things out privately, which is what Dr Glasson said on the ABC the other day, it is about representing the views of your constituency\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Dr Glasson will be hamstrung because he has to toe the party line. Voters can be confident that I won\u2019t be a mouthpiece for Tony Abbott, but they can\u2019t be confident about that when it comes to Dr Glasson.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Butler acknowledged that, \u201cno-one really likes by-elections\u201d, but noted that others have resigned in similar circumstances to Mr Rudd.<\/p>\n \u201cPeter Costello and Alexander Downer did it, and Rob Borbidge after he lost the State election. I understand why a former leader might think it\u2019s the honourable thing to do, to leave the party and make room for renewal, and I think people will understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about the legacy of her possible predecessor, she said Mr Rudd will always be remembered for connecting with the community. \u201cHe donated over 900 bikes to the community\u201d, and on a national level she said: \u201cHis apology to the stolen generation was a watershed moment in Australia\u2019s history, and his government steered us through the Global Financial Crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n Butler sees herself as a reformer within the Labor party, but it remains to be seen whether the party and its members are ready to embrace her as their candidate for Griffith.<\/p>\n And if so, whether she can replace Kevin Rudd in the affections of Griffith voters.<\/p>\n Read more Griffith Seat Reports<\/a><\/p>\n![\"terri-butler\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/terri-butler.jpg?resize=320%2C480\")
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