Brisbane council Labor leader Jared Cassidy considers run for lord mayor in 2028 election
Labor did not lead brisbane city council It’s been around for two decades and its current team of councilors can fit into a hatchback.
But leader Jared Cassidy believes they can expand their representation from five districts to 13 or more in the next election and win back the mayor’s office; He could potentially be a candidate for the mantle himself. LNP incumbent Adrian Schrinner.
“We have learned many lessons and will target vulnerable LNP councillors,” he says.
“I think what you’ll see in the next election is a very different approach.”
In an interview with this imprint, the 37-year-old, who has led the party’s council team since 2019, explains why he believes the Labor Party has not been able to pass this stage for a generation.
Sitting in the Myrtle and Blossom cafe in Sandgate, in a quiet corner in Deagon’s ward in the north of the city, Cassidy lists the LNP-held seats that Labor believes are vulnerable.
Having recently returned from leave in Melbourne, where he has tickets to attend the third day of what turned out to be a two-day Boxing Day Test, Cassidy chats to staff as he orders a tall black with some milk.
“I feel refreshed and ready to go this year,” he says.
Why can’t Labor gain traction?
Labor has just four other representatives in 26 wards: Lucy Collier in Morningside, Charles Strunk in Forest Lake, Emily Kim in Calamvale and Steve Griffiths in Moorooka.
The Greens have two councillors, one is an independent, while the other 18 members and the mayor are members of the LNP.
“You need a lot of money or a huge ground game to break that liability.”
In a city where Labor has had a better track record of winning over voters at state and federal level in recent years, why can’t it gain traction on the council?
“This is a question we ask ourselves a lot,” Cassidy says.
“You need a lot of money or a huge ground game to break that mandate, and I think that’s something we’ve learned and implemented recently. [state and federal] elections turn to the future and campaigning on the ground.
“I accept [Schrinner] “He is successful at hiding his deeply conservative policies, which do not sit well with the vast majority of Brisbane people.”
Cassidy says his team talks to taxpayers every week and hears their frustrations around three main topics: traffic and congestion, housing affordability and suburban neglect.
He insists it is “very possible” that Labor will achieve a big boost at the next election with a platform that addresses these concerns; This will not be possible until early 2028.
“The LNP brand is not a good brand right now,” he says.
“The challenge for us … is actually to reach enough people and say to ordinary punters, ‘the LNP politicians you have problems with at federal level and state level because they don’t share your values and priorities, they’re the same people at council level’.”
Cassidy is weighing a run for mayor, an unusual and risky move for a sitting councilman because he would have to resign his position.
“It was a path I decided not to take before, but look, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it now, because the situation has changed so much,” he said.
Schrinner in December confirmed that he plans to seek re-election to this imprint.
Wards to watch in 2028
Among the wards Cassidy has chosen as a target is Holland Park, home to the LNP’s sitting leader and former deputy mayor. Krista Adams will not run again – Northgate, Runcorn and Wynnum Manly. He says the LNP is “very vulnerable” in others.
Cassidy is adamant he will change the way the local government agency operates from the ground up – “we need to get back to basics” – but admits he cannot outline a comprehensive policy platform two years after the election.
“The problem is, if you increase supply right now, you’re increasing supply that costs people $1 million, $2 million, or $3 million per unit… it doesn’t dilute the market.”
At state government level, Labour’s affordability guidelines in areas such as Woolloongabba have proven controversial; Too few development applications were submitted and the LNP argued these were driving away investment.
“For us, it’s about reform; it’s about making working people’s lives better, it’s about providing services to ordinary people in the suburbs,” Cassidy says.
“I want to support a full-blown campaign in 2028. I don’t know what role I will play in it, but I will give it my all.”
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