Labor’s western Sydney pantomime show

Despite Lindsay MP Fiona Scott’s 2013 warning of traffic pile-ups on the M4 due to an influx of refugees, it was a clear run from the M4 out from Sydney to Penrith for Labor’s official election campaign launch.

The drive is a novelty for me — I grew up in the Blue Mountains but now only rarely make my way down the M4 to visit family. For hundreds of thousands of western suburbs residents, the M4 represents a one-to-three hour daily commute, if they work in the city.

The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre is covered with dozens of corflutes for Labor, Bill Shorten and the Labor candidate Emma Husar. The centre was opened in 1990 by the dame herself, but the late Sutherland had no close ties to Penrith — she grew up in Turnbull’s Malcolm electorate of Wentworth — and it is fair to say that Sutherland would probably not support the current Labor Party. An avowed monarchist, she once suggested that republicans should be banished to Fort Denison.

The centre is in the heart of Penrith, right next to Penrith Westfield — or the Plaza, for people who’ve lived there long enough. The Plaza used to be an average mall, with just a Grace Bros, a Big W and a single food court. Over the years, as Penrith’s population grew and spread, the Westfield began consuming all the buildings around it and over the road. Now the place feels like it takes up half the suburb, and the Grace Bros is now a Myer. Shorten and Turnbull have both done walk-throughs in the centre, including Turnbull’s meet-and-greet with a pet rat.

Both sides, for years, have viewed western Sydney as some single voting entity (which it is most certainly not) and key to an election victory. Labor’s decision to host its launch in Penrith is part of its western Sydney strategy, though most who actually live in Penrith are unlikely to care about the political pantomime gracing the stages of the Joan on a wet Sunday morning.

Recent polling suggests Labor will struggle to win the seat back from the Coalition, but Labor is giving its all in the remaining 13 days before polling day to convince voters to turf out a one-term government.

The punters are not turning up in droves — many in the adjacent car park are doing their shopping. But hundreds of Labor’s true believers arrive at the centre before the show begins, in bright red “100 positive policies” T-shirts, and a lone candidate for the Nick Xenophon Team in Lindsay turns up wearing his own corflute.

The stage was bright red, with a “We’ll put people first” banner above the stage, and on either side of the podium, Labor’s ministerial line-up assembled as though waiting for a class photo. Behind them there were 100 young Labor volunteers in red, doing their part for the party by standing for the entirety of the 90-minute launch, beaming from ear to ear.

After short speeches from shadow treasurer Chris Bowen and deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek, Shorten took to the stage and received the most applause for the day in introducing Labor’s former prime ministers.

“We are joined today by a trailblazer for women and girls, a fierce warrior for education, a continuing inspiration for everyone who fights for Labor,” Shorten said as he introduced Julia Gillard.

Then Paul Keating as “a man of courage, conviction and imagination”, the reason true believers kept the faith and “the one that every other party would like to have”, a reference to the Coalition’s increasing praise of the Keating legacy.

Bob Hawke, who walked out with a cane, needed no introduction and received the biggest cheer. The Hawke and Keating relationship is often said to be more icy than the relationship between Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, but on this occasion the two men sat together, and at one point Hawke leaned on Keating for support to stand, as the crowd cheered. One can only imagine Keating would think it representative of the pair’s relationship in government.

“Good to see you, Julia,” someone yelled from the crowd.

Rudd was nowhere to be seen. Banished to Siberia, the last Labor prime minister sent his well wishes via Twitter before the event commenced. Of the four living former Labor prime ministers, only Hawke has done any public events for Labor since the election campaign started, in the form of an ad calling to protect Medicare.

Medicare was a major theme of Shorten’s speech, along with Gonski school funding, infrastructure spending, funding to combat domestic violence, marriage equality, suicide prevention and the NBN. While the names of the Coalition ministry were dropped in for cheap lulz, Shorten’s NBN zinger got the biggest laughs of the day when he compared the Coalition’s policy to Turnbull’s leadership: “I suppose this was the perfect preview for his time as Prime Minister. Over-promise, under-deliver and take forever to get to the point.”

Commentators are suggesting Labor needs to avoid running out of steam in the last few weeks if it wants any hope of turfing Turnbull, and Shorten’s speech was punchy, with delivery more energised than it has ever been. You could almost see him punching the air at the end of every sentence. While Shorten slammed three-word slogans during the course of his speech, his ending on “putting people first” sent the  audience into rapturous applause. Then the show was over and everyone filed out into the wet wilds of western Sydney.