CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

DAY TWENTY-FOUR – SATURDAY

Wolff arrived at campaign headquarters early to read the media editorials about his candidate’s speech. The cramped office didn’t allow him to kick his feet on the desk, so he sunk back into his chair with a big smile on his face. All the major newspapers were reporting the speech with expert political commentary denouncing the xenophobic tone and the damaging message the obscure candidate had delivered to the government and even her own party.

One editorial implied Jaya Rukhmani was a racist and recommended she should be stripped of her tenure as professor of politics. Apparently, it was an affront to humanity and the ideals of tertiary education to have such an unqualified person talk about the culture of other countries.

While Wolff was pleased with the editorials, he was more interested in what the prime minister had to say. Gerrard was condescending in suggesting the public meeting went ahead without his appearance. Apparently, he could not remember receiving the invitation and would not have hesitated in making time to come and speak if he had received it.

He further asserted the meeting was organised by right-wing groups who want to stain the fabric of Australian culture and had used their puppet to provide a voice for the deplorables within the community. Gerrard also claimed the speech was outrageously racist in tone, delivering racist intent, by a racist.

He also said it was no worse than a fascist totalitarian diatribe with little foundation to support her claims, instead focusing on the most marginalised who were unable to defend themselves. He also suggested Rukhmani was loose with the truth about her background and implied her credentials should be checked.

A perfect result.

Wolff read Anita Devlin’s column with interest. She claimed nothing in politics is ever spontaneous, and the speech was delivered with passion and grace with no hint of racism. ‘How could it be racist?’ she questioned. ‘The person delivering it had the authority to speak on these issues due to her own history of discrimination and the manner she was mistreated as a child by her family and her own culture.’ Devlin described nefarious activities in politics were always evident at every event and questioned why the community should blame the candidate when it may be the conservatives raising immigration wedging against the government.

‘She is too smart this girl,’ said Wolff as he flicked to the cartoon to see Rukhmani raging from a pulpit with a stylised Nazi flag draped behind her yelling for equality.

Perfect.

At the prearranged time, Wolff moved to the boardroom for a regular campaign meeting, hoping a decision about the speech could be made without his input. He wanted the party to act decisively without his influence but didn’t hold out much hope.

After Stanley called the meeting to order, Harry Lester asked for the results of overnight polling. Andres Jorges reported there had been a significant spike in the primary votes with the over forty-five demographic toward the party, and away from the government. He wasn’t able to say why this was the case but did advise calls were made after all the news programs had reported Rukhmani’s speech.

‘This is unbelievable,’ said Stanley, a quizzical look on his face. ‘Voters support us more because we are racist? I’m not sure this is the party I lead.’

‘It’s not an act of racism to question immigration,’ Lester affirmed. ‘The party does not have racist policies, never has and we would never ascribe to anything remotely culturally intolerant.’

‘Maybe that’s our problem,’ sighed Messenger, sparking Wolff’s immediate attention as he sat quietly in a darkened end of the table in the windowless room. ‘We’re too soft when we should be making bold statements about culture, immigration and the misuse of social welfare. We’re too scared to upset the minorities, so we let it pass, getting smashed in the media because of it.’

‘I would have thought that was good politics,’ suggested Christopher Hughes on a speakerphone from Sydney. ‘Anything to do with immigration scares the electorate.’

‘You mean it mobilises the vocal left, who tag every considered comment as racist, stifling debate,’ chided Messenger.

‘How the fuck did our candidate get that speech approved?’ barked Stanley.

No-one responded as they glanced at each other.

Eventually Sussan Neilson offered. ‘It wasn’t – we had no idea she was going to do it. Candidates are strongly advised to say nothing publicly unless pre-approved by the campaign team.’

‘Has anyone spoken to her?’ asked Hughes. ‘What does she have to say for herself?’

‘She has gone to ground; no-one can find her. Her campaign staff are not returning calls either,’ said Lester. ‘This could turn into a significant media crisis for us.’

‘Could?’ Stanley barked. ‘It’s the lead in every media outlet and the trolls are killing us on Twitter.’

‘We’ve done nothing, said nothing, and our polling has gone up,’ said Messenger. ‘Which could suggest she might have laid the golden egg for us.’

‘It could fry us,’ chuckled Hughes from the machine in the centre of the table. ‘Or we could all be poached.’

‘Not funny, Chris,’ sighed Stanley. ‘This is serious. It could change the campaign if we don’t respond, we can’t just continue to scramble about doing nothing. What do you think, Jack, you’re unusually quiet?’

Messenger cringed a little at Stanley’s poor choice of words.

‘Your campaign was going nowhere until this issue.’

‘That’s not entirely correct,’ ventured Lester. ‘Our poll numbers were improving before last night.’

‘That’s my community strategy gaining traction in the mind of voters, but as a broadcast message on leadership, we’re going nowhere.’ Wolff tossed Lester a vicious stare, making him feel uncomfortable. ‘If we can change the leader, we should. We would have a better chance against Gerrard if we did.’

‘Hang on …’ Stanley blurted.

‘Shut the fuck up, will you, and let me explain—’ Wolff snapped as he leaned into the table. Stanley dropped back into his chair, his jaw slack. ‘There have been too many stuff-ups from you to give you any credibility in running the country as prime minister. In fact, I wouldn’t even vote for you.’ Wolff stopped talking. No-one moved or offered a view. Stanley was defeated. ‘But you’re all we have and surprisingly you might have a chance on an issue that’ll give your personal brand traction and get your name recognition up,’ Wolff continued. ‘Any increased name recognition for the leader will help the local campaigns. My strategy, which you folks resisted, has begun to turn in our favour, according to Andres’s polling.’

‘What are you suggesting?’ stumbled Stanley softly.

‘I’m suggesting the electorate is looking for leadership on this issue of immigration. They are so desperate for leadership they will vote for anyone providing it. They want strong borders and have wanted government action for years, but what they get is soft policy and see their culture diminishing. Gerrard will justify his government’s policies, so you need to make a strong statement and leverage the issue.’

‘We could launch our immigration policy tomorrow,’ suggested Stanley.

‘What will that do other than give us crap from the media for being opportunists,’ said Hughes echoing from the speaker. ‘We need to attack Gerrard.’

‘Was he not doing something shonky with Indonesia?’ Neilson tentatively asked, looking about the table. ‘Isn’t this the reason we are having the election now?’

‘Nothing was ever proved,’ replied Messenger. ‘It was only a conspiracy driven by some in the media.’

‘Does it need to be proven he is corrupt?’ queried Wolff. ‘Just a sniff of a political fraud would be enough to show Gerrard doesn’t truly care about the security of our borders and only thinks about himself – just like any other politician.’

‘We can’t say anything; the media wouldn’t accept us raising it,’ Stanley said. ‘After all, it was our candidate who started this bushfire, not us.’

‘Maybe we don’t have to,’ Wolff smirked. ‘I hear from a reliable source Hancock Media will be running a piece on Gerrard’s alleged Indonesian fraud next week.’

‘You’re kidding? I’m not sure this is good or bad news,’ groaned Stanley as Messenger disengaged from the discussion, pushing back from the table and slowly rubbing his face.

‘This issue of immigration is the hotspot in the electorate, not so much politicians doing fraudulent things,’ contributed Jorges. ‘I would recommend we ignore Gerrard and run hard on immigration.’

‘We can do both,’ smirked Wolff.

‘How can we do that when our policies are very similar to the government’s? What line can we say that is different?’

‘We tell the big lie.’ Wolff delivered it with so much authority the other’s fell silent.

‘I don’t want to be involved in anything illegal,’ offered Julia Laretsky, the women’s division president.

‘Of course not, Julia, we wouldn’t support anything like that,’ said Stanley quickly in response. ‘It’s not illegal to politically exaggerate a statement, which is what I think Jack is referring to – it’s a common campaign tactic. Gerrard does it all the time.’

‘It might be time to return the favour,’ suggested Hughes.

‘What do you suggest, Jack?’ said Messenger, now engaged again.

‘Andres said immigration is the electoral hotspot, so what big lie could we say about that to get them excited against Gerrard?’

Lester stood and moved to the whiteboard on a stand opposite Wolff at the end of the table, ready to record notes with a marker as the others considered the question. ‘Any ideas?’

‘What about this – immigration is run by criminal organisations fronted by the immigration agents’ network,’ suggested Hughes. ‘There seems to be a lot of money being made in the market.’

‘Not bad,’ said Wolff, as Lester wrote the suggestion on the board. ‘Could in fact be true.’

‘It’s not true, is it?’ Laretsky queried Messenger, who shrugged.

‘Gerrard plans to increase Muslim immigration numbers,’ said Stanley.

‘An old one, but still a good one in many communities,’ laughed Jorges. ‘At least that is what my polling indicates.’

‘Let’s go the opposite way. Gerrard is about to ban immigration from Muslim countries,’ said Messenger.

‘Or maybe he is going to ban immigration altogether for two years,’ Neilson suddenly suggested. ‘Or maybe he wants to increase the price of immigration.’

‘Would he lower the current price for entry?’ asked Laretsky.

‘This is good,’ said Lester as he noted the ideas. ‘Any other thoughts?’

‘What really scares Australians?’ Wolff asked.

‘Foreigners,’ said Jorges, creating a spontaneous laugh among the group. He shifted in his seat embarrassed and leaned forward into the table. ‘No seriously, it’s foreigners. We are all immigrants; the paradox is we hate the fact others get here much easier than we did. They have greater access to welfare than we did, and they speak louder on issues that undermine our democratic culture. Australians hate it. Mix that with their ignorance about Muslims and border security and it is a hotspot for a clear majority within the community no matter their voting preferences, especially in the regions.’

‘We aren’t racists,’ wailed Laretsky.

‘Sadly, based on what Andres just advised, we might be,’ Stanley said glumly.

‘Xenophobia is not racism,’ interrupted Wolff.

Stanley scoffed, still smarting at Wolff’s previous attack. ‘Okay smarty, what is it?’

‘It’s nationalism – if we use it, and use it well, we can turn that slow upward trend in the polls into a significant win on election day.’

‘Yeah, but if we do, what do we truly win. I don’t want a polarised community.’

Wolff shook his head, sneering at Stanley. ‘We need to change the hearts of the community to have them vote for you.’

‘I’m not sure we should be doing that,’ replied Stanley.

‘You either want to be prime minister or you don’t, Pete,’ said Hughes.

‘Yes, but will it be tainted, and will I be portrayed as a racist?’ asked Stanley.

‘Who cares? You’ll be prime minister,’ Hughes replied.

‘That is an excellent point,’ said Wolff. ‘If we construct the big lie after you have shown strong leadership, you could be sitting in Yarralumla for Christmas.’

‘So everyone,’ interrupted Lester, still standing at the whiteboard looking at his list. ‘Which of these could be the big lie?’

‘We can’t mention the Muslims, so cross that off the list.’ said Laretsky.

‘Why?’ asked Messenger as he stared at the board.

‘It will create too much hurt and pain in the community,’ said Laretsky.

‘I agree with Julia,’ said Stanley.

‘So we don’t mention them,’ smiled Wolff. ‘And yet we do.’

‘How would that work – everyone hangs out to criticise the Muslim community.’ Laretsky queried.

‘How about this as an idea?’ Wolff proposed, and the others looked to him, waiting for a response. He slowly rose and paced to the whiteboard as if figuring out a plan. ‘Gerrard has a secret plan with the Indonesian president to declare open borders for free movement of citizens between each country.’

No-one responded immediately, thinking about the idea.

Stanley quickly jumped in. ‘Whoa, wait a minute – free movement between both countries?’ Stanley quickly looked for support from his colleagues. ‘It would never work.’

‘It doesn’t have to, it’s a lie,’ scoffed Hughes. ‘I like it.’

‘Just listen. We suggest the Gerrard government has secret plans to restructure a free movement pact between Australian and Indonesian citizens based on the successful program we already have with New Zealand,’ said Wolff.

‘How would we control movement?’ Messenger asked.

‘We don’t – just like the kiwis,’ Wolff smiled.

‘No-one would ever believe a predominately Muslim country would ever have open borders with us,’ suggested Laretsky.

‘The region is a haven for various covert groups with spurious links to terrorist organisations,’ said Hughes, warming to the idea. ‘Talkback radio would go nuts if this was implemented.’

‘And that’s the point.’ Wolff clicked his finger and pointed at the speakerphone.

‘Why would anyone believe that preposterous idea?’ Stanley asked.

‘Because Gerrard was not able to get his money from his deal with the president, so it’s payback time,’ smiled Wolff. ‘It’s so outrageous, I’m beginning to like the idea myself.’

Stanley was still not convinced. ‘The community would go berserk. Gerrard would deny it, and no-one would believe us.’

Wolff returned to his chair. ‘We don’t need the whole community to believe us, we just need four per cent.’ He leaned back in his chair satisfied and waited for a response.

Stanley looked around the table unsure of what to make of the idea. His colleagues just stared at the whiteboard not wanting to engage. He finally asked, ‘So what is this leadership thing I should do to distance myself from this lie?’

‘Let’s have a decision on this strategy first,’ asked Lester as he also resumed his seat. ‘Does anyone speak against the idea?’ No-one engaged, the staff members averting their gaze. ‘It is agreed then. We will dangle this strategy out there in the media no matter the backlash against us?’ No-one responded, thus agreement was assumed. ‘If this is what you want then I want it clearly minuted that this was a decision of the group because if it goes bad, I’m not wearing the flack.’

Everyone sat silently for a moment as the group processed what they’d just decided.

‘What happens if Hancock doesn’t print the story?’ Messenger asked. ‘Do we still go ahead?’

‘Yes, I think we do, but I have it on very good authority they will print either Monday or Tuesday,’ said Wolff.

‘Who will run the campaign? It shouldn’t be Peter,’ said Hughes.

‘It needs to be the deputy,’ said Wolff looking at Messenger, getting a shoulder shrug and nod of the head in agreement.

The group paused for a moment and Stanley poured himself a drink of water, revealing a shaking hand.

‘So, what’s the leadership action Pete will need to be doing?’ asked Messenger.

Wolff looked around the table. ‘The leader needs to make an unequivocal statement befitting a prime minister and therefore must make an announcement today about the candidate in Melbourne.’

‘What do you think I should say?’ asked Stanley, taking a large draught of water.

‘You sack her.’

‘It’s way too late for that, nominations have been declared. We can’t replace her.’ Lester was adamant and quickly began flicking through his papers. ‘Even if we sack her, she will still be on the ballot paper – and we won’t have anyone.’

‘You terminate her as a candidate this morning.’

‘It would be a strong response,’ agreed Hughes. ‘It would shut the media up about us and flick the focus to her.’

‘She may not want to continue,’ said Messenger. ‘This has always been a case study for her, and all of this media attention may create enormous ethical issues for her with the university.’

‘And her stupid speech would not have created the same ethical issues?’ Laretsky jibed sarcastically.

‘If you want to become prime minster, you must sack her this morning,’ reaffirmed Wolff. ‘This is not a time for hesitation. This is a time for leadership, and you will display it at a press conference within the hour. Sussan and I will provide you speaker’s notes. You will emphasise the conservatives are an open and liberal party and you will not tolerate outspoken ideas that do not embrace our core philosophies of cultural tolerance. Do not mention her by name and do not move into any discussion about her. Short and simple. She is gone.’