“There is no way those Treasury documents in the past week relating to the economic challenges the government is facing accidentally fell into wrong hands,” writes political columnist ANDREW HUGHES.

Political winters are great times for the rebranding of politicians, parties and government. With the buzz of the elections now faded, parties are into the build mode of their brands. 

After everyone is back from well-earned breaks, but before parliament resumes, strategy sessions are usually held where the key challenges and objectives of the government are identified.

Each of these are then allocated to the responsible minister, along with the development of any strategy, both political and government, necessary to make them happen or start to. 

While briefs prepared by departments help with this process, they do not guide it. That’s because this is all done with one overarching objective: consistency with the perception of the three brands of leader, party and government. 

To over deliver on election promises and commitments and keep resonance towards the brands high. 

Outwardly, we don’t notice this process explicitly. They don’t want us to, either. Then it would have been flawed and need fixing. It should be as natural and authentic as possible, with any deviation being thrust back on the individual or department who did it. 

You’ll see that when it happens a minister or department head will come out and apologise for the error of their ways. And then nothing happens. Again, outwardly. Internally there is a three-strike policy. And sometimes questions raised over the ambitions or actual talents of the individual/s concerned. 

However, with so much focus on personal brands and their perceptions, politicians see political winters as opportunities and less challenges. Examples? 

For mine there is no way those Treasury documents in the past week relating to the economic challenges the government is facing accidentally fell into wrong hands. 

Why? If a Labor government wants to be seen as the natural government of the nation, as the PM has spruiked on numerous occasions, then it can’t not tackle the issue of structural deficits. Yet, the way to do so is going to burn some serious political capital, such as a likely increase to the GST to 15 per cent. 

How to mitigate that but remain consistent? Hey, let’s market research and prepare some ideas through the good ol’ accidental release of policy papers.

Consistency? Remember the Treasurer talking about the independent Reserve Bank? This is something similar. The three brands can now all be consistent: we aren’t doing this for us, we are doing this for the greater good as this document supports. 

So the brand can deviate, but do so in such a way that we will perceive that this is more about evolving and adapting to the current and future economic environment. Plus throw in a few more buzzwords to cover your tracks and changes in direction, which are all about ensuring long-term political survival. 

As is usually the case, what happens on the hill, happens off it on London Circuit. Or hopefully. 

But here we are seeing some divergence between the three brands. There could be a fair few good reasons for this, but perhaps one could be the early stages of changing the brand perception of the treasurer to that of chief-minister-in-waiting. 

If that is the case, then some of the backflipping going on in relation to the ACT Budget needs to be fixed because that says uncertainty and risk in a leader, with a dose of not connecting to the base. 

That image is also in stark contrast to the current chief minister, but also one who I believe should be, Tara Cheyne. Think about who seems like a more natural Labor leader right now – Chris Steel, Andrew Barr or Tara Cheyne? 

Tara’s engagement and honesty in recent weeks is absolutely what we should expect from a leader of a major political party, at any level. Thank you, Tara, and respect. 

Labor locally has undertaken massive infrastructure builds that hurt its brand at all the levels it operates at. No doubt the light rail project overall is a good idea, but taking it down to Woden, at the price of reduced funding for some badly needed community projects and increased travel times makes no sense at all. Go and ask David Smith how that’s working out in Tuggeranong/Bean. 

Then there’s the town centres that badly need infrastructure renewals, such as in Tuggeranong. Just go and visit the Tuggeranong pool for that 1980s infrastructure feel, or play dodge the pothole on Drakeford Drive for that more rural road experience. 

These issues highlight the inconsistency in the brand offering at different levels. Feel-good PR pieces don’t overcome that, sometimes they even exacerbate it and reinforce a tone-deaf perception. 

Something a very smart operator in independent Tom Emerson is only more than happy to take full advantage of with his tireless work with community groups all around the capital. 

Liberal leader Leanne Castley is slowly building as well, even with some internal dramas still playing out. Yet she seems to be growing more and more confident and comfortable as leader, and using this winter as one of opportunity. 

Even though winters feel like nothing happens but similar to nature, it is what we can’t see more than what we can where the real action is taking place. 

Dr Andrew Hughes lectures at the ANU Research School of Management, where he specialises in political marketing