Analysis: LNP up to old trick of ruining its chance
Carve out all the hot mess of allegations levelled against LNP leader Deb Frecklington over a fundraiser attended by property developers and all you have is the revelation that politicians share meals with people. But that hasn’t stopped the Party from shooting itself in the foot during an election campaign, writes Steven Wardill.
Opinion
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REVEALED: Politicians share meals with people.
Carve out all the barely literate hot mess of allegations levelled against LNP leader Deb Frecklington yesterday and that’s what you have. A few nice meals and not much.
Maybe there’s more to it.
Maybe something untoward did actually occur when Frecklington hosted a series of lunches and dinners, which property developers attended, and some sizeable donations were made to the LNP. But as things stand there’s nothing more than innuendo and ambiguity played to a background of spooky music.
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Of course that didn’t stop the Palaszczuk Government’s troops from leaping all over the issue. Why should it?
Annastacia Palaszczuk’s claims even had shades of Anna Bligh during the 2012 election when Labor was desperately trying to paint Campbell Newman as a crook.
“It is a very serious offence for people to be engaging with property developers,” the Premier insisted.
But that’s not true. Property developers can attend political events. They just can’t pay for fees, tickets or food. And so far the allegations indicate what’s happened is above board.
Perhaps the greatest revelation, missed by the vainglorious attempted take-down, was the enduring schism between Frecklington and the LNP hierarchy who tried to oust her a few months back. Why were events such as these, which have the look and feel of fundraisers, organised out of Frecklington’s office?
Why did the LNP ask the Electoral Commission of Queensland to assess whether everything was in order, knowing how this would appear if it came out during an election campaign?
There could very well be more that emerges which answers these questions, but the evidence so far suggests it’s not a grand conspiracy.
Rather, it’s just the same old dysfunctional LNP and its knack for stuffing up elections.
