Qld election editorial: State in need of a new direction
Prior to this year’s pandemic, the achievements of Queensland’s Labor Government were few and far between. This is why things need to change in Queensland, writes the editor.
Opinion
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This election should be an easy win for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Having just presided over Queensland’s world-leading response to a pandemic that continues to devastate almost every other jurisdiction on the planet, Ms Palaszczuk and her Labor Party should be following in the footsteps of Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand and Michael Gunner in the Northern Territory and sail to victory tomorrow.
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And she still might. Thankful Baby Boomers could swarm to Labor en masse in a vote of gratitude that pollsters have not managed to discern, delivering Labor the few seats it needs to ensure an unexpected majority.
But despite Labor having the momentum in the final week of this election campaign, every insider expects tomorrow to be a closely fought battle unlikely to deliver a clear winner on the night.
That alone is an indictment on Premier Palaszczuk’s almost six years in power.
And that is why The Courier-Mail today advocates a vote for change – for a more disciplined approach to how taxpayer money is managed, for fresh ideas and a proper understanding of the importance of our regions.
And for an end to the endless stream of ideological follies Queensland can ill-afford.
Prior to this year’s pandemic, the biggest achievement of this Labor government over its two terms in office had been in attracting some millionaires – at great but undisclosed taxpayer expense – to make some movies here.
It was all Ms Palaszczuk wanted to talk about.
But the state’s economy was meanwhile at a standstill.
Business was frustrated. And Queenslanders knew it.
Every three months for the past decade, The Courier-Mail has asked 1000 Queenslanders if they think the state is heading in the right or wrong direction.
In February, this sentiment index was at its worst since the eve of the 2012 election when Labor was thrown from office in a landslide.
The baseball bats were out. Queenslanders were ready for a change.
This is the real record of a government that tomorrow could be handed the keys to the state for four more years by voters grateful for the past seven months.
Queensland cannot afford another four years of the same.
Three key tentpoles hold up Labor’s case for re-election: Ms Palaszczuk’s leadership qualities in successfully “keeping Queensland safe” from the COVID-19 pandemic, the party’s “economic plan” to rebuild the state’s economy, and a scare campaign that claims Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington plans to cut jobs in the public sector.
On the first, it is true that Premier Palaszczuk deserves credit for the big and tough decisions she has made to keep Queenslanders safe from the pandemic, particularly in those crazy and uncertain early days. But she has also repeatedly pointed out that she is only acting on the advice of the state’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young – and that, as Premier, she “will always act on the health advice”.
You simply cannot have it both ways.
By the Premier’s own admission, Queenslanders are safe today because of the expertise and strength of one woman: Dr Young.
On the second, you know something is bunkum when even those charged with believing in it, openly mock it.
And so it is with Labor’s “economic recovery plan” to rebuild Queensland’s post-pandemic economy.
The plan is nothing more than a 58-page glossy document of motherhood statements and reheated announcements – a prop for ministers to awkwardly tuck under their arm in front of their chest at press conferences.
Inside the William/George Street bubble, they joke about it. It is a PR puff piece, not a plan; and certainly nothing like a State Budget, which the Government has refused to bring down until after the election.
Third, Labor’s appalling scare campaign over LNP “cuts” should be called out for being just as much a mistruth as Clive Palmer’s claims that Labor itself plans to introduce a death tax.
The only evidence? “They did it before,” says the Premier, finger-wagging.
That it built its re-election campaign after two full terms in office around the spooky music of an LNP leader beaten fair and square almost a full six years ago says much about the Palaszczuk government’s failings.
The LNP attempted to put that scare campaign to bed yesterday with costings that calculated its promises at just over $5 billion, offset by an estimated $3.4 billion in savings.
However only $20 million is set aside for Ms Frecklington’s trademark New Bradfield Scheme. There are also some pretty big question marks over the $1.5 billion in savings the LNP thinks it can make through “better procurement” and an efficiency dividend on all departments except for Health.
And the LNP is even then only able to balance its books through $1.67 billion in borrowings – something it had been claiming it would not do ever since Labor said it would borrow $4 billion to fund its own commitments.
Regardless, the total spend is a far cry from the “$26 billion in unfunded promises” claimed by Labor – the supposed evidence for the need for forced job cuts.
Beyond that, there is no evidence that Ms Frecklington as premier would repeat the overreach of Campbell Newman.
She was there, an assistant minister, when the LNP squandered its historic majority.
She has learned the lessons the hard way.
As leader, Ms Frecklington has made her fair share of missteps.
Her decision to dine with property developers at party fundraisers – regardless of whether they donated themselves – demonstrated at best political naivety.
Preferencing Labor last was meanwhile a shameless attempt to improve the chances of minor parties such as the Greens – a decision that fertilises the prospect of a confidence-sapping minority government.
But Ms Frecklington has shown real leadership skills with internal issues when it mattered this term.
When she stared down an attempted putsch led by forces within the party’s organisational wing earlier this year, she gave a brief glimpse of the strong leader she could prove to be.
Nineteen years ago, then Labor premier Peter Beattie’s election campaign jingle proudly boasted that Queensland was “heading in the right direction”.
Beyond her handling of the pandemic, Premier Palaszczuk today cannot claim the same.
As the state’s biggest newspaper, we advocate for Queensland’s interests.
And what Queensland needs now is change.
We need a more disciplined approach to economic management, a better grasp of the importance of regional jobs towards our shared prosperity – and an end to the ideological follies that do nothing but distract our leaders from their most important job: serving you.