Queensland Election 2017: One Nation says Labor avoiding power fight

ONE Nation state leader Steve Dickson has accused Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk of calling an election ahead of summer to avoid having to address rising power costs head on.

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RISING power prices are the catalyst for the early state election, says One Nation MP Steve Dickson, who criticised the State Government for “consistently” misleading the people of Queensland.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk today announced the next election would be held on November 25.

Speaking from his Buderim electorate and flanked by supporters, Mr Dickson described the move as misleading, saying Ms Palaszczuk had previously indicated the election would take place next year, the Sunshine Coast Daily reports.

One Nation MP Steve Dickson at a press conference following the announcement of the Queensland State Election date.

He believed that it was a reluctance by the major parties to address the issue of rising power costs that spurred the announcement.

“...both of the major parties, you know what they do when they’ve got trouble with energy and when they don’t want to talk about the finances of the state and this country?” he said.

“They say let’s talk about daylight savings. Let’s talk about something that will really take people’s minds off the real issue at hand.

“That’s another reason why Annastacia Palaszczuk hasn’t called the election after the end of this year.

“You’re going to get your power bills coming in, things are going to be really tough after Christmas and she doesn’t want to face voters when those power bills come in.”

Mr Dickson urged voters to take their power bills when they go to vote, “because that’s your how-to-vote card”.

As for the chances of keeping his seat, Mr Dickson said he’d do everything possible to hold on to the position, with One Nation giving all sitting members last preference.

“The people on the Coast, they’ve got a chance of having me in parliament in the seat of Buderim to be in charge of the crossbenchers who hopefully will have the balance of power in this state to deliver the best outcomes that we humanly can,” he said.

The Mooloolah River Interchange and the North Coast rail line duplication were major projects Mr Dickson said he would address to stop this region being the “poor cousin” of Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

“The two major parties only care about Brisbane. They don’t care about rest of the state,” he said.

“That’s the truth and that’s where they spend their money.”