LNP best choice to ensure state moves forward
The Sunday Mail believes Queensland would be better off over the next four years with Deb Frecklington and the LNP in office, writes the Editor.
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Queensland voters face a choice this week which will determine the standard of living in this state for decades: To re-elect a government which has spent five years asleep at the wheel of Queensland’s economy but now claims it is a saviour in the middle of a recession.
Or to trust an opposition that has laid out a broad, comprehensive plan for the state’s future, ideologically backs the industries which motor our economy, and insists it has learned from the missteps of its last time in office.
Labor has been determined to fight the October 31 poll squarely on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant popularity of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. And well it might.
Narrowing the focus to just eight months of nearly six years in power camouflages just how lacklustre the government’s performance has been.
Leading one of the five states which suppressed the coronavirus, Ms Palaszczuk and her administration deserve credit for Queensland’s health response.
An effective contact tracing regimen prevented outbreaks taking hold here and spared us the type of second wave which has devastated Melbourne.
However, those achievements have been sullied by the shameless politicisation of border closures – imposing hard-hearted and unnecessary restrictions on ordinary people suffering illness or bereavement while giving starry-eyed favouritism toward sport and film stars.
A historic four-year term in power awaits next Saturday’s winner, whose momentous task will be to carry Queensland out of the economic carnage left behind when the tsunami of the COVID-19 health crisis recedes.
The policies and actions of the next government will determine how many Queenslanders keep their jobs, whether voters maintain their standard of living and how much debt will be left for the children of 2020 to pay back as adults.
Labor’s record in power is woeful.
Surprised to defeat Campbell Newman and claim office in 2015, the Palaszczuk government’s slow-moving first term was notable for myriad reviews, an expensive addiction to hiring public servants, and balance sheet gymnastics to maintain a pretence of reducing state debt.
Leading into and after its 2017 re-election, the influence of the party’s dominant Left faction steered the government into repeated ideological folly – at the expense of everyday Queenslanders.
The resources sector received the cold shoulder even though coal royalties keep the budget in the black, money was splashed on changing the name of a hospital and a debt-happy treasurer threw out any pretence of trying to balance the books long before the coronavirus struck.
The Premier showed her cynicism for voters and lack of leadership when it took the electorate’s brutal rejection of federal Labor to finally spark action to approve the job-generating Adani mine.
The inconvenient truth for Labor at this election is that Queensland’s economy was already staggering before COVID delivered a king hit. In January, as the virus began spreading out of Wuhan, the state already had an unemployment rate of 6.2 per cent and a debt projected to hit nearly $92bn, with Queensland languishing alongside South Australia as the nation’s economic laggards.
Despite all the spending on public servants, frontline services have buckled under Ms Palaszczuk; sick Queenslanders have suffered on ever-growing surgical waiting lists, children have been killed on the watch of child safety authorities, teenage crime is out of control in the regions and the performance of school kids has stagnated.
All the while the government has been distracted by repeated integrity scandals – including the demise of former treasurer Jackie Trad.
Now, while asking for a third term, Labor cowers under the cloak of COVID-19 to avoid any serious economic reform. It refused to release a third-term agenda until the election campaign and has presented an economic recovery plan which is simply short-term stimulus measures complemented by infrastructure pledges including the building of a second M1.
Queenslanders will vote on October 31 but will not find out the true state of our finances for another four weeks, because Labor delayed the budget until after polling day.
After preferring social issues such as abortion reform to heavy lifting on the economy during its two terms, the Premier has now made her key election priority passing euthanasia laws – in the middle of a recession.
There is no doubt Ms Palaszczuk is regarded with warmth by many Queenslanders. Her personal popularity, which increased during the COVID-19 period as she was perceived to be taking action, has been one of the government’s strengths.
But the lack of Labor achievements over its full period in office means its campaign has consisted of two themes only – claiming credit for the pandemic response and lazily using the ghost of Mr Newman to attack the LNP – years after he was thrown from office.
Tellingly, some of the more devastating criticism of the government comes not from the LNP or even the business community, but Labor heroes. Ex-premier Peter Beattie bemoaned Labor’s absence of ideas to boost the economy long term after his own suggestions were gracelessly slapped down by a tetchy Premier.
CFMEU powerbroker Michael Ravbar – a member of the party’s national executive – accused the Palaszczuk government of being too “focused on the inner-city elite” and “not actually governing for all of Queensland”.
And party strategist Cameron Milner warned only in August of a palpable sense of hubris among an administration expecting to coast to victory on the laurels of its COVID response.
Aside from assessing Labor’s record, voters must also decide whether Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington has presented a compelling case for the LNP to return to power after six years. Ms Frecklington’s period as leader has been marked by a struggle to cut through with voters.
This came to a head in June with the leaking of damaging internal polls – which ultimately led to party president Dave Hutchinson quitting his role.
While the party has been lacking in salesmanship, the agenda it takes to the election is of far more substance than the policies Labor has on the table.
The New Bradfield Scheme, part of a broader water security policy, and the duplication of more than 1600km of the Bruce Highway over the long-term, are genuinely transformative for the regions.
Ms Frecklington has nominated a target unemployment rate of 5 per cent, pledged to stabilise debt, will establish an Economic Recovery Agency and open up the Galilee Basin to $50bn worth of job-creating investment – supporting the resources sector which has for too long been treated by Labor as the leper of Queensland’s economy.
The party’s platform tackles the youth crime issue head on: While a youth curfew might be jarring to some in the relative comfort of southeast Queensland, it represents pragmatism and long-awaited action for residents of Cairns and Townsville who are victims of burglaries or who witness rampant crime on their streets. The party will also set up a child protection force as part of an overhaul to stop vulnerable children slipping through the cracks of Queensland’s failing systems.
While presenting a strong agenda, the party has erred in its decision to preference the Greens above Labor; increasing the chances of the fringe party having candidates elected in inner city seats including South Brisbane and McConnel. A minority government – particularly an unholy alliance of the Greens and Labor – would be a debacle for Queensland.
The state can ill-afford four more lost years.
As we emerge from COVID-19, Queenslanders need work – and not just public jobs created at great cost.
The debt we create now must be paid off by our children and grandchildren, who will make hard choices about how to pay for aged care, medical care and education.
Queensland needs genuine leadership and pragmatic solutions to get the economy running and help the community recover.
Opinion polls indicate the election result is likely to be incredibly close, and could be decided by handfuls of votes in several marginal seats.
This demonstrates that neither major party has yet entirely convinced Queens-landers they have an overwhelming case for election. However, on balance, The Sunday Mail believes Queensland would be better off over the next four years with Deb Frecklington and the LNP in office.