QLD election 2020: Why real winners are the Greens no matter the results
It doesn’t matter where you turn in the campaign right now, the controversial minor party, once routinely ignored like a naughty child, is coming up trumps. And they’re doing it without even trying, writes Steven Wardill.
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And the winner of the 2020 Queensland election is … the Greens.
It doesn’t matter where you turn in the campaign right now, the controversial minor party, once routinely ignored like a naughty child, is coming up trumps.
And they’re doing it without even trying.
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The Liberal National Party has broken with convention, and irked a few of its members, by preferencing the Greens above Labor on how-to-vote cards.
The strategy is unlikely to make a real difference in any seat other than Jackie Trad’s electorate of South Brisbane.
But Labor is crying foul anyway, insisting it will increase the likelihood of another hung parliament.
Yet it’s the same strategy Labor used to get the Greens’ Michael Berkman, Katter’s Australian Party’s Nick Dametto and Noosa’s Sandy Bolton elected in 2017 and will again.
But ask the Greens and they think it’s great – they’re getting preferences from both major parties and it’s earnt them relevance in the campaign without having to lift a finger.
Meanwhile, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is attempting to portray herself as a devotee of the mining industry and a tough-on-crime crusader to sandbag regional seats.
However, this has just opened the door for the Greens to present themselves as the only real socially progressive party running in the election, which is why they’re churning out policies that have little to do with the environment, like free school lunches for all.
Chiming in perfectly is the Queensland Resources Council which has mired itself in a civil war with BHP and Origin quitting over the lobby group’s decision to directly target the Greens in an adverting campaign.
If big miners are getting squeamish and can’t decide whether the Greens should be attacked for championing a $55 billion new tax and the big parties will both preference them despite insisting their candidates and commitments are all kooky, it’s like the Queensland election campaign is being run in an alternate reality.
And the Greens will be giggling about it right up until election day.