Courier-Mail’s Voter Verdict on Steven Miles and David Crisafulli ahead of 2024 Qld state election

They’re real Queenslanders, just like you. And the Voter Verdict has dished out blunt news to the two men aspiring to be premier. SEE THE VIDEO: Exclusive analysis

Undecided Queenslanders heading to the polls for next month’s state election say they don’t feel confident in voting for Premier Steven Miles again, but have no idea who Opposition Leader David Crisafulli is.

Mr Miles is more recognisable but not “authoritative enough”, while those who had heard of Mr Crisafulli slammed his policiesas lacking depth and being more of a “headline-grabbing’ exercise.

Cost of living, youth crime, housing and access to regional healthcare are the key issues on the minds of everyday Queenslanders in The Sunday Mail and The Courier-Mail’s exclusive Voter Verdict.

The vast majority of participants said they didn’t believe the promises would be fulfilled from either party, saying they had distrust from past elections where there were empty pledges.

Khatra Nekzad, from Brisbane City, said she didn’t like Mr Miles as much as former Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

“I don’t know why. I just feel like I don’t connect with him at all,” she said.

“I just think (QSAC) was an insane decision.

“Why would we go from putting all this investment into making stadiums, and then putting it somewhere where there’s no public transport, and it’s so far away from everybody that just made no sense to me.

“Victoria Park would have been a perfect location.

“But for some reason, he’s shied away from that.

“I just feel like he’s made some pretty questionable decisions for spending.”

But Ms Nekzad said she didn’t know if she wanted to vote for the Opposition.

“I don’t want to vote for Miles because I just don’t think he’s got a good grasp or handle on things,” he said.

But I didn’t know who the next guy was.

“I haven’t heard from him.”

Sarah Curry from Wavell Heights felt similar to Ms Nekzad saying she was confused because of the two options.

“I know there’s not a lot of positivity about Steven Miles, and when I got into market research, I actually looked up who the Opposition Leader is, and it’s David Crisafulli and then I couldn’t find much information about him,” she said.

“So I have no idea who he is and what he stands for anything.

“So at the moment I have no idea of who I stand for.”

Those that do know who Mr Crisafulli say they don’t feel his policies were elaborate enough.

“The main thing that I see with LNP and the document that he’s put out is that there’s a lot of bashing of Labor,” Jason Choice from Keperra said.

“Generally in any oppositional argument, if all you can do is bash the other team, then you don’t really have anything.

“I find that the Labor policies are much more detailed in writing.

“I found that the Liberal policies were a whole lot of ‘I’m going to tug at your heart strings and your sports team strings’.”

Ms Nekzad and Ms Curry said they didn’t have faith either party would fulfil their promises.

Gail McIntyre from the Sunshine Coast said her gut feeling, with only four weeks to go until election day, was that there had only been “headline grabbing” promises.

“I’ve become very cynical at 63 years, it’s very easy to promise the world to get in, and then it’s very easy to make excuses, ‘we didn’t think it would cost that much’, it’s the previous government that did nothing’,” she said.

“ ‘Oh, well, about the Bruce Highway’.

“We wait another three years or four years to vote them out.

“Then the problem becomes worse?”

On the key issue of housing, Ms Curry said her rent had increased by 30 per cent, which was difficult for her as a single mum.

While Mr Choice said he had struggled to buy a house even after years of saving.

“I’ve had a 10 per cent deposit saved for years, but trying to break into the housing market every year it looks like we’re going to need a higher and higher and higher deposit, because the prices just keep flying,” he said.

Mr Choice said youth crime was also a huge concern.

“People are quite often talking about youth crime, but I think it’s less of a problem of youth crime, more of a problem of there’s nothing for the youth to do, and then the justice system can’t do anything for the youth,” he said.

“I work with children myself and around a school, and we see a lot of it there.”

Healthcare in regional areas was also a clear concern for many.

“My concerns with the health system are in part, lack of healthcare in rural areas and how we address that ambulance ramping and wait times in the public health system,” Ms McIntyre said.

“I used to live away from major cities, and it’s always been a problem trying to get GP’S for a start to go and live in rural communities.

“So if GPs are fairly scarce, then it’s really hard to get an appointment, and many people have to drive long distances just to get a GP appointment, and then they have to go back again for a specialist appointment or a follow up appointment.”

Voting in Queensland state elections is mandatory, and pre-polling booths are open from October 14 till October 25 in most electorates.

You can find out more information about how to vote in our guide to early voting and find where to vote near you with our full list of polling booths.