Opinion: Malcolm Turnbull needs to connect with Queenslanders

THE next election will be based in Queensland, the home of Pauline Hanson, Clive Palmer and Sir Joh. It could be within three years. So he better catch up ... fast.

MALCOLM Turnbull needs to take note: Queenslanders don’t understand him.

And if he doesn’t start connecting with the state that has created Pauline Hanson – twice – Bob Katter, Clive Palmer and Sir Joh, the Coalition’s vote will continue to haemorrhage to fringe parties. And they need to do it quickly.

Although it looks like the PM will form majority government, as someone within the Government camp conceded yesterday, the Coalition is a “heart attack, bus crash or conservative hissy fit” away from it all slipping away.

Regardless of who wins the string of knife-edge seats in Queensland, some which are still in doubt, the result will be the same. Brisbane, Bonner, Capricornia, Dawson, Dickson, Flynn, Forde, Griffith, Petrie, and Longman will now be marginal, and many, ultra marginal. The next election will be dirty, close and based in Queensland. And it could be within three years.

So the PM needs a proper road show in Queensland. Leave behind the buzz word “innovation”, (which for many in Queensland means job losses). Explain how free trade agreements are good for the country – a hard sell when many in the regions have entrenched themselves in an anti-globalisation movement. And reach out to Queenslanders to ask them what they want.

Bob Katter summed it up yesterday when asked whether the PM would really need him if he formed majority government.

“You try running a government with one vote up your sleeve,” he said.

“Don’t have your mother die because you can’t go to the funeral.’’

Originally published as Opinion: Malcolm Turnbull needs to connect with Queenslanders