Campbell Newman makes campaign about crime and punishment to protect LNP MPs

PREMIER Campbell Newman has refocused his campaign on the vote-winning issue of law and order as he moves to sandbag vulnerable LNP seats.

PREMIER Campbell Newman has refocused his campaign on the vote-winning issue of law and order as he moves to sandbag vulnerable LNP seats.

The Newman campaign team yesterday toured the former Labor heartland of Ipswich, before heading to the Gold Coast where the LNP holds the threatened seats of Broadwater, Southport, and Burleigh.

News_Image_File: Queensland Premier Campbell Newman pictured here on day 14 of his re-election ccampaign in Ipswich with Ipswich Mayor Paul Pissale and Police Minister Jack Dempsey. Picture: Jack Tran

The foray into Ipswich, where the LNP holds the seats of Ipswich and Ipswich West with margins of 4.19 and 7.16 per cent, came a day before Labor was set to launch its campaign in the city’s centre.

Mr Newman swept through the region promising to be tougher on crime.

He toured Ipswich’s Safe City CCTV hub with mayor Paul Pisasale and Police Minister Jack Dempsey.

Among new measures announced are creation of three rapid action police hubs, special units designed to be highly mobile, deal with emergent situations and operate out of warehouse-style buildings rather than police stations.

The first hub was rolled out on the Gold Coast, followed by one in Townsville.

A new hub will be created in Ipswich, with the remaining two locations to be announced this week.

Also announced was the rollout of another 5400 tablets for police and an extra $22 million to “bolster police intelligence capability”.

“We will also be providing more resourcing for intelligence gathering and intelligence analysis,” Mr Newman said.

“So, we’ll be putting money into allowing the police to go out and get information on the activities of criminal gangs and also, sadly in these uncertain times, would-be terrorists I’m sure, here in Queensland.”

News_Image_File: NSW Police and Australian Federal Police officers arrive with metal detectors as they prepare to dig in the front garden during a raid on a house in Bursill Street, Guildford, Sydney, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014. Fifteen people have been detained and one person charged with terrorism offences, following pre-dawn raids across Sydney and Brisbane. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

Mr Newman also referenced last year’s terror raids, adding: “So it is timely and appropriate to ensure Police have those resources.”

The Newman Government considers its work in crime reduction a vote-winner.

A Galaxy Poll earlier in the campaign found that 55 per cent of voters trusted the LNP over Labor to manage law and order compared with just 35 per cent backing the ALP.

Mr Newman also took aim at the Opposition, accusing it of being “all over the shop” on the issue of criminal motor-cycle gangs.

“Well the Labor Party have sadly said that they don’t agree with these laws,” he said.

“But then they backflipped on that and said that they had a zero tolerance.

“They are all over the shop. You can only look at what’s happened in the past with the Australian Labor Party. They didn’t deal with the issue. The reason we had a problem that got out of control was because of their lax approach to the law and their failure to resource the police.”

Mr Newman restated that his party made “no apologies” for targeting criminal gangs.

“We have made no apologies for going after criminal gangs, for going after hoons, who made life miserable around the suburbs and the cities and towns of Queensland, and also dealt with quite difficult youth justice issues,” he said.