Queensland election 2017: LNP leader Tim Nicholls targets middle-aged voters

QUEENSLAND’S “forgotten people” have been heavily featured in LNP leader Tim Nicholls’ pitch to voters to claw back votes leaking to One Nation.

LNP leader Tim Nicholls and his wife Mary at the LNP launch Picture: Liam Kidston.

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QUEENSLAND’S “forgotten people” have been heavily featured in LNP leader Tim Nicholls’ official pitch to voters as he scrambles to claw back votes leaking to One Nation.

In a half-hour speech to party faithful, Mr Nicholls framed his newest policy – $20.25 million to help mature-age job seekers retrain and find employment – around the state’s disempowered.

Borrowing a phrase from US President Donald Trump, he said he wanted to ensure Queensland did not end up with “a group of forgotten people”.

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He said technology and automation were confronting issues and it was often regional communities who were affected by a mill closing, a factory relocating or a foundry shutting up shop.

“I know that change can be scary,” he said.

“But we can’t afford for a generation of middle-aged men and women not to be given a hand up to retrain or re-skill as job opportunities shift.

“We can’t afford to lose them – economically, socially and emotionally.

“I believe we must do more to avoid a forgotten generation crisis.”

LNP shadow Treasurer Scott Emerson with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Queensland Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

He also repeated a line he’s made a campaign favourite, telling the audience he was “not a fan of political correctness or the nanny state” and he had heard people’s concerns.

“I say to those who are frustrated: I hear you, I really do,” he said.

“Our policies are the answers to your frustration.”

Claiming votes for One Nation would only return Labor, he took his fight straight to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and branded her a “do-nothing” premier seven times.

He listed her “litany” of failures that included escalating wholesale power prices, cuts to infrastructure spending, the “worst rail fail in Queensland’s history” and a shrunken domestic economy.

And he reiterated some of his biggest commitments made on the election campaign so far, including plans to increase the payroll tax threshold by $25,000, decrease energy prices for households and business, build the Rookwood Weir near Rockhampton and build roads such as a second M1.

Former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman (right) is seen talking to Senator Matthew Canavan (left) and Senator George Brandis (centre) at the LNP campaign launch. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

In a personal moment, Mr Nicholls paid tribute to his family and choked up when he thanked wife Mary for her love and wisdom, and said he could never do the job without her.

“I am sure Mary feels like a single mum sometimes and the kids have to make do with phone calls and miss out on hugs,” he said.

“I’m not going to gloss over that. It hurts.

“Mary, I could never do this job without you and I wouldn’t be the man I am today without your love and without your wisdom.”

In a warm-up speech, Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk took aim at what many consider to be Ms Palaszczuk’s greatest strength – her popular appeal with everyday people.

“People say to me, ‘the premier is nice’,” he said.

“Well lots of people are nice. Nice is good.

“But nice alone does not get the job done.”

Queensland OppositIon Leader Tim Nicholls and his wife Mary are seen at the LNP campaign launch. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

He said he hoped people thought he was nice too, but he expected voters to rate him on his performance, not his personality.

In his first appearance on the campaign, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull highlighted his and Mr Nicholls’ shared commitment to build infrastructure, and accused Ms Palaszczuk of thumbing her nose at hundreds of millions of dollars of Commonwealth money on offer for new dams and water infrastructure.

“I tell you my friends, when Tim Nicholls is the premier of Queensland, you will have once again a Federal Coalition Government, a Queensland LNP government working together, delivering the investment, ensuring the jobs, the growth, the infrastructure that Queensland needs,” he said.

He said Queensland’s energy prices were skyrocketing because of a Premier addicted to “ideology and idiocy”, trumpeting a huge renewable target and rejecting coal in all its forms.

Originally published as Queensland election 2017: LNP leader Tim Nicholls targets middle-aged voters