Queensland election 2017: Coverage of day 14 of campaign
THE LNP is claiming underdog status, but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the election will be hard-fought for Labor too, following the release of Courier-Mail Galaxy polling in crucial seats.
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PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk says Courier-Mail Galaxy polling showing One Nation will play kingmaker in seats across Queensland means the November 25 election is going to be hard-fought for Labor.
“This is going to be a tough election,” Ms Palaszczuk said of the poll results across seven key seats.
“We know that every day we are going to work as hard as we possibly can.
“I understand that there are some people out there that have concerns. We have seen a transition in some areas in relation to the downturn in the mining and resources sector.
“And we see that some people — and we have seen it around the world — are just concerned about how things are going.
“But I have to remind people, if you choose the path of voting for One Nation, you will make Tim Nicholls premier because a vote for One Nation is a vote for the LNP.”
Ms Palaszczuk made the comments as she campaigned in the Brisbane seat of Nudgee today.
She announced $5.5 million in funding to turn a closed government warehouse into a home for the Wizards sports club.
NICHOLLS DEFENDS PREFERENCES
STATE Oposition Leader Tim Nicholls has defended the Liberal National Party’s how-to-vote cards, following revelations of a One Nation candidate’s adult store links.
The LNP yesterday announced it would reserve the last spot on its cards for the Greens in the upcoming state election, but will also ask voters to put One Nation above Labor in a swath of seats.
President Gary Spence stressed the party has not entered into preference arrangements with the likes of One Nation ahead of the November 25 poll.
“We make recommendations, through our how-to-vote cards, but they are recommendations and we trust Queenslanders to vote for change,” he said in a statement.
It was a line repeated by Mr Nicholls today after fielding questions about recent revelations concerning One Nation candidate Mark Thornton.
Mr Thornton was yesterday grilled about an adult store he owns and, in particular, posts on the business’s Facebook page.
One from January 2016 read: “Good sex should be in the gray (sic) area between ‘tickle fight’ and domestic violence”.
“When it comes to preferences, what we’ve simply said are these are recommendations. I will let Pauline Hanson deal with her candidates,” Mr Nicholls said at Everton Park.
But when pressed to say if he supported the adult store’s Facebook page content, Mr Nicholls said: “Not at all.”
“That information is as new to me as it is to you guys in the media .. those decisions were made in terms of us yesterday afternoon before we saw that information,” he said.
But Queensland Health Minister Cameron Dick accused the opposition leader of “gifting One Nation an electoral boost at the ballot box” in a bid to secure the premier’s post.
“He knows the only way he can sneak into office is with their help,” Mr Dick said in a statement.
Both major party leaders ceased hostilities to attend Brisbane’s Remembrance Day service this morning.
WE’RE STILL THE UNDERDOGS: LNP
THE Liberal National Party will offer free swimming lessons for babies and toddlers under an $18 million election pledge announcement today at a poolside media conference in Everton Park.
State Opposition leader Tim Nicholls made the announcement alongside LNP Member for Everton Tim Mander at the Stanford Swimming Centre during the Saturday morning swim lesson rush hour.
Mr Mander, who holds the seat with a 2 per cent margin, was joined by the LNP’s candidates for the seats of Stafford and Ferny Grove, Ed Sangjitphun and Nick Elston respectively.
Under the Get Swimming Bubs and Toddlers program, an LNP government would give out $150 vouchers to parents who enrol their children, aged from one to four years old, in swimming lessons.
It would pay for swim lessons for about 120,000 children over three years.
Mr Nicholls said the funding would boost water safety and education.
When questioned on the latest Galaxy poll results in today’s Courier-Mail — which showed Labor would struggle to gain a foothold in the regions or pick up seats in the state’s southeast — Mr Nicholls claimed underdog status.
“I don’t comment on the polls,” Mr Nicholls said.
“We started this campaign as the underdog and we are still the underdog.”
The LNP will also benefit from votes flowing to One Nation, with the party asking voters to number One Nation higher than Labor in about 50 seats.
LNP how-to-vote cards were registered the day of a major One Nation campaign blunder in which its candidate for Thuringowa Mark Thornton’s adult shop business was revealed to have posted a series of lewd posts on its Facebook page.
One of those posts compared “good sex” to domestic violence.
Mr Nicholls today said the how-to-vote preference material was locked in and the decision about preferences was made before the One Nation scandal erupted.
“Those decisions were made by us yesterday afternoon,” he said.
“Those decisions were made before that info came out.”
Originally published as Queensland election 2017: Coverage of day 14 of campaign
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