Queensland Election 2017: Tim Nicholls’ embarrassing One Nation slip

OPPOSITION leader Tim Nicholls almost had an embarrassing election eve slip of the tongue as he faced questions over One Nation on breakfast television.

OPPOSITION leader Tim Nicholls almost had an embarrassing election eve slip of the tongue as he faced questions over One Nation on breakfast television.

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Mr Nicholls again said there would be no deals, Coalition or shared ministry with One Nation after the election, but again avoided saying if he would accept their votes in a minority government.

But when pressed on this, Mr Nicholls almost stumbled.

“The simple message is if you want a government, a stable majority government with the financial credentials to deliver jobs, to cut your cost of living to reduce power bills, to invest in infrastructure, then the best thing to do is to support your local LNP-One N, ah, LNP candidate at the election,” he said.

Slip of the tongue or not Tim Nicholls has again left the door open to governing Queensland with the support of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party.

Mr Nicholls has spent the four-week campaign refusing to say if he’ll accept One Nation’s support to form minority government.

Slip of the tongue or not Tim Nicholls has again left the door open to governing Queensland with the support of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party. Picture: AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy

A day before polling booths open, he refused to rule out a deal with any of the minor parties, telling ABC Radio: “I’m going to deal with the parliament that the people of Queensland elect.”

But he has also said there was no prospect of an LNP, One Nation coalition, and no room for One Nation at the cabinet table.

“We are about implementing our agenda, and only our agenda,” he told the ABC. “We go into this contest to win, and to win strongly.” Mr Nicholls said voters could trust his pledge not to sack public servants, despite he and former Premier Campbell Newman axing 14,000 workers when the LNP was last in power.

He said public sector jobs were safe even though the LNP planned to save $1.6 billion over four years through a government efficiency program. “There’s no forced redundancies, there’s no increase in redundancies,” he said. “The savings we’re talking about are exactly the same savings Labor is talking about.” Mr Nicholls said he’d been “very frank” with voters about the mistakes of the Newman government.

“We did make mistakes ... mistakes that an LNP government I lead won’t ever make again.”

Mr Nicholls said there was a simple explanation for the breakfast television slip.

“It’s been a long campaign. I was simply going to say you need to vote one for your local LNP candidate, which I’ve said.

Originally published as Queensland Election 2017: Tim Nicholls’ embarrassing One Nation slip