Courier-Mail Voter Verdict: How our panel scored Qld leaders in week one of election
Our panel of undecided voters have revealed who won the first week of the election campaign, with one leader copping a withering 0/10.
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Premier Steven Miles is winning over voters with his relatable “man of the people” style, prolific social media presence and his commitment to reducing cost of living pressures.
But neither of the men in line to lead Queensland have dazzled undecided voters in the first week of the election campaign, saying they were unimpressed by slick slogans and policies lacking in substance and detail.
The Courier-Mail’s exclusive Voter Verdict of 21 undecided voters chosen by pollster YouGov found Mr Miles had narrowly won the first week of the campaign.
Opposition leader David Crisafulli’s stance on youth crime is yet to win over voters, with many saying he needed to explain his policies in more detail.
But his plan to help save Queenslanders $30 per GP visit by stopping the “patient tax” was praised in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.
Mr Miles was praised for his cost-of-living measures and his composure at the leader debate on Thursday, with many saying he appeared more “genuine” than his opponent.
Many in the Voter Verdict group said the youth crime crisis was a big problem and agreed something needed to be done but also questioned Mr Crisafulli’s plan.
“David reckons he is going to solve youth crime in 100 days,” Jason Choice of Keperra said.
“I don’t agree with that. I think there’s too many underlying issues that nobody has taken into account neither Steven, nor David at all.”
Troy Enright from Brisbane said he wasn’t impressed with politicians dodging questions in the first week.
“What I have seen is basically a video of Steven Miles being questioned around the Bruce Highway,” he said.
“And the takeaway for that from me was basically he just diverted the attention away from the question.
“I saw a similar video with the opposition answering a question on youth crime.”
Mr Miles came out on top with his social media.
“Steven Miles has the better TikTok, he shows a little bit of personality,” Olivia from Kelvin Grove said.
Jack Lee from Ashgrove said Mr Miles seemed like a “genuine guy”.
While Kimberley Lusk from Imbil said Mr Miles caught her attention by being a “people’s person”.
“It’s interesting to see him trying to dominate his campaign by connecting with the people on a base level,” she said.
“It almost seems a little bit like trickery. So even though it appeals to me, I’m very aware of why he’s doing it.”
Sarah Curry from Wavell Heights said Crisafulli needed to step up his social media game.
“I don’t know if David’s team know much about social media or have a social media strategy, because I don’t see a whole lot of him coming across my feed,” she said.
But most participants highlighted the lack of policies displayed in the first week.
“I think the promises made so far are either lightweight or have no detail. Crisafulli has certainly grabbed attention with the reduction of payroll tax for GPS and his new idea on how to tackle youth crime has lots of people talking, but so far, no details,” Gail McIntyre from the Sunshine Coast said.
“I was also astounded at the Queensland nurse and midwives claim that the LNP will privatise health services.
“I hate scare tactics, and that will turn me off a political party quicker than anything.”
The majority said Mr Miles won by a narrow margin with an average of six out of 10, despite the promises made by both parties being “lightweight”.
Mr Crisafulli scored an average of five out of 10.
Name: Jason Choice
Age: 34
Occupation: OSHC Coordinator
Location: Keperra
Steven Miles rating: 8/10
David Crisafulli rating: 5/10
“David reckons he is going to solve youth crime in 100 days. I don’t agree with that. I think there’s too many underlying issues that nobody has taken into account neither Steven, nor David at all,” Mr Choice said.
“I think they both think it’s just a case of punishment, but there’s a lot of stuff that goes into it prior prevention is better than a cure.”
“I’m enjoying the state owned servos and power, a lot of people are throwing words socialism - but we’ve already got socialist polices in place.”
Name: Breanna
Age: 27
Occupation: Student
Location: New Farm
Steven Miles rating: 5/10
David Crisafulli rating: 3/10
“I think either won actually, because, I want to see more from Steven Miles and what plan he is presenting,” she said.
“But also with David, the way he wants to tackle youth crime with public transport and crime in general, I find it concerning.
“One I think is going too extreme, and the other one I feel like isn’t doing enough. So we need to find a middle ground.”
Name: Elizabeth
Age: 30
Occupation: Accounts manager
Location: Toowong
Steven Miles rating: 6/10
David Crisafulli rating: 7/10
“I think with all of these policies, the thing that’s missing is there’s no understanding of where the policy is based from, and what evidence do we have that it works,” she said.
“So the thing that really win me are when a policy is explained and they talk about where it’s come from, and examples of it working in other areas of the world.
“We don’t really get a lot of that, and we don’t get an understanding of why the policy was created and what it plans to tackle.”
Name: Claire Wright
Age: 45
Occupation: Administrator
Location: Redlands
Steven Miles rating: 3/10
David Crisafulli rating: 3/10
“I think cost-of-living is important to everybody,” she said.
“So I think that’s still an important one to address and to try and resolve, or put something into resolving it.
“I think my thoughts on the youth crime is that everyone’s promising you the world, but are they going to deliver.”
Name: Matthew Wilson
Age: 34
Occupation: Motor resolutions consultant
Location: Geebung
Steven Miles rating: 7/10
David Crisafulli rating: 6/10
“I’m not really seeing anything that really means anything,” he said.
“It’s just very soft promises that don’t really have a significant long term impact.”
Name: Troy Enright
Age: 33
Occupation: IT Manager
Location: Brisbane City
Steven Miles rating: 4/10
David Crisafulli rating: 5/10
“What I have seen is basically a video of Steven Miles being questioned around the Bruce Highway,” he said.
“And the takeaway for that from me was basically he just diverted the attention away from the question.
“I saw a similar video with the Opposition question on the youth crime. And the same thing, they just diverted the attention away from the question.”
Name: Khatra Nekzad
Age: 33
Occupation: Individual giving manager Olic
Location: Brisbane City
Steven Miles rating: 3/10
David Crisafulli rating: 4/10
“Steven Miles is certainly trying to be the man of the people catching public transport to dissolve parliament, and going out to the Fortitude Valley, to talk to people and really be there on the ground,” Ms Nekzad said.
“And Crisafulli really is trying to solidify that he has policies, but unfortunately, I think he’s saying that he’s going to have a stance on youth crime but how he’s going to do that is unknown to anyone.”
Name: Olivia
Age: 21
Location: Kelvin Grove
Steven Miles rating: 5/10
David Crisafulli rating: 5/10
“Steven Miles has a better TikTok, he shows a little bit of personality,” she said.
“Crisafulli announced that we might be saving $30 every time we visit a GP, or $30 worth of saving when we visit the GP.
“My opinion on this is 30 bucks is 30 bucks. You know what I can get with 30 bucks? At least two cooked chooks. I can get some apples so I don’t have to go to the doctor again.”
Name: Stephen Muir
Age: 30
Steven Miles rating: 6/10
David Crisafulli rating: 5/10
“I think it’s going to turn into one of these battles where it’s all elections that it’s going to come down to the last wire, and I think at the moment where it stands, I think Labor will take out the win,” he said.
“And I say that because you, no matter what we get from Labor, the LNP is not handing anything out because they’re not handing us any policies.
”We haven’t forgot about the 14,000 health jobs that have been lost last time with Campbell Newman, and he was a minister in that cabinet.”
Name: Nicholas
Occupation: DJ
Location: South Brisbane
Steven Miles rating: 8/10
David Crisafulli rating: 0/10
“My guess is that guy who was going on about youth crime would be the loser, as this is a tired and clichéd trope,” he said.
“I give the youth crime guy a zero out of 10 for lack of originality and punching down.
“I think saving $30 to visit a GP is a good start, but it would be better if it was free, especially for lower and middle income earners.”
Name: Kimberley Lusk
Age: 43
Occupation: Retired chef
Location: Imbil
Steven Miles rating: 8/10
David Crisafulli rating: 7/10
“Steven Miles has caught my attention by being a bit of a people’s person. It’s interesting to see him trying to dominate his campaign by connecting with the people on a base level,” she said.
“It almost seems a little bit like trickery. So even though it appeals to me, I’m very aware of why he’s doing it.”
Name: Elodie
Age: 39
Occupation: Medical receptionist
Location: Kenmore
Steven Miles rating: 5/10
David Crisafulli rating: 6/10
“In terms of David Crisafulli’s election promise of GP, payroll tax repealing, so that would make a difference of about $30 a GP visit,” she said.
“I think that’s really good, and that tackles the cost of living crisis that we’re in at the moment. Access to Healthcare is always an essential and useful.
“(In terms of youth crime) I’m not sure if any of the plan will really work. I think tackling the cost of living crisis will have a better effect on actual youth crime.”
Name: Brett Jones
Age: 53
Occupation: Maintenance
Location: Cairns
Steven Miles rating: 8/10
David Crisafulli rating: 6/10
“Who won between Steve and Miles and David? I think I would say probably Steven Miles, because the cuts to the rego, in energy and the bus fares is a big one,” he said.
“And the data suggests that the youth crime has actually decreased with the youth crime.”
Name: Simon Levy
Age: 52
Occupation: Commercial manager
Location: Margate
Steven Miles rating: 1/10
David Crisafulli rating: 6/10
“Steven Miles’s electricity plan smacks of communism,” he said.
“It’s good to see Crisafulli concentrating on crime at the start of his campaign, I’m sure he’ll make that the big issue throughout the whole campaign.
Name: Gail McIntyre
Age: 63
Occupation: Retired
Location: Sunshine Coast
Steven Miles rating: 5/10
David Crisafulli rating: 6/10
“I think the promises made so far are either lightweight or have no detail,” she said.
“Crisafulli has certainly grabbed attention with the reduction of payroll tax for GPS and his new idea on how to tackle youth crime has lots of people talking, but so far, no details.”
Name: George Solakidis
Age: 47
Occupation: Senior Lead Specialist
Location: Minyama
Steven Miles rating: 5/10
David Crisafulli rating: 5/10
“I’m still undecided at the moment, some of the bigger issues haven’t been tackled or discussed in detail, like housing affordability, how they’re going to improve that, or adult crime, what they’re going to do about it, or, more importantly, how they’re going to do it,” he said.
“Still, no one’s using the upcoming Olympics in eight years time, as a positive way they can probably work around that and maybe improve housing.”
Name: Stephen Robertson
Age: 43
Occupation: Homemaker
Location: Murgon
Steven Miles rating: 6/10
David Crisafulli rating: 5/10
“I just hope these politicians really keep to their promises,” he said.
“I’m really concerned that they sell this stuff just to get the votes they do not follow through. “I really hope this isn’t going to be the case. I hope that whoever does when actually follows through or their promises.”
“Youth crime … something really, really needs to be done about it. The local cops need support. They really do. it really needs to come under control, and not just a little slap on the wrist.”
Name: Jack Lee
Age: 26
Occupation: Junior data analyst
Location: Ashgrove
Steven Miles rating: 7/10
David Crisafulli rating: 5/10
Mr Lee said he thinks the $30 GP visit pledge would make a difference.
“I think that would be a huge sort of boost to get people to go into GPs,” he said.
“Myself, personally, I know that would have made a huge difference.
“When I was a uni student, I didn’t have as much income, so I would have probably needed the doctor sometimes didn’t go for that reason.”
Name: Sarah Curry
Age: 42
Occupation: Community engagement specialist
Location: Wavell Heights
Steven Miles rating: 8/10
David Crisafulli rating: 4/10
“I don’t know if David’s team know much about social media or have a social media strategy, because I don’t see a whole lot of him coming across my feed,” she said.
“It’s all a little bit lack lustre. The jury is still out on them.
“We still don’t know a whole lot about our Olympic stadium or anything like that. Building a stadium will boost jobs massively, and that is something we desperately need here in Queensland at the moment.”
Name: Beth
Age: 64
Occupation: Retired
Location: Newmarket
Steven Miles rating: 7/10
David Crisafulli rating: 7/10
“The key questions, I have are around crime and that’s something that interests me, like everybody who is a resident, You need to feel safe in your own home.
“Are the political candidates talking about it enough, and do they have a plan in place to mitigate crime and manage it well?”
Originally published as Courier-Mail Voter Verdict: How our panel scored Qld leaders in week one of election
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