Scott Morrison hits campaign trail with Deb Frecklington on Gold Coast
Annastacia Palaszczuk has insisted her government was showing compassion when it came to border exemptions. But that didn’t stop Prime Minister Scott Morrison taking a swipe at the Premier as he helped Deb Frecklington campaign on the Gold Coast today. FOLLOW OUR LIVE ELECTION BLOG
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Border restrictions should only be in place as long as “you absolutely have to have them” and aren’t something to boast of, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says.
The Prime Minister joined LNP Leader Deb Frecklington on day five of the state election campaign with local MP Laura Gerber in the marginal seat of Currumbin this morning spruiking manufacturing jobs and this week’s budget.
It’s the second time Queensland’s LNP has journeyed to the Gold Coast this week, after rallying behind Bonney MP Sam O’Connor on Tuesday.
Asked whether Queensland’s borders should open on November 1, Mr Morrison said everything should be driven by the health advice which needed to be transparent.
“It should be backed up by the medical evidence that is available,” he said.
“It’s important that as borders are imposed where state governments have made those decisions, that it be done in a consistent way, there can’t be double standards, there needs to be a clear understanding of how these rules work.”
The Prime Minister was critical of the Palaszczuk Government this week, questioning whether Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was for jobs.
“The other day she was saying she was all for jobs but being all for jobs means you’ve got to balance the risks that you face like New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian is,” he told 2GB in Sydney.
Asked how Ms Palaszczuk had handled the pandemic, Mr Morrison today said she had played an important role in the National Cabinet.
“So I make no criticism of that and I appreciate the opportunity that people, officials, politicians of different stripes have been able to band together to deal with the health crisis and I have no doubt Deb would strongly support that as well,” he said.
But he took a swipe at the Palaszczuk Government, accusing it of making it hard to get road projects over the line, saying it would be easier under an LNP Government.
The Prime Minister left the door open to funding the LNP’s plan to widen the Bruce Highway under a 80:20 federal funding arrangement, saying they were “getting ready”.
“We’re getting ready to ensure we understand the full costs in what’s involved,” he said.
“But what I stress again is we are building projects on the Bruce from Brisbane to Cairns, that’s happening now, all the way up.
“Our road program here in Queensland was held back for many years trying to get agreement.”
Saying it “took a long time to get there”, the Prime Minister said he suspected he and Ms Frecklington would come to an agreement more quickly, “because she’s not looking to pick a fight with me or carry on with any politics.”
Asked whether he was going to give Ms Frecklington the money for the $33 billion highway project, Mr Morrison said the Federal Government’s Budget had set up a “longer term design and plan” that could support the type of program the state LNP had laid out.
“ .. so we’re getting ready, we’re getting ready should Deb be elected and the LNP be elected here soon,” he said.
Mr Morrison said if Ms Frecklington was elected, it would “really change things up here in Queensland cause we’re going to be able to get moving.”
Palmer, Canavan celebrate coal in Clermont
With Loretta Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter’’ blasting from Grand Hotel speakers, the Central Queensland mining town of Clermont is gearing up for an afternoon of reunion celebrations marking the 18 months since the Green anti-Adani Mine protest convoy hit town.
Billionaire Clive Palmer, who featured heavily in the “Anti-Adani Protest Protest’’ which sprang up in late April and is widely credited with playing a key role in Labor leader Bill Shorten’s surprise defeat in the 2019 election, flew into nearby Emerald on his private jet this morning them drove over to Clermont to join the festivities on Capella Street.
Palmer, who was buying beers in the main bar of the Grand this morning, said Clermont was the ground zero of the push back against Shorten’s bid for power, and he was happy to be back.
“This is where the campaign to destroy shift Shorten really began, so it’s great to be back,’’ he said.
“It was up to us to tell the world Shorten was a Green.’’
Rockhampton based LNP Senator Matt Canavan, who has been a prime mover in today’s celebrations designed to highlight Queensland Labor’s alleged lack of commitment to coal in the lead up to the October 31 election, was joined by LNP state and federal MPs including Michelle Landry who holds Capricornia and Lachie Millar from the state seat of Gregory as well as Dale Last in Burdekin.
Mackay City Councillor Marty Bella who fired up protestors in Mackay during the anti-Adani-Protest Protest last April was also present at a celebration which Senator Canavan said would not be complete without a cardboard cutout of former Green Senator Bob Brown who led the Andi Adani convoy last year.
Senator Canavan, who also called Grand publican Kel Appleton, an “Australian legend’’ for all the work he had done in supporting the protestors challenging the ant-Adani convoy, labelled Bob Brown a great “uniter.’’
“And, of course, I want to thank Bob,’’ he said.
“We couldn’t have done it without Bob.
“”It is a little sad that Bob couldn’t be here in person this year but he is here in spirit -- and in life size cut out form.’’
Senator Canavan said the former Green Senator had travelled up to North Queensland from Tasmania last year due to the “magic’’ of fossil fuels.
“This year’s Bob, if you look closely, is actually made from fossil fuels!’’
Palaszczuk defends border exemptions
Annastacia Palaszczuk says she is not worried that there are inconsistencies with the way border exemptions are being issued.
It came after it was revealed former Jetstar boss Jayne Hrdlicka was granted an exemption from Queensland’s strict quarantine rules on September 26 to isolate in a Brisbane residence.
It is understood Queensland Health granted the exemption to Ms Hrdlicka on compassionate grounds because her husband is battling cancer and required to undertake chemotherapy.
However, the case could further fuel public anger over the Labor Government’s exemption regime given it is in stark contrast with an elderly terminal brain cancer patient from Logan who was forced into hotel quarantine after major surgery in Sydney.
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Ms Palaszczuk today insisted her government was showing compassion when it came to exemptions.
“I listened to (Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young) this morning as well,” the Premier said.
“She said it was to do with her partner.
“These are very complex medical issues that the exemption team looks at. As Dr Young said, our quarantine has helped keep Queenslanders safe.”
Ms Palaszczuk said it was medical professionals who were making the decisions in the exemptions unit, but brushed off a question over whether they need more resources.
“They’re just like you and me,” she said.
“They care about people. They want the best for people. But they also want to keep Queenslanders safe.”
Premier not worried by ScoMo’s campaign intervention
Annastacia Palaszczuk has welcomed Scott Morrison back to the Sunshine State, as the Prime Minister hit the hustings with LNP leader Deb Frecklington.
But she insisted she was not worried about his intervention into the state election campaign, saying Queenslanders were “smart people”.
“They know it’s a state election,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“It’s not a federal election, it’s a state election.
“And I think Queenslanders also know that there’s been one party and one government that’s been absolutely focused on protecting them and keeping them safe.”
Ms Palaszczuk said she would welcome Anthony Albanese to Queensland “if he wants to come up”.
Premier’s $30m pledge for Surf Life Saving Qld
The Premier spent day five of the election campaign in the marginal electorate of Currumbin, where the LNP is defending a wafer thin margin of 1.2 per cent.
Labor are hoping to chip away at the LNP’s strong majority on the Gold Coast, where the Opposition holds every seat except one.
Ms Palaszczuk announced a re-elected Labor government would spend $30 million over the next four years to help fund Surf Life Saving Queensland.
“This is certainty,” Ms Palaszczuk said the of the funding.
“We know the great work that they do saving people’s lives.”
She touted her government’s record on the coast, and asked voters to back in her candidates.
“We’re absolutely committed to the Gold Coast, but I need your support,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Frecklington not afraid to speak Campbell’s name
LNP Leader Deb Frecklington says she isn’t afraid to speak Campbell Newman’s name after the former premier claimed the party was treating him like Harry Potter’s Voldemort.
Mr Newman told ABC Radio yesterday the LNP’s treatment of him was akin to “he who must not be named”.
“It’s like Harry Potter and Voldemort … he whose name shall not be mentioned,” he said.
“That’s the nonsense that’s been allowed to flourish.”
Asked today whether she was afraid to speak his name, Ms Frecklington said, “No, Campbell Newman”.
Labor has repeatedly referred to the Newman Government’s job cuts during this election campaign, calling on the LNP to reveal what it would cut to fund its multi-billion dollar commitments.
Mr Newman yesterday said the LNP had let themselves be defined by Labor.
“Because the LNP have sort of gone and hidden from their own positive track record during that period, the Labor Party have been able to define what that meant,” he said.
But Ms Frecklington, who was in the seat of Theodore this morning announcing a $120 million road upgrade to Exit 57 on the M1, said that wasn’t the case.
“And I’ll say this about the former LNP Government, we did great things in relation to infrastructure,” she said.
“For example, $10 billion upgrade on the Bruce Highway.
“It was the former LNP Government that delivered the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, the Toowoomba second range crossing.
“We cleared 60,000 people, 60,000 Queenslanders off the dental health waitlist, we restored maternity services to Beaudesert and planned for Weipa.
“We did some really good things.”
Asked whether she’d asked Mr Newman to campaign with her, Ms Frecklington said she was focused on the campaign about getting Queenslanders back into work.
The LNP’s Mark Boothman holds Theodore by 3.72 per cent.
Originally published as Scott Morrison hits campaign trail with Deb Frecklington on Gold Coast