Qld election 2020: Prospective premiers cross paths in battleground

Queensland’s two leaders were both campaigned in the same battleground today, but the Premier was whisked away before they could come face-to-face.

The Labor and Liberal National parties vying for control of Queensland’s parliament have exchanged plenty of barbs in the first week of the state election campaign.

Amid the trademark morning strolls with local candidates, an air of excitement rose that Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and the Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington would have an awkward encounter in the key battleground in Townsville on Friday morning.

The Labor leader had suggested an “elbow bump” with her rival if they were to cross paths but as the two came within 100m of one another while strolling on The Strand in the tropical hub, Ms Palaszczuk was whisked away by police.

There was murmuring among the media contingent the Premier had foregone the friendly elbow for a cold shoulder, but it was later confirmed police were responsible for the avoidance.

Electioneering in the time of social distancing, perhaps.

RELATED: Palaszczuk flies into key battleground in state’s north

Ms Frecklington and her blue army on her morning walk in Townsville. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Sarah Marshall

Stepping out in Townsville this morning. Big day ahead! 🏃‍♀️☀️

Posted by Annastacia Palaszczuk MP on Thursday, October 8, 2020

If a campaign was ever going to feature a showdown reminiscent of the slightly crazed handshake Mark Latham planted on John Howard or Tony Abbott’s infamous promise to shirt-front Vladimir Putin, it would be in the extremities of Queensland’s tropical north.

It’s in the heavy humidity that the battlelines have been drawn ahead of the October 31 election.

Flashback: Latham’s infamous handshake with PM John Howard - long before social distancing.

If Labor loses in the marginal Townsville seats, Ms Palaszczuk’s chances of ruling with the majority she desperately craves becomes unlikely.

Her party occupies all three seats but margins are tight.

The incumbent government holds the central Townsville electorate and Mundingburra by 0.4 and 1.1 per cent respectively, while its more dominant margin in the semirural Thuringowa - 4.1 per cent - is expected to be aggressively contested by both One Nation and Katter’s Australia Party (KAP).

Ms Palaszczuk was dealt a fresh blow on Thursday morning when Pauline Hanson revealed she would not support a Labor minority government.

The One Nation boss also announced a preference swap with KAP, both genuine contenders in regional electorates.

The LNP has promised to be tough on youth crime. Picture: Alix Sweeney

“Regional Queenslanders are crying out for proper representation at this election and if the Katters can help One Nation secure seats and vice versa, that will be a significant win for the regions, particularly those in the western and northern parts of the state,” she said, according to The Courier Mail.

Meanwhile, Ms Frecklington’s Liberal National Party has played into the growing unrest in the Townsville region over a reported surge in youth crime.

It has promised to introduce controversial new laws that will see children jailed for a third criminal offence.

The LNP has also put forward a local law enforcer to run for the seat of Mundingburra, former police inspector Glenn Doyle.

At the launch of the LNP’s crime policy in Townsville in July, Ms Frecklington said the region’s youth crime statistics were “frightening”.

“Youth crime is going through the roof under the Palaszczuk Government,” she said.

Mr Doyle will also come up against a fresh Labor candidate after sitting member Coralee O’Rourke resigned for health reasons.

Les Walker has his own experience with law enforcement as a former corrections officer.

“We have to have a wholistic approach with juvenile crime,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“Yes, incarceration for these very serious offenders and repetitive offenders, but we’ve got to have answers to the other issues.”

Perhaps the best chance we have for an unorthodox showdown during this campaign will be through the request from Clive Palmer’s wife, Anna, who wants to go head-to-head in a debate with the premier.

Mrs Palmer, who is the deputy leader of the United Australia Party, said she will take on Ms Palaszczuk “anywhere, anytime”.

Stay tuned.