Editor’s view: Queenslanders deserve to know who they are voting for

All we have is a bunch of politicians too weak to stick their necks out and say what they believe in, letting the party machine decide what they can and can’t say, it’s not good enough, writes The Editor.

Queenslanders deserve to know who they are voting for.

But right now, all they are getting is a bunch of politicians too weak to stick their necks out and say what they believe in, preferring to let the party machine decide what they can and can’t say.

The Courier-Mail point-blank asked 13 LNP candidates who are tipped to take seats off Labor two key questions – would you support a conscience vote on abortion, and do you think the existing laws need to be changed?

They declined to speak. Instead, party headquarters provided the response on behalf of all of them.

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“It’s not part of our plan, the LNP has ruled it out,” the blanket statement read.

“Labor’s desperate scare campaign is an attempt to distract from their failures across youth crime, health, housing and cost of living.”

Labor certainly is guilty of scare tactics on the campaign trail, falsely accusing the LNP of selling off public hospitals.

But in the abortion debate, Labor has found an achilles heel – and the LNP has not moved swiftly enough, or at all, to neutralise it.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli himself is on autopilot, simply repeating the issue is “not part of our plan” on multiple occasions.

Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli is on autopilot. Picture: Liam Kidston.

This is already wearing thin with voters, with Mr Crisafulli repeatedly dodging questions on what his preference would be for an Olympic stadium.

It’s no secret that there’s a whole machine behind election campaigns, attempting to control the narrative and above all – win.

But what we are seeing now are campaigns so stage managed that voters don’t even know what their local candidates stand for.

To effectively gag candidates from answering important questions is not good enough.

And it begs the question – what will these politicians be like if they actually are elected to represent voters for the next four years?

Will they speak their mind? Will they advocate for their communities – even if it is not in the party’s best interest?

If this is how they are behaving while begging for votes, how will they be when they don’t need their constituents anymore?

Mr Crisafulli has spent the best part of the past year telling anyone who will listen that union powerbroker Gary “Blocker” Bullock is the one pulling the strings behind Premier Steven Miles and the Labor Party.

He has also criticised Labor for its integrity failures.

But the LNP is showing voters that its candidates are merely pawns of the greater party machine as well.

The irony of Mr Crisafulli’s small target campaign strategy is he has made himself a bigger target by refusing to answer the most basic of questions.

And in the meantime, Labor is quietly making itself a small target.

As we noted earlier this week – it is a tactic that is not ever going to survive the spotlight of an election campaign, and that applies to both parties.

As we head into week three of the campaign, it’s time for the major parties to tell us what they really stand for and for their candidates to answer the hard questions.

If they want the public to trust them with this great state for the next four years, they need to start treating voters with more respect.

Time is running out – and so is the patience of Queenslanders.

Originally published as Editor’s view: Queenslanders deserve to know who they are voting for