Qld election: Crisafulli drops bombshell caveats over two key election pledges

David Crisafulli has dropped a major caveat to two key election pledges, admitting the LNP promise to reduce crime victim numbers and elective surgery waitlists will be tied to population.

An LNP promise to reduce victim numbers and elective surgery waitlists will be tied to Queensland’s population Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has revealed, in a bombshell election-eve caveat admission.

Mr Crisafulli, earlier in the campaign, had sensationally vowed to not seek a second term in 2028 if he failed to drive down victim numbers.

Days later he vowed Queensland’s elective surgery waitlist would stop growing after the first year of an LNP government.

But on the eve of the state election Mr Crisafulli has confirmed those two commitments will indeed be tied to population growth, despite being unequivocal about his guarantees earlier in the campaign.

When Mr Crisafulli made the victim numbers pledge on live television during the first debate he said Queenslanders had “enough of the broken promises and I’m serious about it and I’m not giving myself any wriggle room”.

“It’s victim numbers, it’s not number of unique offences and what happens on a Wednesday,” he said.

“If there aren’t fewer victims, you won’t be seeing me.”

Queensland LNP leader David Crisafulli. Picture David Clark

Mr Crisafulli, on October 7, was also asked directly about his pledge that LNP elective surgery would not rise from 12 months after the waiting list for “this quarter” was known.

It was also put to him at the time that population growth would lead to more people requiring surgery. Mr Crisafulli said the elective surgery wait list growth was “not population growth, that’s a system in crisis”.

“What I’m saying to you is there was 30,000 people (on the list) less than a decade ago, and there’s now 61,000. That’s over 100 per cent in less than 10 years. That’s not population growth, that’s a system in crisis. And what I’m saying to Queensland is we believe we can stabilise that,” he said.

But on Friday Mr Crisafulli was asked if his pledge on victim numbers and on elective surgery waitlists would be commensurate to population growth.

“Of course,” he said.

“I’m not sure anyone would suggest that as population increases, that figure shouldn’t be commensurate.”

TRANSCRIPT

OCTOBER 7

Question: Opposition Leader, earlier in your preamble, you said, with this detailed plan within 12 months the escalation of people waiting for surgery will be a thing of the past. Can you please specify precisely what your target is there?

Answer: Once we get the final figure, so we will see where the current waiting list is for this quarter. We will not have more rises once we get through the first year. It will be a reduction. It must be a reduction. So it will take us time to stabilise the system. It has increased every single year. It’s gone up by 100 per cent so it’s gone from 30,000 to north of 61,000 so that’s more than double. So what I’m offering Queensland is, after seeing an average increase of 10 per cent per year for a decade, I’m offering Queenslanders a stabilisation of that and then we work to bring it down. That is a seismic shift.

Q: Is that the long wait list or all people waiting for surgery?

A: There’s two waiting lists that we are held accountable for. There’s the surgery waiting list, and then there’s what’s called the outpatient list. The outpatient list has got 287,000 people on it. That’s the number of Queenslanders waiting to see a specialist to get on that list. And the other list is the surgery waiting list. So that’s the 61,000 Queenslanders, a figure we’ve never seen before. And what I’m saying to Queenslanders is, within 12 months, we will stabilise that figure and then work to bring it down.

Q: Isn’t that just a consequence of a growing population? If you’ve got 10 cars at a traffic light and all 10 cars go through at a green light, then doesn’t that mean that you’re just keeping up the pace. If there’s more and more Queenslanders, surely more and more Queenslanders will need surgery? So why is that wait list even a marker of any kind of success?

A: What I’m saying to you is there was 30,000 people (on the list) less than a decade ago, and there’s now 61,000. That’s over 100 per cent in less than 10 years. That’s not population growth, that’s a system in crisis. And what I’m saying to Queensland is we believe we can stabilise that, and the way to do that is to make sure that we’re offering the ability for people to have their surgery. And as part of that, we’ll also be making sure that those long waits are also reduced. So it’s a very valid question, a very valid question. But 30,000 to 61,000, is not population growth.

OCTOBER 25

Q: Just quickly, on reducing crime victim numbers commensurate to population, does that apply to your commitment on elective surgery?

A: Yes of course. If population continues to increase, it’s no different. It’s no different to a household budget …

Q: Why didn’t you specify that earlier?

A: I’m not sure anyone would suggest that as population increases, that figure shouldn’t be commensurate.

Originally published as Qld election: Crisafulli drops bombshell caveats over two key election pledges