Six key takeaways from the leaders’ debate as campaign heats up

Queensland’s major party leaders, Labor Premier Steven Miles and the LNP’s David Crisafulli, have gone head-to-head in a live grilling for the first of three debates before the October 26 state election.

Didn’t watch along or follow our live blog coverage and want to catch up? Keep scrolling for six key clips and the key takeaways.

1. What’s unsaid in David Crisafulli’s energy plan

Cost of living is the number one issue for voters – and has been under the premier’s Labor leadership. Energy bills are a big part of that. And how energy is generated going forward is a key point of difference between the parties. So what would the LNP do? The answer, we’ve heard many times before. But some newer specifics were missing: potential private sector partnerships for smaller pumped hydro sites, and keeping the Callide B coal-fired power station open beyond its slated closure date of 2028.

2. ‘You should sack yourself’

A key plank of Crisafulli’s pitch in his effort to assure voters things would be different under an LNP government he led if targets aren’t met is ministerial accountability. In other words, dumping duds from cabinet. Another, held up as a way the LNP would find more money, has been the insistence that big projects would be finished on time and on budget. But what if, as 4BC’s Sofie Formica points out, it’s not so easy to just put a fixed price on things?

3. Rent caps? Ruled out

The idea to stop rent being hiked more than 10 per cent above inflation exists in the ACT and has been long pushed by Queensland’s social service and tenant advocates. After reporting from Nine’s Tim Arvier last week that Labor was re-examining the idea as a possible election pledge, Miles appeared to leave the door open. It’s now shut.

4. Victim numbers will be lower or Crisafulli quits

A big news item out of the night was Crisafulli’s pledge to stand down as leader if he failed to ensure crime victim numbers were lower before the next election in several years’ time. While keen to tie that figure of almost 300,000 to the youth crime issues he has mostly focused on, they’re only a fraction of the picture. It’s yet to be seen how “adult time for adult crime” deters adults from soaring numbers of domestic violence assaults.

5. The ‘genesis of a health plan’

In a response to questions about specific things the LNP would do to address pressures on the state’s health system, Crisafulli used something very close to the meme-worthy offering by a former US president in another recent debate to suggest there would be more to come. While not repeated last night, Crisafulli had named one target for getting people off ambulance stretchers in a timely way almost a year ago. Let’s see if that has changed.

6. Leaders painted into two different Olympic corners

The Labor government’s planning efforts in the three years since Brisbane won the Games hosting rights have been a sore spot for Miles since taking over the top job – even while trying to make his own mark. So, do you think he would say they’ve done a good job? The LNP leader also neatly illustrated the knot he’s tied himself in on the question of the athletic stadium.