Queensland election result offers important messages for all parties

The Queensland election result has unearthed several important messages for political parties at all levels and of all stripes.

The David Crisafulli-led Liberal National Party ended Labor’s nine-year grip on power on Saturday in a poll that highlighted the stark differences between regional and urban voters, exposed a lack of tolerance from voters for the Greens’ extremist policy positions, and offered a reminder to political leaders that divisive US-style abortion politics has no place in this country.

The LNP was expected to win the election in a landslide but was buffeted by a strong final fortnight from the Labor campaign. While the LNP will likely form a majority government, the worst swings against Labor were largely contained to regional seats where voters have long believed that not enough has been done to tackle crime and the cost of living.

A hallmark of the campaign was the alarming reemergence of the issue of abortion as a political plaything after Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter said he’d move to repeal or amend termination-of-pregnancy laws. Crisafulli and other LNP MPS ducked and dived on the issue for weeks, stoking legitimate doubt and suspicion over their intentions. Crisafulli eventually said the party would not change the state’s abortion laws, but the damage was done.

Voters clearly had very little interest in entertaining any change in this area. Conservative MPs who support amendments to abortion laws should take the Queensland backlash seriously. Regrettably, the Herald doubts the campaign will discourage those who seek to turn this intensely personal issue into a political weapon.

Queensland voters also had little interest in rewarding the Greens on Saturday, with the party at risk of losing its two seats in parliament and no chance of picking up any new ones. The party also had a poor showing in last month’s NSW local government elections. One explanation for the downturn is that increasingly unhinged views of some federal Greens figures are harming the party and its brand.

For his part, Steven Miles has been unashamedly populist as premier – cutting public transport fees to 50¢, promising free school lunches if re-elected and even flagging government-owned service stations to drive down the price of petrol. Many measures were arguably inflationary, but voters appear to have rewarded Queensland Labor for offering practical policies.

Outgoing Deputy Premier Cameron Dick on Sunday said the key message for his Canberra counterparts was that voters wanted more from their political leaders on the cost of living. “Federal Labor needs to be relentlessly focused on that,” he said.

Labor holds just five of the 30 federal seats in Queensland. Federal Labor MPs are already pointing to Saturday’s result – and Miles’ campaign tactics – as a case study for how Prime Minister Anthony Albanese can revive his flagging fortunes ahead of a federal election due by next May. Expect to see him camped out in the Sunshine State between now and then.

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