New premier must assert LNP’s economic credentials

In scoring a clear win but not a landslide that would encourage complacency and create an unwieldy backbench, premier-elect David Crisafulli and the Liberal National Party are well placed after Saturday’s Queensland election to deliver the reform the state needs after 30 years of the past 35 under Labor rule. After winning at least 51 seats in the state’s 93-member unicameral chamber, with Labor gaining 34 seats, Mr Crisafulli set out his priorities early on Sunday. They include delivering his “youth crime, youth time” policy that was warmly supported by voters, cost of living, housing and health. The four policies were the linchpin of the opposition’s victory. Updating Queensland’s substandard infrastructure also needs to be a priority. Such achievements will take months, if not years, of judicious spending of taxpayers’ money to deliver.

During the campaign, Mr Crisafulli and shadow treasurer David Janetzki shied away from the critical financial issues of debt reduction, the state’s AA+ rating – which is in danger of a downgrade – and the need for tighter fiscal policy. That gaping omission was their weakest point in the lead-up to the election. We welcome the fact that Mr Crisafulli vowed in his victory speech to again make Queensland an economic powerhouse. We will hold him and his ministers to that, in the interest of the state and national economy, to which Queensland contributes almost 20 per cent.

Six months out from the federal election, Anthony Albanese needs to be cautious in rejecting the advice of Queensland senator and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt. Senator Watt wants the Prime Minister to copy Queensland Labor’s populist cost-of-living policies, which included $1000 power rebates and 50c public transport fares. Such big-government largesse, all non-means-tested, also including free school lunches for students in government primary schools, would further enlarge the economic footprint of government and add to inflationary pressures.

Senator Watt also wants the federal campaign to visit the controversial issue of abortion, arguing that LNP members Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Barnaby Joyce and Matt Canavan want current laws tightened. That approach, while popular in some regions on Saturday, would be bad for Labor, however, in must-hold western Sydney seats. The issue, which is a state and not a federal matter, was a red herring in the Queensland campaign. And it has no place in a federal campaign, where it could be even more divisive and distracting.

For the sake of Queenslanders and the nation, including Australia’s Jewish community, the decline of the Greens’ vote, on current trends, in one of the seats the party held previously is good news. The outcome follows the Greens’ drubbing in the ACT election on October 20, where they went from six seats to four. Mr Albanese was correct when he said the Greens’ poor showing in Queensland was a public repudiation of the left-wing party for playing a “blocking role” in parliament. Its loss of South Brisbane, which the party won from former Labor deputy premier Jackie Trad at the last election in 2020, was a major blow.

The Greens capturing near-Brisbane federal seats at the 2022 election gave the party a major lift. But in view of Saturday’s vote, both federal Labor and the LNP need to endorse their best talents in seats if they are to be competitive in the Greens’ seats such as Griffith (Kevin Rudd’s former seat), Brisbane (formerly held by Trevor Evans for the Coalition) and Ryan, the once blue-ribbon Coalition seat held by Elizabeth Watson-Brown for the Greens.

In his ungracious, grudging speech on Saturday night, failed premier Steven Miles delivered a forceful defence of his policies, which the electorate comprehensively rejected. As former federal Labor cabinet minister Graham Richardson said, Mr Miles’s speech, in which he did not acknowledge the LNP’s win, “was as graceless as it was pathetic, I’m not going to defend that”. Quite right. The speech was a robust defence of Labor’s big-spending agenda, from free lunches to giveaway public transport fares.

While Labor in opposition will continue with Mr Miles as leader, the party must reset its economic policies over this term. It should look back over earlier years of credible economic leadership, when former premier Wayne Goss and his treasurer, Keith de Lacy, were responsible stewards of the state’s economy. During this campaign, fiscal responsibility and debt reduction have not been the LNP’s strong suits. Labor’s prioritising economic issues should give the party its best chance to re-establish its economic credibility and repair the fiscal damage unleashed by the Miles government and the party’s big-spending June budget.

In addition to his four priorities, which will need serious taxpayer-funded resources, Mr Crisafulli has given himself 100 days to produce a blueprint for the 2032 Olympic Games.

We agree with Mr Crisafulli’s opposition to using the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre at Nathan as a main venue for the Olympics. His team’s blueprint will be crucial for laying the foundation for a successful event in eight years.