Annastacia Palaszczuk to voters: trust me, despite integrity scandals

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and LNP leader Deb Frecklington have made their final to pitch to voters during a crucial debate on election eve.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and LNP leader Deb Frecklington at their debate on Friday.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says, despite a string of integrity scandals, Queenslanders can trust her because “every day I’m keeping them safe”.

Ms Palaszczuk and LNP leader Deb Frecklington are facing off in their second and final debate of the campaign, ahead of tomorrow’s state election.

The Liberal National Party Opposition’s Ms Frecklington asked Ms Palaszczuk the first question of the debate, asking how Queenslanders could trust her after a string of integrity scandals involving Minister Mark Bailey, backbencher Peter Russo, then-Health Minister Steven Miles, her chief of staff, and former Deputy Premier Jackie Trad.

Ms Palaszczuk responded: “Queenslanders can trust me, because every day I’m keeping them safe.”

“There was never any findings of corrupt conduct.”

The Premier asked Ms Frecklington a question from a nurse in Townsville, asking how she could trust the LNP to not sack health workers, as they did under former LNP Premier Campbell Newman.

Ms Frecklington said the LNP would hire more nurses and doctors.

“An LNP government have got the nurses backs, we’ve already announced we’re going to employ thousands of more nurses,” Ms Frecklington said.

Asked for her personal view of voluntary assisted dying, Ms Frecklington declined to say how she would vote on future legislation.

But she said: “This would be one of the most deeply personal, very hard issue that any person would ever have to face, what I want to see is to make sure no one dies in pain or alone, and that’s why I’ve advocated for more palliative care and more compassion.”

“(But) I would never ever politicise this issue like Annastacia Palaszczuk has … it appears it’s just (to have) been for the Premier to secure (the marginal electorate of) Currumbin.”

But Ms Palaszczuk said she would personally vote for euthanasia, after announcing during the campaign she would fast-track the legalisation of voluntary assisted dying.

“My views have changed on this, I consider myself a Christian, I went to a Catholic school,” she said.

“I hold deep Christian values, but it’s not up to me to tell other people how to end their lives.”

Ms Palaszczuk said she lost her grandmother during the pandemic; her grandmother was in a lot of pain, and it was distressing. Ms Palaszczuk said she was not allowed to see her grandmother as she was dying because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“I don’t anyone to suffer, I don’t want anyone to have to go through that, it’s a personal matter for a family, for an individual and their medical practitioners, it’s not for me to make a decision on behalf of them,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said the Liberal National Party was an “unstable, untrustworthy” Opposition, and warned the election would be tight. She again focused on Labor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’ve had to make very tough decisions in the best interests of Queenslanders,” she said.

“Our closed borders have meant our economy has been able to get underway.”

Ms Frecklington said Queensland could not afford another four years of Labor.

“Labor’s five years of failures cannot be repeated for the next generation,” she said.