The two reasons Annastacia Palaszczuk won Qld election

The Labor leader will hold power in the Sunshine State for another four years. Here’s how she did it.

Annastacia Palaszczuk has persuaded Queenslanders to give her Labor Party another four years in power through her handling of the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic collapse.

The widely declared victory in Saturday’s state election completes a stunning comeback for the premier, who trailed LNP challenger Deb Frecklington earlier in the year.

But when the health crisis caused hysteria and led to mass job losses, the incumbent government successfully convinced voters it was capable of guiding the Sunshine State out of the recession.

“They framed the campaign around a referendum on leadership and, underneath that, COVID-19 management and economic management,” Griffith University political scientist Dr Paul Williams said.

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Ms Palaszczuk handling of the pandemic was key to her being re-elected. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“The polls approve of Palaszczuk’s leadership over Frecklington’s, they approve of Labor’s economic management over LNP’s and, specifically, Labor’s blueprint compared to the LNP’s.”

Throughout the four-week campaign, Ms Palaszczuk and her loyal deputy and health Minister Steven Miles, leaned heavily on their commitment to keep Queenslanders safe through tough border restrictions.

When the Prime Minister and other interstate rivals berated the state Labor Government to open up, they held firm and won over the hearts and minds of their constituents.

“They have convinced the critical mass of Queenslanders that closing the borders was the right thing to do,” Dr Williams told NCA NewsWire.

The exceptional circumstances of the pandemic also contributed to a role reversal on economic authority.

Typically, it is the LNP who are relied on for conservative and steady fiscal policies, but Dr Williams said Queenslanders turned to Ms Palaszczuk’s team to lead the recovery.

“The Labor Party has painted itself as a conservative party for the status quo — it’s reliable, and the LNP has had to go out on a limb and be the party of vision,” he said.

After Scott Morrison and other Liberal leaders called for the borders to be opened, the state Opposition Leader was caught on the wrong side of the debate.

“Frecklington had several positions on the border and that’s not played well for her,” according to Dr Williams, saying the LNP has been “quite elastic whereas Labor has been firm”.

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington was unable to force a change of government. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The Opposition attempted to look beyond the beginning of the pandemic and focused on a narrative that the Labor Government’s poor management had stifled business growth, regularly citing Queensland’s jobless rate as the worst in the country.

But Dr Williams said the extraordinary economic collapse from the coronavirus crisis gave policymakers a free pass on debt, deficit and unemployment.

“We saw that in the NT, the ACT and even in New Zealand,” he said.

Labor successfully won another four years in office thanks to its handling of the virus. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

Ms Palaszczuk’s victory may provide a glimpse into the future for other Australian political leaders hoping to retain power in upcoming elections.

As a premier during the coronavirus crisis, the Queensland leader was beamed into lounge rooms and online everyday to provide updates on the virus and corresponding health policies.

This boosted her profile and provided an authoritative role, according to Griffith University political behaviour specialist Juliet Pietsch.

“Those announcements had such a big impact on the daily lives of everybody — whether they could cross borders, whether they could work, whether they could go home,” she said.

“And, good or bad, everybody had to pay attention.”

Labor, particularly Ms Palaszczuk and health minister Steven Miles, capitalised on the captive audience to reveal their own policies.

Each day, the premier would have the undivided attention of viewers to provide an overnight update on virus numbers and make direct comparisons to other countries with horrific rates of infections and deaths.

This allowed her to stay on message — constantly reminding Queensland she had kept them safe and that she’s the stronger leader.

“You don’t often have that with political policy announcements,” Ms Pietsch said. “You don’t have the alternative staring you in the face — ‘this is what we will be if you don’t agree with this policy, we will be Melbourne, or New York or wherever.’

“They continually were able to show what they were protecting Queensland from.”