Queensland election 2017 live: Palaszczuk shuts down new coal-fired power station talk

Palaszczuk says a new coal-fired power station outlined in a government report would be surplus to requirements.

The Queensland election campaign enters its fourth day.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of Day 4 of the Queensland state election campaign, ahead of the November 25 poll. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk starts the day in Cairns, while Tim Nicholls and the LNP remain grounded in the state’s southeast.

• After criticism that she was avoiding scrutiny on the campaign trail, a new Annastacia Palaszczuk has emerged, writes Sarah Elks.

Charlie Peel 6.18pm: Sunshine Coast rail duplication a ‘long time coming’

Sunshine Coast rail advocates say the Liberal National Party’s commitment to duplicate the rail line between Beerburrum and Landsborough will slash commute times, get cars and trucks off the road and decrease the cost of freight.

Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls travelled to Landsborough in the seat of Caloundra this morning to announce that the LNP would chip in $300 million to the project, with the rest expected to come from the federal government.

Rail Back on Track Sunshine Coast spokesman Jeff Addison said the upgrade would give people in the region the “reliable public network they’ve never had”.

“It was promised to be duplicated by Labor in 2006, they said it would be finished by 2012,” Mr Addison said.

“In 2009 when the LNP won the seat of Glasshouse and Labor were in power all work stopped on the rail duplication and no work happened since.

“Today has been a long time coming.

“It will mean car that travel on the Bruce Highway that don’t need to be there can take alternative transport.”

Mr Addison said that by completing just one stage of the duplication, travel times between Nambour to Brisbane – sometimes three hours – could be cut in half.

Citing a government report, he said freight trains travelling north to Cairns were stymied by the bottleneck and freight costs could drop by 2 or 3 per cent if the 17km stretch was duplicated.

“It’s a national issue because nowhere in Australia has a rail situation like the Sunshine Coast,” he said.

It is understood Mr Nicholls has raised the project previously with his federal counterparts and received a favourable response.

Sarah Elks 5.24pm: Palaszczuk shuts down new coal-fired power station talk

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has insisted the state does not need a new coal-fired power station in north Queensland, despite the leaking of a secret government report.

The Australian reported today that the government report appeared to back the LNP’s plan to help smooth government approvals for a new coal-fired power station in the north of the state.

The report was commissioned by Queensland’s Energy Department in February, but not released publicly until it was leaked.

Ms Palaszczuk said the report showed the proposal for a new coal-fired generator was not necessary.

“It would take seven years to build a new coal-fired power station, we already have a young energy fleet of coal fired power stations here, providing not just Queensland with the energy needs they need but exporting down to other states,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“It’s very clear that Queensland does not need a new coal fired power station.”

On the campaign trail in Cairns, Ms Palaszczuk was asked whether she knew about the report being commissioned.

Question: “Did you know the report had been commissioned?”

Ms Palaszczuk: “There are hundreds of reports that get commissioned all the time. Yes, I am aware of the report.”

The Australian Online reported Ms Palaszczuk’s comments as her confirming she knew about the report. However, her office later said her words had been misinterpreted.

“The Premier was not aware of the Department of Energy and Water Supply-commissioned report before it was brought to our attention by The Australian yesterday,” a spokesman said.

“The Premier indicated she had read about the report in today’s edition of the Townsville Bulletin.”

Energy Minister Mark Bailey today said he also did not know the report had been commissioned, and said the department had done it without his knowledge.

He said the report showed a ultra-supercritical plant in North Queensland would only be viable under sustained high wholesale energy prices over the 40-year life of the plant.

“If the LNP-One Nation are basing their coal-fired power plant plans on this report, they are signing Queenslanders up to an unknown increase in Queensland electricity prices for four decades,” Mr Bailey said.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at Cairns State High School during the Queensland Election campaign. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England.

Charlie Peel 12pm: LNP heads for the coast

Up to 150 extra train services will be run each week between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast under a Liberal National Party plan to duplicate the coast’s rail line.

Like the day two release of his economic blueprint, opposition leader Nicholls wasted no time in announcing the largest infrastructure spend of the campaign.

It is a repeat of the same pledge made in the unsuccessful 2015 election campaign.

Mr Nicholls this morning announced the $600 million duplication of the line between Beerburrum and Landsborough could be completed within three or four years.

The LNP has committed $300m and will seek $300m from the federal government’s rail infrastructure fund.

It would create about 1800 jobs during construction and not involve the resumption of homes, Mr Nicholls said.

He said the duplication was necessary to support commuters travelling between the Sunshine Coast, population 350,000, and the capital.

Peak services would increase by 25 per cent.

Mr Nicholls would not say whether his party would commit to Brisbane’s cross river rail.

The LNP leader is today touring the Sunshine Coast where he plans to secure his party’s electorates and topple state One Nation leader and LNP defector Steve Dickson from his seat of Buderim.

“This is an opportunity for jobs and for people to be able to get to work quicker and get home quicker,” Mr Nicholls said from Landsborough train station in the seat of Glasshouse.

10.55am: Greens demand $1 bus fares

Bus fares would be $1 across Brisbane and under 18s would travel for free under a Greens proposal that includes more frequent services and three new car-free bridges, AAP reports.

Greens candidate for South Brisbane Amy MacMahon said the policy would help ease traffic jams and parking problems by making public transport cheaper, quicker and more reliable.

“People don’t catch buses or trains because they are too expensive, too unreliable and too hard to use,” she said while making the announcement today.

“Those who do use public transport spend too much money and wait too long.”

As well as dropping prices and implementing high-frequency bus services on every major road, the Greens have vowed to simplify and rezone ticketing areas into four sectors if elected.

Long-distance commuters could save $3000 a year, while people who travel regularly into the Brisbane CBD could save $1000.

Ms MacMahon said it would cost the government an additional $216m a year, which would be offset by a string of measures that included ensuring property developers and mining companies were “paying their fair share”.

South Brisbane incumbent and Transport Minister Jackie Trad said while $1 fares sounded great, it also had to be feasible.

“If you think about what the current situation is, we currently subsidise public transport fares to the tune of $1.43bn a year,” she told ABC Radio today.

Labor was the only government to have slashed fares and although there had been a decline in usage, it had stabilised, Ms Trad said.

“When you give people a reliable, convenient public transport system, they use it,” she said.

Ms Trad said that was why services like cross-river-rail were critical.

The seat of South Brisbane is one of three Brisbane-based seats the Greens are confident of winning at the election.

The Greens candidate for South Brisbane Amy MacMahon, with Greens leader Richard Di Natale. Picture: AAP

10am: Premier underwater

Premier @AnnastaciaMP and @Curtis_Pitt_MP arrive at the Cairns aquarium #qldvotes pic.twitter.com/CjxjTOeGtn

— Sarah Elks (@sarahelks) October 31, 2017

7.30am: LNP grounded

Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls’ election campaign is stuck in southeast Queensland as party officials struggle to overcome the cost and availability of a charter plane, AAP reports.

Mr Nicholls is yet to hit the state’s regions, where Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is spending the opening week of the campaign, and has been disadvantaged by his inability to take flight.

He is likely to face more questions over his plans to address the state’s mounting debt and continue efforts to sell his payroll tax cut plan on Wednesday before heading north later in the week.

The Liberal National Party has released an initial economic strategy promising to maintain competitive taxes, match spending with the state’s earnings and cut red tape, but Mr Nicholls refused to expand on his promise to “stabilise” the state’s finances.

He declined on Tuesday to say whether it would be to CPI or inflation, or an overall debt reduction, as well as provide a benchmark figure. Mr Nicholls faces a difficult task of persuading Queenslanders to forgive and forget his time as treasurer under the unpopular Newman government, when he slashed thousands of jobs from the public sector and pitched to sell off the state’s assets.

What’s making news

• A Palaszczuk government report has supported the viability of the LNP proposal for a coal-fired power station.

• Tim Nicholls and Annastacia Palaszczuk have failed to say how they would slash the state’s ­nation-leading borrowings.

• Billy Gordon has announced he won’t recontest his far north Queensland seat, backing Labor to get the job done.

• The battle for the Gold Coast has begun, with the LNP desperate to defend its blue swath of seats.

• Sarah Elks writes that transparency has been lost in Annastacia Palaszczuk’s campaign — in stark contrast to how she operated in 2015 as Labor sought to win power.