Queensland election 2017 live: Annastacia Palaszczuk defends tax hikes
Annastacia Palaszczuk makes last-ditch plea to Liberal voters, saying she’d rather lose on principle than deal with One Nation.
Hello and welcome to our rolling coverage of the last day of the election campaign. Today, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will make one last pitch to Queenslanders as Tim Nicholls darts across the state in a final election campaign effort. before tomorrow’s poll.
Ms Palaszczuk will address the Queensland Media Club after failing to agree on an earlier date to debate her Liberal National Party opponent. Mr Nicholls, who on Thursday returned to the southeast corner after days spent appealing to battlers in the state’s north, will traverse nine electorates trying to rally support.
It’s a contrasting end to Labor and the LNP’s campaigns, with both notably ending on an opposite note to which they began. Hours after calling the election date on November 29, Ms Palaszczuk swiftly boarded a plane and headed north while Mr Nicholls spent days zigzagging throughout southeast seats.
Both are expected to face questions over how their respective parties will pay for billions of dollars worth of campaign promises and strategies to address mounting debt, a day after their costings were publicly released.
6.20pm: Majors ‘taking the outback for granted’
An angry Bob Katter has hit out at the major parties on the eve of the state election, accusing them of ignoring outback Queensland.
The Katter’s Australian Party state leader, who played a key role in helping Labor rule with a minority government since 2015, said Labor and the LNP were guilty of taking the west for granted.
The farthest west Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk travelled during the four-week campaign was a pit-stop in Dalby on her way to the Kumbia races for Melbourne Cup Day.
Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls spent just one day travelling to outback centres Charleville and Emerald during the third week on the hustings. “That shows you how much they expect that vote, and won’t fight for it,” Mr Katter told AAP.
“We’ve had to fight for every little inch we’ve gotten in parliament for the KAP because there’s absolutely no interest in stuff out here.” It follows a Galaxy poll which shows Labor leading the LNP two-party-preferred in southeast Queensland 54 to 46 per cent, while the results were flipped in the regions 52-48 in favour of the LNP.
Ms Palaszczuk formed a minority government with the support of Independent Peter Wellington, but has relied on Mr Katter and KAP colleague Shane Knuth to pass some legislation.
Despite the premier’s claim she’d rather go into opposition than form another minority government, KAP would happily work with Labor or the LNP during the next term.
But Mr Katter says it would be on his terms.
“We’re an alternative party for a reason, we don’t want to be a rubber stamp for anyone,” he said.
Mr Katter said the last three years had “dispelled the myth” that a large majority was needed for productive government in Queensland.
4.58pm: ‘I’d rather lose than deal with One Nation’
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has appealed to traditional Liberal voters to vote Labor “just this one time” on Saturday to help her bring a divided state together.
On the final day of the election campaign, Ms Palaszczuk hammered home her claim that a vote for the Liberal National Party was also a vote for One Nation. Looking to be the first woman in Australian politics to win two elections, she reached out to LNP voters by calling on them to consider giving Labor a chance if they were uncomfortable with a possible alliance with One Nation. “To those thinking of voting Liberal your vote counts. Every vote counts,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“Your choice is to support a One Nation coalition or, just this one time, to vote Labor for a strong, stable majority government.” With Labor leading in the latest polls, the only way the LNP is likely to gain power is with the support of Pauline Hanson’s party.
Ms Palaszczuk once again said she would rather go into opposition than form a minority government with One Nation or any of the other minor parties. She also said she would work to govern for all Queenslanders, not just the southeast corner, after polling showed regional Queensland looked set to abandon Labor in favour of the LNP and One Nation.
“We live in such a large state; I have done my best to get out to as much of regional Queensland as possible,” she said.
Indeed, the vast majority of Ms Palaszczuk’s campaign has been spent outside the southeast corner, however, it hasn’t seemed to help with her poll numbers in the regions.
The latest Galaxy poll published in The Courier-Mail on Friday showed Labor leading the LNP two-party-preferred in southeast Queensland 54 to 46 per cent, while the results were flipped in the regions 52 to 48 per cent in favour of the LNP.
It comes after a campaign which has seen Ms Palaszczuk struggle early, before finding her feet in the back half of the race.
Earlier, Ms Palaszczuk likened herself to Robin Hood as she defended four new taxes announced on Thursday.
But the party won’t be giving the extra money back to the poor, instead using it to pay down state debt, which is set to rise to $81 billion in 2021. Ms Palaszczuk said Queenslanders are comfortable with a small number of rich Queenslanders paying more tax.
4.20pm: Dickson ‘not confident’ of holding seat
One Nation’s Queensland leader Steve Dickson has admitted he is not confident of retaining his seat at Saturday’s poll.
“I have never, ever gone into an election campaign confident, not once,” Mr Dickson told AAP on Friday morning.
However, the party’s national leader, Pauline Hanson is backing Mr Dickson to win.
“I’m not just saying this, I really believe Steve is going to win his seat,” Ms Hanson said outside a polling booth in his Sunshine Coast seat of Buderim on Friday afternoon.
Mr Dickson has held the seat since 2009 but is widely tipped to lose on Saturday after defecting from the Liberal National Party to One Nation earlier this year. Speaking in Buderim, Mr Dickson said the boundary changes to electorates had complicated voting.
“Boundaries have been moved in my seat, unfortunately,” he said. “I think what people have got to understand in Queensland is this election is probably the most unique election we’ve ever seen in Queensland’s history.” The Courier-Mail’s Galaxy poll on Friday morning showed a statewide fall in One Nation’s primary support from 18 per cent to 12 per cent, but in regional areas it was 20 per cent.
Expectations were high for the party in the West Australian election earlier in the year, before support ebbed away at the polling booths.
“I don’t know how many seats we’re going to win, I haven’t got a clue. But what I know is, we’re competitive, we’re in the race and I think this is a totally different campaign to Western Australia”.
4pm: The election by numbers
- More than three million Queenslanders are enrolled to vote
- There are 453 candidates standing in 93 electorates
- The most populated seat is Clayfield, with 37,636 residents
- The least populated seat is Gregory, with 24,436 residents
- The biggest by area isTraeger (570,502 square kms)
- The smallest by area is South Brisbane (12 square kms)
- There are 670 polling booths, 12,000 cardboard voting screens
- About 11,000 people are temporarily employed by the Electoral Commission of Queensland for this election
- At least 12,000 6B pencils and 2000 sharpeners distributed
- There is a $126.15 fine for not voting
Source: Queensland Redistribution Commission, Electoral Commission of Queensland.
Charlie Peel 11.30am: Joyce visits Rockhampton
He’s campaigned right throughout the state, visiting some electorates on several occasions, but Liberal National Party leader Tim Nicholls has failed to make an appearance in one of Queensland’s largest regional cities.
Rockhampton did not feature in the Opposition Leader’s travel plans, however his deputy Deb Frecklington has visited the central Queensland city.
Today, federal Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is in “Beef City”, far from his own electorate of New England, which he intends to defend in a by-election triggered by dis dual citizenship.
“I’ve been just about everywhere else you can be in the state,” Mr Nicholls offered in defense of his Rockhampton snub.
“We’re campaigning throughout the state.”
The LNP leader conceded Mr Joyce’s popularity amongst rural constituents would endear him to voters in key regional seats under threat from One Nation.
“I think people know that Barnaby Joyce, as a member of the Coalition and formerly a member of the LNP here in Queensland, understands rural Queensland like the LNP understands rural Queensland,” he said.
“It is in our DNA.
“Barnaby knows that if you want to build the infrastructure, and outside Rockhampton we’re talking about the Rookwood weir, you need to vote for your local LNP candidate.”
Charlie Peel 11.15am: ‘It’s been a long campaign’
Liberal National Party leader Tim Nicholls has explained his unfortunate slip of the tongue during a live interview this morning in which he came close to calling on voters to back One Nation.
Speaking from the Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast, Mr Nicholls was delivering his final pitch to voters.
“The best thing to do, is to support your local LNP, One N- uhh LNP candidate at the election,” he said.
Asked about the slip later, Mr Nicholls said it was a one-in-500 mix-up.
“It’s been a long campaign, I was simply going to say that you need to vote one for your local LNP candidate, as I’ve said probably 500 times during this election campaign,” he said.
10.20am: ‘People are voting for One Nation’
Pauline Hanson has rubbished a new poll showing support for One Nation in Queensland has slumped on the eve of the state election.
“I don’t believe that. I believe there is support for One Nation on the ground,” she told Seven after the Courier-Mail’s Galaxy poll showed a fall in primary support from a high of 18 per cent to 12 per cent.
“The test will be tomorrow at the polling booth and I believe a lot of people are voting for One Nation.”
The poll shows support for One Nation is much higher in rural and regional Queensland, with 20 per cent of respondents there indicating they will vote for the far-right party, than in the state’s populous southeast, where its vote stands at eight per cent.
AAP
Sarah Elks 8.55am: Nicholls’ slip of the tongue
Liberal National Party leader Tim Nicholls has suffered an unwanted slip of the tongue during a live interview with Seven’s Sunrise this morning.
Speaking from the Sunshine Coast, the Opposition leader Mr Nicholls was delivering his final pitch to voters on election eve.
“The best thing to do, is to support your local LNP, One N- uhh LNP candidate at the election,” he said.
Mr Nicholls has spent the campaign fending off accusations from Labor that the LNP and One Nation have done a secret deal – which he strenuously denies – and that the only way the LNP could form government is with One Nation support.
Sarah Elks 8.15am: Palaszczuk defends tax hit
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has defended slugging wealthy Queenslanders with four new taxes on the eve of the election, insisting less than “1 per cent” of her state’s residents would be hit.
“I think it’s absolutely vital we are upfront and honest…less than 1 per cent of Queenslanders will be impacted by these taxes,” Ms Palaszczuk told ABC Radio Brisbane.
Treasurer Curtis Pitt announced the four new taxes yesterday, which include a luxury car tax and extra land tax for people who own combined properties worth more than $10m, as well as extra charges on foreign investors and online interstate gambling companies.
“It’s measured, it’s responsible, and its impact is less than 1 per cent,” Ms Palaszczuk said today.
She said there would be “no job cuts in the public service,” which has grown by more than 16,000 full-time equivalent workers during her term to more than 217,000 FTEs.
Sarah Elks 7.30am: ‘In it to win’
Liberal National Party leader Tim Nicholls has brushed off a new poll that shows Labor’s Annastacia Palaszczuk is set to retain government, insisting he’s “in it to win it”.
On the final day of campaigning before tomorrow’s Queensland election, both Opposition leader Mr Nicholls and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk are blitzing morning television and radio stations with interviews.
Both are using the same lines, telling voters there is a “clear choice” tomorrow between a “stable” majority government led by their party, or the “chaos” of the other side.
On ABC TV, Mr Nicholls was asked about today’s The Courier Mail Galaxy poll, that showed Ms Palaszczuk was in line to win tomorrow, on a two-party preferred basis of 52-48.
But LNP leader Mr Nicholls said he didn’t comment on the polls.
“We’re in it to win it,” he said.
“We’re going to make sure we can deliver for Queenslanders. And I have a very clear message for them: I won’t let you down.”
Ms Palaszczuk appeared on the same program soon afterwards, echoing Mr Nicholls’ lines about voters having a “clear choice” tomorrow. Her final pitch is to trust a stable majority Labor government, not a “chaotic” union between the LNP and One Nation.
“I think at the end of the day, Queenslanders want certainty, and I’d say to Queenslanders, tomorrow there is a clear choice. Whether Queenslanders support me and my government…good decent government…as opposed to the cuts and the chaos of Tim Nicholls, the LNP, and One Nation,” she said.
She stumbled over a question about whether she thought the Adani coal mine was good for Queensland, after she vetoed a federal loan to the project at the end of the first week of her reelection campaign.
Ms Palaszczuk would only say: “The jobs are good for Queensland, absolutely, and I support projects that (create) jobs for Queensland.”
Both leaders looked awkward when ABC 24 interviewer Michael Rowland asked them to name one thing they liked about their political opponents.
Michael Rowland: “What do you like about your opponent Annastacia Palaszczuk?”
Tim Nicholls: “It’s a confusing last name, and the questions I get are about how you spell it.
Rowland: “Anything else?”
Mr Nicholls: “That’s about it at this stage.”
When the Labor leader was asked, she smiled awkwardly.
“What do I like about him? (Pause) He’s got a nice family.”
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