Editorial: What government does David Crisafulli plan to lead?

The LNP should be on a clear path to victory, but what government does David Crisafulli want to lead, asks The Editor. TAKE OUR QUIZ

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli must start taking Queenslanders into his trust and spell out exactly what sort of government he would lead if – as expected – the LNP wins the October 26 state election.

Asked again why he is holding out on painting that full picture, Mr Crisafulli yesterday instead spoke about a laundry list of promises he had made – changing the frequency of health data reporting, more funding to child safety, guarantees about maintenance of the state’s electricity generators, and a solar subsidy scheme for renters.

These are all worthwhile things, but they are hardly the big-picture moves that define a government. And that is important, because we have a live example in Canberra of what can happen if an opposition slides into power as a small target.

As federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese kept his head down in the 2022 federal election campaign – avoiding at all costs that awkward painting of a picture of what type of government he would lead. Consequently, voters were given no reason to dump their plans to cast a protest vote against the unpopular incumbent prime minister Scott Morrison – and Mr Albanese was elected PM.

What has followed has been the most reformist Labor government in decades – with all sorts of quite far-reaching changes made, few of which the voters ever endorsed.

It is little wonder the latest polling has Labor trailing the Coalition. The Australian electorate is dizzy at the rate of change they did not know was coming.

Queenslanders have kept their baseball bats on the front deck since the election – with multiple opinion polls confirming Labor’s primary vote has dropped from 40 per cent at the October 2020 election to just 26 or 27 per cent now.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli. Picture: David Clark

The LNP’s primary vote is meanwhile higher than Labor’s election-winning vote four years ago – at 43 or 44 per cent, depending on the pollster.

These results put Mr Crisafulli on a clear path to an emphatic victory.

Now, the Queensland LNP are professional losers, but surely not even they can lose from here.

Premier Steven Miles knows this. He has known this since he took the reins in December from Annastacia Palaszczuk, who recalcitrantly hung on to power for a year too long. But to his credit, Mr Miles has showed up every single day working hard to at least try to make a dent in the likely election result. Good on him.

Premier Steven Miles. Picture: NewsWire / Dan Peled

We do, however, wonder about whether – knowing he is unlikely to still be Premier in November – Mr Miles has turned his thoughts to legacy. He has the rare honour of being Queensland Premier. What does he plan to do with it?

This is a legitimate question, because on the evidence so far there is every chance Premier Miles will pretty quickly be consigned to being little more than the answer to a tough question on trivia nights.

If his political obituary was to be written today, the highlights reel would include: Mr Miles defending the state paying unionised male construction workers three times what it pays teachers and nurses, that he thinks Brisbane’s track and field venue for the 2032 Olympics should be the least ambitious since Amsterdam’s in 1928, that he has blown hundreds of millions of dollars on a pumped hydro thought bubble that is yet to even pass the most basic of viability tests, and that his government has somehow set fire to the biggest windfall the state’s Treasury has ever seen.

It’s not going great. But there are five months to go. We live in hope.

FOLLOWING IN BILLY’S FOOTSTEPS

It’s easy to forget that Broncos and Maroons superstar Reece Walsh is only 21.

Lured away from the Broncos while a development player, the brilliant fullback played two seasons with the Warriors before his triumphant return last season, quickly becoming not just a Brisbane fan favourite but, according to ARLC boss Peter V’landys, the future face of the game.

Last year, he missed Origin III after he was suspended for abusing a referee during a Broncos game.

It hurt him deeply, but it appears he has learnt a valuable lesson without losing the larrikin streak the footy public loves.

Yesterday, Walsh sat down with The Courier-Mail chief rugby league writer Peter Badel and revealed how teammate Pat Carrigan helped him through those tough times.

He also declared he wanted to be a Bronco for life and spoke of his special bond with Origin coach Billy Slater, who he believes is the game’s greatest-ever fullback.

“To get the opportunity to be coached and mentored by him and getting drills at training, it’s crazy – it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I’m soaking it up and enjoying the moments together,” he said.

Blues fans must be privately terrified of years and years of Slater guiding Walsh to greater heights, continuing the legacy of victory he was so much a part of as a player. No doubt much pain lies ahead for the Blues, but they should be used to it by now.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here

Originally published as Editorial: What government does David Crisafulli plan to lead?