Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk wins historic third term
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has promised to ‘roll up her sleeves’ and immediately get back to work after winning a historic third term with a surprise swing as voters abandoned the LNP and One Nation.
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Annastacia Palaszczuk has won a historic third term as voters rewarded her handling of the pandemic and helped her steal precious seats from the LNP.
The party faithful were last night elated after Labor recorded a surprise 5.2 per cent swing across the state as voters abandoned Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and backed the Premier over the LNP for her strong border stance.
Declaring she would form a majority government, the Premier last night thanked the Queenslanders who had voted for her for the first time and promised she would “return that respect, every single day”.
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“I’m deeply humbled that I’m the Premier of this great state and you’ve placed your faith in me for the next four years,” she told those gathered at the Blue Fin Fishing Club in her electorate of Inala.
“There has never been a time like this in our lifetime and I hope that we get through it stronger and better.”
After arriving to raucous applause and hugs from her parents, she told the room she would “roll my sleeves back up” and immediately get to work delivering a better Queensland.
Ms Palaszczuk made special mention of the fact the campaign had been the first time two women had fought it out to lead a state.
“And I think people will comment that it was a much more respectful debate that we’ve seen in times gone past,” she said.
Despite Ms Frecklington failing to convince regional Queensland voters who delivered The Lodge to Liberal Prime Minister Scott Morrison 18 months ago, and losing seats in the southeast, Ms Frecklington told her party at The Emporium in Brisbane that it was her intention to remain leader.
She said Queensland had made their decision and that it was respected by the LNP.
“I’m so proud of the campaign that we have fought,” she said.
“I’m so proud of the 93 candidates that ran the good race.
“The LNP is going to continue to hold the Palaszczuk Government to account.”
While a handful of seats were still up in the air last night, Ms Palaszczuk had claimed the magic 46 votes she needs to form majority government, making her the first woman to win three elections in Australian history.
Labor picked up Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast and Pumicestone, north of Brisbane, and was ahead in Hervey Bay.
It was also holding on in three marginal Townsville seats where Ms Frecklington spent the last day of the campaigning visiting and voting within in a last-ditch but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to win over the vital north Queensland city.
Labor had also retained Barron River, in Cairns, and Aspley and Mansfield in Brisbane, which had also been in Ms Frecklington’s sights.
Recriminations were already beginning last night as some LNP insiders suggested Ms Frecklington should have been replaced months ago to give the party the best chance of election victory.
The Greens have retained Maiwar, held by Michael Berkman as they prepare to welcome South Brisbane’s Amy MacMahon to their parliamentary team.
The Greens recorded boosted votes in Cooper and in McConnel, but were ahead last night in erratic counts.
Although the One Nation vote collapsed across the state, the minor party managed to retain its central Queensland seat of Mirani.
Noosa independent Sandy Bolton kept her seat and Katter’s Australian Party will win back all three of its seats, missing out on picking up a fourth in Labor’s Cairns seat of Cook.
It follows a COVID-flavoured campaign trail in which Ms Palaszczuk pleaded for Queenslanders to choose “stability” over the “chaos and unproven” LNP led by Ms Frecklington who had previously called for borders to open before the Victorian second wave.
Labor had also launched a “Mediscare-type” scare campaign in which they accused the LNP of secretly plotting to sack 30,000 public servants to pay for their election promises.
Ms Frecklington led a more positive campaign in which she spoke of her “bold, ambitious” plan for Queensland to turn it back into an economic powerhouse through projects like the New Bradfield Scheme and four-laning the Bruce Highway.
She seized on Queensland high unemployment rate – chronically high since the Palaszczuk Government’s 2015 election and currently the highest in the country, even behind Victoria and nominated a 5 per cent unemployment rate to work towards in power in the COVID recovery.
Originally published as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk wins historic third term