Qld election 2020: Leaders’ final pitch for voters’ support
As Queenslanders go to the polls to choose either four more years of Labor or a new LNP government, both leaders have made their last pitch for support.
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Queensland’s Labor Premier and LNP Opposition Leader make their final case as to why voters should back them to lead the state for the next four years:
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Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk
At this election you have a very clear and very important choice to make about the future of our state. There is Labor’s plan to come out the other side of this storm stronger and fairer.
Rebuilding our economy, training our people, growing our regions and reinvesting in schools and hospitals and services.
This election is a choice between the stability of a Labor government that has made the tough decisions and the right calls in hard times.
Or the chaos of an unproven, untrustworthy opposition who still can’t explain where the money is coming from for their promises.
It’s your vote, your choice for Queensland. A choice between jobs or cuts. A choice between stability and strong leadership or chaos and reckless behaviour.
It’s increasingly clear that this election will come down to the wire and Queensland could be faced with a minority government – now is not the time for the level of instability that would deliver.
That’s why my team and I are asking for your support and your vote to secure a strong, majority Labor government.
If you look around Queensland today you can see that our COVID-19 economic recovery is in full swing.
People also stayed in work in critical industries, in our mining, agriculture, retail and services sectors, because my government made the decision to secure our borders.
The reality is that this may not be happening if I had caved to the pressure from people like Deb Frecklington who called 64 times for our borders to be reopened – just as Victoria went back into lockdown.
That reckless decision would’ve been devastating for our Queensland economy and too great a risk to Queenslanders’ health, especially vulnerable older Queenslanders.
I stood my ground in the interests of Queenslanders’ health and economic wellbeing.
Our government secured Queensland’s borders, to protect the health of our community. Our government secured Queensland’s borders to keep Queenslanders safe. Because of that we have secured the health of our economy.
The economic recovery plan we announced in August is supporting 55,000 jobs and during this election we have outlined initiatives to support another 50,000 jobs.
I so firmly believe, even with COVID, Queensland’s best days are ahead of us.
But our success isn’t guaranteed. Beating the recession, building a recovery, securing more industries and more jobs can’t be left up to luck.
The moment in front of us is too important for an untried and untested LNP that haven’t learned from their past mistakes and haven’t changed since their last failure.
This is no time to turn back to the LNP delusion of cutting and sacking and selling our way out of COVID.
If we want to make 2020 the start of a new wave of success and opportunity for our state, then Queensland needs a Labor government investing in people. Building more infrastructure, backing more industries and funding quality services.
I’m seeking your support at this election because I want to make sure that 2020 is remembered not just for the crisis we faced – but for the way we came out of it. Stronger. Fairer. More secure.
Your government working together for Queensland.
Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington
There is a clear choice facing Queenslanders today.
It’s a choice between the LNP’s economic plan and Labor’s economic failure.
For the last four years, Queensland has had the worst unemployment rate in Australia. More than 209,000 Queenslanders are out of work and our unemployment rate is higher than Victoria’s, a state that was in lockdown only days ago.
Queensland’s weak economy and record unemployment were not caused by COVID. They were caused by the Palaszczuk Labor Government.
Labor dragged Queensland to the bottom of Australia’s economic ladder and we’ll stay there as long as Labor is in power.
Only an LNP Government can reverse Labor’s failure.
The LNP’s plan will stimulate the economy, create 150,000 jobs and lead Queensland out of recession.
Our plan is bold and ambitious, but it needs to be.
I want to make this state an economic powerhouse again, like we used to be, and we won’t get there without the LNP’s plan to create jobs.
With businesses going broke every day, the LNP will take immediate action to stimulate the economy.
Under an LNP Government, every car owner in Queensland will receive a $300 rego rebate before Christmas. The rebates will be paid to all car owners in December because we must pump money into our economy now – not months or years down the track.
The LNP’s $300 rego rebate will inject $1.15 billion of stimulus into struggling businesses, while giving drivers well-earned relief after Labor’s 20% hike in rego fees.
The LNP will build on the rego rebate stimulus by prioritising a $1 billion program of road and rail upgrades across the southeast, creating 3100 construction jobs.
We’ll also build the Second M1 to cut congestion and create jobs on the Gold Coast.
But the LNP’s biggest building projects will be north of Brisbane. We’ve got to get our regions building again – when Queensland is building, Queensland is working.
So an LNP Government will begin building a four-lane Bruce Highway from Gympie to Cairns.
This vast infrastructure project will create 100,000 construction jobs and supercharge regional economies, as well as saving dozens of lives by upgrading Australia’s deadliest road.
The LNP will also back new dam projects, the biggest of which will be the New Bradfield Scheme. It will provide water for drought-stricken farmers, hydro-electric power for 800,000 homes and jobs for tens of thousands of Queenslanders.
There will be also new investment to support manufacturing jobs, with Queensland businesses first in line for all government contracts.
I can also guarantee that there will be no new taxes under the LNP. We will pay for our plan through sensible spending and by growing the economy.
The LNP’s borrowings will be $2.3 billion less than Labor’s. Most importantly of all, our economic plan will create 150,000 new jobs.
Only the LNP has a plan to create jobs and secure our future.
But first I need your support. Please vote LNP today to get Queensland working again.
Originally published as Qld election 2020: Leaders’ final pitch for voters’ support