2024 Qld state election biggest talking points during campaign
From free lunches to pity parties, these are the Queensland state election topics that we can’t stop talking about.
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From free lunches to pity parties, these are the Queensland state election topics that we can’t stop talking about.
The Courier-Mail has been there to cover every aspect of the 2024 state election campaign, and these are the headlines that sparked the most anger, debate or intrigue.
Miles’ $1.4bn free lunch plan
Premier Steven Miles detailed Labor’s free lunch election pledge, as he denied stripping it from the Greens who pushed for free lunches years ago when it was rubbished by Labor ministers as “irresponsible”.
The topic has been rumbling along ever since.
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‘Mediscare’ campaign rocks election battle
Queensland’s largest union launched a “Mediscare” style campaign claiming the LNP are planning to privatise health services – a debate that has since stirred endless debate.
The Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union in an ad blitz called for voters to “put the LNP last” as the party was planning to “privatise health services” – despite having no evidence.
10 years on, Campbell Newman blamed
The state nurses’ union blamed the actions of the Newman government a full decade ago for health staff now feeling tired and wanting to quit the profession.
Labor-aligned Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union state secretary Sarah Beaman made the sensational claim, saying half of members had told the union they were exhausted as she praised Premier Steven Miles’s plan to attract 15,000 new health workers before 2028.
$100 a year savings from power pledge
A re-elected Queensland Labor government would set up a state-owned electricity retailer to effectively compete against itself in the regions in a bid to make power bills cheaper.
Premier Steven Miles vowed to put people before profits, with the new operator to undercut established companies on price.
$365m bulk-billing bonanza: GP vow
Queensland would pick up the Commonwealth’s tab and open 50 bulk-billing GP clinics in an unprecedented election pledge aimed at easing cost of living and pressure on the state’s health system.
Premier Steven Miles pledged $365m to open 50 bulk-billing GP clinics as part of a wider effort to take pressure off hospitals and lower healthcare costs for residents.
Qld’s youth crime riddle
Queensland’s major political parties are offering terrible, or too few, solutions to address youth crime, as the issue splits Labor and the LNP in this election campaign, stakeholders say.
For four years the LNP has prosecuted what it calls the “crime crisis” gripping the state and has positioned the issue at the centre of its campaign to form government.
LNP’s campaign blasted as dishonest
An LNP mass text campaign calling on voters to stop a so-called patients tax by changing the government was slammed as dishonest, with Treasurer Cameron Dick calling for it to stop.
Voters across the state began receiving messages claiming their Labor MP had “voted for Labor’s Patients Tax” and to “Stop Labor’s Patients Tax. Change the government”.
Talk has since centred on how future elections could be devoid of such scare campaigns and mud-slinging.
Katter ‘assures’ carnage over abortion, VAD
Conservative crossbench MPs will propose changes to the state’s abortion laws in the next term of parliament, in a direct challenge to David Crisafulli’s authority over the LNP.
The Opposition Leader doubled down on his promise there would be “no change” to the ability of women to access abortions in Queensland should the LNP take government.
The abortion issue has been central to the election campaign.
Crisafulli dodges, Miles mumbles
In a brutal display, a cunning David Crisafulli set the traps Steven Miles crawled right into.
This first debate was not so much a clash of the titans, but a pity party.
Mr Miles appeared disinterested and lacklustre.
Will things be different at the final leaders debate?
Calls for LNP to disclose plans
He is on track to take control of Queensland’s $98bn budget but shadow treasurer David Janetzki was accused of hiding while the LNP struggled to explain its economic plan.
This sparked Labor Treasurer Cameron Dick to call on his LNP counterpart to release an economic plan – an issue sure to again come to the surface.
Originally published as 2024 Qld state election biggest talking points during campaign
Watch: ‘I had a stroke in regional Qld – this new tech saved my life’
A Qld woman says she is alive because a new system, where strokes are diagnosed and “clot-busting” drugs given within minutes, is being piloted at her regional hospital. It comes ahead of a statewide rollout.
Tiny baby’s death: Questions new Child Safety Minister won’t answer
Queensland’s new Child Safety Minister will not commit to a review and has dodged questions about the shocking death of a two-month-old girl, born to an at-risk teen and at the home of long-term foster carers when ambulances were called.
Teen left with head injuries after ‘large’ brawl at Burleigh
A brawl involving a large group of teenagers at Burleigh Heads has left a boy in hospital and two others with injuries. Read what happened.
Labor dodges stance on inclusion of rape in ‘adult crime’ laws
As Queensland’s mainstream political parties dodge questions on strengthening sentences for teen rapists, one party is calling on the LNP to keep their promise that serious teen offenders will be held accountable.
Mayor who opposed ‘wasteful’ Games spending off on ratepayer-funded trip
Redland Mayor Jos Mitchell will take a 10-day ratepayer-funded international Olympic fact-finding tour despite publicly opposing a $100 million whitewater venue in her city during last year’s election campaign.
Humans, dogs on alert as drug-resistant parasite gains strength
A Queensland study has revealed a scary-looking parasite is increasingly resistant to dewormers across Australia, posing a health threat to dogs and people.