Crime fight to come to a head at Inala and Ipswich West by-elections

Two battleground by-elections are shaping up as a referendum on Labor’s crime record, with candidates from both sides declaring their party is best placed to tackle the burning issue.

Two battleground by-elections are shaping up as a referendum on Labor’s crime record, with candidates from both sides declaring their party is best placed to tackle the burning issue.

Voters in Inala and Ipswich West will head to the polls next month, and while both are Labor strongholds – with Inala the former seat of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk – the LNP is betting on a solid swing as youth crime threatens to derail Premier Steven Miles’ re-election hopes.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli, who this week embarked on a doorknocking blitz with the LNP’s Ipswich West candidate Darren Zanow, said locals were telling him crime was a “major concern”.

“On March 16, I think one of the big questions the community will ask at the ballot box is, do they feel more or less safe now than when Labor first came to power in 2015?” he told The Sunday Mail.

“I’ve made it really clear the LNP will change the laws because making our community safer is a top priority for Queenslanders.”

The area’s crime issues were thrust dramatically into the spotlight this week after the high-profile murder of Ipswich grandmother Vyleen White.

“This by-election is a chance for the people of Ipswich to send a clear message to the state Labor government: we deserve better, we deserve to feel safe, and we won’t cop a government that believes they don’t have to do anything about it,” Mr Zanow said.

Steven Miles and David Crisafulli have their eyes on Inala and Ipswich West, which both go to the polls in March.

Labor candidate Wendy Bourne – who is seeking to replace outgoing MP Jim Madden – said “there’s no doubt our community is hurting after such a horrific incident” (Ms White’s death).

“I’ve lived in this community for 30 years,” she said.

“If the LNP had won the last state election in 2020, based on their commitments at the time, our Southern Region would have had 150 fewer police officers.”

In Inala – Labor’s safest seat – locals will soon see a local member without the surname Palaszczuk for the first time in three decades.

Two Inala electorate suburbs were caught up in a major crime incident on Friday night when a woman was allegedly kidnapped, tortured and seriously assaulted.

ALP candidate Margie Nightingale said any instance of crime was “completely unacceptable”, but backed the government’s record investment in police.

“I’ll keep listening to locals and to the community,” she said, adding that cost-of-living pressures were also a key issue for locals.

“The LNP’s track record of fewer police speaks for itself.”

But LNP candidate Trang Yen – who previously worked in the Department of State Development under Mr Miles – said crime was a huge issue, and locals “didn’t want to be ignored any longer”.

“If given the chance, I will not give up fighting for a safer community,” she said.

“I believe the community will speak loudly and clearly at the ballot box on March 16.”

Originally published as Crime fight to come to a head at Inala and Ipswich West by-elections