source : the age
As the federal LNP makes a dramatic gamble to ward off One Nation in the Queensland regions, state leader David Crisafulli says his government has demonstrated it is working effectively on behalf of voters two years into its four-year term.
On Monday federal Nationals leader Matt Canavan confirmed a bid to switch from the Senate to the lower house, setting up a showdown with Pauline Hanson’s insurgent populist party in the Rockhampton-based seat of Capricornia where he lives.
Asked shortly after the announcement if he believed it could provide a blueprint to his own MPs on how to counter One Nation at the 2028 Queensland election, Crisafulli talked around the question.
“What we’re doing in Queensland I hope shows what a good, united, disciplined government looks like,” he told reporters in Hervey Bay.
“Our focus is always on making sure that there’s a future for agriculture and tourism and mining, and new opportunities in advanced medical research and education.
“We want to see people moving to the state. We want people to be able to afford a home.”
Polling conducted exclusively for this masthead and published in October showed One Nation just three percentage points behind Labor on primary votes, with the government on 32 per cent, opposition on 24 per cent, and Hanson’s party on 21 per cent.
Among women, One Nation narrowly outperformed Labor and was nine percentage points behind the LNP, despite having no leader in the state, or existing members of parliament.
Crisafulli added on Monday he was banking on voters believing he and his government had demonstrated integrity during their first term.
“We’re doing everything we said we would do, and I just hope in some way that maybe that’s something that people will look at,” the premier said.
As One Nation have surged in the polls across Australia, Queensland Labor has attempted to frame them as an extension on the LNP.
“The next election will be a fight between Labor and a far-right coalition of the LNP and One Nation swapping preferences and hoping to govern together,” leader and former premier Steven Miles told the party’s annual conference earlier this year.
At the time, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie ruled out a potential preference deal or coalition with One Nation, saying he believed the LNP could expand its majority at the next state election.
