Queensland election gets serious – voters are eligible to cast ballot from Monday
Queenslanders can now cast their ballot to decide on the next premier with Labor vying to retain government for a fourth term and the Liberal National Party hoping to upset the incumbent’s record.
Photo: ABC
Early voting will begin in Queensland on Monday with around 3.7 million people set to cast their ballot in person or via the post between now and the October 26 poll.
Queenslanders across the 93 electorates will have a choice of 525 candidates and nine registered parties including Labor, the LNP, One Nation, Greens, Family First Queensland, Legalise Cannabis, Katter’s Australian Party and the Libertarian Party of Queensland.
It is a 12 per cent decrease compared to the 597 candidates and 12 endorsed parties in the 2020 election.
With voters already making up their minds by casting ballots with 12 days to go, the two main parties are hoping their policy commitments on the four key election battlegrounds – cost-of-living, crime, health and housing – will be enough.
Premier Steven Miles stuck to his guns on cost-of-living initiatives announcing free school lunches for primary kids if re-elected during the Labor campaign launch on Sunday.
It was a family-focused affair with his wife Kim and daughter Bridie welcoming the incumbent premier to the room filled with around 200 party faithful.
“He’s only just getting started,” Ms Miles said of her husband on Sunday.
“He’s fighting for the future of Queensland because he really cares about it, and he cares about all of us.”
Polls indicate the premier is likely to lose the election, with the LNP leading 56 points to 44 on a two-party preferred basis, but Mr Miles is unperturbed by the forecast, promising to keep fighting to win.
“There is so much on the line for the future of Queensland,” he told the launch.
“We are in this fight and we won’t stop fighting to take Queensland forward.”
Labor has enjoyed almost a decade in power since Annastacia Palaszczuk ousted Campbell Newman in 2015.
Mr Miles replaced Ms Palaszczuk in December when she stepped down but is gunning for a win to govern the state in his own right after 10 months in the top job.
“There’s a limit to how long you want to be a leader without a mandate, without being elected in your own right,” he told reporters.
“I certainly want that mandate so I can do things like free school lunches.”
LNP’s David Crisafulli is vying for the top job after four years as the opposition leader, promising a fresh start for Queensland.
“We’ve reached the halfway point in the campaign, and it is clear that Queensland needs a fresh start,” he said.
Mr Crisafulli pledged if elected that within 100 days his party would legislate harsher sentences for serious youth offences – labelled “adult crime, adult time” – and begin tenders on the regional reset residential program for youth offenders.
In the first week, the party would axe the GP payroll tax and stamp duty for first-time homebuyers.