The Liberal National Party has edged ahead of Queensland’s incumbent Labor Government as the state prepares to head to the polls tomorrow.
The vote – which is also seen as a test of Labor’s standing on a federal level – looks set to be extremely close. A Galaxy poll published in the Courier-Mail today shows the LNP on 51% of the two-party preferred vote, but this may not be enough to give the LNP the 22 extra seats needed to govern.
Both sides have made a big pitch for the business vote. LNP, led by Lawrence Springborg, has promised payroll tax breaks for companies that do not cut workers, said it will review all state taxes and charges, promised to retain the state’s petrol subsidy, and promised a $727 million infrastructure package it says will create 10,000 jobs.
Labor, led by Premier Anna Bligh, has promised to create 100,000 jobs, reduce payroll taxes for apprentices, and spend $124 million over four years to create 150,000 training places.
Bligh has also vowed to push ahead with Labor’s ambitious capital works program, which will push Queensland’s debt to $74 billion by 2011-12 and had led the state to loose its AAA credit rating.
“I stand in the Labor tradition,” Bligh said yesterday. “We build, we create jobs, and we keep the economy moving when the private sector is unable to step up.”
But in another important boost for the LNP and Springborg, the Courier-Mail has endorsed the LNP, declaring Premier Anna Bligh’s Labor Government is “out of touch and out of time”.
“These challenges need a fresh approach, a willingness to shed the past. Mr Springborg offers it and deserves a chance to do the job.”
Many political pundits are predicting a hung parliament. While the LNP needs 22 seats to take government in its own right, it could form a minority government with the four independents who are expected to be returned.
This is one election that could take some days to sort out.
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James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
