Has QLD govt; delivered it's campaign promises. Will they be deserving of an other term. Will Abbott factor destroy LNP chances of reelection.

MR Newman, who on Tuesday called a snap election for January 31, wasted no time spruiking the LNP's promise to spend a second term bolstering the state's economy.
He is expected to hold a number of interviews with radio stations both on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane on Wednesday morning.
His movements for the rest of the short campaign remain unclear, with reporters on the trail kept in the dark until the last minute.
Mr Newman's main opponent, Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk, is also remaining tight-lipped about her campaign itinerary, with details about her first day still sketchy.
The leaders have just 25 days to win over Queenslanders.
The Liberal National Party holds a huge majority in parliament but has lost public support following controversial measures including leasing assets and slashing the public service.
Ms Palaszczuk will have to convince voters her party has changed its ways since the Bligh government was punished at the polls in 2012.
The Newman government holds 73 seats to Labor's nine in the 89-seat parliament.
Is this an element of surprise or an element of unfairness.
Newman has given himself an advantage , no doubt that will be judged by the voters.
The Newman Government is promising to lift Queensland out of its current jobs hole if it's re-elected. The Premier Campbell Newman has flagged economic growth and job creation as a top priority, especially in sectors such as resources and construction. It's raised questions about whether those industries can provide the jobs needed.

Newman went to the last election with debt reduction and 4 % unemployment.

Campbell Newman in calling an election at a time he thinks is most favourable to him is doing what the system allows him to do. In my opinion it would be better to have fixed terms.

Yes it should be interesting.

Newman was brave to take on a safe Labor seat to become premier, but is perhaps more foolish than brave to try to hold it. They have fixed some of the Labor fiascos, like the health department pay debacle, & got rid of a few useless bureaucrats, but is it enough.

On the other hand, the voters kicked out Bligh, an intelligent, if not very competent lady, & Labor replaced her with poor Annastacia. Whenever I hear her I can't help wondering where her shovel is. It always feels like she has escaped from a road gang somewhere.

The cogs behind the eyes are so obviously full of sand, & grinding away, with little actual happening. If Ozzies, & Queenslanders particularly can vote for a party she is likely to lead, were they to win government, there is little hope for our future.

It is hard to believe even Labor could go with her as premier, but then again, their ability to pick dreadful leaders is written in history, as they most enduring ability.

So yes an interesting election, where neither of the leaders going in, are likely to emerge as the next premier of the state.

The Labor leader is smart but her education and experience is in 'soft' areas. Doubtless like so many career politicians who have come up her way she could talk under water with her mouth full of marbles.

Find an experienced senior engineer to lead, someone who knows *bleep* from clay and has the hard planning and project management skills to manage a complex State and get results.

Labor is in no fit state to govern. Labor needs to re-build to become a credible opposition.

News item, "Queensland Labor deputy leader Tim Mulherin has announced on day four of the state election campaign that he will quit politics".

579, another point worth considering is, does the other side, having an appalling track record, have anything better to offer.

Campbell Newman, like Tony Abbott entered office with a mountain of debt, which is something no labor government has had to endure in my adult life, so it is little wonder he, Campbell, took an axe to the likes of the extremely top heavy public service.

Personally, I doubt the LNP will loose and there is a chance CN may even hold his seat. I say this because a lesser person would have abandoned his marginal seat in favor of a lib strong hold seat. It may well be seen as a credible move that gets him over the line. Besides, labors cricket lean, less a few numbers don't appear to have much on the table in the way of policy, unless of cause they intend to once again borrow like drunken sailors, which got us into the debt mess in the first place.

My tip is that 'none of the above' will poll pretty well.

Sorry onthebeach, I'm afraid I can't accept your assurance that Annastacia is smart. Of course you don't have to be quick witted to be smart. Many smart folk I know take a little time before voicing an opinion or idea, but I'm afraid, you'll never convince me Annastacia is one of them

You can see the gears churning behind the eyes, even when she is just trying to remember what she has been told to say.

Campbell Newman went to the poll with debt reduction and 4 % unemployment, has he kept that promise or has he done an Abbott.

If the LNP loses this election with the majority they received at the last election would show something is terribly wrong in QLD.

He is not the most popular leader, so he must have stood on some toes and made some not so good decisions. QLD are still waiting for policies, maybe he is standing alone, some say he is not facing the normal people. If LNP come out of this they will most likely pick a new leader.

Will be interesting to see how people react to the NP, and Clive. The NP got a fair buffeting in VIC elections.

Federal politics will not add to anyones chances, we are yet to get a budget passed, while working on the next one.

Queenslanders voted for the LNP because it meant he would become premier.That provided a powerful boost for his campaign to win Ashgrove.

Times have changed, because he has failed to live up to voters' expectations and his first term has been mired in bad decisions and good decisions that soon became own goals.The consequence is that many voters, this time around, will not support the LNP.

You can expect many hard working LNP MPs to hide the cheesy photographs they once had with their leader; they know their best chance of re-election is on their own electoral performances, not on the performance of their state party or its leader.

But it also brings the question of leadership into the frame - and in a battle where Campbell Newman has anointed himself the heart and head of the government, voters have a right to know what happens to the party if he's not invited back.

If Campbell Newman loses Ashgrove, the LNP will still win government. That is almost a certainty.
At the 2012 election, Newman won the seat of Ashgrove by 5.7% over Labor’s Kate Jones. The statewide 2PP at that election was about 63-37 to the LNP. With polls now at about a 50-50 tie, the swing to Labor is currently 13%, much more than Newman’s Ashgrove margin.
Maybe like Abbott. Newman always intended to do enough damage in one term

This State Election is becoming a real joke-fest.

A quick analysis of the state of the contestants reveals:

Gross discontent with Campbell Newman`s "Assets Sale/Lease" fiasco,
whether assets are sold or leased, it amounts to the same thing, a savage increase in operating costs to provide massive profits for leaseholder (for 99 years).

Sheer stupidity in removing Dr Bruce Flegg as candidate for Moggil and "anointing" Dr Christian Rowan as candidate, (a person at best known as "a little strange indeed").

Labor: whose only achievement in recent times has been creating total chaos and racking up mountains of debt, offering no soluble plans for debt reduction.

The Greens: a rabid pack of jibbering idiots exercising a total loss of touch with reality.

PUP: a bunch of political opportunists, whose boss wants to be a self-styled Monarch!

Katter`s mob: 0ne minute they are looking good, and the next, they shoot themselves in the foot, whilst bumping into each other.

Then there is PAULINE: desperately grasping at any opportunity to hear her own voice once again,....please explain?

No doubt there will also be a plethora of well-meaning, but totally insane individuals, to add a touch of colour to a totally insane waste of taxpayers` money

All in all, things are NOT looking too bright for us, the people who ultimately have to foot the bill for all things extravegant.

Mickey, Mickey, wherefor are you Mickey?

Hasbeen,

I was relying on the Labor leader's academic attainment.

You are right that her interviews are all predictable superficial narrative without a glimmer of original thought. One wonders how much influence her wagon-riding had on her progress in life.

One thing that the LNP stuffed up and she has zeroed in on, is the withdrawal of funds from TAFEs.

Bruce Flegg was mentioned earlier. He embarrassed the government over a matter of trust - not declaring conflict of interest involving his son's lobbying to him. I regard that as intolerable. If a senior minister, any manager, cannot always display high principles and ethics, s/he should resign.

Labor's first strike to win Election 2015 is to promise to re-introduce a former Labor job creation program that was dumped when Campbell Newman became premier.

In Cairns on Wednesday - where youth unemployment is 21.3 per cent - Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk promised to restore Labor's Skilling Queenslanders for Work program.
"What we are seeing in Cairns is youth unemployment at over 20 per cent.

Annastacia Palaszczuk meets locals in Cairns on the first full day of campaigning for the State Election. Photo: Tony Moore
"These are some of the worst figures in the nation.
"That is nearly 4000 young people in Cairns without a job
"This is a government that said it would deliver 4 per cent unemployment and now it is closer to 7 per cent," she said opening her campaign in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Queenslanders have been given just four days to ensure their enrolment was up-to-date, following Premier Campbell Newman's decision to call a snap state election for January 31.

New enrolments, or changes to existing enrolments, must be received by the Electoral Commission of Queensland by 5pm on January 10, this Saturday, to be valid for the 2015 state election.
That is one way of peeing people off, another is, it’s holiday time.

I'm not too familiar with Queensland politics, my understanding is 'Hardboiled' Newman will be returned with a reduced majority. Busy with the up coming NSW election in March where the voters are being given the basic choice between the two big CORRUPTION PARTIES, Liberal and Labor. The Liberals were led by Boozy Barry O'Farrell until he was exposed as a liar before the ICAC, only to be replaced by one of the North Shore Mafia's men, Bugsy Baird. Labor on the other hand had the man with the billiard ball hairstyle 'Robbo' Robinson at the controls, only to see him crash and burn just the other day after he had expressed his never ending love or some such nonsense, in a letter for Mad Man Monis, not the most popular guy in town! For Labor in comes Lukey 'Lefty' Foley, who is suffering the slight drawback of not having a seat in the lower house, there was only one left Auburn, thanks to a bit of infighting between the two former Labor candidates, the usual allegations of branch stacking and other skulduggery from both sides, and with a bit of head chopping from the party machine it looks like the bible bashing lefty who at the moment is leading from the sidelines, will walk right in, to the seat that is, not government. Greens are looking good for the seat of Newtown and retaining Balmain along with picking up an extra seat in the Upper House.

and Crackcup, you think Queensland politics is crazy, we in NSW can match then, nutter for nutter any day!

I have to admit that being in WA I hadn't taken much notice of Queensland"s Opposition and its leader, etc. I just assumed there would be a fair bit of disaffection with Newman and, therefore, Labor would give he and his party a run for its money.

While I still believe there's a real possibility that Newman will lose his seat, I have to say I'm fairly surprised at the lack of dynamic in Annastacia Palaszczuk. She's quite boring from what I've seen "on the telly" - where's the passion and enthusiasm?

Certainly from my brief perusals of her style, she comes across as reasonably ordinary - and notably uninspiring.

Why would you elevate someone like that to a leadership role - have they a dearth of talent?

Annastacia Palaszczuk was elected the Queensland Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Queensland Parliamentary Labor Party in March, 2012.

She has been the State Member for Inala since September 2006.

Annastacia served as a Minister in the previous Labor Government after being appointed as the Minister for Disability Services and Multicultural Affairs after the 2009 election.

She was appointed Minister for Transport in February 2011 and held the position until the March 2012 election.

Annastacia holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland, Master of Arts (Hons) from the University of London, Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from the Australian National University.

579,

She has been all over the place without being anywhere long enough to plan, conduct/manage and be accountable for the whole cycle of anything.

It is the success in the ALP of career politicians like that (and with the boost of affirmative action imperatives) who deter good talent with proved track records from applying for pre-selection, or from winning where they do.

Qld Labor really needs to look very closely at members and the community participating and having a say, not just being helpers on polling day. It is that factional problem again.

"Annastacia holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland, Master of Arts (Hons) from the University of London, Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from the Australian National University."

BUT 579...Can she chew gum and walk at the same time, then again George W Bush couldn't and he ended up the leader of The Free World! She only wants to be the leader of Queensland. Suitably qualified I would say.
Another question. Annastacia, could she be the long lost daughter of the last Czar of Russia? Just asking, it all helps.

The Abbott factor is becoming a big factor in the Newman reelection chances. People are not happy with Abbott or Newman. A string of catastrophes from both federal and state.

I wonder how Abbotts latest assault on medicare will pan out for the Queensland election.

One of the major points raised on the news
recently, and one which the Premier has been
making part of his election campaign - is
the lack of any substantial policies on
Labor's part - which may play a big part in
people's decision's on how they will vote.

Still the Libs got in didn't they and they had
the same problem during the last election.
So who knows? It all depends how dissatisfied
the voters are with the Newman government.

One question though - what's he going to do -
when he's got nothing left to sell?

Labor will do what every other opposition has done since Moses was a lad. They will release their policies the week before the election.
Its a bit rich for the LNP to demand Labors full policies and costings at the beginning of an election campaign when they refused to do the same when they were in opposition.
Crikey...Abbott released his policies the day before the election and he still managed to turn most of those promises into bare faced lies.

Geez..Newman used Labors privatisation policies as a weapon against them and now he reckons they are a great idea..its all nothing but lies and deception.

Dear Crowie,

It is all deception - that's politics.
Sad - but true.
I don't like the term "political correctness,"
if its political - how can it be correct.

<<.its all nothing but lies and deception>>

Not always. Occasionally, its all nothing but deception and lies.

Labor in NSW has shot itself in the foot yet again, with new boy in town, and leader for about a day Luke 'Boozy' Folly has admitted to not one, but two drink driving convictions. Short of admitting to be a child molester, what else could this mug admit too and be less popular. If this is the class of the new Labor leader, Bugsy Baird and his Corruption Party should romp in. VOTE GREEN