AAP General News (Australia)
02-19-2009
QLD: Bligh clears in-tray for poll day
By Paul Osborne
BRISBANE, Feb 19 AAP - Anna Bligh is edging closer to completing her to-do list.
There are only a handful of tasks left before the Queensland premier calls an early
election, expected on March 28.
The key task is to convince voters of the need for an early election, after many months
of the premier insisting she wants to go full-term.
The global economic crisis, and its ongoing impact on Queensland, is likely to be used
as the excuse not to hold a poll when it is due in September.
The premier has made securing jobs her mantra and will argue that she needs a mandate
now to maintain stability of government and see Queensland through the tough times ahead.
The certainty of an incumbent government, with 11 years of experience behind it, will
be contrasted with a leap into the unknown under the Liberal National Party (LNP).
But the LNP has consistently argued the government has wasted a decade of good economic
times, put the state into $65 billion debt, and can no longer be trusted to manage the
books.
Treasury boffins are working on a revised budget, expected to be released on the eve
of the election being called.
While it is likely most indicators including unemployment and growth have weakened,
the long-term figures will also include a welcome injection of $8.3 billion from the Rudd
government's stimulus package - including $4.4 billion for infrastructure.
The Queensland government has listed $800 million in projects to start immediately
this financial year, including schools, social housing and road and rail projects.
This will deliver plenty of announcements for an election campaign.
Another issue on the to-do list is renewal within the Labor Party.
Eight Labor MPs have signalled they will not run again, allowing the much-needed injection
of new blood sought by the premier.
Ms Bligh's diary also includes another week of parliament, in which the government
will ram through its charter of budget honesty - a bill to ensure all election promises
can be independently checked by Treasury.
It could also be expected that much mention will be made of the government's environmental
credentials - crucial to securing Greens preferences - and changes to make it more accountable,
including a lobbyists code of conduct and new rules for former public servants and ministers
entering the private sector.
Lastly, government advertising is expected to be ramped up over the coming week as
the premier aims to counter a number of spot-fire issues.
These include unrest over centralising Brisbane's children's hospital on the southside,
uncertainty over job prospects, and concerns over botched flood relief efforts in the
state's north.
Labor is already road-testing key election themes and points of attack.
In one ad, LNP leader Lawrence Springborg is shown - in a classic example of Joh-speak
- to bumble through a media doorstop, saying he would save taxpayers' money by "front-ending"
public sector jobs and making others "denecessary".
And the premier has launched her own website www.anna4qld.com.au to interact with voters
and get her message out.
A quick look at the LNP's main website, www.springborg.com, gives a taste of where
the opposition's priorities lie.
Trimming the fat in public sector spending, plans to "climate proof" the state, crack
down on "hoons" and provide schools with "smaller classes, better results and greater
parental involvement" feature in the LNP's election platform.
With the campaigns test-run and the in-tray emptied, the only thing left for the premier
to do is make the drive to Government House.
AAP pjo/ss/de
KEYWORD: NEWSCOPE QLD (AAP NEWS ANALYSIS)
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