Comments on: Springborg’s stuff ups summoned the ghost of Joh

By: Cathy

Cathy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

As Queensland slides of the political radar for another three years into a debate and analysis black hole there’s immense empathy for an electorate deprived of the joys of Australian democracy. Even Clive Palmer and his construction industry mate Jack Hutchinson couldn’t put their billion-dollar pocket money to better use other than a few Vote 1 signs and threats to sue the Premier. There’s every evidence that money certainly doesn’t buy political smarts in Queensland.

By: JamesK'

JamesK' — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I agree with this assessment. The other factor might have been fear of a hung parliament and so The Borg’s silliness was doubly damaging. The primary vote was Labor 42.7% : LNP 41.1% according to Possum. Really closer than it looks when all done and dusted.

By: Terry Mills

Terry Mills — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Well, Queensland failed to lurch to the right despite the editorials of the Murdoch press. In my local area I have access to three daily newspapers (Cairns Post, Courier Mail and the Australian) each of which gave the election to the LNP and portrayed the Labor Party as tired and out of ideas; even some of the local Labor elected members (who all retained their seats) were showing nervous apprehension of the predicted decimation: it didn’t happen.It shows that the perceived power of the right-wing press is not as pervasive as they themselves may believe.
Among the mistakes made by the LNP was the opportunism of Springborg’s advisers in trying to paint the state Labor government as having bodged the oil pollution clean-up on Southern beaches when the media, by contrast, were showing an appropriate, well coordinated and valiant response by all agencies in mitigating and alleviating the damage. The posturing and confected indignation of the Brisbane Mayor, Campbell Newman, was appalling and certainly didn’t elevate his standing as a community leader or help his LNP mates, in fact it probably lost them some of the swinging votes.