Queensland Votes 2015

6 January 2015:

The guessing game is finally over, with Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, today calling a snap election for Saturday 31 January 2015. The Premier’s announcement not only caught the Opposition off-guard but many of his own team, who scrambled to return from holidays.

Acting Governor Chief Justice Tim Carmody agreed to the Premier’s request to dissolve the 89-seat Legislative Assembly and issue the writs for what will be a short 26 day election campaign.

In his pitch for a second term, Campbell Newman said the Liberal National Party had a ‘Strong Team with a Strong Plan for a Stronger Queensland’. The LNP will use the election to seek a mandate to lease the State’s power and port assets which it says will provide financial certainty into the future and funds to improve vital services and build essential infrastructure.

Newman led the LNP to a historic victory in 2012, with the Party now holding a massive 73 seats in Parliament, down from the 78 seats it initially won. During its first term, three MPs – Ray Hopper (Condamine), Carl Judge (Yeerongpilly) and Alex Douglas (Gaven) – defected, while MPs Chris Davis (Stafford) and Scott Driscoll (Redcliffe) resigned. The Labor Party then won these seats with swings of 17 and 18 per cent against the LNP in what were considered historic by-election victories.

After being reduced to just seven seats in 2012, Labor now goes to the election with nine seats after Redcliffe and Stafford by-election wins. Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk, who has been buoyed by recent opinion polls showing Labor neck-and-neck with the Government, welcomed the announcement of the election, saying “Labor is ready, we will be focusing on jobs and jobs creation.”