Queensland general election campaign, 2006

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Election campaign, 2006
Government Opposition
Party Labor Coalition
Leader Beattie Springborg
Leader since 1996 2003
Leader rating[1] 58% 25%
2PP rating[2] 58% 42%
2PP 2004 result 55.5% 44.5%
Seats held 60 23
Seats needed 0 22
On +5% swing ↑10 ↑11
On 0% swing 0 0
On -5% swing ↓11 ↓10

An election was held in the Australian state of Queensland on 9 September 2006 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly, after being announced by Premier Peter Beattie on 15 August 2006.

The election saw the incumbent Labor government led by Premier Peter Beattie defeat the National-Liberal Coalition lead by Lawrence Springborg and Bruce Flegg respectively, and gain a fourth consecutive term in office. Beattie thus became the first Labor Premier of Queensland to win four consecutive elections since William Forgan Smith did so in the 1930s. If Beattie serves out his fourth term, he will become the second-longest serving Queensland Premier, after Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Springborg has since resigned as Opposition Leader, being replaced by Jeff Seeney.

Contents

[edit] Opinion Polls

[edit] Leader Ratings

Preferred premier ratings
Peter Beattie
 Labor
Lawrence Springborg
 Lib/Nat
2004 election 61% 24%
25-28 Aug 2006 58% 25%
Jul - Aug 2006 53% 25%
Apr - Jun 2006 52% 22%
Jan - Mar 2006 51% 25%
Oct - Dec 2005 51% 25%
Aug - Sep 2005 54% 22%
Jul - Aug 2005 59% 22%
Source: Newspoll


[edit] Voting Intention

The tables below list voting intentions for the 2006 election. Conducted by Roy Morgan Research and Newspoll/The Australian, the surveys asked approximately 1000 voters each month: "If a State election were being held today — which party would receive your first preference?" The table also includes the two-party preferred vote.

Two-Party Preferred
ALP
 Labor
LNP
 Lib/Nat
2004 election result 55.5% 44.5%
25-28 Aug 2006 58% 42%
Jul - Aug 2006 54% 46%
Apr - Jun 2006 52% 48%
Jan - Mar 2006 50% 50%
Oct - Dec 2005 50% 50%
Aug - Sep 2005 50% 50%
Jul - Aug 2005 50% 50%
Source: Newspoll
Two-Party Preferred
ALP
 Labor
LNP
 Lib/Nat
2004 election result 55.5% 44.5%
6-7 Sep 2006 53% 47%
Jul - Aug 2006 58.5% 41.5%
May - Jun 2006 60% 40%
Mar - Apr 2006 59.5% 40.5%
Jan - Feb 2006 58% 42%
Nov - Dec 2005 59% 41%
Sep - Oct 2005 56.5% 43.5%
Jul - Aug 2005 61.5% 38.5%
Source: Roy Morgan


[edit] Candidates

Main article: Candidates of the Queensland legislative election, 2006

[edit] Pre-Electoral issues

As Queensland is currently suffering a major drought, water management issues have become a major concern. The Coalition has contended that the Beattie government's water management strategies are inadequate. The government has in turn criticised the Coalition for its policies on water. Proposals to alleviate the water burden, such as the construction of a "mega-dam" at Traveston and the introduction of recycled water into the water supply of Toowoomba, have led to debate and in some cases embarrassment for the government.

From mid-2005, after the revelation of the Jayant Patel scandal, the issue of health has become a focus of controversy, damaging to the Beattie government. After several inquiries and industrial disputes, a restructure of Queensland Health took place, and the state government is currently lobbying the federal government for more doctor training places in universities for Queensland.

Other issues of importance to the electorate include environmental management and land clearing, asbestos in state schools, the provision of transportation and infrastructure to rural and regional areas, and the management of South East Queensland's population growth.

[edit] Campaign

The campaign started unusually with Premier Peter Beattie denying a general election was about to be called, while residents in some Gold Coast electorates received direct mail from the ALP stating that the election had been called for September.

At a press conference on 16 August, Liberal leader Bruce Flegg stated that in the event that the Coalition won government, and the Liberal Party won more seats than the Nationals, Lawrence Springborg would still become Premier [1]. Other Liberal Party MP's such as Michael Caltabiano disagreed, as this ran contrary to the coalition agreement signed between the two parties, which stated that whichever party won the most seats would form government. The ALP used this to attack Coalition stability in media and advertising.

Flegg was subsequently asked to leave a shopping centre in the Redcliffe suburb of Kippa-Ring for failing to obtain permission to do a campaign walkthrough. [2]. Flegg later denied that he had in fact been evicted.

On 22 August, Flegg took part in a media conference with Julie Bishop, federal Liberal Party Minister for Education, where he endorsed a Federal Government plan for the mandatory teaching of Australian history in schools. Responding to questions from journalists, he failed to identify the date of arrival of the Second Fleet (1790), or the person after whom Brisbane was named (noted astronomer and Governor of New South Wales Sir Thomas Brisbane) [3].

Two sad twists of fate impacted the 26-day campaign - on 30 August, opposition leader Lawrence Springborg took temporary leave from the campaign after the sudden death of his father-in-law, and National Party deputy leader Jeff Seeney and Liberal leader Bruce Flegg continued the campaign in his absence.[4] The death of TV personality Steve Irwin ("The Crocodile Hunter") on 4 September in an accident off Port Douglas, Queensland, took the media's focus away from the election in its final week. [5]

Current Treasurer Anna Bligh has stated the coalition's major election promises of wiping out stamp duty within five years, increasing the first home buyers grant by $3,000 and introducing a 10% per litre subsidy on ethanol-blended petrol will cost $2.4 billion dollars and has blown the budget. Lawrence Springborg says all his election promises are costed and affordable, with costings to be released two days before the election.[6] So far these costings have not been released.

On Friday September 8, the day before the election, Premier Beattie and Opposition Leader Springborg participated in a "great debate"[7] at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, moderated by ABC journalist Chris O'Brien.

Although Newspoll and other published polls showed Labor well ahead on predicted two-party-preferred vote, Labor strategists feared that people would vote for the Coalition in a protest vote, expecting Beattie not to lose. [8] They adopted a strategy of denying Labor was in fact ahead. [9] The Roy Morgan poll suggested the Liberal vote had fallen, while the Greens had risen to 8%.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Newspoll conducted August 2006
  2. ^ Newspoll conducted August 2006
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