‘There’s work for us’: Labor regroups after Qld loss
Federal Labor has conceded it has work to do to regain ground in Queensland before the next poll following the party’s state election defeat.
While Labor performed better than expected at the Queensland election, the party has significant work to do to regain power in the Sunshine State, a federal minister says.
Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli will be sworn in on Monday as Queensland’s next premier after the party recorded a narrow victory at the polls, ending nine years of Labor rule.
Queensland senator and Workplace Minister Murray Watt said federal Labor would examine the results of the state poll ahead of a federal election due to be held by May.
“The result on Saturday night was much better than expected, but of course, there’s work for us to do to regroup and reconsider what sort of offer we put on the table for Queenslanders going forward,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.
“What (former premier Steven Miles) and Labor were seeking was a fourth term in office, and obviously, every election you win, the next one becomes that much harder.”
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While early polls suggested Labor was on track for an electoral wipeout, the party regained ground during the formal election campaign.
The LNP is on track to win 48 seats in Queensland parliament, with 47 needed for a majority.
Senator Watt conceded the LNP had run a strong campaign on law and order, but the election had reinforced the need to focus on cost-of-living issues when the federal election rolls around.
“Clearly, the campaign that the LNP ran on crime, particularly youth crime, did resonate with outer suburban residents and also regional Queenslanders,” he said.
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“But equally, the cost-of-living pressures that people in outer suburban areas experiencing are real, and from a federal point of view, that’s why we’ve put so much effort into this.”
Federal Labor is looking to regain ground in Queensland at the next federal election, with the government only holding just five of the state’s 30 electorates.
The Greens went backward at the election, claiming just a single seat in the state’s parliament.
Greens leader Adam Bandt said the federal government needed to take responsibility for Queensland Labor’s loss.
“If it was all about what’s happening federally, then clearly (Prime Minister Anthony Albanese) has got some responsibility for the fact that Labor has now just lost government,” he told ABC Radio.
“If Labor takes the Greens policies and implements them, they’re popular, but if Labor spends their time and money fighting the Greens, then the LNP wins.”
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the Greens election result came from perceptions about the party federally.
“They were shocked by (Greens MP) Max Chandler-Mather standing up, defending the criminal elements of the CFMEU on the back of the truck with a megaphone instead of voting for housing,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program.
“People look at that and go ‘these people aren’t serious about making progress. They are only about opposition. They’re only about making a point’.”
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said the poll showed there had been an electoral divide across the state.
“There’s a split between regional areas and the western suburbs and the inner urban areas,” he told Seven’s Sunrise program
