Very much obviously remains to be said about the Queensland state election result, and rest assured that it soon will be. In the meantime, here’s a table which breaks down the damage region by region.
| VOTES | SEATS | |||||||
| ALP | LNP | GRN | KAP | ALP | LNP | IND | KAP | |
| Northern Brisbane | 31.7% | 51.9% | 7.5% | 6.9% | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| -16.1% | 13.8% | -1.0% | -10 | +10 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Southern Brisbane | 33.8% | 49.4% | 7.7% | 5.0% | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| -18.5% | 13.7% | -0.6% | -12 | +12 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Inner Brisbane | 30.7% | 52.5% | 13.6% | 2.6% | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| -9.5% | 12.8% | -1.7% | -5 | +5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ipswich | 33.6% | 38.5% | 5.4% | 14.1% | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| -24.8% | 8.2% | -1.9% | -2 | +2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Gold Coast | 23.4% | 58.3% | 6.6% | 7.3% | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| -17.8% | 12.7% | -0.2% | -4 | +4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Sunshine Coast | 16.1% | 57.9% | 11.3% | 6.6% | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| -12.8% | 8.6% | 1.2% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Urban Hinterland | 19.1% | 51.0% | 7.4% | 18.7% | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| -14.0% | 5.6% | -0.4% | -1 | +2 | -1 | 0 | ||
| Central Coastal | 25.3% | 41.3% | 4.2% | 16.9% | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| -17.4% | 2.4% | -1.4% | -2 | +3 | -1 | 0 | ||
| Northern Coastal | 26.4% | 40.9% | 5.1% | 25.4% | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| -17.8% | -1.1% | -2.7% | -5 | +5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Interior | 15.7% | 50.7% | 3.3% | 26.9% | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| -10.8% | -1.2% | -0.2% | -1 | -1 | 0 | +2 | ||
| Top End | 33.3% | 37.7% | 5.1% | 21.8% | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| -13.5% | -4.3% | -1.2% | -1 | +1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| TOTAL | 26.8% | 49.5% | 7.4% | 11.6% | 8 | 77 | 2 | 2 |
| -15.9% | 8.4% | -0.6% | -43 | +43 | -2 | +2 | ||
Doyley:
FWIW I’ll never forget Grahame Morris chirpily declaring after the 2004 federal election, that the coalition had secured a vote sufficient enough to keep Labor out of office for the next two terms.
We all know how that went!
Danny Lewis @147,
That is my take on it as well.
As I mentioned carbon pricing and MRRT were not raised at all to my knowledge.
In fact the campaign was pretty much policy free by both sides with the only issues seeming to be the honesty of Can do and the perceived competence of the government.
Both hurt labor very much in the end as the result so obviously shows.
Centre
I am confused.
Does that mean you are happy that the ALP has only 8 seats in Qld?
The only comfort I can find is that Can Do really can’t do much at all different, if people are looking for different policy outcomes rather than just different people they are gonna be really disappointed, even if Can Do does increase investment infrastructure, strengthen the public service to improve front line service, move government ‘grants’ from those who don’t need them to those that do ….
Danny Lewis
[PS What has happened to the great Labor campaigners? Where is the spark? Where is the creativity? Where is the passion? There are too many second-raters around at the moment and it does not augur well for the future of the party, IMHO.]
Bloody good question! The current lot seem to stick fervently to the “line of the day” with absolutely no colour no flair and for many definitely no sense of humour. They are media trained to within an inch of their lives.
Let’s get ’em back to the old days of the Sunday speakers in the Sydney Domain where anyone could jump on a soap box and have their say.
Albo at least has some colour and flair and not at all backward in displaying it. No wonder people are bored to death by pollie speak and don’t even listen to it anymore.
Oh for the days of Fred Daly Jim Killen et al!
Negative advertising against Mr Newman was fair enough, but Ms Bligh should not have joined in. Indeed, she should have concentrated on the positives and let someone else to the dirty work.
Danny:
Mal Brough made the point last night (wtte) that cost of living pressures (the highest ranked exit poll issue) were ultimately bound up with the carbon ‘tax’ because when people think of cost of living stuff, they are reminded about the carbon ‘tax’.
He may have a point, but there wasn’t anything in the exit polling I saw which enabled him to draw such firm conclusions.
Bligh calling a press conference for 12:30pm QLD Time – tipped to announce she is resigning from parliament & forcing a by-election
And people wonder why politicians are held in low regard
Could’ve waited a couple months
ALP deserve to lose Bligh’s seat
If Bligh’s thinking of putting Fraser or Dick into her seat, she’d better be careful. British Labour tried something like that some 50 years ago after Patrick Gordon Walker lost his seat at the general election and then went on to lose another ‘safe’ seat in a manipulated by-election.
l
I am OK with the idea of local killing and slaughtering provided there is a rigorous health inspection regime and waste products are dealth with appropriately. It would definitely involve less stress on the animals. We killed and slaughtered animals routinely while on the farm. Most farming families did – and I imagine that the ever-dwindling number of family farmers still do.
As for allowing kangaroos to go to waste, I simply don’t see the point. Greys in particular are in pest proportions becauses and it is a pity to leave them to rot.
Boerwar
Agree with every word. Dying in a familiar environment is what humans prefer, too.
I still think the Labor Party should resign all eight seats and field no candidates in the by-elections. If Qlders want a oligarchy, let them have it. We could all just buy popcorn and watch.
What would be the cost to Federal Labor if the Labor Party just wrote it off completely as a waste of good resources?
Boerwar
I know an old gentleman in Tassie (there may be more) who never buys meat, but collects roadkill. Doesn’t like to see it go to waste.
Bligh presser. She is resigning.
WWP
[…even if Can Do does increase investment infrastructure, strengthen the public service to improve front line service,…]
Mr Campbell has promised to cut real wages of the public service. Politicians of both stripes are helping to damage the quality of the various public services by publicly criticising them when they can’t respond, by imagining that you get improved outcomes by sacking them, reducing their entitlements and by criticising erroneously government ‘waste’ etc, etc. Mr Abbott is not just trashing brand Labor. He is trashing brand government.
Increasingly, public servants with get up and go are getting up and going. They get better pay in the private sector.
IMHO, and it might take a while, Australians are going to discover that treating the various public services like disposable trash is not a very bright strategy.
l
Waste not want not.
I believe it might be illegal to feed roadkill to pigs, but it is legal to collect roadkill to feed yourself.
Boerwar
😆
Crazy world.
TT
[If Bligh’s thinking of putting Fraser or Dick into her seat, she’d better be careful. British Labour tried something like that some 50 years ago after Patrick Gordon Walker lost his seat at the general election and then went on to lose another ‘safe’ seat in a manipulated by-election.]
I see that Ms Bligh has decided not to follow your advice.
There really should be a law against pollies pulling up stumps like this
This is just pathetic, not even 24 hours after the polls have closed the poor people of South Brisbane going to be dragged to the polls again
Unless there is a medical reason for a resignation, the parties should pay for any by-election not taxpayers
Anna Bligh Announces she has quit parliament.
The irony of the 21C
As AGW bites in water, weather & atmosphere, people will demand that govts “do something”. But try to curb their use of carbon, their ability to pollute the atmosphere, and they scream blue murder and vote them out of office.
One seat more or less, at this point in Queensland, who cares?
I wonder JG does not get the same urge from time to time except there is a whole lot of us out here who just cannot abide by the tories and she must fight on. She is policy driven
In Queensland, they electorate have spoken and fair enough.
That does not mean to say, once you have captained the ship onto the rocks you feel like either salvaging or rebuilding.
From a personal point of view, Bligh can consider herself rejected by the electorate and get out altogether. Now is the time to do it and good luck to her.
Who gives a stuff whether Labor retains her current seat or not?
On the other hand, I thought Big Kimbo made a mistake in resigning when he got close.
He would have got back next time.
Boerwar,
I always thought culled kangaroos went into petfood. If not, why not? when I was a youngster, the ‘roo-shooter on the sheep/cattle stations would cull the roos, one head shot to avoid damaging the skin, dress the carcase on the spot and put it into a refrigerated container for sale. (One of my brothers worked for a while taking the skins off the carcases at the local abbatoir.) The meat went into petfood as far as I know and the skins to leather.
I like kangaroos and want them treated humanely, which includes only killing the bucks because the females always have a joey somewhere, but when culling is necessary, wasting that protein is reprehensible.
BKHat
May I suggest that there is a medical reason – pure bloody exhaustion.
[archiearchive @archiearchive
RT @2FBS: Ahhh Queensland, we still love you … but you’re sleeping outside for the next 3 years.]
[This is just pathetic, not even 24 hours after the polls have closed the poor people of South Brisbane going to be dragged to the polls again ]
I agree, I think it’s very self-indulgent. She hasn’t said anything about medical reasons, just that the party can’t rebuild with her “in the ranks”.
She could’ve done what KK did and go to the backbench.
lizzie
[The irony of the 21C
As AGW bites in water, weather & atmosphere, people will demand that govts “do something”. ]
I look forward to seeing the do nothing blowflies meeting the speeding truck of reality’s windscreen.
I think negative advertising is a serious failure in political communication.
However:
Negative campaigning is typical of tired governments. When you’ve been in power for 14 years, it is very difficult to make a case for “what we’ll do next term” that is big enough/important enough/positive enough but strangely wasn’t something that you tried to do in the last 14 years.
So really, “tired” governments can mostly only campaign neutrally or negatively – ie “more of the same” or “isn’t the other guy awful”
“more of the same” doesn’t get a lot of traction, and obviously doesn’t provide any reason to vote for the party for people who feel aggrieved for whatever reason.
So, that’s why “isn’t the other guy awful” is trotted out by tired governments.
Personally I think the negative campaigning should be left out entirely – campaign on your positive record, look to the future as much as you can. Don’t be scared of losing the immediate election, but always focus on building and supporting the future of the party. To my mind the ALP campaign was nihilistic and offered nothing to make people feel at all positive about voting for the ALP now or in the future, and that’s just not good enough.
And if the ALP let Bruce Hawker near any election campaign ever again they must have rocks in their heads.
[Anna Bligh Announces she has quit parliament.]
Very friggin’ average.
They deserve to lose the by-election as well.
I think you are all being a bit dramatic about the Bligh resignation. I think you will find Anna believes they can’t win with her in the picture. If she is going to go now is as good a time as any.
As to the cost who cares? They have council elections due and didn’t run them together which would have save qlders time and money.
If I was Bligh I might feel like giving Qld the finger too. They prefer Cando, so be it. A bit rough on Bligh’s campaign workers though. I doubt many will be up for a second stint.
[She could’ve done what KK did and go to the backbench.]
There will be no backbench there are only seven or eight of them.
Labor’s problem is that they can’t sell the need for action on climate change because if they do it quickly becomes clear that MUCH more is needed to be done.
Thus their main sell for the carbon tax is that many people will be better off (which of course significantly counters the effectiveness of the tax to reduce emissions).
So the forces against taking real action on climate change are Labor, Liberal, and some big business, and their ever-present lobbyists (IPA etc).
The forces for taking more action? When is the last time you can remember the media reporting someone saying that much more action needs to be taken very quickly?
poroti
Very nice metaphor. Contains everything necessary to make the point 🙂
I would have thought she’s letting her seat go to Cameron Dick (can’t imagine them putting up Andrew Fraser, a bit too much baggage) so he can be oppo leader. She says it should be timed to go with the local Government elections in late April, so if that’s the case it wouldn’t be dragging out the voters again any more than they have to, just another form to fill.
With Bligh staying on and only a handful of Labor members she would’ve had to be shadow minister for something. Better for her to be out of the spotlight altogether.
SK
[If she is going to go now is as good a time as any.]
I agree and what a class act she is in the way she has handled a massive rejection by the electorate.
This gives an opportunity for another member to be blooded providing the ALP wins the bi-election.
I am surprised the vitriol heaped upon Bligh here.
I would have thought there were precedents everywhere.
She has just led Labor and Labor has lost handsomely. The blame merchants will be out and about with instant experts popping up everywhere.
As I said, you can be blamed for putting the ship on the rocks, but this does not mean it is your job to salvage the ship which was old and leaky, neither should it be an obligation to build a new ship.
For goodness sake the damn woman is probably worn out. What, now she should look forward to helping rebuild a party, which according to some pundits might take another 16 years to get back into power.
And, the poor voters in her electorate! Let them vote a conservative in and then they will have the full rack and no complaints. As it was, Bligh only just scrapped back so they were ready to chuck her out anyway.
I notice Peter Costello followed this advice to stay as did Brendon Nelson. Like, they put the “good” of the party ahead of themselves.
Do me a favour!
Anna’s resignation comments: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/bligh-quits-parliament-20120325-1vs09.html
[She says it should be timed to go with the local Government elections in late April,]
Do Qlders have compulsory voting in local elections?
In hindsight, maybe Anna should have called for an election the week after her “We are qlders flood speech.”
Dio,
It is compulsory.
Bligh is gutless. She should face up to Campbell Newman in Parliament so he can respond to her allegations she made against him under Parliamentry Priveledge.
And to those saying she should quit because it’s a “good time” her party has something like 7 SEATS, thats the WORST time to leave. They are going to be down to 6 seats now.
MWH,
Hanging on to existing environmental reforms is the challenge in Queensland from here on, not taking more action quickly.
The routine from here is that the LNP will get a briefing about the state of the books early next week. By end of week a declaration that things are “far worse” than even they anticipated and that drastic action will be required will occur. Cuts to the PS, school teachers, police and nurses will be deemed essential because the one thing this Cando Government will deliver on is the restoration of the AAA rating no matter how much pain is inflicted. May include further asset sales (They have no shame!).
Then, of course, impediments to business activity (read regulations, environmental considerations etc) will be watered down or abolished. This may include things like Wild Rivers Legislation.
So, for the Greens, it will be a time for hibernation as their concerns are completely sidelined.
Gee Whizz,
Two words. Grow. Up.
lizzie
More than a passing nod in the direction of the farewell lines by the late great Humphrey Lyttelton’s closing lines to “I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue”. Lines such as
[and so,as the delicate mayfly of time collides with the speeding windscreen of fate, and the angry wasp of destiny flies up the trouser leg of despair..]
SK
[Dio,
It is compulsory.]
That’s not so bad then.
In SA, local elections are voluntary.
I think Anna Bligh has done the right thing. Her government and herself have been comprehensively rejected. Anna Bligh can leave and Qlders can feel they got what they really wanted. That signals a new beginning, or at least the end of the old era, for Qld Labor.
So much for Labor values…. just screw over your party because you didn’t get to be Premier again.
Take your bat and ball and go home and stuff the party
poroti
And how we fear the angry wasp up the trouser leg 😆
Thank you.
Federally the ALP need to start political advertising soon to sell the benefits to punters of their current term before it’s too late.
It’s the thing that’s been holding them back. They have to go over the heads of the media – who hate them – and speak directly to the electorate.
If they don’t Tony Abbott’s going to win. Doesn’t Campbell Newman remind you of someone???
The ALP must have learnt something about ‘politics’ from Handout Johnny’s decade in government surely….