Everyone’s had a go at describing the magnitude of Queensland Labor’s loss over the weekend. (Those in the Crikey bunker have been distracted over an argument about the incorrect use of the term “decimated” but that’s for pure word nerds …)
The entire Queensland Labor parliamentary party can now fit into a Tarago, that is of course, if Queensland’s new Premier Campbell Newman grants them official party status given their size.
That minor caveat is in itself mind melting.
For Queensland Labor, it’s really, really, bad. It’s not exactly a picnic for federal Labor either. But it’s not great for the state of Queensland, either.
One term too many has proved fatal to Labor, and deeply dysfunctional for Queensland. It doesn’t help that Queensland doesn’t boast an upper house, both as a venue for holding the government to account and for providing Labor with a second 11 to fill out a shadow ministry.
Even the party faithful sipping Champagne and chanting for Campbell at the remarkably restrained LNP party on Saturday night were shocked and subdued by the scale of their win. The words “too much power” weren’t exclusive to the last week of the Labor campaign’s talking points. People on both sides of the fence are muttering their misgivings.
As Poll Bludger writes in Crikey today, “… the result is an unmitigated disaster so far as the effective functioning of Parliament is concerned. Lacking anything that could meaningfully be described as an opposition, its sessions will henceforth resemble those of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.”
This isn’t good news for anyone, least of all the voters of Queensland.
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Richard Farmer reports from his own tally room: The Queensland election might not have been close but the Crikey Election tipping contests were — so close in fact that at this stage we can not declare the winners. The final outcome will depend on how many seats are won by Katter’s Australian Party and by independents.
If it turns out that Anthony Green’s predicted final result on his ABC website is correct — Liberal National Party 78, Labor 7, Katter 2 and Others 2 then there will be multiple winners in the long and the short version.
I agree, too much power. No house of review. Queenslanders will live to regret their actions at the ballot box.
It was Labor who got rid of the house of review last century so perhaps there will be some regrets there. As for the scale of the win?? The LNP crowds partying into the wee hours on Sunday morning didn’t seem phased by it, and the voters have spoken. In the end does it make much difference if the margin was ten seats or thirty seats or fifty seats? (Genuine question – surely all you need is a majority to put through policy?)
The Labor insiders last week said Labor could be reduced to a rump (high teens to low 20’s in seats).
This is not a landslide, its much worse and I hate to use the term as it implies de ath and destruction.
But all that is left is a smelly car cus.
The big winner on the weekend was Clive Palmer. He bought himself a political party, and now he has his own government. I wonder if Gina will take note Federally.
TripleJ’s breakfast news described LNP’s win not as avalanche or landslide, but as pyroclastic flow. Doesn’t roll of the tongue as easily, but certainly an apt metaphor.