Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This Saturday, 21 March, Queenslanders will make one of their most important and biggest decisions in many years and, in fact, in many elections. Queenslanders will decide on whether our state will be governed by Anna Bligh and an experienced team with a great track record or whether they will be governed by Lawrence Springborg—and possibly just Lawrence Springborg. They will decide on whether they want a government that is prepared to make the hard decisions on moving Queensland forward on issues of water, education, health, infrastructure and, of course, on jobs, jobs and more jobs.

Like all elections, it gives the community the chance to actually see their representatives upfront and, with no pun intended, in the raw to get a really good, clear idea of future direction and policy. I do not think this election in Queensland is any different. Nothing could be clearer. Nothing could make more sense about what is going on in Queensland right now, what was going on last week and what was going on in the last few days before Saturday than what we have been presented with.

On the one hand, you have a government led by Premier Anna Bligh, who has led Queensland into becoming a modern, active and vibrant community, which now leads the country in job creation, business environment, lifestyle and sustainability. She has made the hard changes and hard decisions in terms of education and health which has made Queensland the modern state that it is today. She has dealt with one of the fastest-growing communities in the whole country. The reality is that for the past decade Queensland—and particularly South-East Queensland and around Brisbane in my area—has been one of the fastest-growing communities in the country. That bears testament to the good work and the great job that is being done in Queensland by the Bligh Labor government.

On the other hand, you have a barely formed, barely recognisable new party called the LNP—the Liberal National Party. Quite interestingly, through the whole process it has been a party that cannot agree with itself. It is not sure whether it is Arthur, Martha or a combination of the two. There are a few things that distinguish it. In particular, something just does not sit right with the LNP in Queensland. Is it the fact that when the party forms and there is a launch, they cannot find a National Party person; they have to go for a Liberal Party person.

It might be the ‘Liberal National Party’, but it is actually led by the Nationals. Maybe it should be the ‘National Liberal Party’. Whichever way it is, when it comes to their policy launch or the formation of the party, they are not really sure who is in control. Who is actually steering the ship? It is an important question. Queenslanders want to know: who is steering that ship? Who is in control? Is it the Liberal National Party? Their leader is from the National Party. Is it the ‘National Liberal Party’? It seems that whenever there is an important occasion, something to be launched, it is the Liberal Party that does the task. Or is it perhaps being run by a privateer—is it really the ‘Clive Palmer Party’? Who really is the Liberal National Party of Queensland?

In the end, it is not really going to matter who they are. Whoever they are—whether they are run by a privateer or whether they are run by Lawrence Springborg from the National Party or whether they are run by the Liberal Party as a front to cover up for the National Party—I do not think it really matters. What really matters are the key issues that need to be dealt with in Queensland. The reality that Queensland can be as strong as it is today is again testament to the hard work and the good decisions. The great business environment, the great investment and all the hard things that we did for the past 10 years are the result of a very strong Beattie and now Bligh government. This is the party and this is the government in Queensland that has led the country in business, investment, innovation and a range of other areas, including updating areas, which the previous government did not.

When we talk about jobs, we have to talk about infrastructure, and we have heard plenty about that tonight. Every time the federal Howard government would not invest in Queensland, it was always the Queensland Bligh and Beattie governments that stepped up to the plate and actually put the money forward on projects like the Gateway duplication project. This was a federal project which the previous federal government would not invest in, and $1.8 billion of Queenslanders’ money went into that. So, this Saturday, when the community is deciding, they will know exactly who to vote for: the Bligh government. (Time expired)