A tale of two parties

Contrasting performances of Annastacia Palaszczuk's Labor and the post-Newman LNP in Queensland

Abstract

Queensland’s 2017 state election resulted in Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Labor government being returned with a slim majority. While not a resounding victory, the result seemingly vindicated the premier’s decision to head to an early election, and reinforced her standing in a succession of opinion polls as ‘preferred premier’ for most voters. The result also halted the short sequence of Queensland governments being voted out of office in no uncertain terms by a supposedly volatile electorate. The extent to which Labor’s recent electoral success in Queensland — and the quelling of that volatility — can be attributed to Palaszczuk’s leadership is still open to debate. It is instructive, though, to note the differences in leadership and campaigning styles between Palaszczuk and her opponents, which saw her drag a decimated Labor Party back to office after a single term in opposition, then saw it returned with a working parliamentary majority. This article highlights those differences over the last term of government, contrasting the performance of the two major parties in Queensland in terms of their leadership and election campaign approaches. The analysis helps to explain some of the reasons for the respective parties’ recent electoral showings.