During tonight’s debate, Liberal National Party Leader David Crisafulli said he will step down as Premier if he can’t fulfil his number one commitment to Queenslanders – to reduce crime victims.
There were 289,657 crime victims reported last year and David Crisafulli wants voters to show how serious he is in reducing crime, going as far as saying he will resign if he’s made Premier and the number of victims don’t improve.
The guarantee came as the LNP Leader went head-to-head with Labor Leader Steven Miles in a ‘hostile’ debate on Channel Nine which was also streamed on the Brisbane Times website.
Steven Miles appeared irritated as he gripped the lecturn, twiddled his thumbs and repeatedly interrupted Mr Crisafulli which often led to heated exchanges between the two.
The leaders fielded questions from a panel of journalists including 4BC’s Sofia Formica , Channel Nine Reporter Tim Arvia and Sean Parnell, Editor of the Brisbane Times.
The responses from the Leaders were very different. Steven Miles alluded to the fact that running government is tough, while David Crisafulli answered with fresh enthusiasm to give Queenslanders hope.
The pair answered questions on cost of living pressures, housing supply, juvenile crime and energy in the first part of the debate, before the Leaders asked each other targeted questions and ended with their pitch to voters.
Steven Miles has been promoting his government’s 50-cent public fare policy but couldn’t say if his government had done a good job so far on organising the Olympics.
“Our plans for our great state are working and we are moving our state forward,” he said in his closing remarks.
“Now is not the time to risk going backwards. David has a $16.2 billion dollar hole in his costings and the money has to come from somewhere. Last time it came from the jobs of our public servants and we can’t afford those cuts just as we are getting back on our feet.”
David Crisafulli hit back.
“There you have it – fear…. and I’m offering hope and I want Queenslanders to know we are serious about addressing the big four crisis – all four of them and for Minister’s to be held accountable… and Queenslanders will be better off.
“We won’t be talking about a soaring number of crime victims. There will be fewer. We won’t be talking about Ambulance ramping increasing year on year and surgical waiting lists blowing out. We will be talking about world class health system and having health services when you need them.
“We won’t be talking about electricity rises going up three times the national average we will be talking about using those power generators to put downward pressure on people’s prices. And we won’t be talking about growing the social housing waiting list we will be talking about more young Queenslanders owning a home,” he said.
So who won the debate? The panelists were divided. Sofia and Tim believed David Crisafulli won the debate, while Sean believed Steven Miles was stronger.
Labor is vying for a fourth term in government but is facing a tough battle from the LNP, particularly in regional Queensland.
Labor has won 11 of the last 12 Queensland elections and has been in power in the sunshine state for almost a decade.
Clearly, things are not working in Queensland. Tonight showed a Labor government in denial. However, it showed fresh promise from a young, principled man who wants to lead Queensland into a future that delivers transparency and accountability for Queensland, David Crisafulli.
The government is officially in caretaker mode with voters heading to the polls on October 26.
