WE’RE now into our third week of a Crisafulli-led LNP Queensland Government.
As the dust begins to settle and we get a clearer picture of what the next few years will entail, I wanted to now take a moment to congratulate the Premier and his team on their campaign success.
While we at the Federal level like to stay in our lane, we need to be able to work collaboratively with those in State Government. I look forward to doing just that.
I have already reached out and contacted every incoming Minister.
Just as importantly, I want to commend and commiserate with those LNP candidates who didn’t quite get their noses over the line.
Close to home, it came down to a mere few hundred votes in Macalister and Springwood.
Both Susanna Damianopoulos and my brother Rob van Manen did exceptional jobs.
They didn’t quite pull off a victory, but the numbers don’t lie. People had grown tired of a stale Labor Government.
There was nearly a 13 per cent swing in the state seat of Logan, with 9 per cent of that being garnered by the LNP’s Matt Owens.
Incumbent LNP Members Michael Crandon and Mark Boothman, in Coomera and Theodore respectively, were backed overwhelmingly.
No state seats in Forde flipped. We came mighty close though.
Unsurprisingly, some ‘creative’ political tactics were deployed. I hazard a guess we’ll see some of them, despite their legitimacy, again getting a run-out when the Federal contest rolls around very soon.
Be that as it may, the new Premier has a monumental task on his hands. As do his whole ministry.
We’ve seen him get cracking on the 100-day plan. We’ve also seen him pull out of some appalling deals that’d got the green light under Labor – potentially saving billions of dollars for Queensland taxpayers in the process.
Party politics aside, I’ll continue to operate as I always have. Forde and every single constituent will be front of my mind, and I look forward to working with incumbent members, whichever side of the fence you sit politically.
