Queensland Premier Anna Bligh will unveil her new cabinet in the next few days after winning Saturday’s election, leading Labor to a fifth consecutive victory despite a number of seats lost to the Opposition.
She is also expected to announce major changes this week, restructuring government departments and overhauling ministerial portfolios.
Bligh, the first women to be elected premier of any state, lost eight seats – a swing of 4.2%. The LNP under the leadership of Lawrence Springborg managed to gain six seats, a swing of 3.2%.
But despite the relatively positive result for the Opposition, Springborg has resigned his leadership of the party and is expected to be replaced by treasury spokesman Tim Nicholls.
Leaders of both parties were under intense pressure, fighting off several crises including deteriorating economic conditions, an oil spill on the coast and the damage from a cyclone.
But this election was largely focused on the financial crisis. Queensland has been hurt by the downturn, with the state’s economic growth set to fall from 5.1% in 2007-08 to 1% in 2009-10.
Unemployment is also expected to rise to 6.25% in 2009-10.
Bligh relied largely on claiming the Labor party would create and protect jobs, while arguing the Opposition would make the effects of the financial crisis on the Queensland economy even worse.
In January, Bligh attacked Springborg for claiming the financial crisis isn’t the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression, labelling him out of touch with other world leaders.
After he announced budget cuts of $1 billion annually, Bligh hit back with claims that this would cost 12,000 jobs annually from the public service. She also promised in return that Labor would create 100,000 jobs over the next three-year term and that $17 billion would be spent in a capital works program.
Blight also announced major infrastructure projects despite the fact they would result of deficits of over $11 billion over the next four years.
After the election was declared a win for Labor, Bligh once again announced that she would endeavour to create more job opportunities.
“You have given me a mandate to protect your jobs and build a stronger Queensland, and I am ready for the task,” she said.
“You have given me a mandate to guide Queensland through the global financial crisis, you’ve given me a mandate to stare the global financial crisis in the face and to bring Queensland out of it stronger, not weaker.”
Despite the LNP loss, which keeps the Labor party in power at both state and federal levels nationwide, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says the party’s gains should not be underestimated.
“Lawrence Springborg needed a heroic, a gigantic swing,” he told ABC’s Insiders. “If we had a swing to us at the next federal election of that scale in Queensland, we’d pick up five or six federal seats from Labor,” he said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd labelled the win as a “gutsy performance” by Bligh.
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Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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