PALASZCZUK RUNS HOT IN FIERY ENCOUNTER

A DEFIANT Annastacia Palaszczuk has hung her re-election on her handling of the COVID crisis in a fiery debate in which she repeatedly attacked Deb Frecklington over border issues and her election costings.

The Premier was last night declared the winner of the Sky/courier Mail leaders’ debate in their first face-off, with 53 per cent of 47 undecided voters saying they would now vote Labor, compared with 30 per cent who preferred the LNP leader.

But in a microcosm of the broader campaign, there were still a high number of undecided voters –— 17 per cent — who were still yet to be won over by either leader.

In her opening address, Ms Palaszczuk said she’d given her all to keep them safe and keep the economy open.

“I’m asking Queensland to stay the course, now is not the time for change,” she said. “People know me, they know me for who I am, they know my values and what you see is what you’ll get through this tough time.”

In stark contrast, Ms Frecklington did not mention the pandemic at all in her opening speech, instead talking up her “big, bold, visionary plan” to inject $1.1bn of stimulus in the economy by Christmas through a $300 vehicle rego rebate, build a new Bradfield Scheme and increase afterschool-care places.

In a question on the crime problems plaguing Townsville and Cairns, Ms Palaszczuk said she was hiring extra police but again would not be drawn on the LNP’S plans for a curfew to get children and teenagers off the streets after dark.

“I think people have a right to feel safe in their homes, they have a right to feel safe in their communities, and that’s why I’ve said we are investing in more police,” she said.

Ms Frecklington said she had visited Townsville 30-odd times since taking the party’s helm and had met people like “Sammy”, whose husband had a knife put to his throat by an 11-year-old.

“It is not OK that these little kids are on the street, it is not OK,” she said.