"Australia - National Disability Insurance Scheme has become political football"
VIDEO
Broadcast: 06/01/2015
Reporter: Peter McCutcheon
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has taken a political gamble by calling a surprise early election at the height of the summer holidays.
Transcript
LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The summer holidays came to an abrupt end for Queensland politicians today with the Premier Campbell Newman announcing a snap poll for January 31st.
Complacency rules as Queensland makes risky edict on sea-level rise - December 11 2014, 2.33pm EST .. bit ..
Yet as certainty over future sea-level rise increases, planning protections are being wound back right across Australia. Since winning the 2012 Queensland election, Campbell Newman’s government has joined New South Wales and Victoria in removing sea-level rise from state government policy, and is evidently now pressing local governments to do the same. http://theconversation.com/complacency-rules-as-queensland-makes-risky-edict-on-sea-level-rise-35363
---
Queensland’s early election hinges on a test of Newman’s strength
January 5 2015, 10.09pm EST
The biggest battle Campbell Newman faces in the Queensland election on January 31 is the one against himself. The election, called on Tuesday morning, will be a referendum on the achievements of the Premier…
Author Todd Winther PhD Candidate in Political Science at Griffith University
IMAGE: Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has surprised voters by calling an early election for January 31. AAP/Dave Hunt
The election, called on Tuesday morning, will be a referendum on the achievements of the Premier: his strengths, weaknesses and ability to set the agenda for his government’s second term. This will be a presidential-style election.
The Liberal National government has been working hard to establish its record as “strong”, in contrast to what it calls its “weak” and “soft”.. http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2015/1/6/palaszczuk-goes-soft-on-criminal-motorcycle-gangs .. opponents. While Newman will inevitably target the ALP, and its leader Annastacia Palaszczuk, the opposition’s response to this criticism is likely to have little effect on the outcome.
The front page of Tuesday’s Courier-Mail newspaper. The Courier-Mail
It’s no coincidence that strength has been a dominant theme throughout Newman’s three-year term. The government’s central policy program is called Strong Choices .. http://www.strongchoices.qld.gov.au/ , and “strong” has been the defining word used by this government ever since it was launched last year.
Newman has marketed himself to the electorate as the man that will make the tough decisions in order to fix the economy; the leader of “a strong team with a strong plan” .. http://www.thepremier.qld.gov.au/ .. for Queensland. It’s designed to remind voters of the previous Bligh Labor government, which the LNP has repeatedly characterised as weak and reckless.
There is no doubt that the LNP will remain in government, simply because of its enormous majority .. https://theconversation.com/nsw-and-queensland-newspolls-35839 . However, the size of this majority will ultimately be decided by Newman’s performance, and what voters think of the “strong” sales pitch.
[ Newman's election announcement tweet ]
Howard’s lessons for Queensland
The LNP will attempt to borrow from the success of the Howard government in both the 2001 and 2004 federal elections. In both these elections, the former prime minister built his campaigns on the theme of economic management in order to project strength .. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/29/1093717817944.html .
The ALP will use these issues to contrast Newman’s theme of strength and label the LNP an autocratic party, subject to the whims and objectives of one man, the Queensland Premier. Once again, it’s a strategy is built around a single theme: does the Queensland electorate agree with the choices that Newman has made?
A federal election forerunner
In a number of ways, the Queensland election may well prove to be a forerunner to the next federal election.
IMAGE: Annastacia Palaszczuk (left) with Labor candidate Kate Jones, who hopes to regain her old seat of Ashgrove and topple Campbell Newman. AAP/Marty Silk
Like Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Newman has become a polarising leadership figure in Queensland. The LNP’s strength strategy has a potential to backfire, because the outcome is so dependent upon the leader’s performance during the campaign.
The key to a successful campaign for Newman is not only to promote strong leadership, but to complement this strength with personality traits that make him palatable to voters.
If this strategy succeeds, the federal Coalition may well use this style of campaign as a template when Abbott calls an election some time in the next year.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
