Now the heavy lifting begins

The Queensland LNP has managed the transition to government well. It has enjoyed the brief honeymoon period often afforded new governments and made the most of the opportunity to point out the failings of Labor’s last term in power. But things are about to get real for Crisafulli and his team. 

Monday marks 100 days since the election. Premier Crisafulli has made much of his ‘100 Day Plan’, positioning it as the primary KPI for his government. Over the past couple of months, social media videos of the Premier ticking items off his ‘First Week, First Month’ list and his ‘By the end of 2024’ list have been well received by Queenslanders, but these lists were created by the LNP for the LNP.

Now, the messy and complex daily grind of multiple and competing expectations, conflicted stakeholders and diverse (sometimes loud) voices sets in. For the first time in a decade, the LNP is responsible for navigating all of this alongside a public service that’s still trying to pick up the vibe of its political masters. The whole political ecosystem is far more difficult to traverse than the average punter realises and only a few LNP frontbenchers have experience doing this work. 

As the new government embarks on this daunting task, it does so with the largest forecast debt in Queensland history. Addressing the media last week, the Treasurer revealed net government debt will reach $218 billion by 2027-28. This is extraordinary and places an intimidating task at the feet of the Treasurer and all his ministerial colleagues. 

Queenslanders have expressed high expectations of Mr Crisafulli and his team and meeting those expectations will be very challenging with limited state liquidity. 

While it was a wise political move in the first few months to reveal the holes in Labor’s budget and its policy missteps, those failings now become the LNP’s to fix. Budget repair will become a key theme in 2025, part of which will be a pro-business agenda aimed at increasing productivity and thus generating revenue through a larger tax base. The resources industry may feel some anxiety in this space given past debates, but the current theme of conversations in 1 William Street is speedier approval processes leading to increased production. 

Another key date looms on March 22. This is the day the Deputy Premier’s ‘100 Day Olympic Infrastructure Review’ is scheduled to be tabled with government. There’s no need to rehash the argy bargy over the Gabba, Olympic stadiums and the whole public/private investment options debate, but you can imagine the scrutiny due on 22 March and in the weeks that follow. 

The regions are a key consideration for the LNP. You could argue regional Queensland made Mr Crisafulli Premier and there’s plenty of disquiet in rural and regional communities about the value of the Olympics to the Southeast at the expense of opportunities for the regions. This is a political pressure point to navigate if seats like Rockhampton, Mackay and Mundingburra are to remain in the LNP stable at the next election. 

The first sitting week for the year kicks off on 18 February. Expect plenty of scrutiny of the LNP’s youth justice reforms and political opportunism from Labor on sensitive social issues like puberty blockers and transgender hormone treatments. 

Also expect a Labor Opposition still finding its line and length as an opposition. Being the government requires a very different skill set, head space and corporate culture than scrutinising the government. Few in the Miles team have experience sitting on this side of the House. The sense in the field is that it’s still early days for Labor so reactively jumping on any LNP blunders or seeking to defend its legacy will, for now at least, take precedence over proactive strategy and positioning. That said, once Miles and his team find their groove and chart their own path to October 2028, they have demonstrated they’re formidable campaigners. I suspect that fighting Labor spirit will emerge in the not too distance future. 

All this and I haven’t even mentioned the impact of a federal election on state politics. 

Brace yourself. It’s going to be a big year, and the SAS Group is ready and raring to go!