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Adani recently struck a deal with the Government over royalties for the proposed coal mine. (ABC News)
The Palaszczuk Government will have a balancing act
to perform in the lead up to the next election, as it tries to boost
resources jobs in north Queensland while still appealing to the
inner-city Greens vote in Brisbane.
So how does one broad party like Labor fend off opposition from all sides?Political scientist Dr Paul Williams said it would be tricky.
"We call them 'catch-all parties' — they try to appeal across the political and ideological spectrum," he said.
"The Labor Party has to speak with twin narratives to address twin communities."In north Queensland and regional Queensland it has to talk to voters and say, 'No this Adani project is going ahead, we are going to offer you 10,000 jobs'.
"And then at the same time it has to talk to the greater Brisbane area where the Green vote is very strong.
"Really, there are two Queenslands: the south-east and the rest."
A Reachtel poll commissioned by News Corp and released today showed support for the Government in the state's north has dropped to 27.6 per cent to the LNP's 28.8 per cent.
One Nation has also sapped support for the major parties in the south-east.
Townsville is at the centre of the current political dilemma with an unemployment rate more than two-and-a-half times that of inner city Brisbane — at 10.7 per cent.
While $250 million worth of work is beginning to flow from the new Townsville stadium, there are big concerns about future projects.
Resources giant Glencore said up to 2,000 jobs are at risk at its operations in Townsville and Mount Isa because of energy woes and rising labour costs.
And shockwaves from the spectacular collapse of the Yabulu nickel refinery are still being felt across the region.
Late last week the Premier revealed the Government would spend $386 million in the upcoming budget on securing power and boosting jobs in the north; including $150 million for a transmission line and $200 million towards a Burdekin Falls Dam hydro-plant.
Brisbane Greens voters 'concerned over Adani mine'
But the ongoing controversy over the proposed Adani coal mine is still a hot potato.Labor's Member for Townsville, Scott Stewart, said the Government was committed to the project.
"We've had a range of concerns raised by constituents to us, we've been addressing those concerns," Mr Stewart said.
"We've also been talking to the Premier and the ministers about what those concerns are but we've certainly had a lot of support around Adani."
Former journalist and LNP candidate for Townsville Casie Scott said the Adani saga had dragged on for too long.
"Townsville is hurting and the people of Townsville are hurting. We cannot afford for this State Labor Government to dilly-daddle any longer," she said."This is going to be a game changer."
But down south, it is a different story.
Social scientist and Greens candidate for South Brisbane Amy MacMahon said inner-city voters were concerned about sustainability and the environmental impact of big projects like Adani.
"Adani is certainly one of many issues that people are concerned about in South Brisbane and people have been really unsatisfied with the infighting that's been going on in the last few weeks," she said.
"People really want a representative who's going to be standing up for them, who's going to be talking about issues that they care about, is going to be standing for people and not capitulating to big business, to property developers or big companies like Adani."
While visiting Cairns last week, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad played down the threat from the Greens in her own electorate.
"Look, that's democracy, I'm looking forward to putting my track record to the people of South Brisbane and right throughout Queensland," she said.
"I think the Palaszczuk Labor Government has got a fantastic story to tell, particularly around the work we've been doing to get people into jobs."
'So many unknown variables' in next election
Dr Williams said the next election was one of the hardest to predict."Most elections obviously are difficult to forecast. This one's especially so because there are so many unknown variables," Dr Williams said.
"No party is really setting the state on fire."Added to that we've got the redistribution, added to that we've got an increase to Parliament of four seats.
"We just don't know how regional voters are going to respond to the last three years of the Palaszczuk Government."
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