Queensland State Election 31st January 2015

[SurfRail]

That's if a rerun is required.  That still remains to be seen.

[ozbob]

Twitter

7News Brisbane ‏@7NewsBrisbane 50 seconds ago

#BREAKING: Peter Wellington announces he will support the ALP #qldvotes

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Katter Party say it's too early to back a party to govern Queensland

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Queensland Election: Peter Wellington supports Labor to govern

[ozbob]

Twitter

7News Brisbane ‏@7NewsBrisbane

.@LNPQLD leadership contender Lawrence Springborg has called a media conference for 11am. We'll broadcast LIVE on 7 #qldvotes

[ozbob]

Twitter

Sarah Vogler ‏@SarahLVogler 1 minute ago

Letter from @pwellingtonmp to @AnnastaciaMP confirming support. #qldpol @couriermail

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> LNP MP Fiona Simpson renews pledge to run for leadership when party meets on Saturday

[ozbob]

Antony Green's Election Blog --> The Impact of Ferny Grove on Forming Government in Queensland

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> QLD Election 2015: LNP ignored age-old lessons

[ozbob]

The most probable outcome now is ALP 44 seats + 1 Wellington = 45 and Govt.

LNP 42 seats.

[ozbob]

Twitter

CR PAUL TULLY Goodna ‏@PaulTully 5 minutes ago

Campbell Newman clings on as Premier almost a week after the election.A joke! He should advise the Governor to commission Premier Palaszczuk

[achiruel]

The problem with that is that, give the close nature of the outcome, I don't think Ms Palaszczuk can yet demonstrate to the Governor that she would have the confidence of the House.

I think the best that could be hoped at this time is for Newman to resign and for Seeney to become acting caretaker Prmier.

At least then the LNP could meet for it's leadership spill.

[ozbob]

^ LNP are meeting tomorrow to determine leadership.

It is clear that ALP will have at least 44 seats, + 1 Independent = govt, hence Cr Tully's tweet.

Ferny Grove has months to play out yet.  Legal precedence suggests it is quite likely to stand anyway.

[#Metro]

Looks like Maglev to Ferny Grove is on the table 

[ozbob]

Twitter

insightWORLDnews ‏@Polliwatch 5 minutes ago

LATEST QLD ELECTION RESULTS Maryborough: ALP 11,950 to LNP 11,294 with 2700 votes to go http://results.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/state/State2015/results/summary.html ... #qldvotes #auspol

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Twitter

insightWORLDnews ‏@Polliwatch 9 minutes ago

LATEST QLD ELECTION RESULTS Ferny Grove: ALP 13,815 to LNP 13,336 with 3000 votes to go http://results.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/state/State2015/results/summary.html ... #qldvotes #auspol

[ozbob]

In both of the seats ^ ALP are slowly inching away .. this would give govt.

Some one has also made this observation.  The margin in FG is now > than the exhausted PUP votes.  This could be a very important point in legal actions concerning the disqualified PUP candidate's impact on the election.  In effect the result is independent of the PUP candidate.

[SurfRail]

I expect Anna could be forming a government around the same time as the Libspill.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow now

PUP votes would not change election result: Tully http://www.qt.com.au/news/the-votes-of-disqualified-pup-candidate-mark-taver/2536102/ ... v @qld_times #qldvotes #qldpol it's over baby blue ..

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow now

Supreme Court ruling from Ipswich could decide Ferny Grove http://www.qt.com.au/news/supreme-court-ruling-ipswich-could-decide-ferny-gr/2536069/ ... v @qld_times #qldvotes #qldpol

[ozbob]

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Likely new Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk the "girl from nowhere"

[ozbob]

Twitter

CR PAUL TULLY Goodna @PaulTully 1 hour ago

#qldvotes If Sup Ct overrules Ferny Grove election, it would open floodgates 2 nominate ineligible candidates 2 overturn result in key seats

================

Indeed ...

[aldonius]

It's already possible to completely mess up an election. If a candidate dies after nomination it gets rescheduled. So if someone can coordinate 89 suicidal people...

[ozbob]

Twitter

Brendan Hockings ‏@bhockings 5 minutes ago

Breaking news: ALP wins Maryborough & 44th seat- will form govt. Foley concedes - 900 behind w/ only 3900 prefs to count tomorrow. #qldvotes

[ozbob]

Twitter

Nine News Brisbane ‏@9NewsBrisbane 27 minutes ago

#BREAKING: @QLDLabor poised to claim victory in state election, with Maryborough independent Chris Foley to concede defeat #QldVotes #9News

[ozbob]

Situation is now in effect ALP 44 +1 = 45

LNP 42  KAP 2 ?

still not clear who KAP will support, although probably LNP.  However, they might think that it would be better to part of a minority Govt than a minority opposition.  Time will tell.

Ferny Grove has to be declared before it can be challenged.  There is a no guarantee that a challenge would be successful based on legal precedence and common sense.  In fact probably chances are remote IMHO.   If a challenge was successful  there would be a by-election with a Melbourne cup field no doubt.  No, the people have voted, and that's that.

Time for the caretaker Premier to resign.

[ozbob]

 

Twitter

The Courier-Mail ‏@couriermail 2 minutes ago

Maryborough ind Chris Foley says he has NOT conceded #qldvotes #qldpol

=================

The count is what it is ...  > http://results.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/state/State2015/results/district51.html

[ozbob]

Twitter

The Courier-Mail ‏@couriermail 6 minutes ago

Maryborough ind Chris Foley: "I think it will be very difficult but I am NOT pulling myself out of it" #qldvotes #qldpol @9NewsBrisbane

====================

Very difficult indeed.

[ozbob]

Bizarre stuff all of this ... 

=================

Twitter

Shane Doherty ‏@ShaneDoherty9

Just spoke to Chris Foley again. He concedes he's unlikely to win and will make an announcement when it's official #9News #qldvotes #qldpol

[ozbob]

Twitter

ABC News Brisbane ‏@ABCNewsBrisbane 5m5 minutes ago

The KAP's Rob Katter says he expects the KAP to have a lot of power once Queensland's new government is formed #qldvotes

================

I think AP might be having a press conference shortly.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Matthew Robson ‏@mattytrobbo 8 minutes ago

The press conference called by Anastasia Palaszczuk has been postponed until later today. #qldvotes

[ozbob]

Labor now have 44 seats, plus 1 independent they can form govt.

[#Metro]

Someone needs to be speaker... one more seat would be good.

[James]

Someone needs to be speaker... one more seat would be good.

That's why there are 89 seats in the Queensland Parly... minus one for speaker gives 88. Speaker votes in the case of a tie. So on the floor, you'd have 43 ALP + 1 PW and 42 LNP + 2 KAP (assuming), with speaker to break the deadlock.

[SurfRail]

^ Following basic Parliamentary procedure generally the tie would be broken in favor of the status quo, unless there was a very good reason.  KAP will still be highly relevant to getting legislation through.

[ozbob]

https://www.facebook.com/PeterWellingtonMp/posts/823818894357318

Peter Wellington MP - The People's Voice, not a Party's Puppet

Let's make it clear

Today we heard that Maryborough has gone to Labor giving them 44 seats and with my support Annastacia is able to form government.
This is the fact.
To put Ferny Grove into the picture is nonsense. While the seat is subject to assessment by the Courts because one of the candidates was ineligible, the fact is that it was won by Labor and Labor is entitled to include that seat in their claim to govern.
Ferny Grove could face a by-election after a Court hearing or the Court may decide that the preferences were so insignificant that a by-election is not necessary. The timeframe for this decision is uncertain. It could take over 12 months and it is unreasonable to expect Queensland to remain in a state of limbo until the outcome is known.
It is farcical for the new Leader of the LNP to seek to hold on to power until then leaving the Newman appointed senior public servants to govern the State.
The Governor has the responsibility to hand the reins of government to whoever is able to deliver the 45 seats and should not be drawn into hypothetical scenarios involving the future of the electorate of Ferny Grove.
Political analyst and expert Antony Green has an excellent piece in his blog dealing with the Ferny Grove situation
Please share.

[ozbob]

http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2015/02/who-should-the-queensland-governor-appoint-as-premier.html

Who Should the Queensland Governor Appoint as Premier?

Who Should the Queensland Governor Appoint as Premier?

While Campbell Newman continues as caretaker Premier of Queensland, the point will be reached this week where the Governor will have to anoint someone as the new Premier.

Writs for key electorates will be returned in the next few days, revealing the final composition of the Queensland Parliament.

At this stage the numbers look certain to be Labor 44, LNP 42, Katter's Australian Party 2 with the final seat held by Independent Peter Wellington.

With Labor having gained support to form government from Independent Peter Wellington, Annastacia Palaszczuk has argued she has sufficient support to be sworn in as Premier.

The situation is similar to South Australia in 2002 and Tasmania in 1989 where Liberal governments lost their majorities at elections and Labor came to an agreement in the aftermath to form government courtesy of cross bench members.

In the circumstances both SA Liberal Premier Rob Kerin and Tasmanian Premier Robin Gray refused to resign.

Kerin forced the Labor agreement with Independent Peter Lewis to the floor of the House of Assembly before his government resigned after defeat on election of the new Speaker.

Gray tried to go back to the polls without parliament sitting, advice rejected by the Governor and his government also fell on the vote for the Speaker.

Given the parliamentary numbers, the LNP Premier would be entitled to advise the Governor that he should continue in office. With the parliamentary numbers being unclear, the Governor would permit this with the government remaining in caretaker mode pending the new parliament sitting to test the numbers.

The problem for the LNP is that Premier Campbell Newman lost his seat at the election. He can't be re-commissioned pending a test of his numbers in Parliament because he won't be a member of parliament.

If the new Parliament is going to sit, the Governor Paul de Jersey will have to appoint a Premier who can test his or her numbers at the first sitting.

His options are Labor's Annastacia Palaszczuk, who argues she has the numbers, and new LNP Leader Lawrence Springborg, who seems to be arguing that the impending Court of Disputed returns case concerning Labor's victory in Ferny Grove means the new Parliament cannot sit.

The problem in Ferny Grove is that Palmer United Party candidate Mark Taverner is an undischarged bankrupt and therefore not eligible to be a candidate. The legal advice to the Electoral Commission is that it must count the votes and return the writ for Ferny Grove.

The Commission has announced that after returning the writ, it will petition the Court of Disputed Returns to examine whether Taverner's candidacy will void the result and force a by-election.

Past cases indicate that Taverner's candidacy of itself will not void the result. The case has to be put that Taverner's candidacy has affected the result and therefore the result should be voided. There are many points of law to consider and it seems unlikely that the case will be decided quickly. (See my previous post on precedents for Ferny Gove here.)

In the meantime the returned writ allows Mark Furner to take his seat in Parliament and vote, exactly as Ken Davies' victory in Mundingburra at the 1995 election was valid from July until the Court eventually overturned the result in December the same year.

The LNP is arguing that the Ferny Grove matter means that the new parliament should not sit until after the Court decides and possibly a by-election is held.

Given the indeterminate time frame for a court decision, the Governor is being asked to ignore accepted practice on dealing with returned writs, to defer parliament and to appoint a caretaker government for an indeterminate period.

Another problem with the LNP's advice is that if the Governor accepts the advice about being a caretaker government pending a court decision, why wouldn't he appoint Palaszczuk who can face Parliament rather than Springborg who does not want to face Parliament?

I would be surprised if the Governor will accept the resignation of one caretaker Premier and the appointment of new caretaker Premier and the extended suspension of Parliament.

Annastacia Palaszczuk has existing practice to argue that the Ferny Grove writ is valid and that she therefore has the number to be appointed Premier and face a sitting of the new Parliament.

If at some time in the future the Ferny Grove result is overturned a different decision may be made. The standard practice would be to appoint a government and deal with the outstanding matter when the Court eventually rules.

In 1989 Robin Gray obtained five very high profile QC opinions arguing in support of his case for a new election. His advice was declined by the Governor.

Will we again see constitutional law opinions at twenty paces?

Posted by Antony Green on February 09, 2015 at 06:04 PM

[ozbob]

LNP are clutching at straws.  In fact, I think they are doing themselves some real political damage in the unlikely event of a Ferny Grove by-election  down the track.

Sage process would be simply let the wheels turn.  The LNP are increasingly coming across as desperate to the point of absurdity.

At least the new ALP Govt will not turf the old elements of the LNP Govt out of the parliament building, as the former Newman Govt did.  The ALP is not as vindictive as that mob was IMHO.  It is a good thing the LNP have lost the ' un-losable election '.  They might lose some their arrogance and insensitivity, although the behaviour of Springborg is cause for some concern that lessons have not really been learned.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Palaszczuk to call on Governor to decide who will be the next Qld Premier 

[ozbob]

Media release 10th February 2015

Queensland:  Congratulations ALP & Mr Peter Wellington

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers has congratulated Premier Elect Annastacia Palaszczuk, Mr Peter Wellington and the Queensland Labor Party on now being in a position to form Government.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Congratulations Premier Elect Annastacia Palaszczuk, Mr Peter Wellington and the Queensland Labor Party on being in a position to form Government."

"Queensland Labor does have a good transport policy platform (1)."

"Queensland Labor has been approachable in the past on public transport matters and we look forward to working with the new Government to progress public transport in Queensland."

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

References:

1. ALP Queensland - Policy Platform http://www.queenslandlabor.org/wp-content/uploads/2014QldPolicyPlatform_web.pdf  7.50 - 7.96 on http://www.queenslandlabor.org/policy/

7.50
Labor will deliver integrated regional transport plans in conjunction with regional land
use plans in all urban areas across Queensland.

7.51
Labor will implement targets to increase public and active transport usage.

7.52
Labor will consider demand management measures where appropriate and equitable.

7.53
Labor will consider increased penalties for wilful damage to transport infrastructure,
noting the safety and efficiency costs.

7.54
Labor recognises the particular vulnerability of public transport workers to physical
assault and will improve safety and security. Labor will increase penalties for people
found guilty of assaulting public transport workers.

7.55
Labor will maintain Queensland Rail and Brisbane Transport as vertically integrated,
publicly owned providers of public transport services.

7.56
Labor will build an inner city rail solution consistent with the Cross River Rail capacity
outcome as part of a broader vision to revitalise and transform rail services. It will
increase frequency and provide more express services. It will also deliver new links,
including to Kippa-Ring, Flagstone, Ripley, Coolangatta, Maroochydore and through
the North West Rail Link along the Trouts Road corridor, consistent with the SEQ
Connecting 2031 transport strategy.

7.57
Labor will extend Brisbane's world-class busway network, including completing the
Eastern and Northern Busways and CoastConnect on the Sunshine Coast, and rolling
out more high frequency routes and bus priority lanes.

7.58
Labor will complete the Gold Coast light rail from Helensvale to Coolangatta and
consider the feasibility of light rail in other corridors

7.59
Labor will upgrade public transport stops and station infrastructure to ensure safety,
accessibility, amenity and additional park and ride facilities for those who use and
operate the system.

7.60
Labor will maintain public transport concessions and extend them to recipients of the
Newstart allowance.

7.61
Labor will continue to subsidise and improve public transport services, including
in provincial centres, with a funding requirement being world's best practice by
contractors.

7.62
Labor will review the public transport fare system to improve affordability in South East
Queensland

7.63
Labor will ensure that all communities have access to public transport services to
connect them to the rest of Queensland, including Traveltrain and long distance bus
and air services.

7.64
Labor will release regular public reports against both performance measures and
funding provided for all subsidised public transport services

7.65 Labor will maintain regulation of the taxi industry to ensure it meets high standards of
safety, service quality, responsiveness and accessibility.

7.66 Labor will consider options to enable competing taxi companies in a single market to
cooperate where there is benefit for users.

7.67 Labor will investigate the use of taxis to provide public transport where other services
are not viable.

7.68 Labor will roll out additional secure taxi ranks where required.

7.69 Labor will ensure that all taxi districts have adequate provision of wheelchair
accessible taxis, including providing incentives for conversion, and it will implement a
passenger lift fee.

7.70 Labor will regularly publish taxi performance measures where government subsidies
are provided

7.71 Labor will expand the dedicated cycling network along key corridors, including
disused rail lines, and ensure that active transport facilities are included in all new and
upgraded roads.

7.72 Labor will pursue measures to ensure end of trip facilities are included in new
buildings where appropriate, to encourage active transport.

7.73 Labor will encourage greater use of public and active transport for school travel.

7.74 Labor will implement strategies to increase mode share for rail freight on defined
strategic rail freight networks.

7.75 Labor understands there is community concern regarding coal dust adjacent to rail
corridors in Brisbane.  Labor supports an independent, scientific review of mitigation treatments and will
implement best practices and support further technological improvements in this area.
Labor supports consultation with the relevant industry, union and community groups
as the coal industry grows in Queensland.

7.76 Labor will develop and publish a plan for the progressive priority upgrade of the North
Coast Rail Line to improve safety, efficiency and reliability.

7.77 Labor will support construction of the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing and Gowrie
to Grandchester rail line, with other levels of government and the private sector.

7.78 Labor will invest in removing conflicts between passenger and rail freight movements
where they share the same corridor.

7.79 Labor will enable construction of the Surat Basin Railway with appropriate provision for
its potential future role as part of an inland railway.

7.80 Labor will plan, design and build roads that are fit for purpose, future-proofed, and to
standards that meet the needs of road users and the wider community.

7.81 Labor understands that road infrastructure is critical to sustaining regional and
rural communities and will therefore ensure that a fair proportion of road funding is
allocated to regional Queensland.

7.82 Labor will always engage in public consultation and integrated planning approaches
to new road works.

7.83 Labor will continue to provide fair and just compensation for private property owners
directly and adversely affected by road construction.

7.84 Labor will develop and publish a plan for the progressive priority upgrade of the
Bruce Highway and the construction and upgrade of other major roads that will unlock
Queensland's economic potential, such as the Warrego Highway, the Toowoomba
Second Range Crossing and the Ipswich Motorway.

7.85 Labor will review and consider reforms to calculating motor vehicle registration.

7.86 Labor will implement strategies based on world's best practice and thorough research
to reduce the road toll and improve road safety.

7.87 Labor will expand the coverage of security services and officers across the public
transport network to improve safety for users, constructors, operators and maintainers.

7.88 Labor will regulate the hours of work for train crew to ensure safety and investigate
regulation of hours of work for other transport operators.

7.89 Labor will maintain and strictly enforce chain of responsibility legislation for the
trucking industry and implement a regulatory system to provide adequate and
ongoing training to heavy vehicle operators to an accredited standard.

7.90 Labor will prioritise and progressively deliver grade separations and other safety
measures at rail level crossings.

7.93 Labor will lobby the Australian Government to provide increased transport funding for
Queensland based on the decentralised nature of the State, with a particular emphasis
on the Bruce Highway and North Coast Rail Line.

7.94 Labor will lobby the Australian Government to maintain the Road Safety Remuneration
Tribunal as an important safety initiative.

7.95 Labor will encourage the Australian Government to proceed with a premium
performance and 21st century alignment of Inland Rail through to Brisbane.

7.96 Labor will encourage the Australian Government to include purchase of public
transport tickets in salary packaging arrangements.