Article: Hung parliament 'catastrophic'

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Hung parliament 'catastrophic'

Hung parliament 'catastrophic'
Daniel Hurst | March 17, 2009 - 4:13AM

Construction companies, engineers and contractors fear big-ticket projects could be placed in jeopardy if Queensland is left with a minority government after the March 21 election.

The latest Galaxy poll placed the opposition Liberal National Party narrowly ahead of the current Labor government, 51 per cent to 49 per cent on a two-party basis.

The tight polling raises the possibility the party will strip Labor of its parliamentary majority but not win enough seats to lead the state unless it forms an alliance with independent or minor party MPs.

The LNP needs to capture 22 additional seats in this election to govern in its own right.

Infrastructure Association of Queensland executive director Paul Clauson said yesterday a hung parliament could have a devastating impact on large-scale building projects.

Mr Clauson, who served as a National Party attorney-general in the 1980s, said projects currently in the pipeline could be put on hold to satisfy the whims of minor party or independent MPs and maintain their support.

Parliamentary business would be stifled if a minority government was in charge, he told a breakfast gathering at the Stamford Plaza in Brisbane.

"I sincerely hope we don't see a hung parliament because I think it would be catastrophic," Mr Clauson said at the Council for Economic Development of Australia event.

Fellow panellist Robert Row, the chief executive officer of the Civil Contractors Federation Queensland branch, echoed the concerns.

"We need certainty," Mr Row said.

"Whatever the state of play after March 21, a hung parliament would not be a good result."

The industry leaders made the comments ahead of an election-eve debate between Infrastructure Minister Paul Lucas and his Liberal National Party counterpart Fiona Simpson yesterday.

More than 150 engineering and construction industry representatives gathered in Stamford Plaza's Grand Ballroom to hear the pair's views.

After the debate, Planning Acquisition and Development Pty Ltd managing director John Cotter said companies involved in the delivery of infrastructure projects wanted greater certainty and less bureaucratic red tape.

Mr Cotter agreed a hung parliament would be a bad outcome.

"The last thing I'd want to see is advancement of projects to marginal seats and independent seats (rather than where they are most needed)," he told brisbanetimes.com.au.