Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
Speaker 1: It's Wednesday, October twenty four. Treasury Jim Chalmers is off
Speaker 1: to Washington, DC for meetings of the World Bank and
Speaker 1: the International Monetary Fund. He'll spend time with top us
Speaker 1: economic officials who are forecasting trouble ahead for Australia when
Speaker 1: it comes to inflation and growth. Former nine Entertainment chairman
Speaker 1: Peter Costello has made his most high profile appearance since
Speaker 1: departing the company. He blasted former Victorian Premier Dan Andrews
Speaker 1: at a conference in Sydney, saying the state's COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: restrictions were moronic. Those stories alive right now at the
Speaker 1: Australian dot com AU. Three sleeps to go until Queenslander's
Speaker 1: design to kick out a long term labor government and
Speaker 1: give the LNP a go Today, how the big issues
Speaker 1: are shaping up as the polls titan.
Speaker 2: Here in Queensland. For about a year there was no
Speaker 2: changes to the polls. Really, it wasn't looking good for labor.
Speaker 2: In the last few weeks we've seen in a published
Speaker 2: poll by Resolve the two party preferred scenes to be tightening.
Speaker 1: That's Lydia Lynch, one of the Australian's reporters in Queensland.
Speaker 2: It still suggests that David chrisop fully and the MP
Speaker 2: will pull through with a majority government on Saturday, and
Speaker 2: some of the internal polling from Labor suggests the same
Speaker 2: thing that the race is tightening in Brisbane.
Speaker 1: Lydia and our bureau in the Sunshine State have been
Speaker 1: churning out the scoops for weeks now in what's turned
Speaker 1: out to be an action packed election campaign. The vote
Speaker 1: is this Saturday, October twenty six. The accepted wisdom is
Speaker 1: this the long serving Labor government has done its dash
Speaker 1: and won't get another term. The Premier, Stephen Miles had
Speaker 1: the job land in his lap when the former Premier
Speaker 1: Anastasia Palichet quit just before Christmas.
Speaker 3: I have given it my all and I've run a marathon.
Speaker 3: Standing here today and standing up for the people of
Speaker 3: Queensland has been an honor of my life. I don't
Speaker 3: believe anyone who comes after me will know how humbling
Speaker 3: it is.
Speaker 1: Miles is up against it. He's got major problems delivering
Speaker 1: his ambitions for renewable energy projects. He came up with
Speaker 1: a plan to give free lunches to primary school kids,
Speaker 1: but had to admit it would add one point four
Speaker 1: billion dollars to the state's debt. He's dealing with widespread
Speaker 1: perceptions that he's beholden to the powerful union movement, which,
Speaker 1: thanks to political donation laws, is able to spend much
Speaker 1: more than the parties themselves to influence votes in individual seats.
Speaker 1: But the campaign has also seen the opposition leader, the
Speaker 1: Liberal National Party's David chris Afuley, struggle at times. One
Speaker 1: of his battles has been abortion policy. Chris Afuley does
Speaker 1: not want to be talking about abortion.
Speaker 4: I'm not going to join the campaign conversation about this
Speaker 4: because I've made more positions very clear, and my position
Speaker 4: is here will be no change.
Speaker 1: David chris Afuley, like most other members of his party,
Speaker 1: voted against decriminalizing abortion back in twenty eighteen, and during
Speaker 1: Tuesday Night's leader's debate, Miles goaded him into making his
Speaker 1: stance and his personal position clear.
Speaker 2: Give a straight answer.
Speaker 3: Okay, there will be no change, none at all. Are
Speaker 3: your protress or not. There will be no change.
Speaker 4: The legislation is there and women will have access to
Speaker 4: that legislation.
Speaker 2: Do you believe in a woman's right to choose?
Speaker 1: Yes or no?
Speaker 4: Well it probably won't work for his TikTok. But yes,
Speaker 4: Oh that got you, didn't it. Why you vote against?
Speaker 3: Yes? Why you vote against?
Speaker 2: My question to you, Bremi.
Speaker 1: He also doesn't want to talk about his record in business.
Speaker 1: Here he is with another of our reporters, Sarah Elks,
Speaker 1: a few days back.
Speaker 2: Why did you leave Southern Edge Training on April one
Speaker 2: in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 3: Because my promise capital encountry. I was in the business
Speaker 3: performer and I met every single one of my older.
Speaker 1: Dat chris A Foley knows the KEDA winning this election
Speaker 1: is painting labor as tired, bloated and out of ideas.
Speaker 1: And to tell Queensland is what he's going to do
Speaker 1: about the cost of living, the price of energy and
Speaker 1: youth crime. David Chris A Foley has just got a
Speaker 1: gift one of his bugbears, abortion pol might have disappeared
Speaker 1: as an issue.
Speaker 4: They're scrambling. So it happens with liberal and labor. It's
Speaker 4: happened with Liberal this time. They've been found ty rot
Speaker 4: two horses at once.
Speaker 1: This is Robbie Catter, an Independent talking on Sky News Australia.
Speaker 1: He's the son of one of Queensland's most famous firebrands,
Speaker 1: Bob Catter. Earlier in the campaign, Robbie Catter flagged that
Speaker 1: if he's reelected, which he will be, he'd introduced legislation
Speaker 1: to the Parliament, effectively banning abortion in Queensland. As in
Speaker 1: the rest of Australia, abortion is basically safe, legal and rare.
Speaker 1: In twenty eighteen, the Queensland Labor government removed abortion from
Speaker 1: the Criminal Code, but the then opposition gave its MPs
Speaker 1: a conscience vote on the issue. The vast majority of
Speaker 1: them voted to keep abortion as a criminal offense. This
Speaker 1: is why it's hot for David chris A. Fully many
Speaker 1: of his own MPs hold strong anti abortion beliefs and
Speaker 1: want him to take action. And the wild card is
Speaker 1: Robbie Catter, a Cross bencher who's determined to get this
Speaker 1: issue back on the table. Kata says the L and
Speaker 1: P is trying to ride two horses at once. That is,
Speaker 1: MPs are concerned about what conservative regional voters think and
Speaker 1: chris A Fooley is trying to make sure he doesn't
Speaker 1: get obliterated in the more Progressive Brisbane seats Chris A.
Speaker 1: Fooley didn't want this election to turn into a referendum
Speaker 1: on abortion.
Speaker 2: He did not want to talk about it. We asked
Speaker 2: him dozens and dozens and dozens of questions about his
Speaker 2: personal position on abortion, why he decided to vote against
Speaker 2: removing it from the Criminal Code back in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 2: and asking him whether he would allow his MPs a
Speaker 2: conscience vote if there was a bell brought to the
Speaker 2: Parliament in this next term, assuming that they won the election.
Speaker 2: He repeatedly refused to answer those questions. The thing that
Speaker 2: really kicked it off with some of his MPs were
Speaker 2: out there in the community at public forums speaking about
Speaker 2: their wish or abortion access to be restricted, and some
Speaker 2: about legislation to be repealed. And then we had a crossbencher,
Speaker 2: Robbie Catter, who holds one of the safest seats in
Speaker 2: the state, coming out saying he planned to introduce legislation
Speaker 2: to the next parliament to restrict access to abortion or
Speaker 2: to even repeal that legislation.
Speaker 4: What I'm determined to do is put back in the
Speaker 4: Baby's Born Live Bill, which is really just micking what
Speaker 4: is the Code of Practice code in Queensland Health. Right now,
Speaker 4: what you're saying, if the babies planned abortion comes out
Speaker 4: breathing with the heartbeat, I'm probably going to struggle for life,
Speaker 4: but that they can just give us some care and dignity.
Speaker 4: It's a human rights issue. It's not an abortion issue
Speaker 4: to me.
Speaker 1: Katter's bill is about babies who after a termination procedure
Speaker 1: show signs of life. There's not a lot of evidence
Speaker 1: about how often this occurs, if at all, but it
Speaker 1: would require doctors and nurses to give the same level
Speaker 1: of care in this instance as they would to any
Speaker 1: other patient. There have been some harrowing claims that fetuses
Speaker 1: have showed signs of life after an abortion.
Speaker 2: So I was actually just on the phone to Robbie
Speaker 2: and what he said to me is that some of
Speaker 2: the operating guidelines in hospitals changed about a year or
Speaker 2: two years ago, and his concern is that when a
Speaker 2: woman has an abortion and the fetus is still viable
Speaker 2: or still alive after that abortion, that there's not enough
Speaker 2: medical intervention happening or comfort given to that child. But
Speaker 2: he is quite passionate about the fact that there should
Speaker 2: be some changes around this or tightening of these guidelines.
Speaker 2: He says to me, this is his first priority and
Speaker 2: it is a test for him to see if he
Speaker 2: would be willing to put in more legislation. So say
Speaker 2: he puts this bill to the Parliament and no lmpmps
Speaker 2: come out to support it, he says he's not going
Speaker 2: to hammer a moot point. He will pursue other issues
Speaker 2: that are important to him and the Cutters Australia Party
Speaker 2: around crocodiles and whatnot. But if there is some signaling
Speaker 2: of support around there, he's willing to go further in
Speaker 2: terms of looking at counseling arrangements, maybe lowering the gestation
Speaker 2: limit of when an abortion can be accessed on request
Speaker 2: and that sort of thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's that broader legislation which creates an issue
Speaker 1: for David Christa Foley, isn't it, because he'd then be
Speaker 1: under pressure to offer his MPs a conscience vote on that.
Speaker 2: That's right, and so this does take the heat out
Speaker 2: of it because we saw when the cat has put
Speaker 2: this bill into the last Parliament, it was killed off
Speaker 2: in the committee process and nothing really ever came about
Speaker 2: and then we went into a campaign. So it could
Speaker 2: be the case that David Christophilli won't actually have to
Speaker 2: address the issue of abortion during his first term if
Speaker 2: he wins.
Speaker 1: Labour says the bill is unnecessary as medical practitioners already
Speaker 1: have a duty of care to everyone, and the Royal
Speaker 1: Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists actively
Speaker 1: opposes Katter's bill, saying it would reduce access to abortion
Speaker 1: because doctors would be afraid of prosecution. On Tuesday, Katta
Speaker 1: walked back his position, saying he'd reintroduce this bill to Parliament,
Speaker 1: but he wouldn't immediately attempt laws that would recriminalize abortion.
Speaker 1: In fact, he indicated he was doubtful even the Babies
Speaker 1: Born Alive bill would get through parliament.
Speaker 4: That's what we've determined to put back in. We've put
Speaker 4: it in the last parliament. It didn't even get that
Speaker 4: didn't even get support from Lebel and Labor in the
Speaker 4: committee system. I want to put that in first into
Speaker 4: the next parliament and we'll see. So you're not expecting
Speaker 4: any progress here. No, we're definitely going to put the
Speaker 4: Babies Born Live, but I think unlikely given that the
Speaker 4: committee from Little Light they both hadn't supported even.
Speaker 2: Then, abortion was a really intense issue in the sort
Speaker 2: of middle two weeks of the campaign, something that Labor
Speaker 2: really seized on and David Chrysophally really didn't want to
Speaker 2: talk about. But now it seems that the heat has
Speaker 2: come out of the issue and it's something that David
Speaker 2: Chrysophally might not actually have to deal with during his
Speaker 2: next term if he wins.
Speaker 1: After the break. Why labor is worrying about seats it's
Speaker 1: held for more than a century. More than a million
Speaker 1: Queenslanders have already cast their votes, so what does that mean.
Speaker 2: Lots of people have been voting early. We saw that
Speaker 2: trend really kick off in COVID when people wanted to
Speaker 2: get their votes out of the way and try to
Speaker 2: socially distance from people. So we've had more than a
Speaker 2: million people cast their votes ahead of Saturday's election. One
Speaker 2: of the things that political commentators and political brains say
Speaker 2: is that a big turnout in early voting suggests that
Speaker 2: there's a big swing on against the government. People are
Speaker 2: so mad they just can't wait to go in and
Speaker 2: punish them at the ballot box. That's just some people's theory,
Speaker 2: but it could be the case.
Speaker 1: It's a bit of a last minute scramble for both leaders.
Speaker 1: Now Stephen Miles seems to be attempting to consolidate some
Speaker 1: of the Labor seats that have been held by the
Speaker 1: party for a very long time. What's David Chrysopfully's strategy
Speaker 1: in the last few days of the campaign.
Speaker 2: We've spent the last two days up in North Queensland
Speaker 2: and Central Queensland visiting seats in Townsville which are really
Speaker 2: key to David Chrisoffully's final push for government. There's three
Speaker 2: seats in Townsville, all held by Labor. He is pretty
Speaker 2: confident he'll be able to pick those up. We stopped
Speaker 2: into Rockhampton, which is surprisingly become one of the most
Speaker 2: interesting seats to watch of this campaign. And the reason
Speaker 2: I say it's interesting is because it's been in Labour
Speaker 2: hands for one hundred years, this seat, and I think
Speaker 2: I've been to Rockhampton maybe four times in the last
Speaker 2: month with both leaders. There's an independent running there who
Speaker 2: as a former Labor mayor. It will be really a
Speaker 2: three way race in rock Hampton as well as mckaye.
Speaker 2: That's another century seat as they call them, for Labor.
Speaker 2: It's been held by the ALP for one hundred and
Speaker 2: fifteen years, I think, but the l ANDP is increasingly
Speaker 2: confident that it will be able to win MacKaye from Labor.
Speaker 2: So we're seeing Stephen Miles running an incredibly defensive strategy
Speaker 2: up and down the coast sandbagging safe labor seats or
Speaker 2: seats once considered to be safe for Labor, and David
Speaker 2: Christoph fully really hitting those regions hard.
Speaker 1: Lydia Lynch is a reporter in the Australian's Queensland Bureau.
Speaker 1: Speaking of elections. In less than two weeks, Americans will
Speaker 1: vote for a new president. You can keep up to
Speaker 1: date with all the latest scoops and analysis on the
Speaker 1: US election campaign right now at the Australian dot com
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