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Queensland election

An email to 2UE’s John Kerr

Good morning John,

That sure was a big win for Campbell Newman and the Liberal National Party in Queensland. I was expecting a big win, but this was even bigger than I thought it would be. It actually put me out a little as normally, even in an election which has a clear result quite early, the speeches don't start until after 9pm, so my plan was to watch the end of the AFL and then focus on the election and the speeches. Instead, I had to switch away from a rather uninteresting AFL match to watch the speeches…it's a good thing the AFL game wasn't very interesting.

I'm pleased to see Campbell Newman win. An exit poll showed that 44% of voters were very concerned about the carbon tax, so I think there is definitely a message for the federal government in this result, even though the election was largely decided on state issues. I hope that Mr. Newman takes his massive majority and hits the ground running, following through on his promises quickly…with that large a victory, he owes Queenslanders that much. I was also pleased to see former NRL referee Tim Mander win a seat. He has done great work with the school chaplaincy program, and it's good to see him take a step up to serve people on a larger scale.

From a national perspective, I now hope that the mining states of Queensland and Western Australia, along with the Liberal-run states of New South Wales and Victoria join forces to battle the mining tax in court on behalf of the residents of those states. It's bad enough that we have a pointless tax on air…we certainly don't need a tax on dirt.

Have a great week John. I'm working nights next week, so I might be able to give you a call after work next week. Unfortunately I have to go to bed now, but I'll be listening until I doze off.

Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra