Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will issue writs to the Governor of Queensland today to officially place the state in caretaker mode ahead of the October 31 election.
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The Premier will be buoyed by a swing in the latest polls with a Yougov poll suggesting Labor leads 52-48 on a two party preferred basis.
The survey results published in the Courier-Mail on Tuesday, the first formal day of campaigning, are a reversal of how the parties stood when the last YouGov poll was conducted in June.
The premier will be less pleased by a Local Government Association of Queensland State Election report card which showed trailing behind the LNP, Katter's Australian Party and One Nation.
The LGAQ's report card ranks the commitment to election priorities to generate $4.662 billion in economic activity and gives the LNP and the KAP an overall grade of B+ with both parties committed to supporting key Queensland council priorities like the Bush Councils Compact, an agreement designed to ensure the Government considers how every Budget and legislative decision it makes will impact on bush communities.
One Nation has been awarded a C+, an improvement on its initial F grade, after the party issued a response indicating broad support for many of the LGAQ's priorities.
The Greens also improved their score from a D to a C after expressing general support for the majority of the LGAQ' priorities.
Labor emains on C after declining to give firm commitment to the LGAQ as to which priorities it would adopt or continue should the party secure a third term in office.
The Bush Compact will likely come up when the Traeger candidates (so far KAP's Robbie Katter, ALP's James Bambrick, newly revealed LNP candidate Marnie Smith and independent Craig Scriven) go head-to-head in a debate on Friday in Cloncurry organised by the North West Qld Regional Organisation of Councils.
The debate is not open to the general public but the North West Star will cover the event.
READ ALSO: Cloncurry water park opens next week
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
