NEWS
The writs for the state election may still be weeks away from being issued, but the fight has begun for a seat that will be closely watched on election night on 24 March.
In the city seat of Brisbane Central, main party contenders, the sitting Labor member Grace Grace and her LNP opponent Robert Cavallucci (pictured) this week traded blows over who is to blame for the ongoing Walton’s walkway debacle. Ms Grace, the former Queensland Labor Council head honcho, holds the seat on a 6 per cent margin, after suffering a 8.4 per cent swing against her at the 2009 poll, one in which the LNP did not fare as well as some experts had predicted.
The other declared candidates at this stage are the Greens’ Anne Boccabella, who gained 17 per cent of the primary vote last time, and Ruth Bonnett from the Queensland Party. Brisbane Central will be one to watch on election night because it falls tantalisingly between the uniform 4.6 per cent swing the LNP will need under new leader Campbell Newman to take government from Labor and the 7.1 per cent the former Brisbane Lord Mayor needs to oust former minister Kate Jones in the seat of Ashgrove and become Premier from outside of Parliament.
Unless the LNP has a shocker of a campaign, the experts all agree that a sizeable swing is on to the Opposition, and if at the end of counting on election night, Ms Grace has held her seat or at the very least is still in with a shout, Queensland could easily find itself with a new government but with a Premier other than the one they were expecting.
In an edition closer to election day, The Independent will run a page of candidates’ statements for the Brisbane Central seat.
