Via The Australian:
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has again ruled out forming minority government with One Nation support, after a new poll suggested neither major party would be able to rule the state in their own right after the next election.
Ms Palaszczuk returned from a week of leave today with a renewed message for Queenslanders as speculation mounts about the timing of the state election.
“Absolutely yes,” the Premier said when asked to rule out governing with the support of One Nation.
“There is a real risk of (LNP leader) Tim Nicholls doing this deal with One Nation to become Premier of this state. It would be total and utter chaos, it puts at risk everything my government has done over the past two and a half years.”
…A Reachtel poll, taken for Sky News, showed Labor’s primary vote had slumped to 32.1 per cent, down from 37.5 per cent at the 2015 state election. The LNP’s position was worse, with 30.6 per cent primary support, down from 41.3 per cent at the last election.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party is registering 18 per cent primary support, meaning the minor party will play a vital role at the next election, if the poll numbers are replicated there. It could hold the balance of power, and One Nation preferences will be critical, particularly in regional seats.
The Reachtel poll showed that on a two-party preferred basis, the LNP would secure 52 per cent of the vote, compared to Labor’s 48 per cent.
After WA, ON can’t do any deals pre-election but it can afterwards. More:
Pauline Hanson is targeting 20 seats at the looming Queensland election in a strategy to secure the balance of power for One Nation.
Days after a new poll showed the protest party already held 18 per cent of the statewide primary vote, the Queensland senator said One Nation was open to supporting either Labor or the Liberal National Party to form minority government.
But while the LNP yesterday refused to be drawn on whether it would forge a coalition with One Nation, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk reiterated that Labor would not form a minority government with Ms Hanson’s party.
Expect a Trump-like wall to be built between NSW and QLD.
Or perhaps a naval blockade between VIC and TAS:
Tasmania’s Liberal Party has received significant donations from entities associated with Chinese-linked Sydney property developer Yuhu Group, as donations emerge as a leading issue ahead of the next state election.
Yuhu and its billionaire founder, Huang Xiangmo, are linked to donations of millions of dollars to both major parties across the country and have been at the centre of controversy over Chinese political influence in Australia.
The Australian can reveal Yuhu’s influence now extends across Bass Strait, where Hobart is enjoying a property boom and Tasmania a surge in fisheries and aquaculture, sectors in which the company is keen to invest.
A trust related to Chaoshan No 1 Pty Ltd donated $10,000 to the Liberals’ Tasmanian division on May 30 last year, in the lead-up to the federal election.
This was under the $13,000 threshold at which disclosure was mandatory and was not declared by the party, only by Chaoshan’s trust.
The trust’s documentation with the Australian Electoral Commission has its address as Level 15, 201 Miller Street, North Sydney, also the address of Yuhu Group (Australia) Pty Ltd. Chaoshan’s AEC disclosure was made by its financial controller, Nadene Foggiato, who lists a Yuhu email address; Ms Foggiato cites Yuhu as her employer on social media.
Two Chaoshan directors are directors of Yuhu.
The two stories are unrelated!
