While votes will continue to be counted in coming days following the Queensland election and a number of seats remain on a knife edge, what is clear is that both Young LNP members and EDO participants right across Queensland have helped to make a critical difference in many key seats.
Move around in political circles long enough and eventually you’ll hear a famous saying popularised by former US House Speaker Tip O’Neill: “All politics is local”. The Tipster’s famous insight has been repeated so many time it’s assumed something like the status of a truism. But there’s evidence its wisdom may be beginning to wear thin. Increasingly, as the growth of mass media has put the parliamentary leader and national or statewide issues into ever-closer contact with voters, the importance of the local member as a medium of exchange has been diminished.
We’ve been fortunate enough to spend the week right in the middle of the action in Toowoomba North (LNP, 1.6%). The sitting MP, Trevor Watts, has generously hosted us at his house, in what has shaped up to be an exciting yet very busy week.