‘Tonight, Queenslanders voted for change. Tonight, Queenslanders voted for David Crisafulli!’

Or so went the new Premier’s intro and standing ovation after he claimed victory from Steven ‘Giggles’ Miles, whose long and unremarkable audition has ended. He will be remembered as a footnote following a dodgy chapter in Australia’s political history.

‘Queenslanders have voted for hope over fear,’ said Mr Crisafulli. ‘They have voted for a fresh start and they have voted for a majority LNP government.’

Mr Crisafulli then spent the opening of his speech talking about Mr Miles and Labor instead of preaching from his hard-won pulpit about rescuing the state from the clutches of disorder and despair.

The one thing missing from his speech was the word, conservative.

LNP Leader David Crisafulli Claims Victory In Queensland Election | 10 News First

The LNP is ahead in the vote count in the state election and is now expected to be able to form a majority government.

David Crisafulli has spoken at LNP HQ stating, “of the last 12 general… pic.twitter.com/jteEXM63yn— 10 News First Queensland (@10NewsFirstQLD) October 26, 2024

Voters are not voting for blue or red, for the LNP or Labor, they are making a choice between conservatism and socialism.

‘We do what we say we were going to do. We don’t do what we say we wouldn’t do.’

Okay, so he’s not exactly Churchill when it comes to words.

‘We govern with humility, decency, vision, and tenacity. In doing so, we get the opportunity to govern for a long period of time. If we get that opportunity, we can do great things for our party, for our kids, for our state. We borrow a phrase from a different era and from a different political movement: It’s Time!’

Could you guess which political movement Mr Crisafulli belongs to based upon his victory speech?

Labor never stop banging on about their specific and extensive social plans when strutting the victory stage. It is a shame that the LNP spent their two minutes of fame either feeling sorry for Mr Miles or quoting one of the nation’s worst Prime Ministers.

The LNP won because the Labor Party became untenable. People voted against Labor rather than for the LNP, which is why their victory is narrow and Mr Crisafulli’s speech tries to walk straight down the wettest of slippery middle grounds, promising nothing ideological in the hope that looking friendly will be enough to secure a second term.

Yes, Queensland will be breathing a sigh of relief that they are shot of Labor, but Labor have left a debris field in their wake. Every step Mr Crisafulli takes is going to trigger a land mine. Every leak and dent he attempts to fix has a protective detail of powerful bureaucrats.

Queensland has an LNP government for the first time in nearly ten years, but will it be a conservative government?

Surely, if Mr Crisafulli plans to solidify his ideological as well as economic stance within the first hundred days, he will propose that the supremacy of biology is restored and the rights of women and men are once again recognised in law.

This is a unifying position for conservatives, whether they be a bit soggy or out-and-proud Trumpians.

Doing so would calm conservatives down for a while and give Mr Crisafulli the space he needs to address the biggest problem in the state – crime.

‘We will make sure that we have respect for your money, and that the culture of budget blow-outs will end.’

Queenslanders have elected Mr Crisafulli on a narrow promise that he must deliver on, or it is curtains. He is going to face enormous challenges from the bureaucratic, legal, and media establishment as he tries to clean up youth crime and over-spending. All the usual suspects will come out of the woodwork.

Mr Crisafulli will have to put some earmuffs on to block out the faux outrage to get these policies through and on the ground for as long as possible, because he will need a track record of success to survive.

This will be doubly important when the first Labor wind turbines start rising out of the sand and swell along Queensland beaches, infuriating locals. If Mr Crisafulli is as smart as he thinks he is, he will ensure these renewable energy projects are delayed or shelved long enough to ride the federal government’s nuclear energy proposition. Nuclear is the issue the left are most worried about, which means it could secure that long-lasting power that Mr Crisafulli claims to want.

On Spectator TV, we interviewed various commentators in Queensland who expressed resignation at Mr Crisafulli’s disinterest in conservatism.

No, not the abortion question.

While the LNP stumbled under pressure, it was primarily Family First who tried to wedge the LNP into the abortion trap set by Labor. This did not work, mostly because Labor was lying about the policy position of the LNP and the majority of Australians will not come within a hundred yards of a party that threatens to ban abortion at all levels. While this may upset some conservatives, it is a statistical reality at the polling booth. The Guardian doesn’t get much right, but their observation is true. ‘The Christian soldiers still scare progressives in the city.’ Brisbane did indeed shift away from the LNP at the last minute on the back of this debate.

Queensland’s cities are red, and its regions are blue.

Mr Miles knew his tactics of scare mongering and free lunches had failed. His tweets on the final days showed a man slowly turning as red as his Labor backdrop.

At the time of writing, Mr Miles has not posted a congratulatory tweet, even though Mr Crisafulli said all those nice things about him. He is probably tucking into a sandwich.

Returning to the topic of conservatism.

Mr Crisafulli is probably not going to be a conservative leader or an ideological figurehead. He has a couple of non-ideological promises to get started on and, like a contractor brought in to fix the roof, that is what he is going to do.

When these unifying problems are solved, Queensland is going to go searching for a political soul.

This is something Labor is naturally good at. Lying about the joys of socialist spirituality is how they keep securing power. The LNP must have an answer for this. They cannot wander about as hard-hat men fixing potholes on Labor’s streets. They have to build their own.

More people vote for conservative minor parties than vote for the Greens.

The reason conservatism does not hold power is because it is split. At some point, the other minor parties should fold into One Nation where the bulk of the votes sit. If this were to happen, the wings of Parliament could balance out and the whole bird might finally fly straight.