One Nation likely to hold balance of power in Queensland

One Nation looks likely to get a foothold in Queensland, and Melbourne teams dominate both football codes. It's the news you need to know, by Max Chalmers.

ONE NATION LOOMS OVER QUEENSLAND

Campaigning is ramping up in Queensland, where a state election is expected in mid-November.

According to a weekend ReachTel poll, Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Labor Party leads Tim Nicholls and the LNP 52-48, but the problem for both is that Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is now polling at 18%. With the primary vote of Labor and the LNP dropping significantly since 2015, One Nation is likely to claim the balance of power.

With her influence on the rise, Hanson is campaigning in regional areas and attempting to champion opposition to environmental laws limiting land use by farmers. Labor meanwhile is attempting to make inroads on the Gold Coast, according to The Australian, where it currently holds zero out of 10 seats. National party leaders have been no strangers to the state this year, with Bill Shorten managing 15 visits to date.

Federally, the state’s recent redistribution has done little to help the LNP, with Immigration Minister Peter Dutton‘s seat of Dickson changing from a 1.6% to a 2% margin.

BISHOP BACKS TRUMP

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has credited US President Donald Trump with changing the debate on North Korea and bringing China to the table.

Trump has threatened to destroy the nation of North Korea on multiple occasions and today publicly clashed with his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, tweeting: “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man… Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!”

Bishop recently traveled to the US, meeting with members of Congress, and told Insiders Tillerson had briefed her on back-channel communications with Pyongyang. Fellow minister Peter Dutton will travel to the US this week to re-launch the Bush-era Congressional Friends of Australia Caucus.

WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS

Finals football is over for another year, with the Melbourne Storm and Richmond Tigers claiming their respective grand finals.

In the AFL, the Tigers claimed their first flag since 1980, with Dustin Martin winning the Norm Smith medal and inspiring fans to attempt his signature “Dusty mohawk mullet”.

On Sunday, the Melbourne Storm ruined the fun by brushing aside fairytale battlers the North Queensland Cowboys. In a much hyped pre-game performance, US rapper Macklemore performed his 2013 hit Same Love, accompanied by a shower of rainbow coloured fireworks.

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WHAT’S ON TODAY

Melbourne: Plea hearing for Richard Vincec over manslaughter one-punch killing of Jaiden Walker.

Cootamundra: NSW Labor leader Luke Foley launches byelection campaign for the seat, which is being contested by Charlie Sheahan.

THE COMMENTARIAT

Scott Morrison’s choice: ‘If Donald Trump jumped off a cliff, would you?’ — Jessica Irvine (Sydney Morning Herald): “The first point to remember is that Australia’s company tax system is unique in the world in that domestic shareholders are actually rebated for every cent in company tax paid, so-called “franking credits”. So while our 30 per cent headline rate looks high, it is less of a burden than global comparisons of headline rates imply.”

Nervous Nats eye the elephant in the ballot box — Graham Richardson (The Australian $): “The loathing of One Nation is obvious if you talk to any country member of the Nationals. It presents a clear and present danger to the existence of the Nationals in Queensland and across the nation. To become partners with them when relations are as rotten as they most certainly are is to invite instability and open division.”

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF FRIDAY

High Court allows the government to spend its slush fund on just about any old bullshit — Michael Bradley: “The bigger consequence is that this case represents another step down the path of ascendancy for the executive arm of government over its two rivals. The constitution was designed to strike a delicate balance between the legislature, executive and judiciary, and it recognised that the executive is by far the most dangerous of the three if not appropriately restrained.”

Australian business eager to import Trump’s war on ordinary taxpayers — Bernard Keane: “The proposals will be particularly popular with corporate executives because Trump wants to repeat the George W Bush experiment of having a tax holiday for American multinationals, so that they can shift trillions of dollars in unrepatriated profits onshore under a super low tax rate. When Bush did it, the repatriated profits were used not for additional investment, for growing the economy or employing more Americans, and certainly not for paying them higher wages.”

EXCLUSIVE: Peter Dutton rewrites lyrics to Same Love, asks NRL if he can perform it at grand final — Ben Pobjie: “If I was gay, I would hope my parents would hate me / Nobody likes it when their kids don’t act straightly.”