1. The election was in large part a referendum on Queensland’s border closure and the right wi

1. The election was in large part a referendum on Queensland’s border closure and the right wing decisively lost

The Palaszczuk government’s victory in the Queensland election, the first state election held in Australia since the onset of the COVID crisis, is a defeat for the business lobby that has for months demanded profits be prioritised over public health. It is a triumph for the good sense of ordinary people who have rejected their cruel calculus.

The main issue at stake in this election was whether the Palaszczuk government’s strategy of keeping the state border closed to the southern states for several months, with only gradual reopening, would receive popular support. The measure has done much to minimise the impact of the coronavirus in Queensland—there have been only six deaths in the state since the start of the pandemic and, other than a brief outbreak in July when the border was briefly reopened, case numbers have been extremely low since April.

READ MORE: Takeaways from the Queensland election