Queensland’s ruling Liberal National party has failed in last minute legal bids to stop rivals using “misleading” material in an election campaign that has been marked by court actions.
The supreme court dismissed two separate applications on Saturday by the LNP seeking injunctions against Labor and activist group GetUp over signs and how to vote cards at polling booths.
The same day, the Electrical Trades Union state secretary, Peter Simpson, said he was suing the LNP and the Courier-Mail newspaper for defamation over claims during the campaign linking him and his union to bikies.
An ETU statement said the “disgusting allegations” were first made by the premier, Campbell Newman, during a public debate last week, then in an LNP “attack ad” on the party’s Facebook page.
He said the LNP was “aided and abetted by the Courier-Mail”, which reported the allegations.
Simpson said the LNP ad used footage “ripped off from a citizen journalist” of him addressing an anti-bikie laws rally last year and giving an account of what he witnessed during the 1998 wharfies’ dispute with the former Howard government.
“During that dispute, I witnessed bikies, farmers, butchers, business men and every day Queenslanders bringing cash, vegetables, meat, eggs, clothing, you name it, such was the community spirit during that disgusting attack on working people,” Simpson said.
“For the LNP to then attempt to fashion an attack ad that alleged that I ‘took wads of cash’ from people they say are “criminals”, is beyond the bounds of decency.
“They have attacked my reputation and they have attacked my union and its members, something I will never tolerate.”
The LNP, which has campaigned on a “just vote one LNP” platform under Queensland’s optional preferential voting system, objected to Labor’s sign telling voters to “number every square”.
In a statement, the LNP claimed the signs, which bore Queensland Electoral Commission colours but not Labor’s insignia, were “misleading electors in relation to the way of voting at the election”.
A Labor spokesman said the court had “declared [the signs] acceptable and legal and we’ve continued to use that material”.
The court separately dismissed the bid to stop GetUp’s “how to vote” cards, which told voters at 76 booths statewide to put the LNP last over its policies around the Great Barrier Reef’.
In court documents, LNP political adviser Mitchell Redford said Queensland Electoral Commission representatives had asked GetUp volunteers to leave a booth in the premier Campbell Newman’s seat of Ashgrove.
The action was brought on behalf of LNP candidates Tarnya Smith, Saxon Rice, Verity Barton, Robert Cavallucci and Mark Stewart.
It was filed by ClarkeKann solicitor Shane Williamson, the same lawyer who prepared the defamation lawsuit by Newman and the deputy premier, Jeff Seeney, against Alan Jones over the broadcaster’s comments about government mining approvals for a party donor.
GetUp’s Queensland campaign manager, Tristan Douglas, said the LNP had “resorted to a vexatious attack” and a “cynical ploy to silence critics on election day”.
“It’s a dirty, desperate attempt to cling on to power in an election set to go down to the wire,” he said. “The past three years has been government for the big miners, not the people and certainly not the reef.”
Katter’s Australian party took legal action on Friday against the LNP over flyers KAP said falsely claimed it had done preference deals with Labor, Greens and the Palmer United party.
An LNP official ridiculed KAP for dropping the action hours after launching it, despite ending the court dispute himself by promising to stop using the material.
Outside the courtroom drama, both leaders cast their votes. The opposition leader, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said she was feeling positive after voting in her Brisbane seat of Inala.
But when asked if she was confident of winning the state’s top job on Saturday, she said: “One step at a time. It’s going to be a long day.”
Winning her seat is expected – Inala has been a safe Labor seat since its creation in 1992.
But the big challenge is for Labor to achieve a 12% swing to win government.
It currently holds nine seats, while the LNP has 73.
But for the premier, Campbell Newman, who cast his votes in the hotly contested electorate of Ashgrove on Saturday morning, winning his own seat is the bigger obstacle.
Newman holds the inner-Brisbane seat by a margin of 5.7% but recent polls predict he’ll be ousted by his ALP rival, Kate Jones.
He filed his own ballot – insisting on showing his personal ID under new voting laws – at Newmarket state school on Saturday morning.
With wife Lisa by his side, the premier said the Liberal National party had a clear vision for Queensland’s future and was committed to delivering on their election promises.
“[Queenslanders] have a choice between strong and responsible government, versus people who don’t have a plan, can’t fund it,” he said.
But the premier deflected speculation he could be without a seat by the end of the night, choosing instead to focus on the broader electoral prospects of the LNP.
“It’s not about myself or any member of my team – it’s about the people of Queensland,” he said. “They’re voting today about their future.”
Jones voted at Payne Road state school before making her way to a local church to hand out flyers.
While fancied by polls and pundits alike, she insisted the race for Ashgrove would be very close. “I’ve said from day one that this would go down to the wire.”
