How the Goss government tried to win back voters in its dying days
Newly released cabinet documents from 1995 detail the efforts of the then Queensland Labor government to recover from a knife-edge, and temporary, election win.
After scraping back into power with a single-seat majority hinging on little more than a dozen votes, then-Queensland premier Wayne Goss was on a mission.
It was mid-1995. A reunited National-Liberal coalition had gained major ground, and Goss’ third-term Labor team’s sweeping promises needed action.
That action had to be not only fast, but visible to voters who had sent a clear message, newly released 1995 cabinet documents show.
Wayne Goss, pictured in 1990, just six months after his first election win in the wake of the Bjelke-Petersen government’s downfall.Credit: Peter O'Halloran
The annual unsealing of confidential 30-year-old ministerial decision-making has outlined the processes behind many of the Goss government’s efforts that year.
Nudging into its sixth year after decades of National Party rule, Goss’ government was making preparations to tap into the 2000 Sydney Olympics and manage a growing population.
That year would also see it launch a gambling community benefit fund, recognise defacto relationships and try to assure the public that speed cameras were not a cash grab.
But the July election, the first contested by a coalition of the state’s two major conservative parties in 15 years – led by Rob Borbidge – was always going to loom large.
Labor’s campaign was one of small target and privatisation accusations levelled at Borbidge, media reporting at the time noted. Goss copped flak for airing the latter claims.
Amid a controversial Brisbane-Gold Coast tollway proposal, Goss’ team was also criticised for promises in policy areas it was perceived to have done little in across its previous two terms.
This mood translated to a loss of nine seats for Labor, and two-party preferred support of just 46.7 per cent. But Ken Davies’ 16-vote win in Mundingburra gave Goss the barest of majorities.
