Poll Call: March 5

The ABC also featured a full report on the six same-sex couples formally registering their civil unions for the first time today, with the reporter anointing the law’s sponsor, Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser, as “figuratively their best man” today. Viewers were told Campbell Newman had “promised to go against his own heart and do what the LNP wants” – try to repeal the law if the party wins government. After one of the couples urged others to sign up while they still could, the reporter ended by cheekily saying: “At least now they can say they’re civilly united, which is more than some married couples can claim''.

7.12pm: Across at the community forum, an older woman has taken the microphone to ask that question: "Can you assure us that there is a contingency plan if you are not elected to Ashgrove? You don't have to divulge it, just assure us."

LNP leader Campbell Newman repeated the well-worn lines.

"The plan is people in Ashgrove should vote for me. We will not win this state election if we don't win Ashgrove. People in this community are smart and know what's at stake and am confident they will make a decision,’’ he said.

Our reporter Bridie Jabour will have a full wrap for the morning.

6.45pm: At the community forum, LNP leader Campbell Newman has been asked how he will help the fish and chip shop down the road.

“There are two things that we put on the table in relation to [easing the burden on small business]," Mr Newman said.

"The first is red tape reduction. I've always tried to be an anti-politician. I really mean that.’’

He cited a kebab shop owner at The Gap who shouldn't have to fill out forms to say whether his shop was clean.

The second was to overhaul the “job destroying’’ payroll tax by eventually lifting the threshold from $1 million to $1.6 million before businesses paid.

6.39pm: Treasurer Andrew Fraser competed in his first election at Proserpine State School and a moment of nerves cost him, reporter Tony Moore writes.

He lost by one vote because he voted for a friend; hence he was Proserpine State School's deputy school captain in 1988.

"I voted for a mate in a moment of nerves and I lost by one vote," he told reporters on the ALP's campaign bus.

Would he extend the same courtesy 25 years later to his 2012 opponent in his Mount Coot-tha electorate, the LNP's Saxon Rice?

The reply came quickly:"no."

Mr Fraser clearly relished his time at his old school, offering sympathy to the students who did not win positions on the student council.

"I'll let you into a little story," he told them gather in the school's outdoor assembly area.

"When I first stood for school captain here, I came second.

"And then later on in life I won some other elections.

"So you never know what is around the corner if you are feeling a bit disappointed at the moment."

No doubting the fighting spirit of the man the LNP would dearly love to defeat on March 24.

Mr Fraser was earlier philosophical with the students.

"Elections are tough business," he told them in a life's lesson that many will look back on in the future.

"Sometimes elections are a hard lesson to learn, especially when you are 12 years old.

"So anyone who found it a hard lesson to learn in the last little while, always remember there is always another day."

On March 24, Labor will be hoping Andrew Fraser will not come second again.

Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser hands a badge to Prosperine State School's Flinders House vice captain Rebecca Simpson. Photo: Tony Moore

6.33pm: Back at the Enoggera Bowls Club at the Newman-Turnbull double header, national health reform was the subject of the first question from the audience.

"I am inherently suspicious of what Federal Government are putting on the table," Mr Newman said. "But we would approach it in a cooperative manner."

Mr Newman believed hospitals should be run by boards.

6.23pm: Across at the other commercial network, Channel 9 reported both major parties were “splashing cash” on the regions, saying Labor today trumped yesterday’s LNP pledge on community social infrastructure spending. However, viewers were told Premier Anna Bligh had “muddled her maths” on the commitment.

The story also included the memorable quote from LNP leader Campbell Newman talking up his suitability for the state’s top job but saying he did not want to sound like an “egotist”. Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser also raised eyebrows by saying there was only one person “man enough” to lead Queensland – Ms Bligh, who was standing next to him.

6.21pm: First it was the battle of the egos, reports Channel 7. On one side was LNP Campbell Newman who declared: “I don’t like to sound like an egotist, but I am better qualified than anybody down there that the Labor party’s put forward’’. One the other was Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser who stated: "I think there is only someone who is man enough to lead Queensland into the future and that person is standing right beside me." He was referring to Premier Anna Bligh.

It was followed up with the battle for the regional vote. Ms Bligh “trumped’’ Mr Newman when she promised more for social infrastructure in regional areas.

6.13pm: Behind the scenes today, there have been claims and counter claims about the figures for rival regional plans so Poll Call sought clarification and has now received responses from both major political parties.

The LNP will set aside $455 million over the next four years under the Royalties for the Regions plan, growing to $200 million annually in the long term. The $455 million figure includes $170 million for social infrastructure and $285 million for roads, which were announced yesterday and today respectively. The third tranche is aimed at “floodplain security’’ and will be announced later in the campaign.

Today, Labor has promised $300 million over four years for social infrastructure in the region. The Bligh Government had previously allocated $100 million divvied up over the three years. While the headline figure has tripled, the promised funds will be delivered over a longer period. But Labor is promising more for social infrastructure ($300 million) than the LNP ($170 million) over the same period.

6.05pm: LNP leader Campbell Newman and federal Opposition frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull have kicked off a community forum at Enoggera Bowls Club by talking about the LNP's vision for the state.

Our reporter Bridie Jabour writes Mr Newman began by talking about visiting the bowls club 26 years ago on a hot December day when he was a soldier.

He said he would not go in to details because the afternoon was a bit "untidy" but 26 years ago, Queensland was a great state to live. Queensland was low tax and low regulation and a family could work hard and make something of themselves. "But over the past 26 years I feel sadly that much has been lost," he said.

5.49pm: Channel 10's bulletin also featured a story on the jubilant same-sex couples who today became the first in Queensland to have their civil unions formally registered. The story noted that LNP leader Campbell Newman had previously expressed his support for same-sex unions, but the reporter said the aspiring premier was today “toeing the very anti LNP line”. Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser, who championed the historic laws, questioned why Mr Newman wanted to take away people’s rights.

5.32pm: The bidding war for regional votes headlined Channel 10’s main political story to kick-off week three of the official election campaign.

At the party's campaign launch yesterday, LNP leader Campbell Newman pledged $170 million over four years to deliver social infrastructure. In Mackay today, he was “trumped’’ by Premier Anna Bligh who promised $300 million over four years for the same thing.

5.06pm: Remember the LNP candidate for Broadwater who was dumped after it emerged that he went to a swingers’ club event. He has flagged a new venture – a tell-all book titled The Campaign Diet: how to lose 10 kilos in just 38 days.

4.22pm: On Steve Austin's ABC 612 program earlier today, LNP leader Campbell Newman was asked whether he would prefer Malcolm Turnbull or Tony Abbott as federal opposition leader.

Without hesitation, Mr Newman nominated Mr Abbott. Mr Turnbull laughed off the comments when he joined Mr Newman on the campaign trail, Bridie Jabour writes.

"Tony will be the next Prime Minister of Australia, I mean, he'll certainly be the leader of the Liberal party at the next election and I'm sure he'll do a very good job of being Prime Minster if he wins but we can't afford to be complacent,’’ Mr Turnbull said.

Mr Turnbull described the LNP leader as a “good friend’’, saying "Can-Do Campbell is not an aspiration, it's a fact’’.

3.45pm: In the latest episode of politicians strolling through shopping centres to garner votes, Opposition frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull has joined LNP leader Campbell Newman at The Gap Village Shopping Centre.

Eight-year-old Eponine McLennan regaled known dog-lover Mr Turnbull with tales about her pooches. And protesters confronted the federal opposition frontbencher over the Wild Rivers issue.

Mr Turnbull didn’t shy away from the pair. "It's very nice for passionate people in Brisbane ... but at the end of the day folks up there want their say," he said.

Federal Opposition frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull and LNP leader Campbell Newman chat to Eponine McLennan, 8, about her dogs. Photo: Bridie Jabour.

2.49pm: If you haven't been following the election closely so far, you're new to Queensland or you're just simply looking to brush up on the issues, check out our guide here, which includes facts about some of the major players, 10 seats to watch, and the current make-up of state parliament.

If you want to look at policies, you can find a list of the Labor pledges announced so far here, and the LNP promises here.

2.15pm: If you're reading this on a computer, some of you may see a large new LNP ad has just appeared - unusual because it's red (to attract the attention of Labor voters?) rather than the party's usual blue and yellow. Do you think it's effective? What's your general take on what the parties' advertising has been like during this campaign?

2.09pm: A little more from the Beattie/Borbidge video interview with The Australian (thanks to Daniel Hurst for summarising it for us).

Mr Beattie was his usual jovial self when asked about The Courier-Mail’s decision to pull its journalists off the campaign trail.

“Why didn’t that happen when Rob or I were running the show?” a grinning Mr Beattie complains in the video posted on The Australian’s website.

Commenting on criticism of the stunt-based and presidential nature of the election campaign trail, Mr Beattie says apart from announcing policies leaders have to get out and meet people and show they can relate to them.

He also hits back at complaints about the fact journalists are not told in advance where the leaders are going, saying it’s the media’s fault, because in days gone past reporters would get a heads-up and then word would get out to the other side about what has happening the next day and protests would be arranged.

“I remember one Bob Katter did in Cairns because they found out where I was. You don’t want to be ambushed, so if the media would shut up there wouldn’t be a problem quite frankly.”

Mr Borbidge agrees leaders are careful to avoid being ambushed “but the reality is that every time a leader or premier does a street walk ... anything can happen, at any time”.

1.58pm: A Supreme Court judge has described the Katter’s Australian Party’s legal bid to have millions of Queensland ballot papers shredded as bizarre, AAP reports.

The Queensland Electoral Commission has printed ‘‘The Australian Party’’ on ballot papers for the March 24 state election, the shortened version of its registered name.

Katter’s Australian Party wants an injunction to have the papers reprinted, a move that could delay the election, because it fears the name obscures the identity of its candidates.

Queensland Supreme Court Justice Roslyn Atkinson says that confusion is of the party’s own making, because it registered The Australian Party as its abbreviated name. She says the Queensland Electoral Act makes it clear that abbreviations can be used.

The Supreme Court will be making a ruling on the issue later today.

And on that topic, we have another nomination for quote of the day. Campbell Newman was asked today what his thoughts were on the campaign possibly being extended by the Katter case:

"Que Sera Sera. I'll Twitter that later on, tweet it rather."

(Mr Newman is currently learning how to use Twitter.)

1.50pm: Former Labor premier Peter Beattie says LNP leader Campbell Newman is not a dishonest person, but “perceptional issues” surrounding donations and family business interests “are doing him no good and he needs to deal with them”.

Former Coalition premier Rob Borbidge, meanwhile, says the earlier timing of the LNP’s official campaign launch yesterday was a “significant break with tradition” but reflects the view that the next week on the hustings will be crucial to the outcome. While the LNP is well ahead in the polls “they want to grab the ball, run with it and score”, Mr Borbidge says.

In a panel discussion with The Australian newspaper, Mr Beattie says the Labor brand has been “a little damaged” by the federal leadership tussle between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, but dismissed the significance of some Queensland Labor MPs downplaying their party’s logo in their campaigns in favour of a locally-focused pitch.

“I don’t believe people are silly, they understand who the Labor candidate is and who the LNP candidate is,” he says in the video, which you can see here.

Mr Borbidge says the merger of the Liberal and National parties in 2008 had gone smoother than most people thought possible, pointing out the conservatives had previously had difficulties on several issues including who would be premier depending on which party won the most seats.

“All those problems have disappeared since the merger,” Mr Borbidge says.

Mr Beattie says with optional preferential voting in Queensland, Labor’s “real challenge” is to increase its share of the primary vote.

The former Labor premier, who worked closely with Mr Newman as lord mayor, also reckons Mr Newman’s battle for Ashgrove is a good move, because Australians like someone who is up for a fight. If an LNP MP, such as Moggill MP Bruce Flegg, stood aside for him to take the helm at an earlier by-election, it would have looked like Mr Newman had been served the seat up on a “silver spoon”.

1.34pm: Malcolm Turnbull has been lending his federal weight to the LNP campaign, making an appearance at a New Farm grocery store with the party's candidate for Brisbane Central, Robert Cavallucci, early this afternoon:

He tweeted this photo with the caption: ''with Robert Cavallucci @robcav4bris our candidate in Central Brisbane - part of @Campbell_newman Cando Qld team!''

1.23pm: And LNP leader Campbell Newman says a controversial political strategist close to former opposition leader Lawrence Springborg is free to support a candidate ahead of the looming election.

“I don’t know [if Jake Smith has arrived back in Queensland]. I think I’ve heard that he perhaps has but that’s something you should find out with other people; I’m not his keeper,” Mr Newman told reporters in Toowoomba. The updated story is here.

12.36pm: LNP leader Campbell Newman is still refusing to say when his party will release the costings for all its policies.

At a press conference in Toowoomba he was asked specifically if he had a date for when the costings will be released, Bridie Jabour reports.

"It will be before the election," he said.

He was then asked if it will be in the last days of the election campaign to which he replied with the same answer.

"We are doing exactly what has been done for many, many decades in terms of, parties put their promises forward and demonstrate their costings and make sure it is all there for people before the election," he said.

12.25pm: Another federal Liberal politician has arrived in Brisbane to help the LNP campaign:

It's understood Mr Turnbull will be making an appearance with Campbell Newman later today.

12.15pm: Two independent candidates vying for Ipswich-based seats in the Queensland election will wear their campaign posters to court to protest fines they claim were the result of political bullying.

Ipswich candidate Patricia Petersen says she and Bundamba candidate Angela Watson will don their election posters to attend Ipswich Magistrates Court at 2pm today.

Ms Petersen says she has been fined $1600 for displaying campaign posters and has had $6000 worth of election material seized by Ipswich City Council. Ms Watson says she has been fined $500 for displaying election material. Both women will fight the fines in court.

12.07pm: While in Toowoomba, LNP leader Campbell Newman has announced $285 million from the party's Roads to Resources program will go to repairing and upgrading regional roads in Queensland.

The money will be spent over four years and then the LNP has committed an extra $100 million per year for roads on top of current funding.

Reporter Bridie Jabour writes Mr Newman has made the announcement in Toowoomba, which will benefit from the first commitment from the Roads to Resources program.

Under a LNP government, the town will receive $55 million to build the Toowoomba CBD Ring Road.

"The Ring Road will alleviate traffic pressure on the centre of Toowoomba by providing an alternative route for local traffic out of the CBD," he said.

Roads to Resources is part of Royalties to Regions plan.

11.54am: Members of the media have just received their invitations to the leaders's Great Debate, organised by the Queensland Media Club, to be held on March 19, five days before the election.

''Both leaders will outline their visions for Queensland and take part in a moderated debate on the key issues,'' the invitation states.

11.52am: LNP leader Campbell Newman has dismissed Labor’s promise of $300 million for the regions as a “panic-stricken announcement’’.

“The premier has shown by announcing today this regional funding that she has neglected regions. It’s a panic-stricken announcement,’’ Mr Newman told reporters in Toowoomba.

11.27am: On the topic of campaign signs, Poll Call noticed on the weekend signs have been erected for each of the major parties' candidate for Brisbane Central on a long-time vacant block of land on Brunswick Street, New Farm:

Is the owner of the land a swinging voter, perhaps?

10.51am: Labor has promised to triple its contribution to the regions, announcing this morning $300 million will be spent over four years on social infrastructure under a re-elected Bligh Government, Tony Moore writes.

It builds on Labor’s existing three-year sustainable regional communities’ fund, which had contributed $100 million over three years.

At the campaign launch yesterday, LNP leader Campbell promised a Resource Community Building Fund to invest $170 million in resource communities over the next four years, growing to an annual ongoing $100 million a year fund.

Ms Bligh said Labor’s previous program had already seen improvements to pools, community centres and regional airports in Roma, Dalby, Cloncurry, Chinchilla and Mackay.

She said these successes, not the LNP announcement, had encouraged Labor to triple the program.

"Labor has had a Royalties for Regions fund of $100 million for three years,'' Ms Bligh said.

"With today's announcement, we have tripled that fund and it is almost double what Mr Newman is offering.

“We will work with councils to identify the best projects and we will fund those projects that make a difference.’’

Read the full policy document here.

In Mackay, a 28km walkway has been built along the Pioneer River under the previous three-year program.

Mackay MP Tim Mulherin, Premier Anna Bligh, Tourism Minister Jan Jarratt and Deputy Premier Anna Bligh in Mackay. Photo: Tony Moore.

“We will now build on that investment by making sure that those communities that are generating the royalties, that are generating the economic wealth are seeing that come back to them in terms of liveability,’’ she said.

Within the growing Mackay region, 40 of the 600 promised homes had been built by mining companies and the ULDA to date. The remaining 540 should be built by 2015 and 2016.

Here are the Labor and LNP promises so far.

10.39am: The LNP leader continued his morning radio blitz with an appearance on Fairfax Radio 4BC while on his campaign bus on the way to Toowoomba.

He discussed what he thought of the Premier's Water Babies policy, to provide every Queensland child uner the age of 4 with ten free swimming lessons at a cost of $77.4 million over four years.

Mr Newman said he thought it should be up to parents to give their kids swimming lessons.

''I think it’s actually the responsibility of parents if they are of sufficient means to teach their own kids how to swim,'' he said.

''There’s so many things that parents do have to do to get their kids a great start in life. And I’m afraid I don’t agree with that policy.

''I agree with the objectives, we all want our kids to swim, we want to protect children from drowning in pools, but if people are wondering why they’ve got a high cost of living, they want to know why rego’s gone through the roof, there’s $7000 extra tax on the family home, they want to know why water prices, power prices, have gone up in this state, it’s because this government keeps spending faster than it’s normally coming in. And so this initiative, although worthy, I think it goes a step too far.''

Listen to the full interview below (he also weighs in on the Clive Palmer/Twiggy Forest/Gina Rinehart vs Wayne Swan tussle).

What do you think of the policy and Mr Newman's view?

10.18am: Campbell Newman is making the most of the bus trip back to Brisbane from Toowoomba this morning, getting a free lesson in how to use Twitter from a journalist.

The Gold Coast Bulletin's Sue Lappeman (a prolific tweeter herself at @sueGCB) decided it was time the alternative premier set up his own Twitter account. Currently, his official account (@Campbell_Newman) is run by his team.

Sue seems to have been successful in her teaching:

And his first tweet from his new account, @CD_Track, a little later:

Anna Bligh (@TheQldPremier) has until now been the superior tweeter, sending out frequent tweets and interacting with voters on the social networking site. Tweets from her account are all sent by her, unless they have 'Prem_Team' tagged at the end.

9.29am: Meanwhile, the Premier has just landed in Mackay where she is due to make a policy announcement soon. Treasurer Andrew Fraser is with her.

9.18am: The campaign bus for Campbell Newman has just left Brisbane, bound for Toowoomba.

Here's some of what he told Steve Austin on 612 ABC Brisbane this morning.

This is certainly going as one of our quotes of the day: Mr Newman said that he's proud of the fact that (in Steve Austin's words) he hasn't done ''one hour at a state level in parliament''.

''I wear it as a badge of pride there Steve, I think that qualifies me in the eyes of the community to quite a high extent,'' he said.

He later said he was more qualified, thanks to his experience in the army, as Lord Mayor and running a business, than anyone in the Labor Party.

''I’ve got an MBA in finance, I’ve got an honours degree in engineering. Frankly, I don’t like to sound like an egotist, but I am better qualified than anybody down there that the Labor party’s put forward,'' he said.

He also named the Bruce Highway as his #1 infrastructure priority, ''followed closely by the Toowoomba bypass'', and said he wanted to have a ''new partnership'' with local government.

''The current government believes that all the smart people are in Brisbane and they have a command and control centralised approach to running this state,'' he said.

''What I actually want to do is farm out resources, responsibilities, authority to local governments, to local hospital health boards, to independent public school boards, to let Queenslanders make their own decisions.''

Listen to the full 30-minute interview here.

Anna Bligh will be appearing on the program on Wednesday morning.

8.56am: Campbell Newman is still speaking on 612 ABC Brisbane - we'll have a report soon.

Meanwhile, have a read of this story published by the Sun-Herald yesterday, if you haven't already seen it.

The newspaper reports Grantham residents have lashed out at being used as ''political footballs'' after seeing an ALP election commercial showcasing Anna Bligh's leadership during last year's natural disasters.

Marty Warburton, who had to be rescued from the roof of his service station when a wall of water crashed through Grantham a year ago, said: ''I frown upon it. On a personal level I don't have a problem with Anna Bligh, but on a political level I'm just disgusted.''

If you haven't seen the ad, watch it below. What do you think?

8.21am: Campbell Newman's having a busy morning on radio - he's due to appear on 612 ABC Brisbane at 8.30. We'll have a summary of what he said shortly after.

7.31am: Today is the first day that same sex and heterosexual civil unions will be able to be legally registered.

The law formally commenced on February 23, but a ten-day waiting period after lodging paperwork means the first civil unions will be able to occur today.

Campbell Newman has just spoken on Radio National, telling Fran Kelly there was ''no confusion'' over his position on civil unions and reiterating the LNP's intention to repeal the law if possible.

''I don’t want to leave anybody in a legal limbo I’ve said that before so it may not be possible to repeal it but that’s as far as I can really go as an opposition leader,'' he said.

When asked about his personal support for same-sex unions, Mr Newman said it was ''hardly relevant''.

''That is indeed something I said but I make the point there are 14,000 members of the Liberal National Party in Queensland, they’ve made their position very clear, there’s also 31 members plus myself in terms of the parliamentary team and then over another 50 candidates and the view is the one I’ve just given you so at the end of the day it’s a democracy,'' he said.

''There are many occasions when leaders have to listen to their party room, have to listen to their team, and this is one of them so my personal views are hardly relevant on this one.''

Mr Newman also spoke about the LNP's position on coal seam gas (''there are many legitimate concerns out there in the rural areas'') and his legacy as Brisbane's lord mayor. Listen to the full interview here.

7.12am: Campbell Newman just appeared on Radio National, telling Fran Kelly he was confident the ''very well-educated and quite sophisticated'' electorate of Ashgrove would ''make the right call'' on March 24.

The interview opened with that question he hates: what would happen if the LNP won the election but he failed to win Ashgrove? The answer was the same as always:

''Well Fran my position and I’ve been quite consistent with this for many many months is that we won’t actually win the state election unless we win seats like Ashgrove. Ashgrove’s very important to me it’s now important I acknowledge to Queensland.''

When asked if he was confident he'd win, he said:

''Look I’m very confident that the very well-educated and quite sophisticated community there in the Ashgrove electorate understand that it’s a competition between another three years of a tired 20-year Labor government, or Campbell Newman and they know me as Lord Mayor of Brisbane and they know what I achieved over the seven years, they know what’s at stake so that’s the competition and they’ll make a call and I’m very confident that they’ll make the right call.''

6.49am: The major event happening today (so far) is the Supreme Court decision on Katter’s Australian Party’s injunction to stop the printing of ballots that have their party listed at The Australian Party. Read more about it here.

6.47am: Yesterday's quotes of the day:

‘‘They spin, but they can't deliver - Labor couldn't deliver a pizza on a moonlit night.’’
- Federal Nationals leader Warren Truss.

''And if I'm elected in Ashgrove, I can assure each and every Queenslander that you will have a premier who is fighting in your corner; a premier who is prepared to fight for change; a premier who is prepared to put it all on the line for you.’'
- LNP leader Campbell Newman.

"Mr Newman is now at $7.5 billion in unfunded commitments and counting."
- Queensland deputy premier Andrew Fraser.

6.40am: Good morning and welcome back to another week of Poll Call. Just three weeks to go!

The major news over the weekend was the LNP's official campaign launch, held in Brisbane yesterday.

LNP leader Campbell Newman made two major pledges at the launch: to launch a new inquiry into Queensland's child protection system and introduce a "two strikes" policy for repeat sex offenders, and to direct $1 billion in funding for Bruce Highway upgrades over the next 10 years. Read Daniel Hurst's full report on the launch here.