Candidates in the seat of Logan for the upcoming state election were grilled by the moderator during a 30 minute virtual community debate.
The ALP’s Linus Power went head to head with the LNP’s Clinton Pattison.
Sam Iskander from the Clive Palmer Party, Liam Jenkinson for The Greens and One Nation candidate Peter Webber were invited to attend, but declined
This is the second of the Logan City community debates, with the Springwood Candidate Debate going for over an hour and being hosted by the Logan Chamber of Commerce.
Linus Power has held the ALP seat since 2015, which is considered a safe seat with a 6.8 per cent margin.
LNP’s Clinton Pattison is no newcomer either. He ran for the seat of Algester in 2017.
The candidates were asked six questions and given 60 to 90 seconds to answer each question.
The first question was about roads and infrastructure, and how the candidates plan to go about road spending.
Linus Power drew attention to how the ALP has already spent money on roads.
“We’ve done the major upgrades of the Logan Motorway, the Mount Lindesay Upgrade Interchange and we’re currently building a four laning of that merge spot just before Stoney Camp Road where 20% of the traffic gets off that’s soon to be completed,” he said.
“And we’re going to roll straight onto doing four laning with the Federal Government all the way from Stoney Camp Road to Chambers Flat Road.
“Again, we’re reducing congestion to make it safer.”
Clinton Pattison disagreed with Mr Power about the four lanes through Logan Village.
“What’s being proposed does fix a problem if you are travelling through Logan Village but unfortunately for the businesses in Logan Village, it’s going to create new problems because it reduces the opportunity for vehicles to be able to enter and leave businesses,” Mr Pattison said.
Population growth, housing, and education was also touched on.
Mr Power pointed to the ALP’s work building new classrooms and schools in Yarrabilba this year, and his plan for two new bus services.
Mr Pattison said his plan was to grow the economy.
“We need to plan for the future,” he said.
“If we don’t plan for the future, we’re just planning to fail.”
Hooning and policing was also discussed.
Mr Power said the ALP had hopes to change how residents are charged for hooning.
“We’ll change the law to reverse the onus of proof,” he said.
“So that if a camera catches someone hooning you have to prove that it wasn’t you just like you have to do for a speeding fine or for a red light camera. Instead of people claiming it was someone else and the police having to prove that it was them.”
Mr Pattison said hooning was “actually dangerous” and his plan was to work with the police and community.
The moderator next asked the candidates about youth justice in the area.
Linus Power had a lot to say on this, before he was cut short by the moderator.
“Youth justice is something that we’re really passionate about and it’s about intervening with kids,” he said.
“When they come into the corrections they often get more meals than they would get at home.
“These young people aren’t the same as Clinton’s kids or my kids who have a very safe and stable home life.
“These kids don’t have that at all. We must have a multidimensional approach to actually reduce youth crime and reduce the impact it has on people but by also making sure there’s clear punishments.”
Mr Pattison said he wanted to “really crack down on youth crime”.
“We need to create job opportunities to give people the chance to see that they can continue to do more than what they see from their peers and family,” he said.
“If we can grow the economy we can give these kids better opportunities to see there’s a better life out there for them if they choose to take advantage of it.”
The moderator also persistently asked about a bail house for youths in the Waterford electorate.
Both candidates said they were unsure because it was not in their electorate.
