00:00Regional Queenslanders and residents here in Townsville have voted resoundingly for
00:07change. We've seen double-digit swings in some regional seats for the Liberal National
00:12Party, giving the party clear political dominance outside of Brisbane. Labor's highest profile
00:19loss came in Mackay. That's a seat the party has held for more than a century. But a massive
00:2517% swing to the LNP has seen the candidate there, retiring police officer Nigel Dalton,
00:32pick that one up. Here in Townsville, all three Labor MPs have been unseated by the
00:37LNP in a clean sweep. Labor has been left with just three seats in regional Queensland
00:43– Cairns, Gladstone and Bundaberg. Labor leader Stephen Miles says the party clearly
00:49needs to do more work to win back the favour of regional voters. Law and order issues
00:55clearly dominated at the ballot box. In places like Townsville, voters we've spoken to say
01:01youth crime is front of mind for them, whether they've been victims of crime or are scared
01:06to become one. People we've spoken to want to see tougher consequences for young offenders
01:11and the LNP has made a tough-on-crime mandate really central to its election campaign. We've
01:17seen slogans like adult time for adult crime used a lot, it splashed across billboards
01:23across North Queensland and that messaging has clearly cut through. But issues around
01:28cost of living and health were also important to voters, as was just an underlying desire
01:34for change. David Chrisofully, the incoming Premier, actually hails from North Queensland.
01:39He grew up on a cane farm at Ingham, about an hour and a half north of here. And there's
01:44a sense of hope among some voters that his regional roots will allow him to better represent
01:50the needs and wants of regional Queenslanders. As he finalises his new cabinet, we do know
01:56that regional MPs will make up the majority of the ministry in the incoming government.
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