Annastacia Palaszczuk rewarded for her handling of COVID-19, but that doesn’t let the LNP off the hook

It’s tempting to view Queensland Labor’s victory as simply the inevitable outcome of a COVID-19 election.

The Sunshine State follows the examples of the Northern Territory and New Zealand where governments have been rewarded for their successful management of the pandemic.

And that’s what many in the LNP were arguing last night — former leader Tim Nicholls, deputy Tim Mander and Queensland Nationals Senator Susan McDonald all spoke of the difficulties the Opposition faced in trying to get their message across.

That may be so, but the LNP doesn’t get off the hook that easily.

The party has comprehensively failed to make any of the benchmarks it set for itself this year, falling short in all of the 10 or so Labor seats it had been…