A Sunrise reporter who Annastacia Palaszczuk slammed as ‘very rude’ at a press conference will tonight learn if she is elected as a Liberal National Party MP – as exit polls show a surprisingly tight race in the Queensland state election.
Ms Palaszczuk, the then-state Labor Premier, spectacularly clashed with long-time Channel Seven journalist Bianca Stone in a memorably frosty Covid press conference exchange.
In July 2021, Ms Stone accused the Labor leader of pulling a ‘publicity stunt’ when she claimed she could not get enough Pfizer vaccines. She sassily told Ms Palaszczuk: ‘I work for Sunrise – the show you didn’t appear on this morning’.
The premier snapped back: ‘Well, I’m not going to answer people being rude, so anyone else have a question?
‘You are being very rude,’ Ms Palaszczuk continued – before moving on and avoiding addressing the issue that Ms Stone had raised.
Ms Stone resigned from her TV role in 2023 and is tonight running as a star candidate for the northern Gold Coast seat of Gaven – representing Ms Palaszczuk’s long-time enemies in the Liberal National Party.
Bianca Stone – Sunrise’s one-time Queensland reporter – turned over a political leaf in the years after she clashed with Annastacia Palaszczuk
Ms Stone, who worked as a journalist for two decades, is facing off against the ALP’s Meaghan Scanlon.
Ms Scanlon romped home at the last election – winning a seven per cent swing and wiping out LNP candidate Kirsten Jackson by 58 per cent to 42 per cent.
Ms Stone made headlines of her own on Saturday as she clashed with a local resident at the polls.
According to the Gold Coast Bulletin, Vicki Campbell – who claimed to be a Liberal voter -asked Ms Stone where she’d been throughout the campaign.
She replied that she had been ‘out and about’ – but Ms Campbell hit back saying ‘not at our place’.
Ms Stone was asked on Sky News if her awkward clash with Ms Palaszczuk motivated her to run into politics. She denied that – ‘hand on heart’ – instead pointing to the state’s youth crime crisis.
Ms Stone and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli are confronted by local resident Vicki Campbell on Saturday
In her LNP election candidate profile, Ms Stone said she was driven to run because of ‘the chaos and crisis we’re experiencing under the Palaszczuk/Miles Labor Government has driven me to put my hand up to serve the community.
‘I have seen first-hand the impacts of Labor’s mismanagement – fewer police on the beat, hospital ramping putting lives at risk, the spiralling cost of living and widespread housing stress.’
A Courier-Mail exit poll of ten crucial seats showed Labor and the LNP were neck and neck tonight.
About 2000 voters were polled as they cast their ballots, revealing 33.9 per cent supported the LNP while 33.6 backed Labor. Ms Stone’s seat was not among those polled.
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