A Sunrise reporter who Annastacia Palaszczuk criticized as “very rude” at a press conference will find out tonight whether she is elected Liberal National Party MP, as exit polls show a surprisingly close race in the Queensland state election .
Palaszczuk, the then Labor first minister of the state, clashed spectacularly with veteran Channel Seven journalist Bianca Stone in a memorable and frosty exchange of press conferences about Covid.
In July 2021, Stone accused the Labor leader of carrying out a “publicity stunt” when he claimed he could not receive enough Pfizer vaccines. She cheekily told Mrs Palaszczuk: “I work for Sunrise, the show you didn’t appear on this morning.”
The Prime Minister snapped: ‘Well, I’m not going to respond to people being rude, so does anyone else have any questions?’
“You are being very rude,” Ms Palaszczuk continued, before moving on and avoiding addressing the issue Ms Stone had raised.
Stone quit her TV role in 2023 and is tonight running as a star candidate for the northern Gold Coast seat of Gaven, representing Palaszczuk’s former enemies in the Liberal National Party.
Bianca Stone, a former Sunrise reporter in Queensland, turned a political page in the years after her clash with Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Stone, who worked as a journalist for two decades, is facing the ALP’s Meaghan Scanlon.
Ms Scanlon was hugely successful in the last election, winning seven per cent and eliminating LNP candidate Kirsten Jackson by 58 per cent to 42 per cent.
Ms Stone made headlines on Saturday when 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 Stone where he had been throughout the campaign.
She replied that she had been “out and about” but Mrs Campbell responded by saying “not in our house”.
Stone was asked on Sky News if her awkward confrontation with Palaszczuk motivated her to enter politics. She denied it – “with her hand on her heart” – and instead pointed to the state’s youth crime crisis.
Ms Stone and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli face local resident Vicki Campbell on Saturday.
In her LNP election candidate profile, Ms Stone said she was motivated to run because “the chaos and crisis we are experiencing under the Palaszczuk/Miles Labor government has prompted me to put my hand up to serve the community.”
“I have seen first-hand the impacts of Labor Party mismanagement – fewer police on the ground, an increase in hospitals putting lives at risk, skyrocketing costs of living and widespread housing stress.”
A Courier-Mail exit poll of ten crucial seats showed the Labor Party and the LNP were neck and neck tonight.
Around 2,000 voters were surveyed as they cast their votes, revealing 33.9 per cent supported the LNP while 33.6 backed the Labor Party. Mrs Stone’s seat was not among those surveyed.
