Queensland opposition leader Tim Nicholls has swiftly taken to the hustings in One Nation heartland, appealing to disenchanted voters to back him at the November 25 poll.
After initially releasing an economic policy in the marginal Logan seat of Springwood, the Liberal National Party leader headed to the electorate which Pauline Hanson almost grabbed at the last state election.
A major underdog at the time, Ms Hanson fell by less than 200 preference votes to toppling LNP member Ian Rickuss in the rural seat of Lockyer, west of Ipswich.
Lockyer is in serious danger for the opposition with Mr Rickuss retiring and Ms Hanson riding a new wave of support, something Mr Nicholls did his best to address at a sandstone quarry near the town of Helidon.
"If you are disappointed in the major political parties, I've heard that message, and that's why our policies are designed to address those concerns," he said. "No big fan of the nanny state or political correctness, those are all things that the LNP stands for," he said.
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His call to the disenchanted voters comes after former premiers Peter Beattie and Campbell Newman publicly claimed Mr Nicholls would fail in his attempt to win office without the support of One Nation.
In response to questions about how his attempts to win support from disenchanted voters differed from One Nation's pitch as an alternative to the major parties, Mr Nicholls defended his campaign messaging.
"If people say they're disenchanted and are disenchanted it's up to the parties to respond and to change the way they go about things," he said.
Mr Nicholls started day two of the campaign at a discreet Loganholme hardware store in the Springwood electorate held by Housing Minister Mick de Brenni.
He pledged to lift the payroll tax threshold by $25,000 a year over the next decade as part of a broader economic package to stimulate 500,000 new jobs.
"That will help 4000 small businesses that won't now fall into the threshold and 10,000 other business that are within the deductions area," within the first year, he said.
Under the plan, the exemption threshold would increase from $1.1 million to $1.35 million, and give a deduction to businesses with payrolls of up to $6.75 million.
But when pushed to reveal how he would fund the plan, Mr Nicholls said details would be disclosed at a later date.
"This is about helping Queensland businesses, Queensland small business employ more people or maybe give staff a pay rise," he said.
The LNP's goal to create 500,000 new jobs in the state is mostly backed up by long-term federal government growth figures, but Mr Nicholls conceded he could not quantify how many businesses would benefit over the 10-year period.
