"Industrial relations is important, but it is also about the environment, it is about civil liberties, it is about the government listening to everybody, not just the big end of town," he said. "That is the message we need to take to the government. "People say to me that they can pass whatever they want to pass, and they can, but at some stage, they will wake up that people don't like extreme government, they actually like governments to create cohesion." Joining forces with community groups and non-union members may also help unions circumvent legislation passed this year, which prevents them from running campaigns costing more than $10,000, without majority balloted support from their members. That piece of legislation is the subject of a High Court challenge.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said at the time of introducing it, it was to give members control over what their unions spent money on. Unions countered by claiming it was an attempt to muzzle them. But while the challenge is ongoing, Mr Battams said it won't stop the planned campaign to "inform people of what is happening in Queensland and to get them to shift their votes at the election". "We have a situation where we have a large majority to the LNP, but many of those seats are not held by great margins," he said. "The only thing this government will listen to is political pressure at the grassroots and that is what we intend to do.

"...If the government is re-elected, we would expect them to listen to us. We expect to have a fair effect on the election in 12 months' time." But rumours continue that the poll could come earlier. The Labor opposition has begun pre-selecting candidates ready to launch an election attack in an attempt to improve its parliamentary numbers and at least one LNP MP has started campaigning, with others working on increasing their profiles through letter drops. Unions have promised to increase their protests, with more rallies like the Rally for Rights held on Tuesday afternoon planned. Following the changes to the workers' compensation legislation and recent comments questioning how in touch the judiciary is with public sentiment, lawyers could be seen among the usual suspects of students and public servants rallying against the government.

Mr Battams said the government had "polarised" people and the results were becoming evident. "This government creates crises then introduces extreme legislation and actions so it is seen to be doing something," he said. "What that does is create fear initially, but eventually people will say they have had enough. "And when you do get people's liberties, freedoms and rights taken away, eventually people will react against that."