"I could not in good conscience stay part of a government that was happy to trade away public trust in its own self interest," he intones in the commercial. Alan Jones could sow seeds of doubt about the LNP in voters' minds. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen But is anyone listening? Probably, say the experts. Dr Davis's commercial has had more than 18,000 views on YouTube since its launch on January 16, as well as television airplay, and Mr Jones's comments have spread further than the 4BC airwaves, with most media outlets repeating them.

Post doctoral fellow at the University of Queensland, Chris Salisbury, said given the attacks on the government were coming from outside the usual campaign sphere, there was a chance the message could resonate with voters a little more. Dr Chris Davis could be making voters question their trust in the LNP. But he said their impact was "unpredictable". "The [government] campaign has been built around this notion of strength, strong leadership, strong team, strong plan, etc, etc ad nauseam, and it would be hard to say that Labor has placed much of a dent in that image," Dr Salisbury said. "But Jones, coming in all guns blazing, apparently with his revelations about the Premier, Deputy Premier and other ministers, who knows?

"It could sow some seeds of doubt in people's minds about the validity of the claims of strength on the government. "...And perhaps in the minds of supporters of the government, Dr Davis's own brand was tarnished by his departure from the party and subsequent attempt to enrol with the Labor Party, and that may undermine his message in terms of those people who plan to vote or have voted for the LNP. "But it still adds to what has been really an underwhelming campaign, with neither side landing big blows upon the other and we may well see a flurry of fists flying in the last week, but the [Dr] Davis ad and that message will resonate with some, but perhaps only with those who are ready to vote against the government." Former Labor government senior staffer turned Queensland politics teacher at the University of Queensland, Lorann Downer, said both Mr Jones and Dr Davis's comments "go straight to the heart of the most critical issue in any campaign – and that is trust". "Voter trust is very hard to win and once it is lost it is very hard to regain and I think trust is an issue for some voters in this election and these would include people like public servants who lost their jobs, or their colleagues were sacked after Mr Newman said they would have nothing to fear from a LNP government and these might include people who voted LNP at the last election in protest at Labor's asset sales, only to see the Newman Government start talking about selling or leasing assets," Dr Downer said.

"Whether or not these comments shift any votes away from Mr Newman and the LNP is another question. "To start with, Mr Jones is an influential broadcaster, but in addition to that, his criticisms of the Newman Government over the past two days have been picked up by many other media, so they are getting a wider airing across multiple media channels in Queensland. "Mr Jones's comments may influence some voters or may confirm some of their own views about the Newman Government. Whether or not Mr Jones sways any voters, I am sure the government would have preferred that he stayed on holidays for another two weeks. "In relation to Dr Davis's comments, we have heard similar comments from Dr Davis before and some voters may wonder at the motivation of a former LNP member, who apparently thought to join the Labor party and now has done an ad for the Wilderness Society, but I don't think there is any doubting his sincerity. "And I think some of the things he talks about, trust and good government, will resonate with some voters including some LNP voters."