Queensland election results: Vote counting continues as expected

Early counts in Queensland indicate a sharp result, with the swing to the Liberal National Party not as strong as expected.

Prime Minister Steven Miles and opposition leader David Crisafulli spent the final day of the campaign pushing for votes at polling booths, but waited a long night as tallies showed a close-run race.

Early counts on Saturday evening showed a 4.3 percent swing to the Liberal National Party, which needed a uniform 5.7 percent swing to form a government.

People vote in voting booths in a polling station

The Queensland election looks set for a photo finish after a rollercoaster four-week campaign. Source: MONKEY / Darren England

Labor went into the election with 51 seats to the LNP’s 35, while 47 seats were needed to form a majority government.

Two hours after the polls closed, Labor was on course to win 30 seats and the LNP 37 seats.

ABC pollster Antony Green said the U-turn was definitely against the government, but it would take longer to find out whether the opposition could form a government.

“It looks like a hung parliament when you look at these numbers, but there are more counts to come,” Green said.

“It looks like Labor has lost its majority but there is no LNP majority but who will form the government?”

Opposition leader David Crisafulli made a last-minute pitch to voters on Saturday morning. Source: MONKEY / Jono Searle

What did the polls suggest?

Crisafulli was tipped to end the Labor government’s nine-year rule after dominating early polls, but Prime Minister Steven Miles .

A Courier Mail exit poll of 2,000 voters across the state showed the LNP winning 33.9 percent of the vote, with Labor hot on its heels with 33.6 percent.

Deputy Prime Minister Cameron Dick said shortly after the polls closed that he did not believe his party could form a government.

“Anything is possible, but I think it’s a challenge for us to get across the finish line tonight,” Dick told ABC News.

He said his party had made tremendous progress after facing “absolute annihilation” in 2023.

Prime Minister Steven Miles cast his vote after a blitz on dozens of seats in the final days of the campaign. Source: MONKEY / Darren England

Labor Party national chairman Wayne Swan said it was too early to make a call as regional seats were worth watching.

He said Miles had run one of the best campaigns he had seen in four decades and had boosted the party’s under-40s vote thanks to his policies and TikTok presence.

“It’s been a campaign on these issues and they’ve made a big cut in their cost of living initiatives, which have not been taken up by the LNP… a big cut in terms of highlighting the US approach against abortion. the LNP,” he told the Australian Associated Press.

“It has been a first-class campaign that has avoided what could have been a landslide four months ago.”

Early indications were that the LNP was on course to take Townsville, with a 6.9 per cent win over Labour.

The Labor-held seat of Barron River was in doubt, with a 1.4 percent shift to the LNP.

Labor Minister Meaghan Scanlon appeared set to retain her crucial seat in Gaven on the Gold Coast.

Labor did better than expected in the seat of Bundaberg and the Liberals did not see the results they had hoped for in Brisbane and the regions.

One seat was undoubtedly Traeger, held by Robbie Katter, whose Katter party preferences could be crucial for the major parties.

Katter could also be a kingmaker in the event of a hung parliament.

He said Saturday that he was open to who he would support.

“You would be foolish if you are a small party to say that we only have one party to deal with because there are only two major parties,” Katter told ABC News.

“If you say you would never make a deal with that party, you have nothing to negotiate, no influence and you can’t say we want XYZ.

“You can’t demand that if you’ve already chosen a side before you get to the sharing table.”

More than 3.6 million people cast their votes, while two million people voted early.

On what issues did the parties campaign?

Both leaders campaigned hard on key election issues: youth crime, housing, health care and pressure on the cost of living.

But in the past two weeks after a crossbencher vowed to withdraw the legislation if elected.

Abortion was decriminalized in Queensland in 2018.

Crisafulli has been under enormous pressure over the past two weeks, repeatedly refusing to explain how he would guarantee abortion laws would not change.

It coincided with the LNP’s dip in the polls.

The latest Newspoll, conducted for The Australian, found Miles was rated a better prime minister at 45 percent, compared to 42 percent for Crisafulli.

But the LNP remained ahead on a two-party preference basis with 52 percent to Labour’s 47 percent.

Labor has 51 seats and the LNP 35.

A party needs 47 seats for a majority government.