Steven Miles's leadership questioned as Labor suffers ‘devastating’ by-election loss

Queensland Labor has suffered its worst election result in 68 years, winning just 8.2 per cent at Hinchinbrook as delegates call the defeat devastating.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles at the Labor state conference in Brisbane on Sunday. Picture: Tertius Pickard/NCA NewsWire

• Editor’s view: What it all means

Queensland Labor has recorded its worst election result in 68 years, in what some are calling a devastating repudiation of the party’s policies and Steven Miles’s leadership.

Premier David Crisafulli hailed the history-making result as a strong endorsement of his government.

Labor recorded just 8.2 per cent of the vote at Saturday’s Hinchinbrook by-election – its lowest since the party split in 1957 and an almost six- percentage-point fall on the 14 per cent it recorded in October 2024.

Delegates at Labor’s conference on Sunday morning called it a devastating defeat that should be taken as a wake-up call about the party’s low standing in regional Queensland.

IT IS A RESULT THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED BY THE LABOR FAITHFUL. READ TODAY’S EDITORIAL AND JOIN THE DISCUSSION

It is understood Labor spent less than $700 on the campaign, despite Maurie Soars being considered a strong candidate.

One Labor source slammed the lacklustre campaign and questioned how Mr Miles’s leadership “survives this”.

“We have to reset in regional Queensland,” they said.

Mr Miles declined to call it a devastating loss, but said his parliamentary Labor caucus was listening to regional Queenslanders.

“The competition here was between Katter’s Australian Party and the LNP,” he said.

“I’m not dismissing it.

“It underlines how important it is that we do this platform review, that we clear the slate of all of our policies and then start working to develop a forward offering in 2028 that can win those votes back.”

Premier David Crisafulli (right) with long-time friend and new LNP Member for Hinchinbrook Wayde Chiesa on Sunday. Picture: Cameron Bates

Asked if his leadership was in trouble, Mr Miles said: “I don’t think there’s any risk of that.”

Ben Gertz, a Townsville member of Labor Forum, told the party’s conference that the Hinchinbrook result should concern delegates.

“Our messages couldn’t cut through,” he said.

Mr Gertz said the by-election result should be a “massive wake-up call” and prompt Labor members to consider how city-friendly policies were received in the regions.

“Comrades, unfortunately that requires a tolerance of views that might not align with your own,” he said.

Motion seconder Emily Mawson demanded Labor members of parliament visit the regions, support the transition from coal mining and return to “bread-and-butter politics”.

“In Central Queensland right now we are fighting for our necks in a sea of blue and a rising One Nation,” she said.

“We need our elected representatives on the ground.”

Meanwhile, a jubilant Mr Crisafulli was on the ground in Ingham on Sunday and declared the election of his friend Mr Chiesa – and that of Nick Dametto as Mayor of Townsville – an “amazing opportunity” for the North.

“We have no intention of wasting that,” he said.

Griffith University political expert Paul Williams said he was surprised at the ease of the LNP’s victory and the low vote for Labor.

“While no one expected Labor to do well, the fact it polled in single figures, the worst result since the 1957 Labor split, remains a major embarrassment for an opposition trying to rebuild,” he said.

The results of the Hinchinbrook by-election

“It appears the KAP candidate’s former links to Labor, a surge in One Nation support, voters’ willingness to give Crisafulli a go and, perhaps most importantly, anger at Nick Dametto’s mid-term resignation and forcing this by-election saw KAP voters move back to the LNP.”

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said she was thrilled with the result and argued Australians were waking up to hear her message.

“It was a strong KAP seat, Katters have lost it,” she said.

“For us, we’ve nearly doubled Labor’s vote.

“It gives me hope for the future. The result is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Senator Hanson said the result should be a rude awakening for Labor and a reminder to Mr Crisafulli that he should work with One Nation.

“The LNP would not have won this seat without One Nation preferences,” she said.

Replacement KAP candidate Mark Molachino was the subject of vicious attack ads linking him to Labor via his past membership with the party.

In a message posted to social media, Mr Molachino and the party thanked supporters.

“To every local volunteer who turned up early, stayed late, handed out cards, set up booths, made phone calls, or simply put their hand up to help … we are truly grateful,” he wrote.

“KAP has always been built on community spirit, and over this campaign you showed exactly what that looks like.

“Your hard work, positive energy and belief in what we’re fighting for made all the difference on the ground.”

As of Sunday afternoon the LNP had secured 41.5 per cent of first preferences, the KAP 30.2 per cent, and One Nation 13.4 per cent.

It is the highest vote the LNP has won since it last held the seat in 2015.

Originally published as Steven Miles's leadership questioned as Labor suffers ‘devastating’ by-election loss