Premier David Crisafulli the ‘most likely outcome’ of state election: Miles

Premier Steven Miles has conceded the “most likely” result of October’s state election was an LNP victory, as both he and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli campaigned in central Queensland on Friday.

Polling conducted for News Corp showed the LNP with a commanding 56 to 44 per cent two-party-preferred lead over Labor, ahead of October’s state election.

Premier Steven Miles says the ‘most likely outcome’ of October’s state election will have him out of the top job.Credit: Dan Peled

Speaking in the Labor-held seat of Mackay, where local MP Julieanne Gilbert enjoys a margin of 6.72 per cent, Miles said the polling was a reality check for his government.

“This confirms what we’ve known for some time that the most likely outcome in October is that David Crisafulli will be the new premier,” he said.

“That’s about six months away and he still has not detailed a single actual plan for our state.”

Miles, who has only been in the job for four months, evoked memories of the Newman government, which sacked 14,000 public servants, prompting years of mass street protests.

“I know [Crisafulli] wants to be a small target. I know he wants to stay as tiny as he can, so that Queenslanders don’t know what his plans are,” he said.

“We know that because that’s what they did in 2012. They hid their plans in 2012. They took a small target strategy in 2012 and then, of course, when they got elected, we found out that their debt reduction plan made cuts to nurses at the Mackay base hospital, it meant cuts to police right across the state.

“It meant cuts to services. That’s what a debt reduction plan is.

’Very likely” David Crisafulli will be premier in October: Steven MilesCredit: Dan Peled

“So you can’t just say you have one without telling Queenslanders what’s in it, especially when you have the kind of polling results today that say it is more likely – very likely – that he will be the premier come October.”

Crisafulli, also in Mackay on Friday, insisted he remained the underdog going into October’s poll.

“History shows what needs to occur to change government in Queensland is huge and it’s tough,” he said.

“The struggle for us in winning those seats, and changing government, is a big one and I just can’t stress enough, the task ahead remains a massive one.

“We remain the underdog and the numbers that drive us are the challenges across the big four issues that are weighing Queenslanders down at the moment.”

Those issues, Crisafulli said, were health, housing, cost of living and youth crime.

Debt reduction was not mentioned during a 20-minute media conference in Mackay, ahead of an LNP town hall on health.

The LNP has yet to select a candidate to take on Gilbert in Mackay, but Crisafulli said he was “quietly confident” the party would have its candidate selected soon.

“We already have approaching 30 candidates and it’s six months to go, so that’s candidates in the field earlier than we’ve ever seen them,” he said.

“More will roll out and they will be community champions.

“...We’re giving people a strong choice and we have to, because we’ve got a massive mountain to climb.

“We still need to win 14 seats and that is a Herculean task, but we have good candidates in the field, we’re putting forward good solutions to the crises of Queenslanders are living through.”